Japan Reacts

Author: Japan Reacts Editorial

  • JJ’s Catering Bento Sparks Buzz for Being Luxurious — 5ch: “Celebrities really are different”

    A photo of a salmon-belly (shake harasu) bento served as catering, posted on Juice=Juice’s official blog, became a hot topic on 5ch’s Hello! Project board. Alongside reactions to the bento itself like “That’s just a regular salmon bento” and “Bentos with lettuce in them are expensive,” commenters kept bringing up the meals served to other Hello! Project groups like Angerme and BEYOOOOONDS, and the thread spiraled into people enjoying the differences in treatment between groups.

    Here’s a photo from when we got salmon belly for catering 📸

    It was so juicy it made the rice go down easily 🍚

    Source: ameblo.jp / Original article here

    3AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:45
    Offshore = Company (riffing on the group's "X=Y" name format, Juice=Juice)
    4AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:46
    When you're selling well, the treatment really changes, huh
    5AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:47
    That's just a regular salmon bento
    6AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:49
    🐹< On security duty, so…
    7AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:50
    Celebrities really are different, huh
    8AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:50
    This looks less like catering and more like just a regular bento
    9AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:52
    Bentos with lettuce in them are the pricey ones
    11AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:52
    The bento I bought for 700 yen was fancier than this…
    29AnonymousSep 13, 2026 08:02
    This is the salted grilled salmon-belly bento from the "Gotsuboshi Norien" line's "Bōbōju" series, which won the gold award at the Japan Location Bento Awards — hugely popular with celebrities. They also do catering and delivery for meetings and exhibitions, so give it a try — it's really not that pricey. You can even buy it at the Matsuzakaya Ueno store.
    31AnonymousSep 13, 2026 08:03
    The octopus ate the salmon
    There's nothing sad about that at all
    33AnonymousSep 13, 2026 08:08
    Isn't one of these bentos not going to be enough for the young girls dancing their hearts out?
    34AnonymousSep 13, 2026 08:09
    More like Green-tea=Green-tea than Juice=Juice (rice and salmon pair better with tea than juice)
    35AnonymousSep 13, 2026 08:13
    Nowhere does it say it's one bento per person though
    36AnonymousSep 13, 2026 08:18
    Ah I see, so you can have two
    Then it should be fine
    37AnonymousSep 13, 2026 08:20
    Re: #1
    Regular folks like us can't afford luxury ingredients like salmon belly
    38AnonymousSep 13, 2026 08:22
    Guess us regular folks will just have to eat octopus poop then
    39AnonymousSep 13, 2026 08:26
    Since they're moving around and sweating so much, salty food like this probably tastes amazing
    46AnonymousSep 13, 2026 08:29
    https://stat.ameba.jp/user_images/20260901/21/juicejuice-official/5a/59/j/o1080126615818057482.jpg
    Hardcore/disciplined
    49AnonymousSep 13, 2026 08:31
    Re: #46
    Seeing stuff like this kind of puts me off
    47AnonymousSep 13, 2026 08:29
    So I guess Angerme's bento probably looks something like this then
    51AnonymousSep 13, 2026 08:34
    https://stat.ameba.jp/user_images/20260906/00/juicejuice-official/fd/53/j/o1080144015819344790.jpg
    Down-to-earth/humble style
    52AnonymousSep 13, 2026 08:35
    A convenience store bento is the exact opposite of disciplined, right?
    A symbol of sloppiness
    53AnonymousSep 13, 2026 08:35
    Flaunting a gap like this is basically harassment toward the other Hello! Project groups at this point
    Get it? "Harasu"-ment — like the salmon belly (harasu) lol
    58AnonymousSep 13, 2026 08:39
    BEYOOOOONDS get sushi though
    https://stat.ameba.jp/user_images/20260910/21/beyooooonds-rfro/30/08/j/o1080144015820841715.jpg
    60AnonymousSep 13, 2026 08:40
    Re: #58
    That's not BEYOOOOONDS, that's "Deka Beat" (unclear reference, likely a joking nickname)
    63AnonymousSep 13, 2026 08:48
    Food and green-car (first-class train seat) treatment are the clearest signs of how well a group is treated
    64AnonymousSep 13, 2026 08:50
    I wonder if they had a makeup artist at yesterday's festival even though it wasn't a photoshoot?
    Looking at the fancams on TikTok, everyone's hair and makeup look unusually on point — cuter than usual
    65AnonymousSep 13, 2026 08:52
    Meanwhile BEYOOOOONDS get a single plum onigiri
    https://stat.ameba.jp/user_images/20260704/15/beyooooonds-blog/75/e4/j/o1080081015799239643.jpg

    Background and Talking Points

    As mentioned in the thread, the salmon-belly bento in question is reportedly part of the “Gotsuboshi Norien” bento series, which won the gold award at the Japan Location Bento Awards and is also sold to the general public at department stores. While people tend to imagine a celebrity’s dressing-room bento as some exclusive, unseen item, the reality is that off-the-shelf products are apparently used more often than one might think. Alongside blunt reactions on the thread like “it’s just a regular bento” and “the 700-yen bento I bought was fancier,” the fact that Hello! Project runs multiple groups in parallel means fans have long enjoyed comparing the food provided on different sets. This photo, too, was taken in that spirit of good-natured group comparison rather than as solid proof that one group is treated better than another.

    *This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project) thread “[Good News] JJ’s Catering — An Announcement of Splendor.”

  • Kamada Nets Two Assists but Palace’s Defense Implodes in Loss to Maeda’s Ipswich

    In Matchday 4 of the Premier League, Crystal Palace hosted Ipswich Town at home and fell 2-3. Kamada Daichi recorded two assists, with his link-up play alongside Tomiyasu Takehiro sparking some of the scoring chances, but Palace conceded the winner to Ipswich’s Fleming late in the second half. For Ipswich, home of Maeda Daizen, it was a valuable win. On the forums, opinions split over how much credit Kamada’s assists really deserved, Palace’s defensive collapse, and the fact that clubs featuring Japanese players — Kamada, Tomiyasu, and Maeda among them — all seem to be struggling right now.

    Sports Hochi

    September 13, 1:17 AM — Sports Hochi, Soccer, Soccer Abroad, Soccer Abroad, Japanese Players

    ◆Premier League ▽Matchday 4: Crystal Palace 2-3 Ipswich Town (12th, Selhurst Park)

    Source: hochi.news / Original article here

    5AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:57
    He's dragging defenders out of position and threading passes nicely
    6AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:59
    Getting 2 assists off plays like that? What a lucky guy
    11AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:03
    Maeda's just not cutting it at all
    Guess leagues like Scotland really are low level (a dig at his time at Celtic)
    12AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:04
    Opta analyst
    Kamada Daichi
    Assists: 1st
    Tackles: 6th
    Ground duels contested: 36th
    Ground duels won: 15th
    13AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:05
    Both assists were just the guy he passed to scoring a screamer (golaso) on his own
    though Tomiyasu's ('Supe-Yasu') through ball that set up the second was genuinely good
    45AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:41
    Re: #13
    >'just the guy scoring a screamer on his own'

    lol that got me
    14AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:06
    Kamada looks set to be the first Japanese starter since Mitoma to log 2000+ minutes in a season
    but the scary part is Crystal Palace themselves look like they're getting dragged into a relegation fight
    15AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:07
    Reminds me of old-school Ohtani
    (his Angels years) — puts up great individual numbers, but the team still loses
    16AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:07
    For the first assist I wanted him to just go for it himself
    He was in such a great position
    Gotta take players on sometimes
    18AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:08
    Maeda's sprint numbers are up around the Premier League top 10
    Kamada's also around the top 10 in distance covered
    Sano Kaishu leads the Bundesliga in distance too

    This is where Japan's strength really shows
    19AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:10
    Kamada's turning into a Crystal King (a pun on Crystal Palace and the Japanese band Crystal King)
    20AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:12
    Used to have this image of him jogging around half-heartedly with no motivation, but now he's a hard-working demon
    22AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:15
    Are the clubs with Japanese players gonna be okay?
    Feels like they're all headed for a relegation battle
    23AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:16
    Re: #22
    Zion Suzuki's Villa are in the most danger of going down
    26AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:19
    Re: #23
    Wait, wasn't Villa supposed to be a top club?
    Guess having a Japanese player really does weaken a team
    30AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:22
    Re: #26
    It's less about Zion and more that they've got no attacking shape at all
    60AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:59
    Re: #26
    They sold off basically every player who drove their recent rise, one after another
    24AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:17
    This team just keeps getting weaker somehow
    Around the first half of last season I thought they had the intensity and defensive solidity to hang with the top sides
    Now, looking at the performances and the squad, they're headed straight for relegation
    25AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:17
    Don't go spreading some 'Japanese players are a curse in the Premier League' theory
    56AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:57
    Re: #25
    Up through last year guys like Inamoto, Kagawa, and Okazaki ('Oka-chan') had a pretty good hit rate though
    27AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:19
    I mean, even Glasner said he felt abandoned by the club
    31AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:23
    Guess Japanese players just don't suit the Premier League after all
    Best to stick to places like Germany or Italy
    32AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:24
    Villa sold off something like 6 of the core players who drove their rise in recent years
    Even with some reinforcements to fill the gaps, they're mid-table level at best now
    33AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:25
    If they're losing to Ipswich, European qualification looks out of reach this season
    34AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:25
    Watched the replay — the guy who scored was just brilliant both times, but calling that an 'assist' feels broken as a stat
    69AnonymousSep 13, 2026 08:21
    Re: #34
    Then again, sometimes you set up a tap-in and the guy misses it, so it evens out
    35AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:25
    >Kamada was subbed off in the 39th minute of the second half. In the 45th minute, Ipswich midfielder Fleming scored the winner, sealing a 2-3 defeat.

    >Frustrated by his defense's inept display, Kamada shouted in the mixed zone after the match, 'Doesn't matter — even when we score, it's always the same!' (an outburst in Kansai dialect)
    37AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:32
    Starting XI: Kamada, Zion

    Bench: Sakamoto, Tomiyasu, Maeda, Tanaka

    Reserve: Morita, Mitoma

    Unclear: Endo
    43AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:40
    Re: #37
    Wata (Endo, from his given name Wataru) is out of his club's plans
    53AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:52
    Re: #37
    Isn't that basically the same as the national team lineup?
    38AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:33
    Including everyone else, the clubs with Japanese players are all in a sorry state, aren't they
    39AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:33
    Like senior Mbappé said, if you're a forward you shouldn't be selling defensive effort
    you need to score goals
    40AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:34
    Tomiyasu's done for, isn't he
    He had the most talent of any player in Japanese football history

    No use saying it now, but if only he hadn't moved to the Premier League
    if only he hadn't been treated as a utility man at Bologna and played out of position at fullback
    44AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:41
    Ex-Monaco man Disasi got a straight red
    With the cameras catching Palace fans starting to head for the exits as the loss looked all but certain, it was huge that they fought back to equalize once
    Ipswich, despite the losing vibe, snatched a lucky goal to go back ahead
    51AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:50
    Wait, is Palace basically a one-man team built around Kamada and Tomiyasu?
    55AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:56
    Re: #51
    That'd make it a two-man team then…
    67AnonymousSep 13, 2026 08:16
    Every club with a Japanese player this season is weak, huh
    72AnonymousSep 13, 2026 08:31
    Re: #67
    That's just because Japanese players are scrubs, so they can only get into weak clubs

    Background and Talking Points

    With Matchday 4 in the books, Crystal Palace’s earlier defensive solidity has faded, and they’ve started conceding more freely. The thread split over how to judge Kamada’s two assists: some, like post #13, downplayed the numbers, arguing the guy he passed to just forced the goal in himself, while the Opta stats cited in post #12 (leading the league in assists, top-6 in tackles, but far down the rankings in ground duels contested and won) paint a picture of a player heavily involved in attack but with more limited defensive impact. The other recurring theme was club-level struggles: Kamada and Tomiyasu’s Palace, Maeda’s Ipswich, Mitoma’s Brighton, Endo’s Liverpool — clubs with Japanese players all seem to be having a rough time. Readers should note this isn’t a statistically grounded claim, just an impression drawn from a single matchday. As for the match itself, Ipswich, who had a man sent off, scored the winner in the closing minutes of the second half for a come-from-behind win, and the Hochi article reports that Kamada himself vented frustration after the match about the fragility of Palace’s defense.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geinosupo Sokuho+) thread “[Soccer] Crystal Palace’s Kamada Daichi records two assists, helps set up a goal alongside Tomiyasu Takehiro, but falls to Maeda Daizen’s Ipswich.”

  • Takaoka Sosuke’s Secret Meetup Photo with Gaasii Sparks Buzz — 5ch: ‘What a Small-Timer’

    Former actor Takaoka Sosuke posted a photo on Instagram of himself dining with Higashitani Yoshikazu — the former upper house lawmaker and YouTuber known as “Gaasii” — at a restaurant in Kita-Shinchi, Osaka. Takaoka has a colorful history that includes a legal name change, two divorces, and a switch to mixed martial arts, while Higashitani was expelled from the Diet. The original article praised the pairing, saying “they both know the seedy underbelly of showbiz inside and out” and “this duo together is just too exciting,” but reactions on 5ch were mixed rather than uniformly positive — some users nostalgically recalled the “Takaoka Festival” from the early days of 2channel, while others questioned how his full-body tattoos square with an acting career.

    Name change, two divorces, switch to MMA fighter… Takaoka Sosuke’s “covered in tattoos” secret meetup photo draws comments like “they both know showbiz’s light and dark sides inside out” and “these two together is just too exciting”

    A name change, two divorces, a debut as an MMA fighter… Takaoka Sosuke’s “secret meetup photo” is making waves.

    “Our first one-on-one dinner in a while. We caught up on how things are going for each other! Let’s do it again soon lol,” wrote Higashitani Yoshikazu — the former upper house lawmaker now working as a rakugo performer, known as “Gaasii” — posting an Instagram photo of himself standing shoulder to shoulder with Takaoka at a restaurant in Kita-Shinchi, Osaka.

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

    5AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:09
    He hasn't even been blacklisted from showbiz — just a small-timer.
    7AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:10
    The 'Takaoka Festival' from back when I first started using 2channel, like 20 years ago, was hilarious.
    9AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:14
    He couldn't even beat Okada in a fight.
    12AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:17
    Re: #9
    That's the pathetic part.
    11AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:16
    I wonder if he got into MMA
    out of rivalry with his ex-wife's current husband.
    13AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:21
    Re: #11
    I want someone to say 'Come out and fight on New Year's Eve!' (Japan's biggest MMA/kickboxing galas traditionally air Dec. 31)
    14AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:22
    2channel back then was something else.
    15AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:25
    You guys hyped him up like crazy back then, and now you're so cold to him.
    17AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:26
    Do you feel stronger just because you got a tattoo?
    61AnonymousSep 13, 2026 08:19
    Re: #17
    If that's the goal, carrying a metal bat around would keep people away better.
    23AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:34
    I really don't get what this guy wants.
    Getting tattoos, then coming back to acting…
    Guess he's still got a lingering attachment to showbiz.
    26AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:35
    Who was his ex-wife again? Guess she's the '5,000 yen' type? (a dig implying she's cheap)
    27AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:36
    What does this guy do for income these days?
    Streaming or something?
    29AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:39
    I've got 'coloring book' ink myself — don't underestimate me~ (mocking slang for gaudy, cartoonish tattoos)
    30AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:39
    Did Gaasii always look like this?
    33AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:42
    So what if you know that tiny little world.
    35AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:43
    Re: #1
    I thought the Gaasii one was Ayano Go.
    39AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:47
    Two guys who got kicked out of showbiz talking big, lol
    40AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:47
    I've got 'coloring book' tattoos too, but what's even the point
    41AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:52
    Why get tattoos at his age?
    That's the kind of thing you do at like 18 as a youthful mistake.
    42AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:55
    What's the point of getting tattoos?
    Just to look tough and scare people a little?
    43AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:57
    Re: #1
    Are there still people expecting anything from this guy… or is this a self-promo stunt?
    46AnonymousSep 13, 2026 08:00
    It's basically this guy's one comment that sped up Fuji TV's downfall.
    47AnonymousSep 13, 2026 08:00
    The watch Gaasii's wearing is worth 30 million yen, lol
    48AnonymousSep 13, 2026 08:01
    Doesn't he get chills when he glances down at his own arm?
    50AnonymousSep 13, 2026 08:05
    An actor who plays yakuza roles shouldn't actually get tattoos — that defeats the purpose.
    80AnonymousSep 13, 2026 09:13
    Re: #50
    Apparently MIYABI said that once he started acting, his tattoos got in the way, and he finally regretted getting them.
    51AnonymousSep 13, 2026 08:07
    He probably got blacklisted because he doesn't actually know the industry's seedy underbelly.
    52AnonymousSep 13, 2026 08:08
    Guess this just proves the tattoo-guy stereotype all over again, huh
    54AnonymousSep 13, 2026 08:13
    He made Kenkoba swallow a marble in the movie Pacchigi, didn't he (a 2004 Japanese film)

    Background and Key Points of This Topic

    Takaoka Sosuke is a former actor known for a string of headline-grabbing life events — a legal name change, two divorces, and a career switch to mixed martial arts — while Gaasii built his profile as a scandal-exposing YouTuber before becoming an upper house lawmaker, only to be expelled from the Diet. What the two men share is a position outside the mainstream of showbiz, which is the backdrop for comments like “they both know the industry’s light and dark sides inside out.” That said, the photo and Higashitani’s own caption only confirm that the two shared a meal together — neither specifies exactly what it is they supposedly “know inside and out.” On the thread, the contrast was striking: while the original article played up the pairing enthusiastically, 5ch reactions skewed skeptical and biting. The central points of debate were nostalgia from longtime users recalling the “Takaoka Festival” from 2channel’s early days, and questions about the psychology behind getting tattoos and how that squares with an acting career. Note that some posts speculating about the two men’s private lives and personal relationships are based on unverifiable rumor and have not been reflected in the body of this article.

    ※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “[Entertainment] Takaoka Sosuke, covered in tattoos… secret meetup photo with Gaasii, “they both know showbiz’s light and dark sides inside out,” “too exciting” comments.”

  • Satsuma Domain’s 150-Year-Old Ban on Jodo Shinshu Buddhism: Kagoshima Exhibits Sacred Treasures to Mark the Anniversary of Its Lifting

    At the Kagoshima Betsuin temple of Hongan-ji in Kagoshima City, a panel and sacred-treasure exhibition is being held to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the lifting of the ban on Jodo Shinshu (True Pure Land) Buddhism. In the Satsuma Domain, Jodo Shinshu had long been outlawed, and history shows that not only commoners but even samurai secretly kept their faith. On 5channel, a thread sparked lively discussion about why the sect was banned, the distinctive funeral customs that still linger strongly even after the ban was lifted, and doctrinal differences with other sects — the conversation even veered into theories about which sect the Tokugawa shogunal family belonged to.

    Jodo Shinshu was once a banned faith in the Satsuma Domain. The year 2026 marks the 150th anniversary of the lifting of that ban. A temple in Kagoshima City held an exhibition tracing this history and the journey of those who kept practicing their faith in secret.

    At the Kagoshima Betsuin of Hongan-ji in Kagoshima City, a panel exhibition and sacred-treasure exhibition were held to commemorate 150 years since “the opening of the faith in Satsuma.”

    “On display are materials from the era when Jodo Shinshu was banned in Kagoshima, as well as records from after the ban was lifted in the 9th year of Meiji [1876] — materials related to the temple and records of people who practiced their faith in secret” (Tomooka Satoshi, Kagoshima Betsuin of Hongan-ji).

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

    3AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:00
    Are there really differences between Buddhist sects worth fussing over?
    17AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:16
    Re: #3
    Enough that Nobunaga's Ambition (the strategy game series) sorts faith into categories like "Buddhism," "Ikko-shu," and "Christianity"
    109AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:52
    Re: #3
    Strictly speaking there are differences, but ordinary believers don't know the details and aren't even expected to, so it's basically the same as having none.
    For the average person, whether it's Zen, Pure Land, or Nichiren-affiliated, it's all just "the folks who handle the funeral" the same way.
    Either way, the head priest has hair, is married, and drinks and eats meat.
    162AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:45
    Re: #3
    Zen sect — emphasizes seated meditation
    Shingon sect — emphasizes mantras and sutras
    Jodo (Pure Land) sect — puts Amida Buddha above all else, that kind of thing
    4AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:01
    So why was Jodo Shinshu banned in the first place?
    5AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:04
    Re: #4
    Because the Shimazu clan, the domain lords, feared an Ikko ikki uprising
    21AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:25
    Re: #4
    Hongan-ji's teachings risked undermining the Shimazu clan's rigid status system, and worse — earnings the Shimazu lord should've been squeezing out of people might get donated to Hongan-ji instead
    7AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:06
    Ironically, it was Jodo Shinshu that revived Kagoshima's Buddhism after it was thoroughly crushed during the haibutsu kishaku (anti-Buddhist purge)
    52AnonymousSep 13, 2026 01:19
    Re: #7
    Even before the haibutsu kishaku, the region had already been hit once by a Christian "invasion"
    88AnonymousSep 13, 2026 05:12
    Re: #7
    It just moved into the empty space left behind, that's all
    18AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:17
    Why was it so popular anyway? What's different from today?
    23AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:27
    Re: #18
    Jodo Shinshu is the only sect where lay believers can become buddhas.
    If you live a normal life you're bound to kill something at some point, so in every other sect you're guaranteed to fall into hell.

    That's where "funeral Buddhism" comes in — the bereaved family pays a priest so the deceased can at least get into paradise.
    Even then, you don't become a buddha, you just come back to this world again.
    And there's no guarantee you'll even be reborn human.

    Well? Doesn't Jodo Shinshu sound better now?
    30AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:32
    Re: #23
    My family is Jodo Shinshu, Hongan-ji branch.
    When I was worrying about how to handle my parents' funeral and looked into it, Jodo Shinshu funerals turned out to be a real pain — quite different from other sects.

    > And there's no guarantee you'll even be reborn human
    Honestly, next time I'm reborn I want to come back as a sloth deep in the African jungle and spend my whole life just chilling out there.
    70AnonymousSep 13, 2026 01:49
    Re: #30
    Huh? I was chief mourner for a Jodo Shinshu funeral once and it was incredibly easy.
    Like I said, it depends on the priest, but the old temple that's taken care of my family for generations never once sent anything like an invoice.
    I've heard that elsewhere in the same city there are temples that basically bill you for a not-cheap amount, and the old folks joke about how rough that other temple sounds by comparison.
    I'm sure the wealthy in our congregation give plenty too, but seriously, the Jodo Shinshu funeral was easy.
    198AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:57
    Re: #30
    Jodo Shinshu is the easiest by far.
    The donation (ofuse) is half of what other sects charge too.
    20AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:20
    There's no religion out there that isn't at least a little crazy.
    25AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:28
    Re: #20
    That's because it's built to be convenient for those in power, even if the founder never intended that.
    26AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:28
    Re: #20
    Though at the same time, no one is free of contradictions either.
    22AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:25
    Not totally clear on this, but is it basically a catchy teaching like "just believe and anyone can go to paradise when they die"?

    Is it the sect for people who like flashy gold decoration?
    27AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:29
    Re: #22
    You can reach paradise through other sects too, not just this one.
    If the bereaved family pays a priest to perform memorial rites, you get there.

    But if there's no one left to perform rites for you, it's hell.
    Because everyone kills something at some point, guaranteed.
    33AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:39
    Re: #22
    Back then, commoners suffering from famine, plague, and war were desperate for salvation, but in the Buddhism of the time only powerful aristocrats or the ultra-wealthy who could make huge donations could become monks.
    Commoners couldn't even get to the starting line, and samurai were out of the question since killing was their trade.
    In that climate, the Pure Land schools taught that ordinary people living honestly were saved more readily than monks who built gilded temples — and of those schools, Shinshu was the one that really connected with the common people.
    24AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:28
    Jodo Shinshu could serve as a spiritual pillar for commoners in the Edo period, and it had real value back then.
    But in today's world, where people already have food, clothing, and shelter, it offers no support at all.
    If anything, it's just modern money-worshipping, desire-riddled hereditary priests fleecing you of money you earned through hard sweat.
    29AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:30
    Re: #24
    Jodo Shinshu doesn't require payment.
    Believers all become buddhas immediately upon death, no charge.
    55AnonymousSep 13, 2026 01:22
    Re: #24
    AI: "No need to worry at all — we'll take care of everything for you."
    31AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:33
    Fairly rundown, huh

    https://i0.wp.com/access21-co.xsrv.jp/shigekikou/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/202209091604.jpg
    34AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:44
    Buddha: "A thousand years after my death, people will no longer be able to attain enlightenment through their own effort — cling to Amida Buddha instead."

    Buddhism means the teachings of the Buddha.
    Anything that contradicts the Buddha's teachings isn't Buddhism.
    In other words, in the present day, only the Jodo (Pure Land) and Jodo Shinshu sects are true Buddhism.
    All the "self-power" sects are fakes.
    46AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:59
    Re: #34
    Which sutra is that from?
    Pure Land thought isn't in early Buddhism — it's from the Tendai lineage.
    That's just the standard line Mahayana uses when criticizing early Buddhism.
    56AnonymousSep 13, 2026 01:24
    Re: #34
    The other sects are just "skillful means" (hoben) meant to lead people toward Jodo Shinshu.
    The truly fake ones are separately designated as "heretical."
    61AnonymousSep 13, 2026 01:28
    Re: #34
    "So we've developed technology to make practice 1,000 times more efficient than back then!"
    77AnonymousSep 13, 2026 02:08
    Even so, these days believers overwhelmingly belong to Jodo Shinshu — Tendai, Shingon, and Soto, which held power throughout the medieval period, have far fewer followers.
    I wonder if commoners were already mostly Jodo Shinshu or Jodo sect even by the late Muromachi period.
    82AnonymousSep 13, 2026 03:02
    Re: #77
    Number of believers:
    Jodo sect lineage — about 19 million
    Shingon sect lineage (11 branches combined) — about 12 million
    114AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:58
    Re: #77
    What do you mean "overwhelmingly"?
    Sect affiliation originally reflected social class to begin with.
    Tendai/Shingon — court nobility
    Soto/Rinzai — samurai
    Jodo sect — farmers and townsfolk
    There are exceptions, of course.
    Current sect population figures come out every year in statistics, and there's no dramatically huge gap.
    102AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:26
    Jodo Shinshu was only classified as one of the traditional religions after the Meiji era.
    In the Edo period it wasn't officially recognized as a temple.
    Huge organizations like Hongan-ji may have held power, but ordinary local temples weren't treated as official temples — they were treated like new religious movements.
    Yet some of them were still used within the danka (parishioner registration) system, so their standing was ambiguous.
    113AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:58
    Re: #102
    Isn't it a stretch to say it wasn't an official temple when it served as the family temple (bodaiji) of daimyo houses?
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/守綱寺
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/忠綱寺
    156AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:41
    Re: #113
    Apparently Ikko-shu was outside the jurisdiction of the Tokugawa shogunate's temple and shrine magistrate (jisha-bugyo).
    It might have been different in the various regional domains though.
    136AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:26
    Re: #1
    Wasn't the Tokugawa family Jodo Shinshu…?
    139AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:27
    Re: #136
    Wasn't Tokugawa Nichiren-shu?
    143AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:30
    Re: #139
    That's just because one of Tokugawa Mitsukuni's concubines happened to be Nichiren-shu — the main Tokugawa line and the three branch houses (gosanke) have been Jodo Shinshu for over 400 years.
    145AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:33
    Re: #143
    Really now? Never heard that.
    Everyone normally says Tokugawa = Nichiren-shu, right?

    Background and Key Points of This Topic

    The Satsuma Domain is said to have banned Jodo Shinshu because the Shimazu clan feared that Ikko ikki uprisings by Hongan-ji followers could destabilize the status system. Unlike other sects, its doctrine doesn’t require mandatory donations, and tradition holds that not only commoners but even samurai kept practicing in secret. The ban was lifted in the 9th year of Meiji (1876), and the current exhibition commemorates that 150th anniversary. In the thread, alongside discussion of the reasons for the ban, there was a string of personal accounts claiming that Jodo Shinshu funerals are simpler and cheaper than those of other sects, while opinions split over which sect the Tokugawa shogunal family actually belonged to, with both Jodo-sect and Jodo-Shinshu theories put forward. It’s worth noting that all of this reflects individual posters’ personal knowledge and impressions on 5channel, not confirmed historical fact.

    ※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5channel (News Speed+) thread “[Kagoshima] ‘Not only commoners but samurai too practiced in secret’ — Jodo Shinshu, banned in the Satsuma Domain, marks 150 years since the ban was lifted… temple holds commemorative sacred-treasure exhibition.”

  • Red Feather Charity Drive Can’t Account for ¥180 Million — 5ch: ‘No Plan to Stop It Happening Again? Just Scrap It’

    The Red Feather Community Chest fundraiser is held nationwide every autumn, with donations supposedly funneled into social welfare programs — but it’s come to light that ¥180 million raised within Hokkaido has gone completely unaccounted for. The discovery reportedly stemmed from a tax office inspection, and donors who’ve given in the past are now demanding refunds, with some neighborhood associations opting out of fundraising activities altogether. On 5channel, users raised doubts about the fundraiser’s transparency and shared personal stories from their own days standing on street corners collecting donations, while also clashing over attempts to slap political labels on the fundraising organization.

    Mainichi Shimbun

    September 12, 2026 — Regional Edition

    October Campaign Kicks Off — Some Neighborhood Associations Opt Out of Fundraising

    Source: mainichi.jp / Original article here

    3AnonymousSep 12, 2026 17:29
    Better to just donate straight to your local government.
    5AnonymousSep 12, 2026 17:37
    Investigate the collusion too
    construction contract procedures
    kickbacks to buddy companies
    6AnonymousSep 12, 2026 17:38
    My elementary school teacher used to force us to donate —
    all that ever did was brand it as a creepy organization in my head.
    7AnonymousSep 12, 2026 17:39
    Is that the total amount, or just this year's?
    9AnonymousSep 12, 2026 17:53
    Bet it's not only Hokkaido.
    Any region that skips fundraising this fall might be hiding something too.
    12AnonymousSep 12, 2026 18:05
    Once you've had even one instance of unaccounted funds, you should never be allowed to run donation drives again.
    Red Feather and Fuji TV? (lol) (a dig comparing it to the scandal-plagued broadcaster)
    14AnonymousSep 12, 2026 18:06
    They should've just called it 'consulting fees'
    and saved everyone the trouble.
    15AnonymousSep 12, 2026 18:06
    I donated a bazillion yen once (obviously a joke/exaggeration) —
    now give my money back.
    19AnonymousSep 12, 2026 18:24
    Re: #15
    Is this the Seiyu meat-refund scandal all over again? lol (a past incident where the supermarket chain had to refund customers over mislabeled meat)
    16AnonymousSep 12, 2026 18:09
    AI: 'If there's no plan to prevent this happening again, just scrap it.'
    18AnonymousSep 12, 2026 18:20
    The Red Feather fund basically collects donations on autopilot these days.
    Isn't there something that can be done about that?
    20AnonymousSep 12, 2026 18:27
    See? Told you the people running the fundraiser would skim off the top.
    21AnonymousSep 12, 2026 18:33
    Re: #1
    Thanks to some rotten apples trampling on the goodwill of trusting people, Red Feather is done for.
    So once Red Feather's gone, are they gonna roll out a 'Blue Feather' next?
    22AnonymousSep 12, 2026 18:47
    And now introducing… the Red(-Handed) Feather campaign! (a jab implying the rebrand is just as crooked)
    33AnonymousSep 12, 2026 23:18
    If you've ever stood in the rain on a Saturday outside the station, shouting alongside everyone else while holding out a donation box asking for money…

    stuff like this really makes your blood boil, huh?
    40AnonymousSep 13, 2026 08:29
    Re: #33
    Boy Scouts always got roped into doing that.
    34AnonymousSep 13, 2026 03:14
    My family used to run a kerosene delivery truck back in the day, delivering fuel in winter. My parent said that after watching the fundraising volunteers at one house — they'd deliver kerosene there too, and when they went to collect payment afterward, the family running the donation drive dumped out the donation box, counted the cash, and paid the delivery fee straight out of the donations. After seeing that, my parent said they could never trust fundraising drives in general again.
    36AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:10
    Our neighborhood association pays it out of the budget, so I'm planning to bring it up at the year-end general meeting.
    37AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:32
    Re: #32
    I always figured the teachers were just pocketing it.
    38AnonymousSep 13, 2026 08:12
    I've donated a trillion yen over the years (yeah, right) —
    my gut remembers every bit of it.

    Background and Key Points of This Story

    The Red Feather Community Chest is a nationwide fundraising campaign run under the Social Welfare Act by prefectural Community Chest associations, with donations theoretically distributed to local welfare programs. What makes this case serious is that it wasn’t caught by the fundraising body’s own internal audit, but surfaced through a tax office inspection. The thread saw some back-and-forth over political labeling of the fundraising organization, but as of this article, only the existence and size of the unaccounted funds have been made public — no confirmed facts about where the money actually went have been disclosed. One thing readers may easily misunderstand is that while ‘Red Feather’ is a single nationwide brand, the actual accounting and day-to-day operations are handled independently by each prefectural and municipal Community Chest association. That means this particular problem may trace back to one region’s management specifically, even as it feeds into broader distrust of the donation system as a whole — a tension that shows up clearly in the thread’s reactions.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Business News+) thread ‘[Society] ‘Give Us Back the Donations We’ve Made So Far’ — Trust in Red Feather Wavers as ¥180 Million Goes Unaccounted for in Hokkaido‘.

  • BlizzCon 2026 Brings a Flood of New Titles — 5ch: ‘They Told Us Not to Put the Logo On, So We Didn’t’

    Multiple pieces of new information were announced at BlizzCon 2026. Reveals included a new hero joining ‘Heroes of the Storm,’ a Netflix anime series based on ‘Diablo’ currently in production, and a new ‘StarCraft’ open-world shooter slated for spring 2030 — on top of that, ‘Diablo IV’ is set to add a new class, the Amazon, in the first half of next year. On the thread, the fact that Microsoft had stripped the PS5 logo from its promotional materials touched off an argument between Xbox fans and PlayStation fans over whether this signals an Xbox exclusive or is just an omission in labeling.

    1AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:11
    ・New hero joins ‘Heroes of the Storm’
    ・Netflix anime series based on ‘Diablo’ in production
    ・New ‘StarCraft’ open-world shooter slated for spring 2030
    5AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:15
    This means they'll finally add Japanese localization to Warcraft III and StarCraft II, right?







    Right?











    Right?
    35AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:43
    Re: #5
    lol (草 = Japanese internet slang for 'lol')
    No way, tough luck
    7AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:17
    Never thought I'd see the day when TES, Fallout, Diablo, StarCraft, and even Kojima would stop showing up on PS.
    10AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:21
    Re: #7
    Halo
    Gears
    Forza
    Fable
    TES
    Fallout
    Doom
    Diablo
    Starcraft
    Warcraft
    Crash
    Kojima
    etc.

    None of these are playable on PS anymore? For real?
    16AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:25
    Re: #10
    Now that Asha's calling the shots, FH6 got pushed to some unannounced date in 2027, and since they're all-in on exclusives it probably won't ever come to PS.
    Some folks were dying to play it, but looks like that was pointless.
    If you want to play it, just buy an Xbox already.
    72AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:10
    Re: #10
    No problem
    PS still has Space Bald Guy, FairGame$, BBA20, Horizon Online (redone from scratch), and China Hero Project games waiting in the wings.
    8AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:19
    Xbox console exclusive.
    PlayStation goes extinct in 2029.
    12AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:23
    Re: #8
    No way it lasts that long.
    Disc format gets discontinued in 2028.
    They won't call it a withdrawal outright — it'll just fade out.
    Right now they're in the final stage of debt restructuring.
    They'll only report earnings beats so they don't spook shareholders.
    Even an idiot should be able to see that much.
    11AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:21
    No new DLC for [Diablo] IV, huh?
    13AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:23
    Re: #11
    The new class coming in the first half of next year is the Amazon.
    21AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:30
    Re: #13
    The Amazon, huh.
    Rumor was that Diablo III's world was coming as DLC, but turns out it's II's.

    Season 15 starts the day after tomorrow, and people have been saying for a while that a Switch 2 version is timed to go with it.
    24AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:33
    Re: #21
    Yeah, the Amazon's coming in the first half, but whether that's tied to a DLC isn't clear — might not be DLC at all.
    Guess we'll find out the details later.
    17AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:26
    Glad I bought an Xbox.
    You should all buy one too.
    25AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:34
    Re: #17
    I'll just play it on PC!
    20AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:30
    Asha: 'Bethesda, make TES and Fallout.'
    Asha: 'Blizzard, make Diablo, StarCraft, and Warcraft.'

    Thanks, Asha.
    30AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:39
    Re: #20
    Obvious as it sounds, if nobody cracks the whip they'll just drag their feet on making games forever.
    Someone's got to play enforcer.
    22AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:31
    Diablo V already? Seriously?
    33AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:40
    Re: #22
    IV came out in '23 and V's planned for '29 — that's a 6-year gap, so calling it 'already' feels off.
    29AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:37
    Steam, Switch 2, and Xbox — with just these you've got everything covered. Pretty great, honestly.
    31AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:39
    Re: #29
    B-but I can't play Wolverine!!
    38AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:45
    Chika-kun (5ch's nickname mocking Sony/Nintendo fanboys, short for 'Chikanishi'):
    'Even if you go multiplatform, don't put other consoles' logos on it!!!!'

    ↓

    Asha (5ch's nickname for Microsoft/Xbox):
    'Got it, I'll stop putting the logo on.'

    ↓

    Chika-kun:
    'There's no PS5 logo on Diablo V, what are you gonna do about that lolololol'

    ↓

    Asha:
    'You told me not to put the logo on so I didn't — but the press materials do list it as multiplatform—'

    ↓

    Chika-kun:
    'IT'S AN XBOX EXCLUSIVE AAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!'
    We are here.
    44AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:53
    Re: #38
    Even if you lie about it, it won't change the fact that PlayStation goes extinct in 2029.
    Sad but true — that's the console war for you.
    47AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:56
    Re: #38
    Congrats on PS5's withdrawal 🤭
    The platform itself is dead, so it's not coming to PS5.
    The fact that you're copy-pasting some obscure leak says it all, lol.
    Serves you right 🤪
    39AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:45
    Sony bought Bungie to compete, and all that's come out of it is just one game, Marathon…?
    60AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:59
    Re: #39
    Marathon's multiplatform too, though.
    48AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:56
    'We're releasing a game in 2030.' Didn't know there were still companies doing presentations like that these days.
    50AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:57
    Re: #48
    It's to plant the impression that PlayStation's going extinct.
    51AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:57
    Man, this is hilarious lolol
    Chika-kun is the one who kept screaming 'don't put the logo on!!!' at Asha in the first place
    And now he's celebrating 'no logo means exclusive!!!' — that's rich lolol
    56AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:58
    Re: #51
    Tremble and lose sleep counting down to PlayStation's extinction in '29, lolol
    59AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:59
    Re: #51
    You can keep switching your poster ID, but your garbage writing style gives you away, you know?
    You're trying to make it look like a bunch of people are running a smear campaign, but it's just you fighting all alone, huh. Pathetic lololololol
    54AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:58
    Re: #1
    PC's fine honestly — PC is Xbox's real enemy.
    58AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:59
    Re: #56
    Wait lolol
    You were getting all excited thinking it was an Xbox exclusive for nothing? lolololol
    55AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:58
    By not putting the logo on, they tricked people into getting excited over a false exclusive.
    Asha wins this one on strategy 💕
    Classic Asha 💕
    65AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:01
    Man, thanks for the laughs this early in the morning lolol
    This is exactly why I can't stop watching Chika-kun lolol
    Asha's 'false-hope' strategy, total success 💕

    Alright, I'm off then, lolol
    69AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:03
    Re: #65
    You can tell a million lies and it still won't change the fact PlayStation goes extinct in 2029, lol
    Also, it's Sunday today lolol — going to go sulk and sleep it off now?
    77AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:19
    They announce that the nearest new releases are in 2029 and 2030 — I wonder what the reaction in the venue was like.
    78AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:22
    Re: #77
    It was rapturous applause for the campaign basically saying 'PlayStation's pulling out, so if you want to play, buy the next-gen Xbox.'
    79AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:23
    Re: #77
    Game Pass isn't just about that, you know?
    It's nothing but a backlog of games I haven't gotten to plus ones I actually want to play — honestly, I'm grateful for it.

    Background and Key Points of This Topic

    The backdrop here is that, ever since Microsoft acquired Activision Blizzard in 2023, how the company would handle its titles — including Diablo and StarCraft — has repeatedly come up in related 5ch threads. The ‘logo controversy’ driving this latest argument comes down to a split between those who see the missing PS5 logo on promotional materials as proof of an exclusive, and those who see it as simply an omission in labeling — no official announcement of exclusivity has actually been made. It’s also worth noting that predictions floated in the thread, like ‘PlayStation will be extinct by 2029,’ are purely speculation from an anonymous message board, with no official information backing them up.

    ※This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Hardware/Industry (Geha)) thread ‘[Xbox] The Insanely Good Reveals at “BlizzCon 2026” [Switch 2].’

  • ‘Trans-America Ultra Quiz’ Domestic Qualifiers Kick Off, Two-Night New Year’s Broadcast Confirmed — 5ch: ‘Looks Like Way Fewer Than the Korakuen Stadium Days’

    On September 12, the first domestic qualifying round for Nippon TV’s popular special program “Trans-America Ultra Quiz” was held at Giants Town Stadium in Inagi City, Tokyo. It was also announced that the broadcast will air over two consecutive nights on New Year’s Day, January 1 and 2, 2027. The show ended in 1992, and a 2007 attempt to revive it as “Comedy Ultra Quiz” was poorly received. On 5ch, viewers old enough to remember the original weighed in with a range of reactions — about the smaller turnout this time, the selection process, the challenges of running a quiz show in the era of smartphones and generative AI, and fond memories of hosts from years past.

    Nikkan Sports

    [September 13, 2026, 4:30 AM]

    The first domestic qualifying round for “Trans-America Ultra Quiz,” the viewer-participation mega quiz show Nippon TV will air as a major year-end/New Year’s special, was held on the 12th at Giants Town Stadium in Inagi City, Tokyo. It was also announced that the broadcast will run over two consecutive nights on New Year’s Day, January 1 and 2, 2027.

    Source: nikkansports.com / Original article here

    10AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:57
    Enough with quiz shows, food shows, and strolling-around shows already.
    Only brain-dead idiots watch this stuff anymore.
    61AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:36
    Re: #10
    That's because they're all cheap to produce.
    They can't spend money like they used to, so every show ends up looking the same.
    11AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:57
    Regular people are basically off the table these days.
    It'll probably just be out-of-work celebrities and streamers looking for publicity.
    16AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:00
    Re: #11
    Ha, sounds like the same lineup you'd see on 'Nige-chuu' (a Japanese cops-and-robbers hide-and-seek show).
    21AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:02
    Re: #11
    In the end they'll probably just pull compliant extras from some talent agency.
    Because these days, attention-seekers will do literally anything to leave a mark.
    We're well past the era when you could livestream something like the 'soy-sauce-bottle-licking' prank to the whole world.
    17AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:00
    Back in Tome-san's day the hosting energy was fine, but Fukuzawa's 'FIRE!!' was kind of cringe.
    Maybe it's just secondhand embarrassment, I don't know.
    102AnonymousSep 13, 2026 08:05
    Re: #17
    Fukuzawa's the one who's to blame for ending the show in the first place, honestly.
    29AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:09
    So NTV chose to go head-to-head with Kakuzuke Check and Aibou instead of Kohaku, huh.
    51AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:28
    Re: #29
    The first spin-off, the biggest loser's-bracket special in the show's history, went up against kouhakunit, though.

    54AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:28
    Re: #51
    Ah, my text got garbled somehow.
    I meant it went head-to-head with Kohaku (NHK's New Year's Eve music special).
    49AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:26
    The idiots begging for a revival of 'Comedy Ultra Quiz' clearly don't know it already came back in 2007 and bombed hard.
    They probably only remember the show from around 1990.
    50AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:27
    Re: #49
    NTV: Comedy Ultra Quiz, Fuji: SMAP×SMAP, TV Asahi: Aibou (Tower of Babel special)
    Now that was a fierce ratings battle.
    52AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:28
    Was there actually an open call for participants, or did they just reach out to quiz-club alumni?
    56AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:29
    Re: #52
    Yeah, there was an open call.
    They aired highlight reels of the old show and announced it during those too.
    53AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:28
    Looks like way fewer than back in the Korakuen Stadium days.
    https://thetv.jp/i/nw/1440586/18508630.jpg
    57AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:33
    Re: #53
    That's like a tenth of the turnout at its peak.
    58AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:35
    Re: #53
    Probably about 20,000 yen (~$135) for the day, transportation included.
    99AnonymousSep 13, 2026 08:02
    Re: #53
    This time there was a document-screening selection process, so naturally fewer people made it through.
    60AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:36
    They really need to confiscate everyone's phones before letting them compete.
    64AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:38
    Re: #60
    Like anyone's got time to Google the answer during a True/False quiz round.
    66AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:39
    Wait, just two days over New Year's?
    I thought this was going to be a weekly show.
    74AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:43
    Re: #66
    Back in the Thursday Special days it was 90 minutes x 4 episodes, so 3 hours x 2 days actually works out to about the same total runtime.
    67AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:39
    Back in the day they'd be caked in mud while answering quiz questions.
    Thinking about it now, that's absurdly stupid (lol)
    73AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:42
    Re: #67
    Variety shows still do that kind of thing to this day.
    69AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:40
    Being on Ultra Quiz was one of my childhood dreams.
    By the time I was old enough to actually go on, they'd already stopped making it.
    Now that it's back, the qualifier date happened to fall during literally the one stretch my current job won't let me take off.
    75AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:44
    Re: #69
    An old-timer like you probably would've been cut in the pre-qualifier round anyway.
    Almost everyone under 30 got through, but it was a really narrow gate for anyone over 40.
    76AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:44
    Back in the Korakuen Stadium days
    https://www.fami-geki.com/ultraquiz/11/img/cont02_img03.jpg
    77AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:44
    How do you read this?

    　　　|￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣|
    　　　|　 ＿　　　　　　　　/ヽ　　./ヽ　 　/|　　　　＿＿　　　　 .|
    　　　|　 ＼￣｀─–､＿/　　＼/　　＼/　|､–￣　　 /　　　　 .|
    　　　|　　　＼.　＿　　　　　 ＿＿＿ [][]　＿　　 　 /　　 　 　 .|
    　　　|　　 ／.　 |　 | .┌┐　|＿＿　 |　　 |　 |　　　　｀ 、 　 　 .|
    　　　| ＜´　 　 |　 |　 |　.|　 　 　 |.　|　　 | 　|　　　　 　 ＞　　 |
    　　　|　　丶　　|　 |　 .|　 |　　　　|.　|　　 |　 |　　 へ　／　　　 |
    　　　|　 ／　　/　..|　　|　 |　　　/　 ヽ　　|　 | 　/　/　｀丶 、　.|
    　　　|∠＿　 /　 /　　 |　.|　 ／　 ﾍ .ヽ　.|　 レ　 /　　　 _ ,＞..|
    　　　|　　　ｿ　ヽ/ 　 　 |___|　ヽ／　.ヽ/　「　 　 ／　　　 -　　　|
    　　　|　 　/　　　　　　　　 　 　 　 　 　 　 ｀￣´　　　　 |　 　　 |
    　　　|　　/、–￣ |　 　／＼　　　/＼ 　 　 /＼　　 　 |　　 　 .|
    　　　|　　　　　　　 | ／　　　＼　/　　＼　 /　　 ＼ 　 |　　.　　|
    　　　|　　　　　　　 ´　　　　　 　ｖ　　　 .｀ｖ　　　　　＼ |　　 　 .|
    　　　￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣
    78AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:46
    Re: #77
    And Tome says it again with that same delighted look on his face.
    91AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:57
    Back in the day, the rule for question 1 was you could use any method at all to get the answer.
    These days people would just ask generative AI.
    95AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:59
    Re: #91
    The question writers aren't idiots either, they'll account for that.
    They can easily do stuff like 'True or False: Sho Sakurai ate Japanese food for breakfast this morning.'
    96AnonymousSep 13, 2026 08:00
    Got a bad feeling they won't just recreate the original as-is — they'll bolt on some unnecessary twist and it'll blow up into a controversy.
    98AnonymousSep 13, 2026 08:02
    Re: #96
    Honestly, the whole thing's dead on arrival if it's over after just two days of broadcast.
    There's no time to build any attachment to it.
    100AnonymousSep 13, 2026 08:03
    Re: #96
    What I'm genuinely worried about is that since it's supposedly going around the world,
    the finals end up being like 'In Seoul, South Korea!' or something.

    Background and Key Points of This Story

    “Trans-America Ultra Quiz” ended in 1992, and a 2007 attempt to revive it as “Comedy Ultra Quiz” was poorly received — this marks the first full-fledged revival since then. Right now the show is only at the early stage of domestic first-round qualifiers, and details like overseas filming locations, the cast, and whether there will be forfeit-style penalty games have not yet been announced. Opinion on the thread split mainly over how to read the participant numbers: some argued the document-screening selection process naturally narrowed the field compared to the frenzied Korakuen Stadium era, while others saw it as simply reflecting “an age when it’s harder to get ordinary people to show up.” Another sticking point was how a quiz format can even work in an era when smartphones and generative AI are the norm, with many voicing doubt about how well that fits the old “use any method you like” rule. One thing readers could easily get wrong: only the two-night New Year’s broadcast slot has been decided so far — the scale of the show and whether overseas filming will actually happen remain unconfirmed.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geinou/Sports Breaking News+) thread “Nippon TV’s major special “Trans-America Ultra Quiz” domestic first-round qualifiers kick off, two-night New Year’s broadcast also confirmed — January 1 and 2, 2027.”

  • Ayami Nakajo Denies Marriage Rumors With Kōji Imada — Fans Ask, ‘Wait, Isn’t She Already Married?’

    Actress Ayami Nakajo, appearing on MBS’s “Tsūkai! Akashiya Dentai” (lit. “Delightful! Akashiya TV Station”) on September 12, was asked about marriage rumors with comedian Kōji Imada and flatly shut them down, saying “I won’t.” Nakajo has co-starred with Imada since her teens as MC and assistant on Nippon TV’s “Another Sky,” and has called him a “benefactor of my career in showbiz.” After the segment aired, 5ch threads lit up — with posters pointing out that Nakajo is presumably already married to a non-celebrity, speculation about Imada’s taste in women, and plenty of people questioning why the question was even asked in the first place.

    Ayami Nakajo, marriage rumors with Kōji Imada? “I won’t” — flatly denied… here’s why

    Actress Ayami Nakajo (29) appeared on MBS TV’s “Tsūkai! Akashiya Dentai” (Saturdays 3pm, Kansai local) on the 12th. She spoke about comedian Kōji Imada (60), whom she calls a “benefactor of my career in showbiz.”

    Nakajo has co-starred with Imada since her teens as MC and assistant on “another sky” (Nippon TV).

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

    3AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:12
    5AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:13
    Ayami Nakajo has been married for ages, come on.
    6AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:14
    Wait, huh? Isn't Ayami Nakajo already a housewife with kids?
    8AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:15
    Didn't Ayami Nakajo marry some regular guy already?
    77AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:50
    Re: #8
    Exactly this.
    Didn't she get married a few years back?
    Honestly this is basically a sexual harassment question.
    10AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:17
    Someone like Nakajo is the absolute cream of the crop — she could have her pick of anyone.
    13AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:17
    Sanma's an old geezer too, same difference. Why the condescending tone?
    15AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:18
    You could tell even as a layman how hard Nippon TV was locking onto Nakajo once they started pushing her.
    17AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:18
    > Nakajo laughed awkwardly and said, "Well, his age is basically double mine… being the same age as my dad is kind of…"

    Nakai, THIS is what normal looks like.
    18AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:19
    For starters, "I love him" is already a lie — that's just social nicety talk.
    21AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:21
    Poor girl, getting rumored with some old man when she's this cute.
    23AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:22
    If it meant I could lick Poarin's chopsticks (nickname for Nakajo), I'd pay up to 30,000 yen.
    25AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:23
    Watching Another Sky, you can really tell what type Imada's into.
    26AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:24
    He's got money and work but either won't or can't get married — just playing the field.
    27AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:24
    It's creepy how random third parties keep chiming in with "so what's wrong with that?"
    29AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:25
    Well, no matter how old a guy gets, he obviously wants someone in her 20s.
    If Imada compromised and went for a woman around 40, he could get married any time he wanted.
    Then again, there are guys in their 50s who married beautiful freelance announcers 30 years younger.
    40AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:28
    Re: #29
    Even if she's gorgeous, Imada won't give anyone under 160cm the time of day.
    32AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:26
    No way a beauty like that marries a man old enough to be her father — unless he's Trump-level rich.
    33AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:27
    Even if Imada's single, at least he doesn't have that grim desperation regular single guys give off, so it's fine.
    37AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:27
    Ima-chan (Imada) has a thing for hafu (mixed-race) women.
    Every Another Sky assistant over the years has been hafu.
    When they're not hafu, Ima-chan just isn't feeling it.

    Risako Shitara, his radio co-host, got swept away by Kazu (Kazuyoshi Miura).
    Kato Rosa, his show co-star, went to Daisuke Matsui too…
    Ima-chan's natural enemy is soccer players.
    38AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:27
    At this point no woman would go for him except for his money, and it's sad he still won't admit that to himself.
    41AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:28
    More to the point, isn't Ayami Nakajo already married?
    42AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:29
    Imada shouldn't have put out "Now Romantic" — that's what gave him this image he can't shake.
    45AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:31
    I don't really get it, what are people even talking about? There's no way they were dating to begin with.

    Ayami Nakajo's husband is Sōgo Ichihara, president and CEO of the IT company AViC Co., Ltd.
    47AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:32
    Re: #30
    If that were true he'd already be married.
    He can't get married because the problem is with him.
    61AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:36
    Re: #47
    What he wants in a woman isn't just looks and figure — his 39-point checklist is way too strict, including things like housekeeping skills better than his own.
    Stuff like "doesn't like Hawaii too much," "has dated five people or fewer," "no papercraft anywhere in the house."
    62AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:37
    He's got basically infinite money, so he can spend his old age pampered in a luxury nursing home.
    He doesn't need a wife and kids on standby as caregiver insurance like regular people do.
    Just play around to his heart's content and coast into an easy retirement.
    That's one valid ideal, honestly.
    68AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:38
    Re: #62
    Imada's a total germaphobe who hates even being touched by other people.
    I don't think he could handle a nursing home.
    67AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:38
    Why would she even play along with the question if she's already married?
    Maybe she secretly got divorced?
    70AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:39
    Re: #67
    Probably just a staged bit to hook viewers who don't know about Nakajo — otherwise the whole thing just ends with "I'm already married."

    Background and Key Points of This Story

    The original article frames Nakajo as a single woman at an age when marriage is on her mind, but on 5ch, multiple posters independently raised the point that “Nakajo is surely already married” or “didn’t she marry a regular guy?” Some replies even circulated claims that Nakajo married an IT company executive years ago, leading to questions about whether the framing of the on-air question itself was just a bit staged for viewers who aren’t in the loop. The other major thread of discussion was curiosity directed at Imada himself — many commenters read a preference for “young hafu (mixed-race) women” from the lineup of assistants he’s cast on Another Sky over the years, pointing to past assistants who ended up marrying well-known athletes. That said, all of this remains speculation from an anonymous message board — there’s no official confirmation of Imada’s own views on marriage or whether he’s currently in a relationship.

    ※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Entertainment/Sports News+) thread “[Entertainment] Actress Ayami Nakajo flatly denies marriage rumors with Kōji Imada — “I won’t”… here’s why.”

  • Military Knife vs. Kendo Master — 5ch Weighs In: “Anyone Sane Would Just Run”

    A thread titled “Military special forces operator: ‘Even a kendo master can be beaten with a military knife’” appeared on 5ch’s Hello! Project board, sparking a debate over how much a weapon gap should decide a real fight. Some kendo practitioners argued their skills wouldn’t hold up once you step outside the rules of the dojo, while others pointed out that real special forces soldiers mainly use knives as tools — for opening gear, for instance — rather than for hand-to-hand combat. The discussion pulled in everything from the old Imperial Japanese Army’s bayonet fighting and the Gurkhas’ kukri knives to the knife maker Tamura Equipment Development, eventually spiraling into a broader argument about how “real” martial arts actually are in practice.

    1AnonymousSep 13, 2026 05:28
    Got that?
    3AnonymousSep 13, 2026 05:30
    Even if the kendo master's packing a submachine gun?
    4AnonymousSep 13, 2026 05:30
    Let's step out of manga-land, huh?!
    Right?!
    5AnonymousSep 13, 2026 05:34
    Seriously, first thing next week
    just sign up for kendo, judo, boxing, aikido, whatever — doesn't matter which
    you'll get way more out of it than what you pay in monthly dues, no joke
    an MMA gym works too, obviously
    7AnonymousSep 13, 2026 05:35
    It's just a bunch of middle-aged guys pawing at each other
    that's the whole value of it — go get your grope on
    9AnonymousSep 13, 2026 05:37
    Getting grabbed by an 80kg (176 lb) guy feels exactly like thiiiis
    just learning that is worth paying 8,000 yen (about $55) for
    am I right?!
    10AnonymousSep 13, 2026 05:47
    If the kendo master had a real sword, they wouldn't lose, right?
    12AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:21
    It's Strider, isn't it?
    33AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:53
    Re: #12
    That thing's overrated, honestly
    back in the day that rugged paracord-wrapped look was rare and cool, but…
    13AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:26
    Re: #1
    You're probably picturing survival knife vs. shinai (bamboo practice sword). Think survival knife vs. bokken (wooden sword), then survival knife vs. real sword instead — there's no winning that up close. Or is he gonna throw the knife like Steven Seagal?
    14AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:30
    If it's a match in a dojo, kendo obviously wins
    that's not the scenario being talked about here, is it?
    15AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:32
    The guys at Tamura Equipment Development probably wouldn't say something like that.
    16AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:34
    Some amateur with a fantasy image of military special forces
    knives are only ever used for things like opening ration packs
    17AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:35
    Actually, it's the Tamura guys who said exactly that — that you run if someone's got a knife
    I saw a U.S. special forces guy say the same thing
    18AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:35
    A Gurkha soldier with a kukri knife might actually beat a kendo champion.
    19AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:36
    Apparently even the Tamura Equipment guys couldn't handle an aikido master.
    20AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:39
    "Knives are only used for opening rations and stuff" —
    well, by that logic, kendo isn't used in real combat either
    21AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:41
    In a mixed-style match, an aikido master couldn't do a thing and got completely beaten up by a fighter.
    22AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:43
    There was a big, built boss at my old company who'd played soccer his whole life
    and he said his wife, who did aikido, could pin him down with ease
    23AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:44
    Even the Tamura guy would run from someone holding a long weapon like a bokken.
    24AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:44
    In an elevator or a phone booth, special forces would have the edge.
    25AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:46
    Well yeah, knife vs. bokken —
    anyone sane would just run
    26AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:47
    Aiki and fajin (internal-power techniques) really do exist
    of course, that alone won't beat a trained fighter though
    27AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:48
    Aikido makes sense against a strong amateur,
    but it's not built for a pro boxer's punch combos —
    you wouldn't even see the punches coming in the first place
    28AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:48
    The assassin Shiryu overwhelmed the swordsman Nomura with nothing but a knife though.
    29AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:49
    Soujirou said that shukuchi (instant-step footwork) is really just leg strength.
    30AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:50
    I wonder if Hiramoto's toughness comes from training in sanchin (a karate breathing kata).
    31AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:51
    If the kendo fighter goes dual-wielding, the special forces soldier has no choice but to pull a gun.
    32AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:51
    Kendo practitioners don't train for real combat at all
    so fighting somewhere with obstacles gives a well-trained soldier a massive advantage
    34AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:54
    The only knife battle worth mentioning is from the movie Commando, lol.
    36AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:56
    Re: #34
    The final boss fight in that Steven Seagal movie.
    35AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:55
    Soldiers don't really train for hand-to-hand combat either, basically.
    42AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:00
    Re: #35
    Huh?
    Close-quarters combat is a basic part of military training, you know?
    37AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:56
    As an old guy myself, when I think knife-fighting technique, I think of Tsuge Hisayoshi's dual-kukri style.
    43AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:00
    Apparently the old Imperial Japanese Army trained in kendo and judo, so a soldier with just one blade was pretty strong.
    48AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:03
    Re: #43
    Prewar judo and kendo had no rules.
    50AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:05
    Re: #43
    The old Imperial Japanese Army was big on bayonet fighting (jukendo), right?
    54AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:08
    Real special forces guys are mostly just paunchy middle-aged men
    more like guys running on knowledge and experience
    61AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:14
    Re: #54
    The Self-Defense Forces' special units are mostly young, single soldiers
    if you're overweight you become dead weight rappelling from a helicopter, and looking at public training footage, there weren't any out-of-shape guys
    57AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:11
    I actually learned judo from a former member of the old Nakano School (a WWII-era intelligence academy), and it was brutally practical — pinching the skin through the sleeve cuff, elbowing the nose mid-throw, stomping on the guy after he's down.
    59AnonymousSep 13, 2026 07:13
    Re: #57
    How old even are you, lol

    Background and Key Points of the Debate

    As kendo evolved into a competitive sport, lethal techniques like body checks and grappling were phased out of its rules — while prewar kendo and the old Imperial Japanese Army’s bayonet fighting were historically taught with real combat in mind. The thread’s comment that “prewar judo and kendo had no rules” reflects that shift. There’s also a well-known idea from U.S. police training called the “21-foot rule,” which holds that when an attacker with a blade is at close range, there often isn’t time to react even with a weapon or reach advantage — a reality the thread’s point that “advantage shifts depending on location and distance” echoes. The observation that knives carried by special forces operators are used mainly as multipurpose tools — for opening gear, say — rather than for close-quarters fighting is also a common take in military commentary. In that light, the thread’s detour reads as just the latest round of a long-running argument over how “real” martial arts actually are in practice.

    ※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project board) thread “Military special forces operator: “Even a kendo master can be beaten with a military knife”.”

  • “KEEEEEI!” — Satsuma’s Ancient Sword School Yakumaru Jigen-ryu Holds Ceremony for Its 15th Grand Master

    At Sengan-en in Kagoshima City, a ceremony was held to install the 15th head of Yakumaru Jigen-ryu, an old school of swordsmanship handed down from the Satsuma domain, with practitioners ranging in age from 5 to 77 demonstrating its one-strike-kill technique to the distinctive battle cry of “KEEEEEI!” The school is said to date back roughly 1,000 years, and legend has it that both Kirino Toshiaki (Nakamura Hanjiro) and Togo Heihachiro trained in it during the late Edo period. On 5ch, threads debated its lineage relationship to the similarly Satsuma-born Jigen-ryu, the origin of the battle cry, and how effective it would actually be in real combat.

    A ceremony was held at Sengan-en to install the 15th head of Yakumaru Jigen-ryu, a school of swordsmanship handed down from the Satsuma domain. Participants ranging in age from 5 to 77 took part, demonstrating the old sword art.

    “KEEEEEEEI!”

    Yakumaru Jigen-ryu is said to date back roughly 1,000 years. It’s a “one-strike-kill” style that stakes everything on the very first swing, and it was passed down among the lower-ranking samurai of the Satsuma domain.

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

    3AnonymousSep 12, 2026 23:42
    Wait, isn't the shout supposed to be "chesuto"?
    29AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:00
    Re: #3
    Cheerio!
    169AnonymousSep 13, 2026 05:13
    Re: #3
    That's a botched "chesuto" for ya, goawasu (old Satsuma-dialect for "is/it is")
    196AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:15
    Re: #3
    Yakumaru Jigen-ryu is actually an offshoot of Satsunan Jigen-ryu (the "chesutooo" one)
    6AnonymousSep 12, 2026 23:44
    Kinda sounds like it's turned into a licensing racket, like flower arranging or tea ceremony~
    55AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:17
    Re: #6
    Giving out "tea names" and the like is technically banned as a front, but apparently some people still charge 1 million or 3 million yen for one.
    That's 5x, 15x the going rate!
    10AnonymousSep 12, 2026 23:45
    I watched the news clip and honestly the shouting was needlessly loud, kind of annoyed me.
    And on top of that the swordwork looked wobbly and lame.
    12AnonymousSep 12, 2026 23:48
    Re: #10
    Probably because they're swinging something heavy, that's why.
    11AnonymousSep 12, 2026 23:47
    13AnonymousSep 12, 2026 23:48
    Wouldn't a one-strike kill be more reliable done silently instead of with a shout?
    18AnonymousSep 12, 2026 23:53
    Re: #13
    It's not dojo swordsmanship, it's built for war, so you need the battle cry to psych yourself up.
    20AnonymousSep 12, 2026 23:53
    Re: #13
    Having these guys line up on a battlefield and come charging at you screaming would be sheer terror.
    23AnonymousSep 12, 2026 23:56
    53AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:16
    Re: #23
    When you explain it like that, it does start to feel like it'd actually be strong…
    36AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:06
    Sounds like at best it's aiming for a mutual kill.
    Still, this is a style meant for 1-on-1 fights, right?
    41AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:08
    Re: #36
    By that logic every sword style is the same.
    For group combat, bows and spears are the standard.
    46AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:11
    Re: #36
    No, since it's mainly an overhead swing, charging in formation works too.

    Re: #39
    That's more about the quality of the soldiers than the swordsmanship. Echigo troops do seem tougher than Satsuma troops.
    Wasn't the "Echigo master" Toda Seigen of the Chujo-ryu?
    39AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:07
    What sword styles even come from Echigo?
    50AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:14
    I wonder if not many people are watching Dan Don?
    It's really good though.
    51AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:14
    Re: #50
    I love it so much.
    129AnonymousSep 13, 2026 02:38
    Re: #50
    I'm watching it.
    Nakamura Hanjiro, who was a total monster in Chiruran, is adorably dumb in this one.
    61AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:22
    I want to know why Kagoshima Prefecture fell from grace.
    65AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:24
    Re: #61
    You… are you about to vanish…?
    76AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:35
    Re: #61
    Because all the talented people moved to Tokyo.
    78AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:38
    Re: #61
    It was already in decline to begin with.
    It's remembered as a wealthy domain, but after conquering the Ryukyu Kingdom, Satsuma actually used Ryukyu as a base to mint counterfeit koban (gold coins).
    Once the counterfeiting was discovered, the paper currency of every domain in Kyushu instantly lost credibility.
    When the domains investigated just how much fake money was circulating, it turned out everyone had copied Satsuma and was minting counterfeits too.
    "Wait, we were doing it too?!"
    A Fukuoka domain retainer was so ashamed at having failed to notice this that it escalated all the way to him committing seppuku.


    https://rekishikaido.php.co.jp/detail/6693?p=1
    68AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:26
    Kirino Toshiaki was that Satsuma army officer who either killed himself or was executed during the Satsuma Rebellion, right?
    Even Jigen-ryu couldn't beat the government army's guns and cannons.
    81AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:43
    Re: #68
    Before he changed his name he was Nakamura Hanjiro, one of the "Four Great Assassins" of the late Edo period.
    He was a lower-ranking samurai as poor as a farmer, but apparently had a blunt, straightforward personality and was hugely popular with women.
    175AnonymousSep 13, 2026 05:25
    Re: #68
    That was after he cut down Saigo, who had tried to flee.
    72AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:31
    Togo Shigekata, 13th head of Jigen-ryu
    80AnonymousSep 13, 2026 00:42
    Togo Shigekata, founder and 1st generation of Jigen-ryu
    121AnonymousSep 13, 2026 02:30
    If it were the strongest, they wouldn't have been routed at Sekigahara.
    131AnonymousSep 13, 2026 02:43
    Re: #121
    Actually, they broke straight through the enemy lines and retreated out the other side, lol
    136AnonymousSep 13, 2026 02:51
    Re: #121
    Wasn't Taisha-ryu probably the mainstream style at that time?
    Sorry if I'm wrong, I don't know much about this.
    145AnonymousSep 13, 2026 03:11
    So Yakumaru Hirohide is a real descendant? That's wild.
    146AnonymousSep 13, 2026 03:20
    Re: #145
    Sorry, I looked into it and it doesn't seem related.
    Apparently he's from Musashimurayama City.
    Correcting myself.
    200AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:22
    Re: #146
    That whole exchange above was a joke, you know.
    Haha, you fell for it!
    201AnonymousSep 13, 2026 06:23
    Re: #146
    I'm pretty sure Yakumaru Hirohide's father or grandfather was from Kagoshima. It's a rare surname even in Kagoshima, so he's probably a descendant, or at least related.
    156AnonymousSep 13, 2026 04:14
    Ka-BLAM.
    186AnonymousSep 13, 2026 05:45
    Re: #156
    I believe the story behind this scene is that Harrison Ford, who played Indiana Jones, was sick and in terrible shape at the time, so they staged it to end in one quick shot instead, lol

    Background and Key Points of This Topic

    Yakumaru Jigen-ryu is considered an offshoot of Jigen-ryu, the mainstream school of swordsmanship in the Satsuma domain, and it spread mainly among lower-ranking samurai. Like Jigen-ryu, it puts heavy emphasis on “settling things with a single strike,” a training system built around massed charges into battle rather than dojo-style dueling, which is why its purpose differs from typical swordsmanship. Nakamura Hanjiro (later Kirino Toshiaki), known as an assassin in the late Edo period, and Togo Heihachiro, who led the Combined Fleet in the Russo-Japanese War, are both said to have trained under this school. On the thread, users traded knowledge about how to render the battle cry (“chesuto” vs. “kei”) and the lineage relationship with Jigen-ryu. Meanwhile, posts linking TV personality Yakumaru Hirohide to the family line were later corrected as having been a “joke,” so this has not been confirmed as fact. The fact that the succession ceremony brought together such a wide range of ages, from 5 to 77, illustrates how traditional culture continues to be passed down in the regions.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (News Speed+) thread “[Kagoshima] “KEEEEEI!” — Satsuma Domain’s “One-Strike-Kill” Yakumaru Jigen-ryu Holds Ceremony for 15th Grand Master… Disciples Included Kirino Toshiaki and Togo Heihachiro: “We Want to Keep This Going for 10,000 Years”.”