Maybe I was in the wrong parts of Tokyo/Osaka, but I do try to walk all over the place when I travel; there weren't a lot of families going out to eat, or at the malls/shopping areas, or whatever.
However, you'll see train cars full of young kids going to and from school, unsupervised as far as I could tell. There are parks with play equipment all over, and I would run into kids during the day at combinis or 7/11s or whatever being kids. Probably more like what I remember growing up in the 70s was like in the US. I can't imagine a couple dozen third-fourth-fifth graders jumping on a train unsupervised in the US.
A lot more children out riding bikes unsupervised, as well.
I was in Tokyo for the golden week last year; there were lots of kids and parents running around. It might be that Tokyo is an internal tourist destination for that week that skewed my perception, though.
I love how in Japan children are free to go wherever unsupervised and there is essentially an unwritten rule that adults all just keep an eye on them. And as a result children as young as 6/7 can take public transport to get to school on their own. A real mark of how safe a place is...
> It might be that Tokyo is an internal tourist destination for that week that skewed my perception, though.
It's rather the opposite - families leave Tokyo to visit the grandparents still living in more rural areas. But when schools are out you'll always see more kids.
Charlottesville was actually the downfall of those white nationalist groups. Ever since then they have lost supporters, been deplatformed, and pushed back into obscurity. Also, the type of militant white nationalism you saw at Charlottesville has definitely not had any real influence on the administration (just like how antifa protesters don't have any influence on the Democratic party).
> Also, the type of militant white nationalism you saw at Charlottesville has definitely not had any real influence on the administration (just like how antifa protesters don't have any influence on the Democratic party).
I'm honestly not sure if you're being sarcastic here.
No, I am not. Many of these white nationalist types want to send all African Americans to Alaska gulag-style, yet you don't see Trump talking about that, do you? Where's the wall? What happened to Steve Bannon and all the non-mainstream Republicans that were in the white house? Why isn't Trump talking about deporting all Muslims? Moreover, these people also hate Israel because they are anti-Semitic, yet Trump is one of the biggest champions of Israel. You see, I am not talking about alt-lite people like Ben Shaprio, I am talking about the neo-nazi, "Defend Evropa" people who were the main sources of outrage during Charlottesville. These are not Fox news Republicans. These people have no actual power compared to the Koch Brothers and lobbyists who are the actual influencers in the white house.
Ah, I was looking at this the other way around, as a lot of people would say that Antifa protesters do in fact have some influence over the Democratic party.
It wasn't always like this. There has been a steady rightwards drift these past years and now it has become much further to the right than both Scott and the majority of the blog's audience.
