Comments by "Harry \x22Nic\x22 Nicholas" (@HarryNicNicholas) on "TAKASHii" channel.

  1. i think she'd fit with the japanese mindset, it's odd how many people takashi has interviewed (foreigners) who seem to fit perfectly with the japanese way of thinking. i think the people who fit best already have a japanese way of thinking, having regard for others and a respect for nature.
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  2. well not to detract from her taking risks or your admiration, japan is probably one of the safest places to live in. SOME people can be difficult, there is prejudice and crime, but if i was told i had to leave my home country, i'd pick japan without hesitation. it's not gut wrenching to decide to live there, it's actually logical.
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  3. first lady is interesting. my son went to japanese school on a saturday, he and his class all passed japanese gcse a year early, i found japanese school brilliant, the parents are involved and the sports day was great fun, our son also had a scholarship to a private school (fee paying school) that is one of the best in the UK, but the sports day was boring in comparison. schools could learn a lot from cross-overs, the japanese school had top grades, no discipline problems and there was a better sense of community. i probably had more japanese friends than english just through school.
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  4.  @phantom8699  well aren't you the positive thinker. what makes your brain work like that i wonder?
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  5. my son went to japanese school in the UK on a saturday morning, he and his whole class passed japanese GCSE a year early, the japanese really know how to teach, and there should be more crossover between UK schools (my son had a scholarship to a private school - whitgift foundation). what i find amusing is that my son's written english, his handwriting is spidery and frankly weird, but his written japanese always looks like it could have been printed, it's perfect.
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  6. well done, anyone who helps these folk gets a gold star from me!
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  7. well observed, it's easy to think the "outlaws" have no one to blame but themselves, but it would better if society could find room for everyone, even the "unusual" folk.
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  8. i've only been to japan twice and my only experience of the homeless is - first hand - at one of the stations people seemed to be living in giant cardboard boxes (like the guy with the radio) and even they took off their shoes before going "indoors" - and a video about the slums of tokyo that looked cleaner and better kept than places in western cities, so to see so much poverty and disorder in one place seems so incongruent. at least they looked cleanly clothed, even the drunk lady had pressed trousers and a clean tee-shirt! :)
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  9. i don't think i'd sit particularly close to tom. japanese is difficult, but so rewarding.
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  10. when it comes to food i think japan is probably head and shoulders better than france, the only place i've been that can compete was prague.
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  11. religion is on the way out (pew polls, gallup) i wouldn't waste my time on imaginary beings, life's too short. and it seems like christianity isn't having the loving and peaceful effect it's supposed to, countries that have the least religion appear to be the most desirable, where would you rather live sweden or yemen?
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  12. i've been involved with (other people's) mental health issues for the last five years and the healthcare system in the UK needs a lot of improvement, although i agree where there is provision it is good, and so far the staff i've encountered have been great. but governments need to spend more on health care in general, but especially mental health.
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  13. when our son was born my (now ex) wife wanted to keep her job and it was possible for me to work from home (1990's) so i became "house husband" and i thoroughly enjoyed it, taking my son to his developmental tests, the doctors, then school and ferrying him around his various activities, even cooking and cleaning - i believe in displacement activity - i work to avoid housework, and do housework to avoid work! balance is everything.
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  14. well unless it's a choice to be homeless, i hope your situation improves.
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  15. i kove japan, and as i'm 69 i'm looking towards what shall i do with the rest of my life and japan is appealing i have to say - i have been twice, my son is half japanese, it's such an appealing country and people.
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  16. for california girl, it's like that in london too.
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  17. oh, my ex wifes family are from kanagawa. i've been there!
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  18. i certainly hope the "cleanup" results in the homeless benefiting rather than just being moved on and losing what little they have now. governments can be sickening.
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  19. another fascinating insight into how people's minds work. keep them coming.
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  20.  @ututheavenger  although i get your point, what are you trying to accomplish? this isn't a competition.
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  21. i must say i'm surprised, i wasn't in japan for very long but i got the impression even the homeless had higher standards than the west, i forget if it was tokyo, osaka or another major station, but the homeless i saw lived in big cardboard boxes (like the radio guy) and even they left their shoes outside. alcohol and drugs seem to be a universal problem, but a major universal problem is mental health, i have a carers certification for schizophrenia, my last gf was schizophrenic, and although she lived with me off and on for the six years we were seeing each other, she was essentially homeless the whole time, on the one hand people with mental health issues are difficult to tolerate, and on the other (she) was very paranoid and couldn't live with other people for long - she was convinced they stole from her. that's here in the UK. all countries need better mental health care, but it's hard - you really need a whole team of people for every one person ill. i hope the expo brings a positive to those folks, injecting money into osaka doesn't have to all be about tarting the place up, it could actually be used for some long term good.
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  22. PS thanks for covering the issue too, if you feel brave it would be good to see more.
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  23. im the UK the average delay on trains is 15 minutes, in japan it's 12 seconds...
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  24. you have great insight, maybe you can help me fix climate change?
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  25. keep up the good work, these interviews are not just about japan and learning japanese, it's so important these days to show the links between different nationalities and ideals and the crossovers of cultures, every country has positives and negatives, if only we could transplant just the positives. it's easy these days to forget that 99.9% of the BILLIONS of people on the planet are friendly and welcoming.
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  26.  @RadioNul  lol. stereotyping at it's best.
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  27. in my experience the most important thing to remember is to give gifts, even a small gift, even an envelope with some cash in, otherwise people see you as impolite and uncaring, the japanese will bend over backwards to be helpful, and it's not so much they expect reward as to not acknowledge that you SEE them being helpful is regarded as a major no-no. when i was there last my (now ex) wife spent all her time gift shopping and we made sure we had plenty of english teas and english biscuits to give as gifts. if you bear that in mind the japanese are extremely generous.
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  28. japan effects the hormones i think. lol. it's a great country, it has it's negatives but the world could learn a lot even from those negatives i think..
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  29. i'd hesitate to call it "bad" - most homeless have mental health issues and it might be tempting to blame them, but it's not straightforward. drink and drugs can be the end result, rather than the cause, of anti-social behaviour.
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  30. 8:26 i think what he is saying is due to the fact that japanese utilise their envy, some nationalities have envy of others and express that negatively, but the japanese see other countries doing well and they ADOPT their ways rather than rejecting their ways. japan has said "america is a big and wealthy nation, let's take on the best aspects as our own" and now japan is doing better than the US. learn another language, whatever it might be. i stopped french lessons in third year of school cos i thought i would never go to france (france is 22 miles from the uk) and since then i have been to the coast of france at least six/ seven times, i have been to paris too many times to count and i have had a french canadian gf, an fluent french speaking irish girlfriend, a peruvian gf whose family have an apartment in france, i've even been there with my japanese (ex) wife - and i've applied for work in paris - you never know when another language will help out. he is the first american i have heard say "ant" - it is so weird to hear americans talking with broad american accents and then use the word "ont" which is very "posh" in english. pop up. these interviews are going beyond just tourist information and language lesson, it will be interesting to see where you are in two years time - in five years time - you have potential.
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  31. it should remind us that really we are ONE race, the boders (especially seen from space) are imaginary, people fight over resources and borders, but they need not, we're all british (har har).
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  32. his secret is safe with me, and i know i can trust you 😇
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  33. it's all about balance, i agree americans have a confidence that comes from indiviuality and a disregard for others, but if it was balanced with japanese OVER concern ofr others and the feeling the individuak comes second to society, you might get somewhere, but on the whole i prefer the japanese, even if they can appear stuffy and timid, americans can be too "in your face" and that's worse. having said that i found the east coast to be very similar to the UK, grubby, worn out, people in a hurry who aren't that friendly, whereas on the west coast they were as polite as the japanese, just as friendly and helpful, and the cities and motels were on a par with japan. the only thing i would change about japan is the feeling you have to please others, that people can be offended by you only speaking your mind. i'd stop painting pylons and towers red and white too, all they need is lights on the top - they look so ugly and they are all over.
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  34.  @tednguyen7258  har har. that could've been me. if i weren't a dope. lol.
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  35. i am kind of surprised, and maybe ikt's just because of the content of your videos, but although it sounds like there is a lot of criteria for coming to and living in japan from another country, that people sound like the transition is easy. maybe it is because the japanese are so helpful and friendly, and maybe because although there is a lot of paperwork it is better organised than other countries? it seems that the foreigner you talk to are very relaxed about living in a new home. i recal when me and my (now ex) wife went to register our marriage, everything was on paper and very little computerised, the registry office seemed very old fashioned compared to elsewhere.
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  36. what always gets me is the amount of english the japanese use in graphics, (note their tee shirts) and still not speak even a few words, and also one thing that makes learning hard is the "japanification" of pronunciation, the japanese use english words a lot but they pronounce them in a japanese way, making it tricky to learn, cos basically you're learning bad english rather than true japanese. (with respect).
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  37. when we had the IRA bombings in the 70's all the trash cans were removed which was a pain, and never came back, but taking rubbish home ought to be second nature. we've had various anti litter campaigns over the years, to no great success, i think the emphasis ought to be on disease, we highlight the fact that trash is ugly and anti social but the reason we shouldn't litter is hygiene. what surprises me (human nature eh) is that it's okay to carry a coke tin and crisp packet, until they are empty, then they MUST be disposed of ASAP like they are radioactive or will kill if you don't throw them on the street immediately. humans are neurotic.
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  38. no weirder than me saying this is my simulation and you lot are avatars.
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  39. i am animator by tradem at least i since 1984 i worked in computer graphics on tv titles, commercials and some feature films, but my degree is in graphics and i was the typography nerd at uni, so however complicated kanji is, i would love to be able to read and write, as my son is half japaneese and fluent himself. he is odd though because his english handwriting is spidery and really weird, but his written japanese is precise and looks printed. love these interviews! thats funny, tofu mentaru - the japanese have some insults that can be very funny, i haven't practiced it in a long time but my ex wife taught me a rhyme about a stupid hippopotamus - hilarious in it's naivety. baka-chan! ah, "kill two birds with one stone" there are lots and lots of phrases like this that have equivalents in other languages - "raining cats and dogs" i think is weird to be found in so many different languages.
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  40. two of my favourite films are "two minutes into the infinite" and "the shoplifters" both really excellent japanese movies. one very funny and mind bending, the other very moving and illustrative of japanese thinking and way of life, even though the subject is odd.
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  41. our governments have become greedy and self serving is the real problem, i'm not familiar with the japanese health care system, but i'm a carer for schizophrenia, and in the US and the UK gov is pocketing as much health care money as it can and screwing the sick, we need governments like bevan - who started the NHS, instead of people who want to line their pockets. mental health will only get worse unless it's financed.
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  42. "spectacle" she's not "skeptical" lol sorry, OCD.
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  43.  @friartalk6060  there is no creator. telling people what they OUGHT to do is really stupid, people do what people do and god (according to you) created humans with a certain nature, but then says you have to go against that nature. luckily religion is on the decline (gallup, pew polls) as more people realise god is a grab bag of contradictions and purely an excuse to bully people - and THREATEN them with eternal damnation, religion is sick (although shinto would be my choice if i had to pick) i've always been atheist, 68 years, god has played no part in my life, if there is a god he doesn't seem to mind i think he's a twat.
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  44.  @friartalk6060  sin is an invention designed to make the scam of religion circular, you invent sin and then you invent a cure but you sin again so you have to keep BEGGING an imaginary god for a forgiveness that's totally INVENTED. it's sick, religion is sick - look at the suicide rate in japan, since when has sin helped with guilt?
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  45.  @friartalk6060  your god is weaker than my god, and my god is quite happy with people having sex before marriage, my god is concerned that people are responsible is all - your god just likes to burn people in hell. my god wants people to recognise human nature and act responsibly, my god is called science and humanism and the sooner the stuoidity of religion is history the better.
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  46.  @ayuyade  the friar is a typical celibate. has no idea what it is to be a human, all he wants is a cushy afterlife and to be able to look down on people.
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  47.  @ayuyade  i dated my (now ex) wife for some time before we got married, we had a great relationship then, i am 13 years older than her and i had intended it to end at some point, but she is a marvellous woman so when we had troubles with the visa situation we decided to marry, it was a good move for both of us, we were married for 20 years and have a son we are very proud of, it took her a while but she eventually realised i am not really that good at being a husband - i am ego-centric and selfish, and we divorced - but we are still friends and deal with our son together and i want her to be happy regardless. the only thing about different nationalities is that when my ex took on the mortgage i was no longer "head of the house" and the dynamic between us changed, i think that is quite a japanese way of thinking, that the man being "house husband" is somehow wrong.
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  48.  @friartalk6060  and finally have you not noticed that no matter how bad the sin god has never put in a personal appearance to dictate of it? that it's always someone like you that seems to know what this imaginary god wants, but god himself can't be bothered to come and stop atom bombs being dropped or people being gassed in wars? your god is either the laziest waste of space in the universe or totally imaginary. if you want people to follow god's rules get god to come and say so in person - or shut up and keep your cave man mindset to yourself, you're helping no one on this page. in fact if they are sinning then it looks like sin is a great way to be.
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  49. we have the same gloves mr takashi.
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  50. lol, i think that has to be the only time i've seen "there are" abbreviated (ther're).
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  51. in my experience the most important thing to remember is to give gifts, even a small gift, even an envelope with some cash in, otherwise people see you as impolite and uncaring, the japanese will bend over backwards to be helpful, and it's not so much they expect reward as to not acknowledge that you SEE them being helpful is regarded as a major no-no. when i was there last my (now ex) wife spent all her time gift shopping and we made sure we had plenty of english teas and english biscuits to give as gifts. if you bear that in mind the japanese are extremely generous.
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  52. and very confident too, learning a second language fluently is double bonus.
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  53. my (now ex) wife's family lived in kanagawa and i tell people outside their front door was a car park, and in the car park is a small cemetery, and behind that is a golf driving range, and beyond that an american airforce base, and blackhawks and F16's circle over their house all day. amazing. they seem okay with the americans and although i didn't get chance to talk about the war, they didn't seem bothered about the history of the american presence.
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  54. not to detract from her taking risks or your admiration, japan is probably one of the safest places to live in. SOME people can be difficult, there is prejudice and crime, but if i was told i had to leave my home country, i'd pick japan without hesitation. it's not gut wrenching to decide to live there, it's actually logical.
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  55.  @mannyechaluce3814  and?
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  56. we need more sympathetic governments, just in the last five years here in the UK i've seen mental health care decline because of government cuts, it's dishonest government in the UK, people who don't care how others live.
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  57. just so you know, there are still a lot of people wearing masks here in the UK, i go to central london often and although people are more relaxed a lot are still complying. i've been to new york, it's filthy. my (now ex) wife said she could never bring her parents to england cos they would have heart attacks, it's so dirty, the people are so rude and the food is plastic 🤣 the japanese are so fussy!
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  58. i heard a japanese saying that you need more facilities for parents, creche's and kindergarten, child minders. the one BIG problem is the work ethic, even the students are working long hours and i am also told that even if you take a formal holiday you have to have a good reason or you get shunned by colleagues - the hours are too long to have families. space is at a premium, my in-laws in japan live with their parents even after marriage and children because housing is at a premium. all difficult things to solve, but all things that are recognisable problems that can be directly addressed.
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  59. yes, sport, i root for england, but i root more for japan cos england sucks. lol. (my ex is japanese, so my son is part japanese, and having traveled there i have great loyalty to my foreign family).
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  60. the escalator problem - i don't have the answer, but i will say when i ask my (now ex) wife the translation of words or symbol i will get a different answer every day for a week. some things cannot be explained apparently. lol, also with the mexican guy, before i met my ex wife i was dating a girl who was born in peru, she has relatives all over the world, her father is belgian her mother french, they had a place in spain and a flat in paris, and she seemed to have a relative in every country, it was odd listening to her talk to family on the phone because she would mainly speak french but with a bit of german and then the occasional english word thrown in, and the oddest thing was i asked her what "mage touts" translated to (to me it would be "eat everything" and she didn't realise it was french!
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  61. lol, this channel gives the term "diversity" a whole wider scope, "half japanese, half trinidad, raised in canada" oh brave new world.
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  62. i would say that drugs and alcohol are the RESULT of their situation rather than the cause, as someone else pointed out the japanese expected "a job for life" and when made redundant they couldn't get new work, i doubt that many homeless are homeless by choice or design. my (now ex) girlfriend is schizophrenic, she just can't hold down a job, she can't adjust to living in shared space, it's actually governments that put people in this position because mental healthcare in particular is so poor and care is so expensive, if we want to solve these problems. they need money....
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  63. shinto is my favourite religion, if i had to choose one that would be it. at least i know i have ancestors. xianity, islam and most other religions are silly and make no sense if you look close enough. having respect for nature and each other is much more useful than threatening people with hell.
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  64. these interviews are really good, even if you disregard the subject you find such interesting people to talk to.
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  65. i fail to see how christianity helps, unless you like to fantasise that everything will be alright and someone else is going to take care of you. shinto makes much more sense than the talking snake cult.the suicide rate seems to be high because the japanese tend to be overly conscientious, i think if you fail in the west you just deal with it cos everybody fails at something, but the japanese take failure way too seriously, and "ending it all" has been traditionalised as "honourable" when it clearly isn't the answer to any problem. and religion isn't going to help cos the emphasis is on the afterlife, xianity teaches this life isn't the main event. japan is similar to the UK in respect to religion, better to take religion with a large pinch of salt than to become dependent on a deity - who doesn't actually exist. if you fail, pick yourself up, dust yourself off, start over, sod what anyone else thinks.
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  66. i love japan and the japanese so i'm biased but these interviews are really positive, and the attitude of takashi reflects japan i think, another good interview. i'm 69 and tempted to move there!!! and ah! that lis interesting cos i haven't been to japan since 2004, but navigating trains has always been a big problem, and i assumed from what i;ve been told more english is in use, so to hear that trains are still not in english (and fair enough, why should they be) then that's an eye-opener.
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  67. my (now ex) wife used to grade nationalities by body odour, watch out for that when you're with the japanese, personal hygiene is paramount, she said i smell like a pencil (i'm a graphic designer).
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  68. the hugging thing is interesting, my (now ex) wife used to be embarrassed about holding hands in public! open signs of affection are frowned upon apparently.
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  69. my (now ex) wife was impressed with my business card. lol. very japanese. we shouldn't have married really, but she was irresistible, we still see each other often, mainly to talk about our son, but all my ex girlfriends have been brilliant, it's me that's crap at relationships. faithful, but crap.
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  70. lol a perfect english accent would be more impressive :)
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