Japan Reacts

Author: Japan Reacts Editorial

  • Kubo Takefusa Benched for a Third Straight Match as Real Sociedad Fall 1-2 to Bournemouth

    Real Sociedad’s Japan international midfielder Takefusa Kubo was again left out of the starting lineup for Matchday 1 of the Europa League against Bournemouth on the 17th, marking his third consecutive match starting from the bench. He didn’t take the field until after the 80th minute, and his side went on to suffer a 1-2 defeat at home at the Reale Arena. Kubo was a key player for Sociedad the last time they featured in the Europa League, but this time the situation appears to be shifting. On 5channel discussion threads, posters voiced growing concern over his slump, pointing to his lack of goals so far this season and the buzz around his valuation in the summer transfer market.

    On the 17th, in Matchday 1 of the Europa League’s league phase, Real Sociedad lost 1-2 to Bournemouth at their home ground, the Reale Arena. Japan international midfielder Takefusa Kubo started on the bench for the third straight match, coming on after the 80th minute.

    Will Takefusa Kubo end up as “just another player”? At 25, his deadline to reach world class is closing in 【On-the-ground report】

    Sociedad won the Copa del Rey last season and returned to the Europa League stage for the first time in two seasons. Kubo was an undisputed key figure for the team the last time they played in the competition, but this season’s opening EL match signaled a change in his standing.

    Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here

    2AnonymousSep 18, 2026 06:45
    And a guy like this is supposed to be a superstar?
    No wonder the World Cup round of 32 is the best we can manage.
    4AnonymousSep 18, 2026 06:47
    The moment I saw him saying there's a huge gap between the young players and the current national team squad, I knew this guy was done.
    He must have gotten seriously full of himself.
    8AnonymousSep 18, 2026 06:50
    Kubo-kun, estimated bench press: 40kg.
    9AnonymousSep 18, 2026 06:50
    Maybe he showed promise when he was young, but in the end he turned out to be a letdown.
    12AnonymousSep 18, 2026 06:52
    Good thing he was on the bench today –
    he'll probably start against that garbage-tier Valencia next, huge chance for him.
    13AnonymousSep 18, 2026 06:52
    But why's a club like Sociedad even playing in the Europa League in the first place?
    16AnonymousSep 18, 2026 06:55
    Re: #13
    They won the cup competition without Kubo.
    14AnonymousSep 18, 2026 06:53
    He'd do better in the Premier League –
    go beg on your knees to a club like Ipswich.
    15AnonymousSep 18, 2026 06:55
    A player in an attacking position who doesn't get involved in goals –
    of course his playing time is shrinking.
    17AnonymousSep 18, 2026 06:55
    Wait, this guy is seriously being hyped as Japan's best player?
    No wonder we only make the round of 32.
    20AnonymousSep 18, 2026 06:56
    They've got Spain's ace and Japan's ace on the pitch, so why is this team so weak?
    21AnonymousSep 18, 2026 06:57
    Re: #16
    Ah, so that was just a reward for winning the Copa del Rey trophy? lol
    22AnonymousSep 18, 2026 06:58
    It's reached the point where he can't close the gap anymore with Lee Kang-in, the guy who was supposed to be his rival.
    25AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:04
    Re: #22
    Big bro Kang-in scored some golazo with his right foot yesterday, huh? lol Toying with a tough side like Osasuna lol
    23AnonymousSep 18, 2026 06:58
    It's fine, we're a World Cup-winning nation after all (sarcasm – Japan has never actually won one), there are replacements to spare.
    24AnonymousSep 18, 2026 06:59
    Re: #1
    You should've put 'cousin of Kubo Rin' (the figure skater) in the thread title.
    28AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:09
    A player whose age has changed how people look at him – now he's just judged on whether he's useful or not, and it's over for him.
    29AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:10
    Well, the sports world is a business where most people are basically burnt out by their 40s.
    Baseball's the same – even Ohtani-san (Shohei Ohtani) is starting to show it in his 30s. Pathetic, lol.
    30AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:11
    It's not a matter of form – he's just worn down and can't run anymore.
    31AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:11
    👦🏻 Might be the same starting XI in 4 years too.
    32AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:11
    According to the true believers, he's supposedly flooded with offers every year, so maybe he should just transfer already.
    77AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:47
    Re: #32
    Also factor in his Basque ties, and the club preparing for his absence during the Asian Cup.
    33AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:12
    Mitoma's washed up with injuries now too, so what are we gonna do?
    38AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:13
    'The same starters now will still be starting at the World Cup in 4 years'
    'The young guys aren't developing'

    Look who's talking.
    51AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:18
    Re: #38
    Total jinx right there.
    44AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:15
    He's never reliably won a 1-on-1 duel in his life.
    You're seriously romanticizing the past.
    54AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:21
    Re: #44
    But didn't Take-cchi (nickname for Kubo) have like two golazos disallowed in a match against Real [Madrid] back in the day?
    67AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:32
    9 goals, 7, 5, 2 – his goal tally has dropped every single year. This season he's on 0 so far. At 25 it should normally be going the other way. This is Japan's ace.
    72AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:40
    Re: #67
    But wasn't Salah, one of the Premier League's top scorers, also a late bloomer? Maybe Kubo will have a massive awakening too if he gets his own 'Welcome to Anfield' moment (i.e., signs for Liverpool).
    71AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:39
    Sociedad missed their window to sell him too.
    76AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:45
    Re: #71
    This past summer transfer window:
    Kubo's market value crashed from ¥11.1 billion to ¥3.7 billion
    No offers from anywhere in Europe
    That's how it went.
    81AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:52
    Matarazzo played Ito loads of minutes, so the usual 'it's because he's Japanese' excuse doesn't even work here – it's checkmate.
    86AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:58
    Hasn't he just been bad this whole time? What happened to him?
    87AnonymousSep 18, 2026 08:00
    Re: #86
    This is just his actual level.
    92AnonymousSep 18, 2026 08:04
    Re: #86
    Might be down to that MCL injury (knee ligament) from our guy Danfuri's tackle back then…

    Background and Key Points of Debate

    Sociedad won last season’s Copa del Rey and returned to the Europa League this season, but their form hasn’t necessarily improved – they currently sit 10th in La Liga. Behind Kubo’s reduced playing time appears to be both a shift in the manager’s selection policy and changes in the club’s squad depth. Two main points of debate emerged in the thread: how to interpret his declining goal tally, which has fallen year over year from 9 to 7 to 5 to 2 to 0, and comparisons with his fellow-generation rival, South Korea international midfielder Lee Kang-in. Opinions were split on the first point, with some attributing it to a genuine decline in ability and others pointing to issues with formation and tactical usage. It’s worth noting that the figures cited for the drop in Kubo’s market value during the summer transfer window (from ¥11.1 billion to ¥3.7 billion) come from posts within the thread and could not be verified against the original article.

    ※This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5channel (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “[Soccer] Kubo Takefusa’s slump continues, becomes Sociedad’s ‘backup option’… benched three straight matches, comes on after the 80th minute. Team loses 1-2 to Bournemouth.”

  • Human Brain Organoid Transplanted Into a Mouse, Found to Function — 5ch: “Every Country Has Stopped Hesitating to Cross the Human Line”

    A research team at Stanford University in the US announced that they successfully transplanted brain organoids (mini-brains) made from human iPS cells into newborn mice genetically engineered to barely form a cerebral cortex or hippocampus, getting the organoid to integrate with the mouse’s brain and actually function. The findings were published in the online edition of the British journal Nature on September 16. The same team ran a similar experiment with rats back in 2022, but since a rat’s brain grows faster than a human one, the results were of limited use — so this time they used mice that lack most of their brain, giving the transplanted human tissue room to grow. On 5ch, brief comments debating the ethics of the technology were followed by a string of replies bringing up related neuroscience topics.

    Human brain organoid transplanted, found to function — in genetically engineered live mice, US university

    A Stanford University research team announced in the online edition of the British journal Nature on the 16th that they turned human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells into a cluster of brain nerve cells and transplanted them into the cerebrum of newborn mice engineered to lack a cerebral cortex and a hippocampus (the memory center) — and the tissue grew together with the mouse’s brain and began functioning.

    (Omitted below — see the source for the full article)

    Source: jiji.com / Original article here

    2AnonymousSep 17, 2026 23:21
    …Kill… me… (a classic creepy glitch-text meme phrase)
    3AnonymousSep 18, 2026 03:36
    Guess every country's stopped hesitating to cross the line of what it means to be human, huh.
    4AnonymousSep 18, 2026 03:53
    >> Human iPS cells and embryonic stem (ES) cells can be used to grow miniature simulated organs in a lab dish — tiny brains, hearts, livers, intestines — collectively called "organoids." They're useful for studying intractable diseases and screening drug candidates, but they can't form blood vessels, which means it's hard to supply them with oxygen and nutrients via blood, and researchers can't study how they'd interact with other tissues.
    5AnonymousSep 18, 2026 03:54
    >> The research team announced back in 2022 that they'd transplanted human brain organoids into the brains of newborn rats. The tissue grew and functioned to some degree, but since a rat's brain grows faster than a human one, the results were of limited use. So this time, to give the human brain organoid room to grow, they created newborn mice that barely develop a cerebral cortex and transplanted it into those instead.
    6AnonymousSep 18, 2026 03:55
    Doesn't this mean every psychiatric condition is going to end up 100% explained?
    7AnonymousSep 18, 2026 04:12
    >> Combine Re: #1 with the experiment below and couldn't you map the ADHD brain's structure 100%?

    [Nazology] Part of the mechanism behind ADHD onset uncovered, offering a treatment lead for "people the meds don't work on" [Slime★]
    2026/09/17
    https://egg.5ch.io/test/read.cgi/scienceplus/1789652126/
    8AnonymousSep 18, 2026 04:13
    >> Same topic as Re: #1, but the article below goes into more detail on just how much the brain was altered

    Human mini-brain transplanted into a mouse skull: the current state of Stanford's cross-species cortex model
    A study published in Nature transplanted human brain organoids into genetically engineered mice missing most of their cerebral cortex, reconstructing over 90% of the cortical region. Angiogenesis and the appearance of distinctive neuron types were confirmed, but the tissue's immaturity and the causal link to any behavioral improvement still call for careful verification.
    September 17, 2026
    https://xenospectrum.com/xenocortical-mice-human-brain-organoids-nature-study/
    10AnonymousSep 18, 2026 04:20
    Re: #9 continued

    …made up of billions of neurons, and takes close to 20 years to fully mature.
    Because the brain is shielded by the hard skull, there's been no way to observe at the cellular level how the postnatal brain develops.
    So scientists have been building mini-brains called "brain organoids" from human stem cells and studying them in the lab instead.
    But with older culturing methods, the neurons died off within a few months, so researchers could only observe the earliest, fetal-like stage.
    This time, Harvard's Professor Paola Arlotta and her team focused on "firing" — the spontaneous electrical signals neurons put out.
    Neurons are like muscles: stop using them and they atrophy.
    The team used a special culture medium that sustains this spontaneous firing, and managed to keep mini-brains healthy for over 5 years.
    The previous record was 694 days, so this is nearly three times as long. Some mini-brains in the lab have now hit the 7-year mark.
    12AnonymousSep 18, 2026 04:22
    Looking at Re: #9-11, the conditions for accelerating the research in Re: #1 have basically already been worked out.
    17AnonymousSep 18, 2026 04:30
    Looking at Re: #13-16, this actually ties right back into Re: #12.
    13AnonymousSep 18, 2026 04:24
    Brainless sponge larvae found to undergo rapid metamorphosis on cue at sunset
    Published: 2026-09-08 08:00
    https://karapaia.com/archives/626830.html
    A sponge larva mid-metamorphosis. Image credit: Océane Blard, CC BY
    It turns out that sponge larvae — which have neither brain nor nerves — can read changes in their surroundings and pull off a dramatic transformation of their own body.
    A research team at the University of Queensland in Australia found that free-swimming sponge larvae start prepping for metamorphosis using "sunset" as their cue.
    ★When a larva senses darkness falling, it pre-loads the DNA it'll need for metamorphosis so it's ready to be read at a moment's notice. Thanks to this advance prep, once the larva finds a spot to settle, it can anchor itself in just 30 minutes and immediately start remodeling its body.
    This research was published in the journal eLife (dated May 11, 2026).
    19AnonymousSep 18, 2026 04:34
    Looking at Re: #17-18, couldn't this crack schizophrenia wide open too?
    21AnonymousSep 18, 2026 04:42
    Re: #20 continued

    ★In the "healthy control" group and the "no hallucinations" group, this internal copy gets reinforced right before speaking, and it helps them properly predict their own voice.
    ★But in the "hallucinations" group, this mechanism was overactive even when they weren't trying to say anything in particular, kicking up disorganized "noise" in the brain.
    In other words, these processes made it easy for them to mix up real sounds with their own thoughts.
    ★According to the research team, when these two negative factors combine, some schizophrenia patients become far more likely to perceive thoughts or noise generated inside their own brain as sounds coming from outside.
    This study succeeded in revealing the disrupted brain signals behind auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia patients.
    24AnonymousSep 18, 2026 04:46
    Re: #23 continued

    They also looked beyond external senses to interoception — the sense of what's happening inside the body.
    Participants did two tasks: pressing a button whenever they felt their own heartbeat, and pressing a button in time with a recorded heartbeat sound.
    At the same time, the team recorded ECG and EEG data and calculated the Heartbeat-Evoked Potential (HEP), a measure of how the brain reacts to each heartbeat.
    Finally, by cross-referencing all these sensory-processing measures against how severe each patient's symptoms were, they analyzed how the neural processes behind distinguishing self from other were changing.
    26AnonymousSep 18, 2026 04:49
    Re: #25 continued

    The research team explains this with a "prediction mismatch."
    A healthy brain predicts the sensations its own actions are about to cause, and dampens its response when the prediction checks out.
    But in patients with psychotic disorders, that prediction doesn't work properly, so self-generated stimuli can end up feeling like "unexpected outside stimuli."
    That leads to misperceptions — your own voice sounding like someone else's, or feeling like someone else is controlling your body — which is thought to be behind symptoms like auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia and similar conditions.
    This finding shows that the line separating "self" from "other" is shaped not just by the brain, but at as fundamental a level as the spinal cord.
    That reframes hallucinations and delusions not as mere problems of the mind, but as glitches in sensory processing.
    The team says they plan to explore whether training or neurofeedback that corrects this kind of sensory mismatch could help ease symptoms.
    44AnonymousSep 18, 2026 08:07
    So what's the connection between an "organoid" and an "orgasm," anyway? (a pun on the similar-sounding words)
    45AnonymousSep 18, 2026 08:08
    Ta-daaa~ da-da-da-daaan~ (a triumphant little jingle sound)

    Background and key points of this discussion

    Brain organoids are experimental mini-brain tissues grown from iPS or ES cells. Since they lack blood vessels, oxygen and nutrients struggle to reach them, and on their own they can’t replicate how they’d interact with other organs. The Stanford team first tried transplanting organoids into newborn rats back in 2022, but because a rat’s brain grows faster than a human one, there were limits to what could be observed. This time, the trick was using mice genetically engineered to barely develop a cerebral cortex or hippocampus, giving the transplanted human tissue room to grow without competition. On the thread, some posters raised ethical concerns about the technology, while others voiced hope that it could advance basic research into psychiatric disorders. That said, it’s easy to misread this as “a mouse born with human consciousness” — in reality, this is still basic research at the disease-model stage.

    ※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Science News+) thread “Human brain organoid transplanted, found to function — in genetically engineered live mice, US university.”

  • Welfare Recipient’s iPhone Purchase Sparks Debate Over Savings Rules

    A thread on 5ch’s “Nandemo Jikkyo G” (anything-goes live-commentary) board went viral after a poster claimed a welfare recipient had bought an iPhone 18 Pro. The purchase appears to have been made with savings rather than a loan, which sparked debate over the system’s rules on how much a welfare payment gets cut when a recipient saves money. Some argued that simply owning the phone isn’t a problem, noting that the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare classifies smartphones as necessary equipment for recipients’ self-reliance, while others questioned why such an expensive iPhone was chosen over cheaper alternatives — leaving the thread split.

    14AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:01
    As long as they properly saved up the money for it, what's the problem?
    76AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:13
    Re: #14
    If you're on welfare, saving money gets your benefit payments cut.
    77AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:14
    Re: #76
    It's allowed up to a certain point — saving enough to swap phones like this is well within the limit.
    78AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:14
    Re: #76
    Wasn't it fine up to a certain amount?
    22AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:03
    Doesn't look like a loan, but how much are you actually allowed to save?
    28AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:04
    Re: #22
    Up to ¥19,000 is the amount you can earn without it being deducted.
    24AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:03
    How'd they come up with the money for it?
    Reselling their prescription meds??
    30AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:04
    Re: #24
    If that kind of hustle actually worked, everyone would be doing it.
    42AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:07
    Re: #24
    That counts as income — if you get caught, it's deducted from your benefits, plus you'd get arrested for a crime.
    145AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:46
    Re: #24
    It's the blue checkmark (ad revenue from a verified X/Twitter account).
    29AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:04
    Re: #27
    You do know they're not given enough to save up in the first place, right?
    31AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:05
    Re: #29
    Some people still manage to do it though.
    34AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:06
    Re: #30
    Everyone's doing it — that's why people keep getting busted for it.
    39AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:07
    Re: #34
    If people keep getting busted, then it's clearly not a working scheme.
    38AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:07
    Why don't they just switch to in-kind benefits instead of cash?
    40AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:07
    Re: #38
    That's just you being jealous.
    43AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:08
    Re: #38
    That would just add unnecessary costs.
    51AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:08
    Re: #38
    Handing out cash is the cheapest option by far.
    52AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:08
    Saving up gradually from living expenses to buy it isn't a problem, but paying in installments counts as debt, so that's off-limits (debt counts as income, and using welfare payments to repay debt is banned in principle).
    57AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:10
    Re: #52
    A phone bought through the carrier's residual-value installment plan (the same financing trick used to lease a Toyota Alphard) should be fine, right?
    53AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:09
    Sounds like the perfect crime if you don't get caught — flipping your stabilizers and sleeping pills on the side.
    58AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:10
    Re: #53
    You don't need to take a risk like that to save up — just cut back on food expenses instead.
    65AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:11
    Re: #53
    Probably shouldn't be handing smartphones to people with mental health struggles in the first place, honestly.
    56AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:09
    Re: #43
    Then maybe just don't give them welfare at all?
    87AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:20
    Is this thread just a bunch of welfare recipients hanging out?
    88AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:22
    Re: #79
    Dead serious, idiot.
    117AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:36
    Re: #88
    These days, keeping a certain amount saved up is actually recommended, in case something happens.
    143AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:45
    Re: #88
    You're allowed to save toward replacing appliances too.
    90AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:23
    Ever think about just working and buying it yourself instead of saving welfare money?
    93AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:23
    Re: #90
    If they could work, the welfare application wouldn't have been approved in the first place.
    94AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:25
    Re: #93
    Why would someone in that situation need an iPhone? Getting their life back on track should come first.
    96AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:26
    Re: #94
    The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has classified having a smartphone as important for recipients' self-reliance — it's treated as essential, if anything.
    99AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:27
    Re: #96
    Out of all the phones out there, why the expensive iPhone? There are plenty of dirt-cheap phones available.
    100AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:28
    Re: #99
    That's not really something other people get to decide for them.
    102AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:29
    Re: #99
    They can buy whatever they want, can't they?
    111AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:32
    Honestly, a surprising number of welfare recipients use iPhones.
    113AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:33
    Re: #111
    It's wild how they get talked into absurdly overpriced plans at the store.
    119AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:36
    Re: #111
    The Pro-model rate is high too.

    Background and Key Points of the Debate

    Japan’s welfare system includes a “basic deduction” mechanism that lets recipients keep a certain amount of employment income without it affecting their benefits, and the figure cited in the thread appears to refer to this rule — a separate matter from any cap on savings themselves, though several posts in the thread conflated the two. In practice, planned saving toward a specific, concrete purpose (such as replacing a home appliance) is permitted, whereas paying in installments (effectively taking out a loan) is treated as debt and is generally restricted, since it counts toward income assessments and using benefits to repay debt is against the rules. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare also classifies smartphones as equipment necessary for recipients’ employment and self-reliance, meaning ownership itself isn’t considered a problem under the system. That said, how expensive an item can be while still counting as a “necessity” is largely left to the discretion of local caseworkers — and it’s this gray area in how the rules are applied that lies behind the thread’s divided opinions.

    *This article is compiled as an excerpt and summary of the 5ch (“Nandemo Jikkyo G”) thread “[Image] Welfare Recipient Buys an iPhone 18 Pro! LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL.”

  • Marvel’s Wolverine User Score Drops to 6.4 After Mass Deletion of 10/10 Ratings

    The Metacritic user score for the PS5-exclusive title Marvel’s Wolverine started at 6.4, climbed to 6.7, and then fell back to around 6.4 after a wave of suspicious 10/10 ratings was removed — a development that became a hot topic on 5ch’s hardware/industry (“Geha”) board. While major outlets have largely scored the game in the 60s, posters shared screenshots showing that many of the accounts behind the deleted 10/10 reviews had only ever reviewed this one title. Opinion in the thread was split, with some drawing a contrast to Nintendo titles — where removing suspicious reviews tends to raise the score instead — and others wondering whether a wave of fake 0/10 reviews had also been quietly purged at the same time.

    User score starts at 6.4

    ↓

    Gets bombarded with 10/10 ratings and climbs to 6.7! 😤

    Source: metacritic.com / original article here

    10AnonymousSep 18, 2026 06:45
    ■ Sony games
    · Remove the fake reviews, score goes down ↓

    ■ Nintendo games
    · Remove the fake reviews, score goes up ↑


    Weird, huh!
    14AnonymousSep 18, 2026 06:46
    Re: #10
    No joke, this is exactly the problem lol
    It's painfully obvious which camp is behind it
    19AnonymousSep 18, 2026 06:49
    Re: #10
    Somehow everything the Sony camp does trends in the worst direction
    11AnonymousSep 18, 2026 06:45
    Re: #124
    It genuinely makes no sense that this looks worse than the low-spec Switch 2

    https://video.twimg.com/amplify_video/2100253715265458178/vid/avc1/1280×720/XiNDJH57QP6b2dos.mp4?tag=14

    Where did they even blow 40 billion yen (~$270M)?
    105AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:36
    Re: #11
    Probably went to "entertainment" expenses or something?
    20AnonymousSep 18, 2026 06:50
    Wasn't there 0/10 bombing too, not just 10/10 bombing???
    How can you be so sure it was only the 10/10s???
    23AnonymousSep 18, 2026 06:52
    Re: #20
    Even if there was 0/10 sabotage too, those scores would get flagged and removed at the same time

    And once the removal happened, the score dropped to 6.4 ← get what that means?
    24AnonymousSep 18, 2026 06:53
    Both the suspicious 10s and 0s are getting stripped out, so 6.4 is probably close to the true score
    Proof that the major outlets' ~60 scores were about right
    28AnonymousSep 18, 2026 06:55
    With this many bugs, and being able to progress without even controlling it properly, even 6.4 is too generous — though I guess it's fun to watch as a so-bad-it's-good title
    31AnonymousSep 18, 2026 06:56
    Re: #28
    Even Digital Foundry praised the graphics, so that's probably where it's earning its points

    Though even the graphics have rough spots here and there, like the lava and water
    42AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:01
    Marvel Tokon is also only pulling 200 concurrent players, so what's Sony gonna do about this

    Marvel must be furious at Sony
    50AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:08
    Re: #1
    https://ps-store-db.live/static/cards/shared/2026-09-17-36789241e149086d.png
    58AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:17
    Re: #50
    Capcom's got every right to be mad
    52AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:13
    You can drag the score down just by spamming low scores that stay just under the threshold for getting flagged
    Reviews really need to come from people who actually paid for the game, like store reviews
    65AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:21
    Re: #52
    But you guys don't even buy it, do you
    59AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:18
    Re: #57
    On Steam, the real question is what percentage of those reviews are tagged as "refunded"
    66AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:21
    Seriously ♪ the 10/10 review-bombing on Wolverine was brutal
    Tons of accounts giving it a 10 looked exactly like this




    69AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:22
    Re: #66
    Way too blatant, lol
    Could at least give it a 9, or review a few other games too — put in some effort 😭
    71AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:23
    Re: #66
    Well no wonder it got deleted
    74AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:24
    Re: #66
    These "only ever reviewed this one game" accounts have been around forever
    They haven't even changed their methods — they really haven't learned a thing lol
    83AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:28
    When it's this blatant, they've probably already factored in getting caught and removed — they just need the score boosted for even a moment to move some units
    86AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:30
    Re: #83
    It's got a low Metascore and got panned across the board by major outlets — review-bombing a dud like that isn't going to make it sell
    93AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:32
    Re: #86
    Compared to however much of the dev budget vanished without a trace, astroturfing costs are basically pocket change
    Though they're clearly putting effort into the wrong things
    101AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:35
    Re: #93
    Buying Bungie was a waste of money too, wasn't it…
    84AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:28
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    KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS　（ノ　　 >　　　　）u)))
    　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　/⌒￣　　 　　　ヽ　|
    　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　|　 |￣￣￣＼　　| .|
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    　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 　 　　 　 (＿＿）

    Games today are facing a crisis of creativity.
    Companies pour out massive promotional pushes and mount an aggressive sales campaign before the game's actual fun has even been discussed — a hit-and-run kind of sales tactic that's now treated as completely normal.
    85AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:29
    Re: #84
    That's Kojima Productions getting cut for Wolverine's sake 😭
    90AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:32
    Re: #84
    If they'd just spent the money they poured into Wolverine and Tokon on this instead, they could've easily afforded it
    102AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:36
    User score's down to 6.3 now, lol
    107AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:37
    Re: #102
    Once the 10/10 bombing got removed, the score just kept dropping…
    112AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:40
    Re: #102
    There's no stopping it now
    Like energy that's already started flowing, it can't be held back
    113AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:41
    Re: #102
    Even the user score's gone full Wolverine colors (i.e., it's all downhill from here)
    111AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:40
    Even so, its quality still beats every single game on the "trash Switch" (a derogatory nickname for the Nintendo Switch)
    116AnonymousSep 18, 2026 07:43
    Re: #111

    Major review outlet: "Fire Emblem is hundreds of times more fun than Wolverine"

    "Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave is a remarkably intelligent work, with deep and rich themes, characters, and gameplay systems.

    It's wonderful that, in the very same month the Wolverine movie released, one of the three major console makers/publishers is respecting players' intelligence and striving to make a more sophisticated game, rather than being trapped in the same tired 'best practices' repeated endlessly."

    https://www.digitallydownloaded.net/2026/09/review-fire-emblem-fortunes-weave-nintendo-switch-2.html

    Background and Talking Points

    Metacritic has a system that detects when the same accounts post a burst of extreme scores in a short window and strips those reviews out as a batch. The phenomenon of “the score drops once a wave of 10/10 ratings gets removed” isn’t unusual on its own, and it has happened repeatedly with major Western titles too. That said, this thread comes from 5ch’s hardware/industry (“Geha”) board, where discussions tend to fall along pro-Sony vs. pro-Nintendo lines, and it’s worth noting that the conversation also included comparisons to the opposite pattern seen with Nintendo titles, along with unsubstantiated speculation about Sony’s PR spending. This article sticks to the verifiable score changes and the review screenshots, and leaves out unsupported claims about companies or individuals as well as discriminatory language.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry, “Geha”) thread “[LMAO] Sony’s Wolverine user score drops back to 6.4 after mass deletion of 10/10 review-bombing www.”

  • Top US Economist Says BOJ Must Hike Rates to 1.5–2%, Predicts Yen Could Surge to ¥130/Dollar

    As the US Federal Reserve raises interest rates for the first time in roughly three years, speculation is growing that the Bank of Japan will also move to hike rates further. Paul Sheard, former vice chairman of S&P Global, argued that the BOJ needs to raise its policy rate to around 1.5–2%, and suggested that in the long run the yen could strengthen to the 130s or even 120s against the dollar. On 5ch, this proposal sparked lively debate over the relationship between interest rate differentials and exchange rates, the clash between expansionary and austerity fiscal policy, and how inflation affects different generations.

    As the US Federal Reserve (the Fed) moves to raise interest rates for the first time in about three years, expectations are growing that the Bank of Japan will also carry out an additional rate hike this week. A prominent American economist stated that the BOJ needs to raise its policy rate to somewhere around 1.5% to 2%.

    (omitted)

    Paul Sheard, former Vice Chairman of S&P Global

    Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here

    67AnonymousSep 18, 2026 05:05
    A US rate cut is coming eventually.
    Japan should get its rate up to neutral before that happens —
    that's the only way the rate gap actually starts closing.
    Looks like it could happen sometime next year though.
    71AnonymousSep 18, 2026 05:06
    Re: #67
    With the midterms on November 3rd making Trump a lame duck, won't the pressure for rate cuts ease up?
    72AnonymousSep 18, 2026 05:07
    Re: #67
    And what about inflation?
    91AnonymousSep 18, 2026 05:17
    This is cost-push inflation,
    so hiking rates won't do a damn thing.
    Houses won't sell and we're headed straight into a recession.
    Meanwhile the government's interest payments wreck the budget.
    97AnonymousSep 18, 2026 05:17
    Re: #91
    Sounds like a realtor sweating bullets lol
    104AnonymousSep 18, 2026 05:21
    Re: #91
    >This is cost-push inflation,
    >so hiking rates won't do a damn thing.
    >Houses won't sell and we're headed straight into a recession.
    >Meanwhile the government's interest payments wreck the budget.

    Yeah, clearly a realtor panicking, but it's obvious this is just copy-pasted straight from generative AI lol.
    I get answers from "Caude" (sic — presumably means Claude) that match this word-for-word all the time.
    143AnonymousSep 18, 2026 05:39
    Japan's carry trade did the world a favor,
    but it looks like the US is finally moving to put an end to it.
    147AnonymousSep 18, 2026 05:41
    Where exactly in today's Japan is the case for long-term yen appreciation, seriously lol
    Exchange rates aren't decided by interest rates alone.

    Japan's population is shrinking and will keep aging with a falling birthrate for the long haul — there's no way the yen strengthens under those conditions.
    150AnonymousSep 18, 2026 05:43
    Re: #147
    That whole "responsible expansionary fiscal policy" leading to "growth" is a total lie.

    Apparently the top priority sector is AI,
    so our tax money ends up funding American Big Tech instead.
    242AnonymousSep 18, 2026 06:10
    Re: #147
    A Big Mac costs ¥600 in Japan versus the equivalent of ¥800 in the US
    161AnonymousSep 18, 2026 05:48
    Re: #147
    Aging populations and low birthrates aren't some exclusive Japanese problem.
    Especially on the birthrate front, Japan's actually one of the better-off countries in East Asia these days.
    168AnonymousSep 18, 2026 05:50
    Re: #161
    True, Germany and Italy have a similar average age to Japan and they're seeing solid economic growth.

    Japan's the only one in steady decline.
    https://imgur.com/MrcH9mf.jpeg
    196AnonymousSep 18, 2026 06:00
    Re: #189
    If I knew what sector was going to grow, I wouldn't be a politician or a bureaucrat — I'd be running my own business with that knowledge.
    Could you have predicted stickers would become a huge trend?
    206AnonymousSep 18, 2026 06:04
    Re: #196
    Exactly — that's precisely why the state has currency-issuing power, letting it invest in all kinds of areas companies simply can't replicate.

    And since infrastructure upkeep isn't being done properly, flood damage keeps rising, which just drives up reconstruction costs even more.
    225AnonymousSep 18, 2026 06:07
    Re: #206
    You still haven't reached the point of realizing that currency-issuing power itself is the problem.
    Still got a long way to go.
    245AnonymousSep 18, 2026 06:11
    Re: #225
    Issuing currency isn't the problem in itself — issuing it improperly is the problem.
    What matters is getting money into citizens' hands, not the government spending it.
    264AnonymousSep 18, 2026 06:15
    Re: #258
    Rich people prefer inflation lol,
    since it drives up the value of their assets.
    You don't actually think rich people keep their wealth in cash, do you? lol
    265AnonymousSep 18, 2026 06:15
    Re: #264
    Sorry, I meant everyone except the rich.
    269AnonymousSep 18, 2026 06:17
    Re: #265
    Inflation is actually better for young people.
    Just look at now, in this inflationary period —

    the job-openings-to-applicants ratio is at an all-time high,
    and starting salaries are at an all-time high too.

    That's exactly why the Takaichi administration has such high approval among young people.
    276AnonymousSep 18, 2026 06:19
    Re: #269
    Young people get old eventually too, you know.
    And on top of that, those same young people are getting married even less than they did back in the deflation era lol
    279AnonymousSep 18, 2026 06:19
    Re: #269
    True enough.
    Inflation means my savings are effectively losing a few percent of their real value every year,
    so it does narrow the gap between young and old.

    Background and Key Points of the Debate

    Speculation about a BOJ rate hike tends to be discussed alongside expectations of yen appreciation from a narrowing US-Japan rate gap, but as commenters in the thread pointed out, exchange rates aren’t determined by rate differentials alone — structural factors like the trade balance and demographics matter too. The “carry trade” refers to borrowing low-interest yen to invest in overseas assets, and it’s often cited as a key reason the BOJ kept rates pinned down for so long. The fight between expansionary and austerity fiscal policy has raged for decades; it’s true Japan’s government debt-to-GDP ratio is among the highest of any major economy, but economists themselves are split on whether that’s actually a problem, so it’s not a topic that reduces neatly to right and wrong.

    *This article is compiled as an excerpt and summary of the 5ch (News Speed+) thread “Prominent US economist says Japan needs to raise rates to 1.5–2%, “In the long run, levels of ¥130 or ¥120 to the dollar”.”

  • Kojima: ‘PHYSINT Is the Culmination of My 40+ Year Career’

    Director Hideo Kojima’s remark that his new game “PHYSINT” will be “the culmination of my career spanning over 40 years” became a hot topic on 5channel’s Hardware/Industry (“Geha”) board. PHYSINT was originally announced as a partnership with Sony, but development has continued since then with funding from Microsoft — and that change in backer became the main point of debate in the thread. Since Sony is said to have posted losses around the same time on several exclusive titles including Concord, Marathon, and Wolverine, opinions split between “PHYSINT got cut over internal politics rather than profitability” and “it simply wasn’t profitable,” and the discussion kept going.

    1AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:34
    So did Sony cancel it?
    8AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:37
    Because it doesn't turn a profit.
    Lucky MS was willing to foot the bill.
    10AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:37
    Re: #8
    Wait, what happened to the whole "PS is profitable" narrative? 😅
    12AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:39
    Re: #10
    PS overall is profitable.
    It's just that Kojima's project alone was in the red,
    so it got written off as bad debt, that's all.
    14AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:40
    He's just talking big — there's stuff he needs to do before that.
    If he doesn't deliver results, all that big talk gets thrown out with it.
    16AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:43
    Re: #12
    They lost way more on the Bungie acquisition (600 billion yen) and Wolverine (50 billion yen) though.
    On top of that they've had flop after money-losing flop — Saros, The Last of Us Online, Concord, Marathon, "Space Baldy" (a mocking nickname for one of Sony's sci-fi titles), and the God of War spin-off centered on "the wife."

    Why should Kojima Productions have to clean up that mess? 😩
    21AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:46
    Re: #16
    Whichever project has the worst internal evaluation gets cut first.
    That's all it is.
    LOL, what a pointless rebuttal.
    23AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:48
    Re: #21
    That just means Sony's ('Cheap-ny's,' a mocking nickname for Sony) internal evaluations are wrong 🤭
    71AnonymousSep 18, 2026 01:43
    Re: #21
    Sounds like at Sony, the bigger the losses, the higher the internal evaluation 🤣🤣🤣
    20AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:46
    A sudden engine switch has got to be demoralizing.
    Kojima Productions can probably handle UE5 fine, but a hassle's still a hassle.
    24AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:48
    Re: #20
    They're still at the stage of making OD (Kojima's other upcoming title), so this shouldn't have much impact.
    This one's next in line after that.
    22AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:46
    Death Stranding was boring anyway.
    If it can't even clear the sales bar, there's nothing to expect from this one either.
    27AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:51
    Re: #22
    ???

    Concord, Marathon, Saros, and Wolverine all failed to clear the sales bar even worse than that 😟
    29AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:52
    Re: #22
    Well, in reality it got a Metascore of 89 (91 on PC)
    and a GOTY nomination, so…
    99AnonymousSep 18, 2026 02:31
    Re: #22
    Still, it's the most fun of all the Sony exclusives.
    32AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:54
    Re: #29
    It was only nominated…
    35AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:58
    Re: #32
    That's still a solid achievement if you ask me, Mr. Nitpicker.
    43AnonymousSep 18, 2026 01:05
    Re: #32
    Did Marathon, Concord, or Saros get nominated for anything?

    Wolverine's a lock for KOTY ("Kuso [Crap] of the Year," Japan's worst-game award) though 😁
    41AnonymousSep 18, 2026 01:05
    Setting aside how good the games actually are, hasn't Kojima Productions finished every game it's started since the studio was founded?
    47AnonymousSep 18, 2026 01:08
    Re: #41
    "MS is gonna drop him too, gimme gimme~"
    "It'll never get finished, gimme gimme~"
    He's probably just bitter because this was supposed to be his crowning return-to-Metal-Gear PS exclusive.
    No need to engage with him.
    44AnonymousSep 18, 2026 01:06
    Kojima Productions has around 250 employees, right?
    Probably grown even more by now.
    Can they really make both OD and PHYSINT at the same time?
    46AnonymousSep 18, 2026 01:07
    Re: #44
    They'll finish OD first, then move on to PHYSINT.
    45AnonymousSep 18, 2026 01:06
    Do they even need to use actors?
    48AnonymousSep 18, 2026 01:09
    Re: #45
    It generates buzz, doesn't it?
    Same thing happened when Kimutaku (Takuya Kimura) was cast in Judgment — plenty of people who weren't drama fans or even his generation still reacted because they found it interesting.
    67AnonymousSep 18, 2026 01:33
    Re: #48
    Judgment really was great.
    Playing it, Kimutaku just becomes the character Takayuki Yagami in your head,
    and eventually you see him on TV and think "Yagami!!"

    Kojima's games use actors too, but they haven't reached that point for me yet.
    49AnonymousSep 18, 2026 01:09
    Tough gig — if he doesn't keep showing "look, we're making it," he won't get paid.
    52AnonymousSep 18, 2026 01:11
    Re: #49
    It really does feel like a rushed, last-minute reveal.
    And it's literally just a photo shoot, too.
    62AnonymousSep 18, 2026 01:20
    Is this coming out on the next-gen console?
    72AnonymousSep 18, 2026 01:44
    Re: #62
    Kojima himself said something like 2030-2031, so it'll probably be for the "Helix" generation.
    Well, cross-gen releases probably aren't going away next generation anyway.
    73AnonymousSep 18, 2026 01:45
    Sony's first-party lineup:

    Concord (service ended)
    Saros
    Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls
    Wolverine
    "Space Baldy"
    76AnonymousSep 18, 2026 01:48
    Re: #73
    Oh, don't forget about Marathon, sweetie~
    It's the only game Bungie — which Sony bought for 500 billion yen — has actually made under SIE.
    77AnonymousSep 18, 2026 01:49
    Sounds like they're building this up into something huge.
    Can they actually wrap it all up in a single game?
    80AnonymousSep 18, 2026 01:52
    Kojima-kan's probably dead set on finishing it out of sheer stubbornness at this point (´・ω・`)
    82AnonymousSep 18, 2026 01:56
    Re: #80
    Given the situation, if this flops, his career as a director is over.
    He's bound to be putting everything he's got into it.
    83AnonymousSep 18, 2026 01:59
    He said this same "culmination of my career" line back when it was jointly announced with Sh*tny (a mocking nickname for Sony) too lol
    93AnonymousSep 18, 2026 02:18
    Re: #83
    He partnered with them fully intending it to be his crowning achievement,
    and then it got unilaterally scrapped, nearly crushing that dream completely.

    No wonder he starts calling them "Sh*tny."
    102AnonymousSep 18, 2026 02:41
    I always think this, but
    he should just make movies already, seriously lol
    Isn't it kind of a waste putting Hollywood stars in a video game?
    If he created his own original characters instead, he could sell merch and stuff when it's a hit.
    Can't do that when you're using Hollywood stars.
    103AnonymousSep 18, 2026 02:42
    Re: #102
    This time around, MS has said it'll tie in with a film/TV series.

    Background and Key Points of This Topic

    The backdrop to this topic is that Kojima Productions’ major title “PHYSINT” was originally announced jointly with Sony, but later moved away from the Sony camp and has continued development with funding from Microsoft. In the thread, posters pointed to the fact that Sony is said to have posted losses in quick succession around the same period on major exclusive titles — including the Bungie acquisition (600 billion yen), Concord (service ended), Wolverine (50 billion yen), Marathon, and Saros — and opinion split between the view that “PHYSINT alone being cut was more about internal politics than profitability” and the view that “it was simply dropped for being an unprofitable project.” Note that all of these figures are based on posts on 5channel and are not confirmed information backed by financial statements or similar sources. There were also replies pointing out that Director Kojima had used the phrase “culmination of my career” back when the partnership with Sony was first announced, suggesting this isn’t the first time he’s said it. As for the release timing on next-generation hardware, that remains in the realm of anonymous speculation and should be read as distinct from any official announcement.

    ※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5channel (Hardware/Industry “Geha”) thread “Director Kojima: ‘This (PHYSINT) Will Be the Culmination of My Career Spanning Over 40 Years’.”

  • Bought a Run-Down Vacant House for ¥2.3 Million All-In — Ceiling Collapse Draws “Wouldn’t Live There Even for Free” Reactions

    A poster who bought a run-down vacant house in Saitama Prefecture for ¥2.3 million all-in (fees included) shared photos of its current state — a ceiling stripped bare and a garden gone to forest — sparking a wave of reactions on 5ch. Commenters traded theories over the price breakdown (¥1.7 million for the land, just ¥100,000 for the building) and speculated about why the ceiling boards had been torn out and the paper sliding doors ripped, while the thread turned to the security risks unique to vacant houses and the difficulty of reviving old Japanese homes (*kominka*). The poster decided to buy after wanting a large workspace and growing tired of paying rent for nothing, but now, with no clear path to repairs, regret is creeping in.

    1AnonymousSep 18, 2026 01:37
    Bought it for ¥2.3 million all-in, but I wonder if I could just give it a quick clean and flip it for the same price.
    3AnonymousSep 18, 2026 01:38
    It didn't sell even at that price, so it's probably not going to sell now either.
    10AnonymousSep 18, 2026 01:42
    Re: #3
    The yard's completely overgrown with weeds and trees, basically a forest at this point — you think if I turned it into a grass lawn someone would buy it?
    4AnonymousSep 18, 2026 01:38
    Aren't you going to live there?
    18AnonymousSep 18, 2026 01:44
    Re: #4
    Well, I am going to live there, but I'm working on some kind of creative project and plan to move out once it's done. The problem is I can't predict whether that project will wrap up soon or drag on for ages, so after agonizing over whether to just stay in my rental or buy a vacant house, I ended up buying one.
    6AnonymousSep 18, 2026 01:40
    How much do you have in savings/assets?
    28AnonymousSep 18, 2026 01:48
    Re: #6
    About ¥4 million. I still have to pay the remaining ¥2 million purchase cost for the house out of that — I've already paid the ¥300,000 down payment.
    7AnonymousSep 18, 2026 01:41
    Here's what the ceiling looks like —

    13AnonymousSep 18, 2026 01:43
    Re: #7
    I wouldn't want to live there even for free.
    26AnonymousSep 18, 2026 01:47
    Re: #7
    Even ¥500,000 seems too much for that.
    63AnonymousSep 18, 2026 02:11
    Re: #7
    If it's ¥4 million for this, at least you get big-city-level convenience. Those torn paper sliding doors (shoji) look like signs someone's been sneaking in, too.
    11AnonymousSep 18, 2026 01:42
    Did you have some specific purpose in mind when you bought it?
    31AnonymousSep 18, 2026 01:50
    Re: #11
    I wanted a big workspace. Rent where I currently live is expensive, and I got sick of paying money into something like rent that leaves you with nothing at the end.

    But honestly, if my creative project wraps up quickly, I'd have been better off just sticking with rent.
    40AnonymousSep 18, 2026 01:54
    Re: #31
    I see. Repairs do look like they'll take a while. Looking closer, it's not just the ceiling — the eaves are caving in too. Might be tough to fix on your own.
    12AnonymousSep 18, 2026 01:43
    How's the access to town and stuff?
    35AnonymousSep 18, 2026 01:51
    Re: #12
    There's a decent-sized AEON-type mall (a major Japanese retail chain) about a 5-minute drive away, and two home improvement centers that look pretty big too — that's a plus in my book. The train station's a bit far though, maybe 15-20 minutes by bike.
    22AnonymousSep 18, 2026 01:46
    First, search the house — might be some hidden stash of cash.
    25AnonymousSep 18, 2026 01:47
    Re: #22
    Sounds like you'd find some seriously legit protective ward talisman (a paper charm meant to keep evil out) instead.
    27AnonymousSep 18, 2026 01:47
    How does a ceiling even get torn up like that?
    38AnonymousSep 18, 2026 01:53
    Re: #27
    The roof's shot. Something's happened to the tiles and rainwater's getting in through there. I haven't been up on the roof yet though, so I don't actually know what's going on up there.
    43AnonymousSep 18, 2026 01:57
    ¥2 million is a total ripoff, right? Is that just the land price?
    45AnonymousSep 18, 2026 01:59
    Re: #43
    The listing said something like 'this is priced at land value, so we can't lower it any further.' It's 700 square meters in Saitama.
    50AnonymousSep 18, 2026 02:00
    Re: #45
    Did you check the land's assessed value?
    66AnonymousSep 18, 2026 02:14
    Re: #45
    Ah, I see, somewhere around Hanno then. Hahaha 🤣 Reviving an old traditional house (kominka) is hard. With that much airflow going through it, it's not just the roof — you've already got ants in there. Ideally you'd tear the house down, clear the lot, and build from the foundation up, but…
    56AnonymousSep 18, 2026 02:02
    Re: #50
    I asked GPT and it seemed to say the price was roughly fair, but how do I actually look up the land value?
    57AnonymousSep 18, 2026 02:03
    Re: #56
    The assessed value is listed on your property tax documents.
    64AnonymousSep 18, 2026 02:13
    Can't post to Imgur anymore.

    It says the sale price breakdown is:
    Total: ¥1.8 million
    Land: ¥1.7 million
    Building: ¥100,000
    67AnonymousSep 18, 2026 02:14
    Re: #64
    A building price of ¥100,000 is shocking — should be zero. If anything they'd want to make it negative.
    72AnonymousSep 18, 2026 02:17
    Re: #63
    I was wondering why the shoji were torn like that — did a burglar do this? That's terrifying. What would the point even be?
    79AnonymousSep 18, 2026 02:23
    Re: #72
    The ceiling boards were probably stripped out to be sold, and the shoji get torn by whoever wanders into the vacant house. It's been happening for ages — it's basically a pattern of behavior at this point.
    75AnonymousSep 18, 2026 02:18
    I'm only at the contract stage so far, so I might not have gotten the paperwork from the city office yet — maybe I'll get it at handover.
    76AnonymousSep 18, 2026 02:22
    Re: #75
    If there's a property tax settlement involved, the seller should give it to you as proof, but if not, you'll have to go pick it up yourself once the registration is finalized.
    77AnonymousSep 18, 2026 02:22
    Cutting down the weeds and trees is doable myself, but I'm not confident about dealing with termites and stuff.
    80AnonymousSep 18, 2026 02:23
    Re: #77
    Weeds just grow back… it's genuinely wasted time.
    87AnonymousSep 18, 2026 02:28
    Re: #79
    So the ceiling coming down means a contractor stripped it out? And they took one look and decided there was no profit in it? Sounds like this is confirmed very-hard-mode.
    93AnonymousSep 18, 2026 02:33
    Re: #87
    They used to sell for ¥2,000-3,000 a panel back in the day. Since it's hard to remove, they probably gave up partway through — so whoever stripped them was either someone vandalizing the house or a trespasser who got inside.

    There's a chance someone like that comes back in, so before anything else, you should put up curtains and hang a nameplate. I've heard that in Kansai people still break in even after that, but in the greater Tokyo area that should at least make them think twice.
    88AnonymousSep 18, 2026 02:28
    You could hire me, you know. I live in western Tokyo. Depending on the day, I could spend a full day helping out when I'm free. I can handle most basic tools.
    91AnonymousSep 18, 2026 02:31
    Re: #88
    I'd love to hire you, but I don't have the money.
    92AnonymousSep 18, 2026 02:32
    Given how much this thread's blown up, I guess there's real demand for vacant-house renovation as entertainment. Might start thinking about posting to YouTube…
    97AnonymousSep 18, 2026 02:38
    Re: #92
    Well yeah, there was even that TV show 'Extreme Makeover: Before & After' (a Japanese home-renovation program).
    96AnonymousSep 18, 2026 02:38
    Re: #93
    Whoa, even a grungy little printed board like that would sell?
    101AnonymousSep 18, 2026 02:46
    Re: #96
    It would've looked nice back when it was new, and even plain plywood used to sell. If it's far from the station, the risk of vagrants moving in goes up too.

    If you'd looked around more, there were livable places out there — you just drew a bad one this time. Next time, study up before you buy.

    Background and Talking Points

    In vacant-house transactions, listing the building price as ¥0 is not unusual. A deteriorated wooden house is barely counted as an asset at all, so most of the sale price is determined by the assessed land value (based on the fixed-asset tax valuation). In the thread, the breakdown of ¥1.7 million for the land plus ¥100,000 for the building was cited as the reason there was little room to negotiate the price down. Vacant houses are also especially vulnerable from a security standpoint until someone actually moves in and locks up or puts up a nameplate — torn shoji screens and stripped ceiling boards are often a mix of pre-sale contractor work and traces left by people who wandered in while the house sat empty. Reviving an old Japanese house (*kominka*) looks easy on TV renovation shows, but termite damage and roof deterioration are hard for amateurs to judge, and the repair costs often end up far higher than expected — a detail that’s easy to overlook.

    *This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Livegalileo, a “live news/anything goes” board) thread “I Bought a Run-Down Vacant House on a Whim and I Seriously Regret It.”

  • Photos of a Man Who Reached 175cm (5’9″) via Bone-Lengthening Surgery Go Viral: 5ch Says ‘All That Effort for a Failure?’

    Images of a person said to have reached 175cm (about 5’9″) in height after undergoing “bone-lengthening surgery” — a procedure in which bones are deliberately cut and surgically stretched — went viral on 5ch’s “Nanidemo Jikkyo G” board. The thread mixed worries about the risks of the surgery and its long recovery period with skepticism about why anyone would go to such lengths over height, with sharp comments like “Going that far just to end up at 175cm? Sounds like a failure.” At the same time, posters with height complexes chimed in with envy, and the thread quickly filled with personal theories about the relationship between height, dating, and age.

    2AnonymousSep 17, 2026 23:57
    Guess there's nothing you can do about a big head and short legs, huh.
    4AnonymousSep 17, 2026 23:59
    Spending your whole life and a fortune just to hit 175cm…
    I'm genuinely grateful to my parents and God that I at least grew tall.
    Don't bring up hair, though.
    14AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:10
    Re: #4
    I'm 173cm (5'8") too, and man, I'm glad I am.
    Any shorter than this and there's no way you're getting a girlfriend.
    5AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:00
    Even after doing all that, he's still shorter than me.
    7AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:03
    How many years does it even take before you can live normally again after bone-lengthening?
    Feels like you're throwing away the best years of your life.
    19AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:13
    Re: #7
    I mean, those "best years" wouldn't be much fun at 160cm (5'3") either.
    You're seriously underestimating how brutal the height game is.
    8AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:03
    Going through all that just to end up at 175cm — let's be honest, that's a failure lmaooooooooooo
    10AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:06
    Honestly just looks AI-generated to me.
    11AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:09
    Still in pain after more than a year?
    I mean, you're forcibly stretching your bones so it's understandable, but that sounds rough.
    12AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:09
    Short, bald, ugly — none of that matters as long as you've got tough guts and a sturdy skeleton, right?
    Health's the number one thing no matter how you slice it.
    13AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:09
    Stuff like this comes back to haunt you in nightmares once you're old.
    16AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:11
    Bone and skin can be stretched all you want, but muscles and nerves don't stretch.
    17AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:11
    Women are seriously strict about height.

    Between a 175cm (5'9") average-looking 42-year-old

    and a 165cm (5'5") handsome 22-year-old,

    the fact is half of them would pick the former.
    Height's just a genetics game after all.
    29AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:22
    Re: #17
    Can't tell if that's a joke or you're being dead serious.
    45AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:30
    Re: #17
    Once you're past 30, no height means you're done.
    Guys under 170cm (5'7") genuinely have zero demand from anyone.
    52AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:37
    Re: #17
    Nothing beats youth.
    Most people don't want an old guy around even if he's rich.
    21AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:15
    I'm just naturally 175cm, sorry about that.
    22AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:16
    Lmao, all he did was go from a stumpy 167cm (5'6") guy to a stumpy 175cm guy.
    23AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:17
    There are other things you should worry about first.
    Lose weight first.
    You're putting effort into the wrong area entirely.
    24AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:18
    Being bald is fine, it doesn't affect how popular you are.
    26AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:20
    Even after bone-lengthening surgery, still shorter than me — rough.
    27AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:21
    I'm tall, but people — men and women both — call me "gross" when I walk around town.
    Is there something off-putting about how I look?
    40AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:27
    I was always dead last whenever we lined up by height all through high school, so I don't get caring about height 😥
    42AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:28
    Re: #40
    Apologize to me, I'm 160cm (5'3").
    I was always in the front row, baldy.
    49AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:36
    Re: #48
    Still no word from him after about a year and a half.
    51AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:37
    Re: #49
    Thanks.
    Hope he's still alive out there.
    57AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:40
    I get the feeling.
    I've got a height complex too.
    I'm 179cm (5'10") but I wanted to be 185cm (6'1").
    59AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:41
    Re: #57
    179cm is basically the perfect height.
    Once you hit 185cm, the downsides start outweighing the upsides.
    71AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:57
    In the end, it's all about the face.
    73AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:59
    Re: #71
    No way that's true.
    If it were all about the face, why are all the short, good-looking older guys single? lol
    75AnonymousSep 18, 2026 01:01
    Re: #73
    Height's the bare minimum requirement.
    78AnonymousSep 18, 2026 01:03
    Re: #73
    Guess you just have zero contact with women.
    72AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:58
    👩 just wants a guy with a normal height of 175-180cm (5'9"-5'11").

    83AnonymousSep 18, 2026 01:05
    I'm 176cm (5'9"), so I can still date younger women even in my late 30s — genuinely glad about that.
    For short guys, spending their one and only life stuck at a low height really feels like some cruel joke from God.
    And what's worse, it curses their own kids too.
    86AnonymousSep 18, 2026 01:06
    Re: #83
    Doesn't that make you sad?
    85AnonymousSep 18, 2026 01:05
    https://video.twimg.com/amplify_video/2100462518905036800/vid/avc1/1280×720/8B1dGGWJm4Ih5Y5R.mp4

    Nobody's posted the video, huh.
    87AnonymousSep 18, 2026 01:06
    Re: #85
    Seriously, how old is this guy?

    Totally ageless face.
    94AnonymousSep 18, 2026 01:08
    Re: #85
    Looks like pro wrestler Shinjiro Otani with a Manjimaru-style haircut (both are Japanese pro wrestling references).
    109AnonymousSep 18, 2026 01:22
    https://tadaup.jp/9OVL2qJf.png

    https://tadaup.jp/9W0nbR5T.png

    https://tadaup.jp/9wao5uJF.png

    Decent-looking face, outgoing personality, a record-holding athlete in track and field, body chiseled from serious training — and this is what you get at 164cm (5'4").
    I'm telling you, that 170cm (5'7") line is seriously a matter of life and death.

    Background and Key Points of This Discussion

    Bone-lengthening surgery is an orthopedic procedure in which the shin or thigh bone is cut and then gradually stretched using an external fixator or an internal rod while the bone regenerates. It’s said to add anywhere from a few centimeters to around 10cm of height, but it also reportedly comes with intense pain, strain on the nerves and muscles, and over a year of rehabilitation. As one commenter in the thread pointed out, “bone and skin can be stretched all you want, but muscles and nerves don’t stretch” — a reminder that height isn’t the only thing that changes. The discussion’s focus has shifted away from the surgery itself and toward the more subjective question of how much height actually affects dating and marriage; it’s worth noting that claims like “half of women would pick a 175cm middle-aged guy over a handsome 165cm young guy” aren’t backed by any real data — they’re just gut-feeling opinions.

    ※This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Nanidemo Jikkyo G) thread “[Images] A Person Who Gained 175cm of Height via Bone-Lengthening Surgery Appears.”

  • Kayoko Okubo’s Last Boyfriend Was 8 Years Ago — She Tries a Dating App; 5ch: ‘Marriage That Isn’t About Money Is Basically Impossible’

    Comedian Kayoko Okubo (55) appeared on Nippon TV’s special “Otona ga Kaidan Noboru 2-Hour SP” (“Adults Climbing the Stairs”) on September 17 and tried a dating app for the first time in her life. Her last relationship was eight years ago, and on the show she spoke with enthusiasm, saying, “If there’s a good person waiting down that road, I’d like to try dating again.” Following the report, a 5ch thread buzzed with a range of opinions — from the difficulty a financially independent single woman faces finding a partner who isn’t after her money, to views on TV using romance as entertainment fodder.

    Last boyfriend was 8 years ago… 55-year-old Kayoko Okubo: “I haven’t given up on love entirely” — signs up for a dating app for the first time, results revealed

    Comedian Kayoko Okubo (55) appeared on Nippon TV’s special “Otona ga Kaidan Noboru 2-Hour SP” (airing at 8:54 p.m.) on the 17th, taking on dating-app life for the first time.

    Asked by the show’s staff what she wanted to try for the first time, Okubo named “a dating app.” She continued firmly, “If there’s a good person waiting down that road, I’d like to try dating again.”

    Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here

    4AnonymousSep 17, 2026 23:31
    Okubo seems like the type with pride in the bad sense, you know?
    8AnonymousSep 17, 2026 23:32
    She's gotten too financially successful — there's no man on her level anymore.
    11AnonymousSep 17, 2026 23:33
    With money there are endless chances, but marrying someone who's completely not after your money is basically impossible.
    12AnonymousSep 17, 2026 23:33
    I've actually started thinking Okubo looks pretty cute lately.
    And apparently she's still into younger guys, even now~
    15AnonymousSep 17, 2026 23:34
    Back in the Showa era, being single past 50 got you branded a real oddball or problem case, but I think it's fine now since this isn't an era where you have to force yourself into marriage.

    If I write that, I'll probably get replies like "you're just telling yourself that," but I'm married with kids, so…

    Even so, isn't it fine to live in a world where being single is okay too?
    22AnonymousSep 17, 2026 23:39
    At least she's had the experience of being loved — that's something.
    There are plenty of 55-year-old virgins out there who've never dated at all.
    41AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:03
    Re: #22
    There aren't, lol. That's just you, lol.
    24AnonymousSep 17, 2026 23:43
    Like Aya Sugimoto or Ayako Fuji, she could easily buy herself a younger, good-looking boyfriend or husband who does the housework — but the fact that she doesn't have one means that kind of thing already feels like a hassle to her. It just gradually goes that way.
    25AnonymousSep 17, 2026 23:43
    There are people who get married inside nursing homes too, you know.
    26AnonymousSep 17, 2026 23:44
    Is romance really all there is to life? Older, wealthy single women I know get on just fine without a man. If it's just fodder for her show business, sure, I get it, lol.
    28AnonymousSep 17, 2026 23:47
    Wealthy women who aren't popular with men don't need to depend desperately on a man, so they end up like Okubo.
    29AnonymousSep 17, 2026 23:48
    Okubo's smile is cute.
    She probably has plenty of friends to hang out with as it is.
    I'd bet a bunch of gold-digging guys who took her "pitiable, unpopular older woman" TV persona seriously and got the wrong idea keep swarming her — probably pretty annoying.
    30AnonymousSep 17, 2026 23:49
    Isn't that true for plenty of men too? Even an older, wealthy guy who says "I don't want a woman who's just after my money" is basically stuck with money-chasers only.
    31AnonymousSep 17, 2026 23:49
    If she were just an ordinary fan favorite, she'd have her pick, though.
    33AnonymousSep 17, 2026 23:50
    A blatant tie-up promotion with a dating app.
    Commercial TV has really hit rock bottom.
    34AnonymousSep 17, 2026 23:51
    Okubo's loaded, so I'd recommend her.
    36AnonymousSep 17, 2026 23:56
    Re: #11
    If Okubo wants someone who's not after her money, the only way is to quit the app and date someone she already knows personally.
    40AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:01
    Re: #36
    Even among people she already knows outside the app, finding someone who's completely not after her money is basically impossible.
    43AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:05
    Re: #40
    Aren't all the men around Okubo already well-off themselves?
    38AnonymousSep 17, 2026 23:57
    I love the story where Okubo, fed up with always paying for dinner, snapped at her boyfriend, "Don't you have any pride?" — and he shot back, "The moment I started dating you, I already had no pride left."
    42AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:05
    I like Okubo, but I like Tomochika even more — is that weird of me? (Tomochika is another Japanese comedian)
    45AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:08
    Re: #43
    Even a guy with a normal income of his own might not act like a gold-digger right now, but if he's thinking "marrying Okubo means a comfortable retirement," that's still being after her money.
    46AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:10
    Since she's got money, I guess all she can do is keep a gold-digger as a pet.
    47AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:12
    Come on, she's clearly not really into it — she's just desperate to land more work.
    48AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:16
    She should just accept her earning power as part of her own charm and be okay with a guy who's after her money — but the fact that she couldn't do that is exactly how she ended up where she is now.
    50AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:19
    People who can earn a lot of money are good at their jobs, so they often also have strong opinions, pride, and ego. If two people like that click, great, but there are plenty of cases where it doesn't work out. So it's also fine for a woman to choose a partner who says "I don't have money, but I'll devote myself to you." Plenty of female celebrities and female CEOs go that route too.
    54AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:23
    Not giving up on romance — so she still wants to date even at 55, huh.
    68AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:38
    If Okubo were just an ordinary person, marrying her would honestly be a great catch. She's smart, funny, reliable, and healthy.

    But in reality she's a wealthy celebrity, so a normal marriage just isn't in the cards for her.

    Background and Key Points of This Topic

    Kayoko Okubo has long played the role of an “entertainer who’s kept romance at arm’s length” on TV, and her dating-app attempt this time was partly seen as an extension of that persona. The thread split mainly over how hard it is for a financially independent woman to find a partner who isn’t after her money — the view that “anyone other than a money-chaser is basically impossible” came up repeatedly, while a number of comments framed this not as Okubo’s own peculiar situation but as a structural issue shared by older, high-earning singles in general. It’s also worth noting that the specific “results of signing up for the app” mentioned in the headline aren’t spelled out anywhere in the show’s information, the source article, or the 5ch discussion, so what actually came of it remains unknown.

    *This article is composed of excerpts and a summary from the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News Fast+) thread “[Entertainment] 55-year-old Kayoko Okubo, last boyfriend 8 years ago: “I haven’t given up on love entirely” — signs up for a dating app for the first time, results revealed.”

  • Hidden Chamber Deep in Tutankhamun’s Tomb? Could Be the Lost Tomb of Stepmother Nefertiti

    Analysis by an international research team suggests a previously unknown, massive chamber may lie deep within the tomb of Tutankhamun — hailed as the greatest archaeological find of the 20th century. The leading theory is that it could be the tomb of Queen Nefertiti, Tutankhamun’s stepmother, and the findings were published as a paper in the September 17 issue of the British science journal Nature. On 5channel, some users questioned whether this really had appeared in Nature, while others confirmed the paper was real and that it was already causing a stir in archaeology circles. Some replies explained the backstory: Tutankhamun’s tomb sat in an inconspicuous spot in the Valley of the Kings, which spared it from looters, and it was later buried by a flood and forgotten for 3,000 years. Others simply wondered why, after so many decades of research, this was only coming to light now.

    Published 9/17 (Thu) 20:59

    TBS NEWS DIG, Powered by JNN

    An international team’s survey has found that another massive royal tomb may be connected to the tomb of Egypt’s King Tutankhamun, regarded as the greatest discovery of the 20th century. The findings were also published today (the 17th) in the British science journal Nature.

    Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here

    15AnonymousSep 17, 2026 23:36
    Guess it's possible to find something like this only now, even after decades of research.
    43AnonymousSep 17, 2026 23:49
    Re: #15
    It's directly tied to the tourism industry, so they're deliberately releasing info bit by bit.
    22AnonymousSep 17, 2026 23:40
    >>'Could be one of the most important discoveries of this century'
    Isn't that Japanese phrasing a bit off?
    Are you even Japanese…
    If you're gonna say it, just say
    'The greatest discovery of the century!'
    79AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:09
    Re: #22
    That's because Japanese can't really express plurals.

    In English-speaking cultures, they dislike making such a naive absolute claim, so they use the plural and phrase it as 'one of' them. But since Japanese has no plural form, it ends up reading like a contradiction.
    105AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:24
    Re: #22
    The original text is:
    'It could be one of the most important discoveries of this century.'
    The Japanese word for 'most' implies the single top spot, so a lot of people picture just one thing. But the English 'most' isn't so much 'the single top' as it is 'the top-tier group.'

    English words and Japanese words don't always map one-to-one, you know.
    23AnonymousSep 17, 2026 23:40
    An 'Unknown Chamber' in Tutankhamun's Tomb? Exclusive Coverage of the Egypt Survey [Hodo Tokushu]
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwpSwrwH5-k
    TBS did a documentary on this a few years back.
    51AnonymousSep 17, 2026 23:54
    Re: #23
    Honestly, the narrator's voice sounded so old it was hard to make out what she was saying.
    33AnonymousSep 17, 2026 23:43
    Is Tutankhamun's tomb a different thing from the three great pyramids of Giza?
    35AnonymousSep 17, 2026 23:44
    Re: #33
    Tutankhamun's tomb was in a hard-to-find spot, which is why it mostly escaped looters — it's not a pyramid.
    48AnonymousSep 17, 2026 23:52
    Re: #33
    A king who only reigned a few years couldn't have had a tomb that huge built.
    49AnonymousSep 17, 2026 23:53
    Re: #33
    Yeah, it's a different thing. There's about a 1,000-year gap from the pyramids. By Tutankhamun's time, tombs were being dug into the Valley of the Kings in Luxor instead. Tutankhamun's tomb was actually looted shortly after it was built, but right after that a flood completely buried it, and it stayed forgotten for 3,000 years.
    37AnonymousSep 17, 2026 23:46
    If only Professor Yoshimura were still alive… (Sakuji Yoshimura, Japan's best-known Egyptologist)
    39AnonymousSep 17, 2026 23:47
    Re: #37
    Professor Kawae's still around, isn't he
    115AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:29
    Re: #37
    Wait, did he die? For a second I thought so, but he's still alive lol
    But it's rough seeing how much he's changed.
    44AnonymousSep 17, 2026 23:49
    There was an exclusive breaking-news flash on TV just now, and TBS News posted it on YouTube about 30 minutes ago too, but it got pulled almost instantly.
    This isn't just someone mixing it up with an old news story, right?
    70AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:05
    Re: #44
    The paper is properly published in Nature, and Egyptology folks are buzzing about it on Twitter, so it's not fake.
    https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-02621-2
    63AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:00
    I used to watch every Egypt-related show without fail, so this gets me hyped.
    Realistically though, if they ever actually found something, wouldn't Cleopatra's tomb be the biggest deal?
    65AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:01
    Re: #63
    Ramesses II
    68AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:03
    Re: #63
    Cleopatra was on the losing side and took her own life — I wonder if she even has a proper tomb?
    89AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:16
    Fifi asleep (Fifi: an Egyptian-born TV personality popular in Japan)
    121AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:31
    Re: #89
    Lmaooo
    123AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:31
    Re: #89
    Not exactly right, but not far off either
    133AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:37
    Re: #89
    That's some overflowing talent right there
    127AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:33
    Only now? Why's this taking so long?
    Is this an industry only incompetent people work in?
    130AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:35
    Re: #127
    Donations aren't coming in
    152AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:47
    Re: #127
    It's a precious cultural asset and a major tourism resource, so I doubt they can just casually knock down a wall.
    140AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:41
    If they open up whatever's sealing that huge chamber in the back, won't the pyramid collapse?
    143AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:43
    Re: #140
    It's cursed. Or maybe that's exactly the kind of trap it is.
    147AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:44
    Re: #140
    Could be. It's a cash cow for tourism, so no wonder they're being cautious.
    163AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:52
    It was built with technology far more advanced than anything we have today, so honestly they're probably too scared to touch it.
    I don't think money's even the main issue.
    174AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:59
    Re: #163
    Yeah, it really was an astonishing civilization.

    There's something fundamentally different about it, almost otherworldly.
    183AnonymousSep 18, 2026 01:05
    Re: #163
    By Nefertiti's time, Sumer had already collapsed and Babylon was in decline too. It was a world 1,000 years after Sumer and 500 years after Babylon — an era when the mighty Hittites and Egypt were going head-to-head for real. Even Egypt didn't have ironworking technology back then; the Hittites held a monopoly on it.
    169AnonymousSep 18, 2026 00:54
    https://www.sponichi.co.jp/entertainment/news/2025/07/17/jpeg/20250717s10041000389000p_view.webp

    Background and Key Points

    This announcement appears to lend fresh support to a hypothesis first proposed in 2015 by British Egyptologist Nicholas Reeves: that Nefertiti’s tomb lies hidden behind the walls of Tutankhamun’s burial chamber. Radar scans at the time also pointed to the presence of a hidden space, but subsequent surveys produced negative results too, and the debate over whether the theory is true has dragged on for years. In the thread, when users asked why new findings would only surface now despite decades of research, some pointed to the deliberate pacing of disclosures given the site’s role as a tourism resource, and to the caution involved in deciding whether to break through a wall. Worth noting to avoid confusion: Tutankhamun’s tomb itself is separate from the pyramids both in era and location — it was built in the Valley of the Kings.

    ※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5channel (Breaking News Plus) thread “[Egypt] Could Another Massive Royal Tomb Lie Deep Within Tutankhamun’s Tomb? Possibly Stepmother Nefertiti’s”.