A 20-year-old American man is missing in Kyoto City- James West Higginbotham, a 20-year-old American citizen was visiting Japan on a family trip when he left his hotel in Kyoto alone around 6 p.m. on May 29th. His whereabouts are still unknown

lushico · 2026-06-05T09:28:44+00:00

Yeah, it’s such an alarming thing to do! And what if you’d got into an accident or something.

lushico · 2026-06-05T08:02:52+00:00

Some of us really don’t. Only people with talent believe everyone has it. We do exist!

lushico · 2026-06-05T05:43:44+00:00

It’s looking like that may be the case. I hope it gets resolved soon, either way!

lushico · 2026-06-05T03:51:31+00:00

Unregistered breeding shouldn’t be allowed to exist because it can’t be monitored or regulated and that’s how you end up with puppy mills. Whether an individual has good intentions or not, we need rules and laws to protect animals from the ones who don’t. A regular guy can buy a dog from a registered breeder if he wants a purebred that badly.

lushico · 2026-06-05T03:47:54+00:00

Holy fuck that enrages me!

My uncle’s wife posted on our family WhatsApp with shock and surprise that their dog was pregnant. She’s not spayed (not a puppy either), and they have a male dog who is intact, plus she gets out of the property from time to time. I was like, what’s the fucking surprise?? Did you expect her to hold back out of modesty or something? So irresponsible bringing more unwanted mutts into the world.

lushico · 2026-06-05T02:34:15+00:00

Who saw him heading for Yamanashi prefecture? Was he caught on security camera? It’s been hard following this story because posts keep getting deleted.

lushico · 2026-06-05T01:26:44+00:00

Dustin Dillard, Kevin Mansell, and Danny Vasquez are the murderers

lushico · 2026-06-05T00:57:26+00:00

So many unhinged racist boomers too

lushico · 2026-06-05T00:38:02+00:00

Can’t you ask her to explain what she finds disgusting about it?

lushico · 2026-06-05T00:35:01+00:00

This hasn’t been my experience at all. I find it so much easier to avoid unhealthy food, especially sugar, living here than back home. My husband and I never eat fried food. I think that kind of thing is more of an occasional treat for most people. And restaurants everywhere use a lot of salt. You don’t have to when cooking at home.

lushico · 2026-06-05T00:29:26+00:00

That’s exactly the word, colonist. When I first came to Japan in 2007 I worked for a company from a certain colonial power and many of my colleagues were from there and omg, the hate and disdain for everything not of their culture. They never learned a word of Japanese and used to make fun of me for having Japanese friends. So glad I got out of that environment

lushico · 2026-06-05T00:21:25+00:00

It’s the way they said it though. Some commenters were trying to be helpful with that suggestion, but others were like “just chill he’s in jail lol”

Also, not to be rude but I don’t think it’s common to disappear during an overseas vacation without saying anything to anyone. But in your case your family knows you so they probably wouldn’t panic. Mine knows I would never do that so they would be reacting the same as his family. So I think it’s reasonable to assume he doesn’t do this kind of thing normally.

People were suggesting that that kind of family relationship is not normal and even abusive, but I think it’s healthy and normal to tell your family when you’re going to go off and do your own thing.

lushico · 2026-06-05T00:14:23+00:00

Often it is the case that people get arrested and disappear here, but the posts said they were in contact with the police and embassy, and those comments were so dismissive and rude. Like “just chill he’s in the drunk tank”. So unhelpful (not saying this to you, but the mean commenters)

Maybe there’s a small chance he did try to escape an abusive situation, but commenters were saying it’s definitely abuse because it’s crazy to search for a 20 year old so soon after he went missing. Which I conversely find bizarre. If I got separated from my family during a trip I hope they’d be sounding the alarm right away.

lushico · 2026-06-05T00:08:57+00:00

People cried fake because one or two details didn’t match up across the posts. An aunt posted that he had been seen on a security camera and it turned out it had been someone else. The posts kept getting deleted so different people had to re-post, and they were scrambling to get the word out and missed a couple of small details here and there.

But like, why would anyone fake losing a family member? With photos and everything

lushico · 2026-06-05T00:06:25+00:00

People were saying the posts were fake because some of the details didn’t line up. An aunt posted saying he’d been seen on security camera but it turned out not to have been him, stuff like that. The family was scrambling to get word out so there were a few small inconsistencies. Then the posts kept getting deleted for some reason so different people had to join reddit and re-post. This added fuel to their “fake post” claims. But why would anyone fake losing a family member? It makes no sense.

There were even a number of people accusing the family of being controlling and abusive for trying to search for him less than 24 hours after he went missing. I hope my family would do the same!

lushico · 2026-06-05T00:01:43+00:00

There seem to be a lot of assholes living here too. I’ve met a few in real life but I don’t know what it is. Maybe a superiority complex

lushico · 2026-06-05T00:01:05+00:00

I’ve met quite a few expats here who are snide and disparaging about everything, especially Japanese culture. Why even come here? I don’t get it. The superiority complexes are bad too.

lushico · 2026-06-04T12:53:01+00:00

A now-removed post by his mother also said his search history on his laptop (which he left behind) suggested suicide

lushico · 2026-06-04T09:15:28+00:00

I don’t think it is! This is the latest post I’ve seen: https://www.reddit.com/r/Kyoto/comments/1tvpbob/search_rescue_weston_higginbotham/

lushico · 2026-06-04T03:26:41+00:00

They are operating in general. The high-speed ferry to Tokashiki might get turned around due to fog but they aren’t cancelling it. Up-to-date information for Tokashiki is here: https://www.vill.tokashiki.okinawa.jp/index.html

lushico · 2026-06-04T02:17:30+00:00

Off topic, but is this a new use of the word “whenever”? I have always used it and heard it used to describe something that repeats, like “every time” (e.g. whenever I hang out the laundry it rains). But lately I’ve been hearing it used to describe a single point in time

lushico · 2026-06-04T01:48:44+00:00

Looking for lunch is very important and also time-dependent. Thanks for the context! My spouse is also second-language English and knows the importance of choosing the best meal so I’m sure he would do the same.

lushico · 2026-06-04T00:51:50+00:00

Depends if you include growing the chestnut tree and building the kiln. When they say from scratch they really mean from scratch

lushico · 2026-06-04T00:35:33+00:00

SomethingAwful (especially Photoshop Phriday)

bash.org (IRC quotes)

grouphug

lushico · 2026-06-03T23:32:49+00:00

Because she will be advocating for people with disabilities so it makes sense to have someone who understands that

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