Author: Japan Reacts Editorial

On 5ch’s “Nandemo Jikkyo G” board, a 34-year-old single thread starter posted looking for a new hobby. Suggestions poured in covering everything from shogi, bass guitar, and hair removal treatments to mountain bike downhill riding and travel, though the OP gently shot down suggestions like pickup artistry and gambling. What stood out was how much the thread leaned on posters’ own firsthand experience — one commenter shared having played shogi for three to four years after starting in their 30s, another cited a concrete figure of “13 sessions for 110,000 yen” spent on hair removal, and someone mentioned their company even has a light music club.

※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (“Nandemo Jikkyo G”) thread “A Thread to Give Me (34), a Single Guy, a New Hobby.”

NHK has resumed door-to-door sales operations through an outside contractor — sales it discontinued in 2023 — NHK confirmed to reporters on the 21st. The broadcaster has posted deficits ever since cutting its fees that same year, and aims to boost fee revenue by strengthening its sales operations. NHK says it is expanding its in-person approach on a trial basis. On 5ch threads, there was a notable divide between practical tips on how to handle door-to-door reps and differing views over the fact that, while signing a receiving contract is a legal obligation under the Broadcast Act, there’s no criminal penalty for it — enforcement instead comes through civil lawsuits.

NHK has resumed outsourcing door-to-door sales visits aimed at signing new receiving contracts to an outside contractor, NHK confirmed to reporters on the 21st.

Contracted door-to-door sales were discontinued in 2023, but the broadcaster has posted deficits ever since that year’s fee cut, and is strengthening its sales operations to boost fee revenue.

NHK explained: “We have decided to expand our in-person approach on a trial basis.”

Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Read the original article here

40AnonymousSep 21, 2026 21:55

How to avoid paying the fee

※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project board) thread “NHK resumes door-to-door sales visits it discontinued in 2023, aiming to boost fee revenue by strengthening its sales operations.”

On 5channel’s News VIP board (news4vip), a buzzer-style quiz tournament was held to mark Respect for the Aged Day. In this template-style thread, quizmaster “Rx” poses questions while participants race to answer and rack up points — this time framed as a special “10th Anniversary SO: Respect for the Aged Commemoration” round. The questions ranged widely, from basic geography (name that salt lake) to trivia about the Naoki Prize won by sci-fi writer Shin’ichi Hoshi, to a pun question tying “Monte Carlo” to earthquake news. Along the way, a dispute broke out over whether “wansaka” (a Japanese word resembling onomatopoeia) really counts as a mimetic word, prompting the quizmaster to revise a ruling after being called out.

※This article is composed as an excerpt and summary of the 5ch (News VIP) thread “[After the High School Quiz Championship] Monday Night Quiz Thread [Let’s have a quiz showdown!].”

NHK’s “Japan’s Hard-to-Clean Buildings Directory” featured Shinjuku’s Cocoon Tower, with Morning Musume。’26 member Rio Sakurai brought on as host. The show explores a building’s structure and charm through the lens of window cleaning, and this episode’s subject was a cocoon-shaped skyscraper standing 50 stories and 200 meters tall. On 5ch, threads buzzed with reactions to the broadcast starting a few minutes late, surprise that the L-shaped earthquake/typhoon info ticker varies by region, and praise for Sakurai’s composed hosting.

Japanese building architecture draws worldwide attention for its striking designs and advanced technology. As more buildings take on bold, unconventional shapes, it’s often hard to imagine how their windows even get cleaned.

Using window cleaning as an entry point actually reveals a building’s deeper appeal.

This time, the stage is Cocoon Tower, the symbolic skyscraper of Nishi-Shinjuku — a mysterious, cocoon-like shape standing 50 stories and 200 meters tall.

Source: web.nhk / original article here

※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project board) thread “■ Rio Sakurai ■ Japan’s Hard-to-Clean Buildings Directory: Shinjuku Cocoon Tower ■ NHK 22:30-23:00 ■“.

On 5ch’s Hello! Project board, a thread heated up over which Hello! Project group trainee Suzuki Kotomi should ultimately be placed in. While posters rated her looks highly, opinions on her singing and dancing skills were mixed, with some sarcastically suggesting she ‘just go to a group where you only have to move to the beat.’ Others pointed to precedents like ‘even Ishiyama turned out fine,’ citing members whose skills were once doubted but who later grew into their roles, suggesting she could still develop with the right training. As for specific placements, multiple group names came up — including Tsubaki Factory, Juice=Juice, and Rosy Chronicle — sparking discussion that weighed height and compatibility with existing members.

32AnonymousSep 21, 2026 20:47

※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project board) thread ‘How to make good use of Suzuki Kotomi-chan in Hello! Project ← Isn’t this actually pretty tough?‘.

With ANGERME’s fall tour stop in Nagoya just a day away, group leader Ise took to her blog to appeal to fans, writing that she’d love to see more people come in on day-of tickets. In the 5ch live-discussion thread, posters pointed to the fact that sister group Juice=Juice’s shows around the same time had sold out in advance, raising doubts about whether the venue capacities chosen for ANGERME actually match its real drawing power. At the same time, some voiced fatigue with seeing this kind of turnout appeal made ahead of nearly every show, so opinions split between blaming the agency’s venue choices for the weak turnout and taking issue with the repeated appeals themselves.

Tomorrow’s the fall tour stop in Nagoya!

Honestly, I’d love for more of you to grab day-of tickets and come!

There’s still room to get in…!

Source: ameblo.jp / Original article here

*This article has been excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project) thread “”zMƒ‰ƒCƒuI‚¦‚½ˆÉ¨ƒŠ[ƒ_[u–¾“ú‚ÍHƒcƒA[–¼ŒÃ‰®I³’¼A‚Ü‚¾‚Ü‚¾“–“úŒ”‚Å“ü‚Á‚Ä‚Ù‚µ‚¢I‚Ü‚¾“ü‚ê‚é‚ñ‚Å‚·ccI’‹‚à–é‚àIv.”

A thread titled “Is it true that pharmacists don’t even earn that much and have unstable jobs?” got lively on 5ch. The discussion ranged from pay and working conditions to broader industry structure — covering the gap in difficulty between pharmacy school and medical school, fears that AI will replace dispensing work, layoffs among MRs (medical representatives), and the possibility of cuts to dispensing fees. Opinions that “AI can’t take responsibility, so the pharmacist job itself won’t disappear” coexisted with views that “the number of pharmacists will be scaled back going forward,” making for a discussion that leaned toward neither simple optimism nor pessimism.

※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “Is it true that pharmacists don’t even earn that much and have unstable jobs?“