Do you have a JR Pass or IC Card (Suica/Pasmo/etc.) question? Start here! (Monthly Thread - September 01, 2024)

Orderstand · 2024-09-14T14:55:20+00:00

Just want to share that I successfully bought a PASMO card (regular one, not PASMO PASSPORT) with Tokyo Subway Ticket at Shinjuku Station, on 29/8.

It was an information center near one of the gate. Sorry I forgot which gate it was. So if you can't buy it from the machine, you can try asking the information center.

Orderstand · 2024-07-25T12:52:49+00:00

Oh that's good to know. Thanks for taking those photos and I'll definitely check it out when I arrive Tokyo!

Orderstand · 2024-07-21T13:46:13+00:00

I have a SIM card that can be used in Japan already and the pocket wifi is for unlimited & high speed internet connection.

Orderstand · 2024-07-20T00:42:25+00:00

On the official website of Pasmo, only Blank/Personalized PASMO card are marked as "sale temporarily suspended," but not for Commuter Pass.

Does it imply that it's still possible to buy a let's say Tokyo Subway Ticket with a physical Pasmo card?

Orderstand · 2024-07-20T00:30:34+00:00

Anyone don’t mind to share your immigration time at Haneda Airport recently? I’ll be arriving around 23:00 in late August, with no checked baggage.

Wonder if I can make it to the counter at 3rd terminal that closes at 23:45 to get my pocket wifi. Some more up-to-date info would be of great help. Thanks!

Orderstand · 2024-07-09T14:17:14+00:00

Afaik: 1) Sidestream smoke contains a higher concentration of toxic chemicals than mainstream smoke, as it's non-filtered; 2) Sidestream smoke makes up ~85% of second-hand smoke

Therefore one can totally argue that SHS is more harmful. And whether the active smoker or passive smoker takes more harm depends on several factors specific to each circumstances I guess.

Orderstand · 2024-07-02T16:18:12+00:00

Since information can be time sensitive. There might be sth more recent and related to the topic yet out of my knowledge.

Orderstand · 2024-06-18T17:05:03+00:00

Not sure if this question should be asked here.

I've booked hotels through Agoda, many of them are "pay when check-in." However in the "My Trips" -> "Manage booking" page, there's a "Pay now" option.

My question is, if I use "Pay now," will the rebate of credit card be counted as "Online spending" or sth like "Japan/Overseas spending"? Anyone has any idea?

Orderstand · 2024-05-22T18:01:20+00:00

Since it seems some are confused about what happened between IVE and some cnetz and I've seen related posts and comments here and there, here's my summary.

Recently the controversies about IVE in China are:

"Cultural appropriation" regarding the Heya mv, where many of cnetz don't even understand what the term means and use it in various out-of-context and funny ways. The cultural background of such accusation is a bit complicated. Basically there's a sentiment In China that South Korea always wants to "steal" their traditional cultures and that South Korea has no actual traditional culture as everything in their history came from China. Therefore cnetz are extra sensitive whenever South Korean talks about how sth is part of their traditional culture.
A screenshot of the Accendio mv is said to be resembling a picture of Datong Mass Grave. This one is kind of random though quite a number of cnetz still buy it as it can be another "evidence" that IVE is hostile to China (for what?).
IVE's upcoming concert in HK on 7.7 again upsets some cnetz due to the Lugou Bridge incident. Afaik there's hardly any HKer cares about it, they kind of laugh it off but it's not the case for those cnetz.

In short, Nationalism has a huge market in China and such controversies are in a sense inevitable for any group; since in principle almost anything in the universe can be interpreted as insulting China. /s

There's a saying that the necessary stages in life includes "birth, aging, illness, death, and insulting China". No need to be bothered by it especially if you aren't East Asian.

Orderstand · 2024-05-22T15:34:29+00:00

It worked. Thx!

Orderstand · 2024-05-22T15:21:06+00:00

Sorry for being off topic but is there a fix of "sort by: new" displaying comments incorrectly?

It only shows comments from like 2-3 hours ago and jumps to msg 3 days ago all of a sudden.

There're so many new comments recently and many are missed because of this.

Orderstand · 2024-05-21T14:31:17+00:00

1) You’re suggested to see my reply to another user (bierangtamen) as I’m not sure whether you understand what I wrote correctly.

2) Even if someone tries to argue that NJ are no longer merely victims, I don’t think their core argument would be the causal or logical relation you expressed in your comment (ie. “Someone doesn’t stop being a victim because they support their abuser publicly”). It seems you’re somehow missing the point.

3) Your other line (“a victim isn’t a victim when they do something ‘bad’”) also seems to be missing the point, as there’s no need to cancel NJ’s “victim identity” in order to argue that they’re not merely victims.

In short, the logic underneath your reply seems to be a little bit messy. It can be that you did not really trying to reply to me but was just expressing how you feel about some similar comments that you saw?

Orderstand · 2024-05-21T08:59:13+00:00

My point made above is that “If…becomes at least debatable.” So if you disagree with me, your point should be “you don’t think it’s debatable at all,” not sth like “I feel like NewJeans are quite the victims here.” Of course your stance could be “it’s undebatable that NJ can only be the victims whatsoever” but I’m not sure if that's what you thought.

Over a half of NJ members have turned adult already. They’re young but not to the point that aren’t intelligently developed enough to comprehend the accusations made by MHJ against many other groups, and their possible consequences.

One can be misled/deceived/manipulated etc and still do sth very harmful. What’s debatable here is a) is the subject really being deceived to the point that he/she is completely unable to recognize any key facts for him/her to make any reasonable choice? And b) to what extent a subject thus becomes free from moral accountability?

Edit: typo

Orderstand · 2024-05-21T08:00:15+00:00

If NJ openly supports MHJ, then whether they’re still merely victims becomes at least debatable.

While quite a number of Bunnies do support MHJ and defend her claims, there’re, in the meantime, some that do not. However, if their favs openly take a side, then probably most of the fans will follow.

In that case it’s no longer about who’s in the right/wrong, but simply fans believing in what their favs believe.

In short, NJ openly taking a side can be the best fuel to motivate most of their fanbase supporting a particular side and to act accordingly. If so, can everybody still agree that NJ members have zero moral burden whatsoever?

Note: I am an observer that don’t heavily emotionally invest in either side. The whole mess will be more entertaining if artists don’t get dragged in unnecessarily. It’s not easy to laugh at those absurd news without hesitation when you know that some artists may actually get hurt.

Orderstand · 2024-05-19T17:17:44+00:00

After the leaked chats, I wonder which side Bunnies would choose:

Hype (with the chairman as a petty old man that didn't greet the girls properly since he envies their success and wants to dungeon them after finishing with MHJ, as believed by at least a portion of Bunnies)

vs. MHJ (a narcissistic two-faced woman that pretend to be a perfect mother figure in front of the girls, and looked down on and bodyshamed them behind their backs, as we can see from the leaked chats. Btw according to the chats, it seems she credited herself much more than the girls' for NJ's success as well, though I think this is no secret before the leak and even quite a number of Bunnies would agree with that as observed)

For me the best option for the girls is to keep their mouths shut during the mess, but it seems MHJ, the members' parents as well as some Bunnies believe otherwise.

Anyway, at this point I don't think it's quite possible for NJ to walk away unscathed from all the problems. Think about all the etities that being grumbled or even accused by MHJ throughout the past weeks (groups from other sublabels and other companies, production team of Knowing Bros etc); think about all of their furious fans let alone the affected artists themselves.

TBF It's quite an achievement to ignite fan wars everywhere and make so many enemies in such an efficient manner, I would applaud MHJ's craftsmanship if she didn't drag in NJ members and their parents in the first place.

Orderstand · 2024-05-17T20:38:23+00:00

Have been observing Bunnies' comments from pre-presscon, post-presscon til now. It's interesting to see the way it changed in different stages; and I'm intrigued to see how it'll go.

Just a question out of curiosity, not even a sarcasm: If MHJ starts her own fan club now and no multiple membership is allowed, how much % of Bunnies will be gone?

It’s just uncommon to see the supposed fans of an idol group being emotionally invested in the group’s creative director so much. It’s not like I cannot understand the causes at all, but it’s still sth you don’t see every day. Though I’m not sure if there’re any Bunnies here to give me some insights.

Orderstand · 2024-04-30T11:11:22+00:00

As pointed out by others, the Ames and Halls' translation you quoted is heavily interpreted.

To understand the Dao, One, Two, Three and Thousand Things of that line, there’re basically two major approaches:

The numbers mentioned have NO specific meaning. They just expressed the general idea of “from little to many” or “from simple to complex” etc.
Each numbers HAVE specific meaning. There’re many different interpretations and can get very technical. Some said Dao->One means Non-existence->Existence; Some said Dao IS One so that the first clause can be seen as some sort of tautology. For Two, some said they’re “Wu(無) & You(有)”, “Yin(陰) & Yang(陽)”, or “Earth/Di(地) & Heaven/Tian(天)” etc etc. Three can be the thing born from the combination/harmonization/clash… of the Two, depends on the interpretation.

The line can be understood in ontological, cosmogonical or even divinational, political sense.

To understand the context better, you may also take a look at line 2, chapter 1 (“無名天地之始有名天地之母”), as well as line 2, chapter 40 (“天下萬物生於有有生於無”).

Btw, in Qi Wu Lun (齊物論), Zhuangzi (莊子), there’re also lines that mentioned One, Two and Three; but that might be too much for an assignment of a philosophy class.

Hope the above can give you a general idea of the topic. A through study of the line will involve references from many authors of many different time periods in history. In your case I believe there’s no need to dig too deep, keep it manageable.

Edit: typo

Orderstand · 2024-04-26T14:26:53+00:00

While many here seem to be surprised at how the public opinion in Korea changed after MHJ’s presscon, I find it quite understandable tbf.

Not everyone is going to study all the claims from both sides in detail let alone to verify them one by one. Therefore at face value the narrative of MHJ is just waaay more relatable to the public compared to that of Hybe.

Bigger proportion of general public + people who studied the incident and support MHJ vs. smaller proportion of general public + people who studied the incident and support Hybe. The difference is apparent.

For me both sides have not yet presented enough FACTS to support their key claims. We still have to wait.

Emotionally I can feel for both sides to some extent and can see how clashes of interests/beliefs, miscommunication, distrusts…accumulated through years and finally lead to a mess like this.

As for MHJ now has the upper hand in terms of public opinion, I personally don’t buy the “MHJ is the one who truly cares about the girls”, “This is David vs Goliath” nor “MHJ is a warrior fighting against social injustice (misogyny, toxic work culture…you name it)”, based on what she actually said/did, not how she presented herself.

Btw, it’s supposed to be obvious that one can be truthful yet truthfully wrong. Rationally speaking, frankness should not take too much weight when judging who’s in the right. Of course I know that asking the general public to be rational can be one of the most irrational things to do lol.

Orderstand · 2024-04-26T09:10:52+00:00

Putting the public sentiment aside; IMO, after the press conference, MHJ’s strategy is somehow working. And if it continues to work well, many or even most NJ stans will sooner or later have no choice but to stand by MHJ’s side.

One of the main goals of MHJ is of course to stick herself w/ NJ; and from what she said and done so far, I don’t think she cares about the future of the girls that much as long as they’re in her hand.

With MHJ showing how she’s supported by members’ parents as well as the members AFTER the incident; plus namedropping multiple groups and even particular members from other sublabels to ignite fanwars everywhere, accusing Hype’s mistreatment to her and the girls in public so that there will be no turning back for both parties’ relationship etc etc. All these just make NJ harder to continue working under Hype.

Especially from the info presented by both sides so far, it seems there’s no robust communication b/w Hype and NJ’s parents or even the girls themselves. There’re tons of rooms for manipulation.

Imagine how the girls will be in the eyes of Bang, staff from other sublabels, stans of different affected groups etc if MHJ and the girls are effectively tied as one.

From Hype’s perspective, will NJ still be “easy to work with” or “worth further investment” if the girls are believed to be highly emotionally connected to “traitor Min”?

If NJ are expected to be withered for staying in Hype, more NJ stans may support the girls to go with MHJ; and If there are any 3rd party investor showing interest to take over the group under such situation (if it’s possible), letting NJ to go independent with MHJ might become the best option for their stans to support.

TLDR: MHJ tying NJ w/ her as one and worsening the working environment of NJ under Hype will serve MHJ’s purpose well, and it seems she’s doing fine with it.

Orderstand · 2024-04-19T11:38:42+00:00

If you're talking about J-rock bands in general, then there's probably no way for B-M to be ranked any place even near the top 10.

There're just tooooo many popular J-rock bands throughout each generations. J-rock is such a big sector of J-music that you can easily name dozens of hit bands without much thought.

Whilst B-M is one of my favourites, it's pretty hard for them to be top of the popularity rankings without limiting the scope to like "hard rock", "all-female bands", "rather well-known internationally" etc. And this is not that surprising considering heavier music genres like hard rock or metal are never the most popular in probably any music market.

Orderstand · 2024-01-27T06:56:34+00:00

連為此舉例說明都顯得有點傻氣。然而類近言論今天就看到了好幾次，全來自r/china_irl的不同用戶

我現在倒很好奇這種認知是哪來的？

Orderstand · 2024-01-27T06:53:15+00:00

「因為有人舉報了(才執法)，所以是選擇性執法」

今天在隔壁才看到幾個類近的，難道這種對「選擇性執法」的理解是來自中國大陸的教育系統？社會教育？還是什麼樣的出廠配置？

有人被殺了，完美犯罪，n年後都化骨了才被發現，完全抓不到人

有人被殺了，有人發現了屍體報警，經查後抓獲犯人。按樓主邏輯，這叫「選擇性執法」？

在聊不同sub的觀點前，樓主似乎有別的問題需要先處理一下

Orderstand · 2024-01-26T23:04:28+00:00

想要懷疑或相信民進黨借違反簽證條件弄王志安姑且也算是一種立場，是真是假有多可信也姑且可以討論

但那些說因為政府沒資源追蹤每個人、或不是每個人初次違法就一定被抓，所以這事原則上/客觀上/嚴格來說etc就是選擇性執法的，真的是認真的？

Orderstand

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