Japan Reacts

Author: Japan Reacts Editorial

  • ANGERME’s Suzu Hashisako Announces Graduation Next Spring — 20 Years Old, in Her 7th Year in the Group

    ANGERME’s Suzu Hashisako will graduate from the group following next spring’s tour, it has been announced. Hashisako joined ANGERME in 2019 and is currently 20 years old (turning 21 next month), marking her 7th year in the group. On 5ch’s Hello! Project board, the announcement sparked lively discussion covering predictions for the exact graduation date, the status of trainees, and comparisons with other Hello! Project members from her same age group. The thread also floated theories that the move was a “course correction” after weak sales for the autumn concerts, along with complaints about the group’s stage direction — reactions that spread well beyond the graduation announcement itself.

    1AnonymousSep 12, 2026 16:20
    197 ◆bKDRDTOqWA 2026/09/12(Sat) 16:19:56.92 0
    Suzu Hashisako
    Graduating at next year's spring tour
    39AnonymousSep 12, 2026 16:24
    Isn't this kind of early? How many years has Hashisako even been in? ANGERME burning through members early again.
    47AnonymousSep 12, 2026 16:24
    Re: #39
    She joined ANGERME in Reiwa 1 (2019), so that's already 7 years.
    55AnonymousSep 12, 2026 16:25
    Re: #39
    Joined in 2019, so this is her 7th year.
    61AnonymousSep 12, 2026 16:26
    Who were her trainee classmates?
    69AnonymousSep 12, 2026 16:26
    Re: #61
    The only one left is "Nishi" — Shiori Nishida.
    73AnonymousSep 12, 2026 16:26
    Re: #61
    Kawamura, Yuhane, and others.
    89AnonymousSep 12, 2026 16:27
    Re: #61
    Just Nishida now.
    Used to also have Kawamura, Yokoyan, and the other Yamazaki (not that one).
    100AnonymousSep 12, 2026 16:28
    How old is Hashisako now anyway?
    107AnonymousSep 12, 2026 16:28
    Re: #100
    She's 20.
    And she still had so much ahead of her.
    112AnonymousSep 12, 2026 16:28
    Re: #100
    Turns 21 on the 6th next month.
    133AnonymousSep 12, 2026 16:30
    The gap between debut classmates is way too stark.
    https://stat.ameba.jp/user_images/20190718/09/rassy-bi/eb/80/j/o2001112514505603915.jpg
    140AnonymousSep 12, 2026 16:30
    Born in FY2005 (Heisei 17)

    2005.05.09 Homare Okamura (Morning Musume。)
    2005.06.16 Sumire Tashiro (OCHA NORMA)
    2005.06.28 Airi Yamazaki (Morning Musume。)
    2005.07.07 Ria Matsunaga (Juice=Juice)
    2005.07.20 Kazuki Nakayama (OCHA NORMA)
    2005.10.06 Suzu Hashisako (ANGERME)
    2005.10.18 Risa Irie (Juice=Juice)
    2005.11.11 Rio Sakurai (Morning Musume。)

    Would be the group's first "proper" graduation (though not confirmed until the actual date passes)
    165AnonymousSep 12, 2026 16:32
    Re: #140
    They all look like completely different ages.
    Classic Hello! Project thing.
    181AnonymousSep 12, 2026 16:33
    Re: #140
    Tashiro's already left, though.
    188AnonymousSep 12, 2026 16:33
    Re: #140
    Honestly, you could put together a solid group with just these members.
    171AnonymousSep 12, 2026 16:32
    Apparently she's retiring from show business entirely too.
    186AnonymousSep 12, 2026 16:33
    Re: #171
    Well, obviously.
    198AnonymousSep 12, 2026 16:34
    Re: #171
    Got a source for that?
    265AnonymousSep 12, 2026 16:37
    Re: #171
    "Retiring" from an industry she was never really in to begin with?
    292AnonymousSep 12, 2026 16:39
    So? When exactly? This autumn?
    308AnonymousSep 12, 2026 16:40
    Re: #292
    Next spring.
    I'd guess around June next year.
    344AnonymousSep 12, 2026 16:42
    Re: #308
    Way too late.
    Just make it next month.
    362AnonymousSep 12, 2026 16:43
    Re: #308
    Maybe it's a course correction since the autumn concerts aren't selling.
    302AnonymousSep 12, 2026 16:39
    Is this what Goto meant by "look forward to it"?
    339AnonymousSep 12, 2026 16:41
    This isn't what Goto meant by "look forward to tomorrow," right?
    Even if you don't like Hashisako, you wouldn't do something this blatant.
    357AnonymousSep 12, 2026 16:43
    Re: #302
    Re: #339
    Tomorrow! Hana Goto
    2026-09-11 21:43:55
    https://ameblo.jp/angerme-new/entry-12978445666.html

    Look forward to tomorrow!


    I know I've gone and raised my own bar with this, but…!

    See ya!
    405AnonymousSep 12, 2026 16:45
    Re: #357
    She literally wrote she's raising the bar for herself — she's just talking about her own thing.
    Can you seriously not read that much?
    316AnonymousSep 12, 2026 16:40
    ANGERME really needs to change their staff.
    That Budokan stage production was garbage.
    345AnonymousSep 12, 2026 16:42
    Re: #316
    Isn't it the same team as Juice=Juice?
    372AnonymousSep 12, 2026 16:43
    Re: #345
    No way it's the same stage director. If it were, they'd never let something that lame happen — a typo-ridden video intro followed by such a limp, awkward entrance.
    365AnonymousSep 12, 2026 16:43
    Trainees (please, PLEASE make it into Juice=Juice)
    397AnonymousSep 12, 2026 16:44
    Re: #365
    (Anywhere but ANGERME… anywhere but ANGERME)
    407AnonymousSep 12, 2026 16:45
    Re: #397
    Here you go
    →OCHA NORMA
    409AnonymousSep 12, 2026 16:45
    Re: #397
    UP-FRONT: "ANGERMEEE—GOTCHA!!!" (the agency forcibly slotting a trainee into ANGERME regardless of what she wants, mimicking a trap snapping shut)

    Background and Talking Points

    In Hello! Project, it’s standard for several months to half a year to pass between a graduation announcement and the actual graduation date, with a solo graduation concert or tour held in between — and no concrete graduation date was confirmed alongside this announcement either. The “next spring” and “around June next year” timeframes floated in the thread are purely speculation from posters, not official statements, and should be read as such. Likewise, the claim that she would also “retire from the entertainment industry” drew calls from other posters in the thread for a source, and remains unverified. Hashisako was born in 2005 and is often discussed alongside other group members from the same age bracket, but since joining dates and career milestones differ from group to group, such direct comparisons are hard to draw meaningfully.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project board) thread “ANGERME’s Suzu Hashisako Announces Graduation.”

  • Concerns over food poisoning from Ebata Hisaki’s homemade bread — 5ch: “No one in human history has ever gotten food poisoning from bread”

    After Hello! Project idol group Juice=Juice member Ebata Hisaki brought in homemade bread as a treat for the group, a thread titled “If someone gets food poisoning, will Juice=Juice be suspended from performing?” popped up on 5ch’s Hello! Project board. No actual illness was reported — it’s purely hypothetical — but posters debated the wisdom of homemade food gifts and the food-safety risks involved. Some offered concrete points like “it’s fine if you eat it the same day” and “there’s no preservatives, so it won’t keep long,” while others just joked around, making for a thread that mixed genuine concern with plenty of teasing.

    1AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:20
    263 Anonymous Wanted… 2026/09/12 (Sat) 12:36:27.74 0
    Matsumoto Karen (FRUITS ZIPPER)
    @karen_fz0328
    2AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:22
    Give the almighty FRUITS ZIPPER ("Furujipa" for short) a case of the runs and that's grounds for a lawsuit. Also, skip the homemade treats in summer — I'll eat her share for her.
    3AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:22
    She's not selling it, so she's in the clear.
    5AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:24
    Why didn't she just go with "I made bread"?
    45AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:45
    No one in human history has ever gotten food poisoning from bread.
    67AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:48
    Re: #45
    Whatever happened with that "death muffin" incident anyway? (a past internet food-poisoning scare)
    46AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:45
    Honestly, homemade food gifts are scary business — and you can't exactly turn one down either.
    48AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:45
    The bread itself is baked, so that part's fine — but if she handled it with bare hands afterward, that's where it goes wrong.
    83AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:49
    Re: #67
    Wait, was that even bread?
    84AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:54
    It's fine as long as you eat it the day it's baked. No preservatives, so day two could get risky!! Store-bought bread lasts a month without spoiling thanks to preservatives.

    Background and talking points

    It’s worth clearing up that the question “will they be suspended if someone gets food poisoning?” is purely hypothetical — no actual case of food poisoning at Juice=Juice has occurred. Whether a talent agency or idol group actually halts activities depends case by case on health department guidance and the severity of any harm — there’s no blanket rule. Some replies in the thread reflect real food-safety know-how, like “bread baked that same day is fine” and “without preservatives it spoils faster from the next day on,” offering genuinely useful pointers for handling homemade food gifts, not just jokes. That said, a handful of posts crossed into crude jokes about the idol’s body and bodily functions, and those were excluded from this writeup. The overall vibe of the thread sits somewhere between fans’ genuine concern and edgy joking around.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project) thread “Will Juice=Juice be suspended from performing if someone gets food poisoning from Ebata Hisaki-chan’s homemade bread?“

  • ‘We Need a Festival Precisely Because People Are Leaving TV’ — Nippon TV Revives Ultra Quiz After 30 Years

    On September 10, Nippon Television held a briefing on its October programming lineup at Shiodome, Tokyo, announcing that to mark the show’s 50th anniversary, it will revive “Ultra Quiz: Across America” as a New Year’s special for the first time in about 30 years. Shuichi Oi, head of the network’s General Programming Center, reportedly explained that it’s precisely because viewers are drifting away from TV that a big “festival”-style production is needed. On the 5ch Entertainment/Sports News+ thread reacting to the announcement, posters traded opinions on whether America — once a dream destination — still holds the same appeal for today’s youth, who might host the show, and whether the budget will match the show’s heyday.

    Nippon Television held its October programming briefing on the 10th at its Shiodome offices in Tokyo. Regarding “Ultra Quiz: Across America” (slated to air over the New Year holidays), which returns after roughly 30 years to mark the show’s 50th anniversary, General Programming Center department head Shuichi Oi explained why now — amid the ongoing drift away from television — is the moment to bring it back.

    ■ “The weak yen makes it tough, doesn’t it” — yet here’s why they’re reviving it anyway

    During the Q&A portion of the briefing, on the subject of “Ultra Quiz: Across America,”

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

    3AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:33
    Isn't summer vacation the only time high schoolers could even take part?
    58AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:49
    Re: #3
    High schoolers can't participate in the first place.
    12AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:37
    Because America just isn't the dream country people admired anymore.
    133AnonymousSep 12, 2026 16:07
    Re: #12
    Young women travel domestically or to Korea, and young guys would rather stay home gaming than travel at all.
    146AnonymousSep 12, 2026 16:11
    Re: #133
    Korea? No way lol.
    It'd be more like Malaysia or somewhere like that.
    158AnonymousSep 12, 2026 16:15
    Re: #133
    Korea's not really it these days.
    That's more of a misconception 40-somethings have.

    Young people now are into places like Europe — especially the Nordics. Finland in particular got some odd promotion from feminist circles too.
    21AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:39
    Meanwhile, 5channel itself
    is packed with lonely old men,
    so there's no fix left for the aging, dwindling userbase.
    It survives purely on traffic to the live-commentary and news boards —
    boards that just freeload
    off old media.
    73AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:54
    Re: #21
    Sorry to say, that's us.
    Sitting in the living room with TV as our only pleasure.
    24AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:40
    Even if Fukutome's too old for it now, Fukuzawa was still an option for MC.
    Why a Johnny's talent?
    29AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:42
    Re: #24
    Akira Fukuzawa is only associated with the High School Quiz to me.
    64AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:51
    Re: #24
    I think they're saying a Johnny's talent is the Reiwa-era equivalent of Kyosen Ohashi or Fukutome, so we should just accept the new Ultra Quiz.
    But honestly, that same move's already been done to death on other big TV specials nobody normally cares about anyway.
    78AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:55
    Re: #24
    Don't underestimate how brutal the Ultra Quiz location shoots are.
    Fukuzawa's already a grandpa in his 60s.
    38AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:44
    It's bound to have way less budget than back in the day and end up super cheap-looking.
    You don't even need to watch it to know that.
    42AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:45
    Re: #38
    I'd love to hear that BGM again — the one that plays after you answer every question right.
    39AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:44
    Wisdom, stamina, and the luck of the moment (the show's classic tagline) —
    that's what I want from it. It'd be a letdown if it just turns into a festival for quiz nerds.
    52AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:47
    Re: #39
    But then there's the dilemma that without quiz nerds, the matches won't be exciting to watch.
    43AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:46
    Re: #1
    @
    I actually took part in Ultra Quiz: Across America 🇺🇸.
    Spotted a few famous contestants too!
    So happy I got to join 👍👍👍

    It airs January 1st and 2nd next year.
    With the Hakone Ekiden also on, NTV's ratings are guaranteed to skyrocket 🫵🫵🫵

    51AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:47
    ?
    Every young Japanese person today admires Korea —
    they probably don't even know a country called America lol.

    A Korea-crossing Ultra Quiz could be done on an even grander, more epic scale.

    America's old news lol.
    The era belongs to Korea now,
    and K-pop culture is what Japanese people admire.

    Get it, Japanese media?
    55AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:48
    Re: #51
    Admiring Korea? That's such a 40-something uncle-and-auntie thing to say.
    56AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:48
    No, scrapping things like TVer (Japan's free catch-up streaming app) would do more to stop people leaving TV, wouldn't it?
    59AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:49
    Re: #56
    That'd just push people further away.
    66AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:52
    The only one who could host Ultra Quiz these days is TBS's Azumi.
    He can throw some venom in too.
    81AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:56
    Re: #66
    I think it'd work to have a different announcer at each location, then narrow it down to whoever gets the best response from viewers.
    Announcers would probably go all out too, knowing there's a real shot at becoming the face of Ultra Quiz —
    basically running the actual broadcast and an audition at the same time.
    67AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:52
    Crossing America, hitchhiking across Eurasia —
    NTV really loves a continent-crossing show, huh.
    72AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:53
    Re: #67
    They've got the know-how from overseas shoots.
    This time the Ultra Quiz is being run by the staff behind Itte Q (World's Best Adventurers).
    80AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:56
    I hear places like Saipan have turned into ghost towns since Japanese tourists stopped coming — are they still gonna do the mud quiz there?
    102AnonymousSep 12, 2026 16:00
    Re: #80
    They're not going anywhere like Saipan.
    111AnonymousSep 12, 2026 16:02
    Re: #80
    Wherever Japanese tourism dropped off, Chinese and Korean tourists are probably spending the money there instead.
    87AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:57
    Re: #1 nah lol
    What's actually needed right now is solid dramas and programs.
    Just airing properly researched content like National Geographic or the History Channel would already put you ahead of the pack.
    115AnonymousSep 12, 2026 16:03
    Re: #87
    Nobody's gonna watch some deadly serious show like that lol.
    91AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:58
    The High School Quiz is probably the only quiz show left with regular people as contestants.
    Everything else has celebrities as the answerers.
    138AnonymousSep 12, 2026 16:08
    Re: #91
    There's Attack 25, though it's on BS.
    96AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:59
    Going overseas at this point isn't much of an impact anymore — you'd need something like space to really land.
    105AnonymousSep 12, 2026 16:01
    Re: #96
    I used to think that by the 21st century we'd have quiz shows going to space, but I guess we haven't progressed that far after all.

    Background and Key Points of Debate

    “Ultra Quiz: Across America” was a beloved NTV special that drew huge popularity from the 1970s through the 1990s, and this marks its revival after roughly 30 years to coincide with the show’s 50th anniversary. Nippon TV’s stated reasoning — that now, amid the ongoing drift away from television, is exactly the right time — reflects a backdrop in which the spread of streaming services keeps eroding real-time viewership among younger audiences; the network appears to be betting that a large-scale location shoot can generate buzz by recreating that old “festival” atmosphere. Thread opinion split mainly along two lines. The first concerns the pull of “America” itself as a destination: several posters noted that between the weak yen and the wider range of overseas travel options now available, it no longer holds the same aspirational status it once did. The second is the choice of host: names like Isao Fukutome and Akira Fukuzawa, who hosted in the show’s heyday, came up nostalgically, but no actual casting has been confirmed, and it’s worth noting that most of these comments are speculation predating any official announcement. Some posters also worried about a shrunken budget or fewer filming locations, though the briefing didn’t reveal any specifics on production details.

    *This article is compiled as an excerpt and summary of the 5ch (Entertainment/Sports News+) thread “‘We Need a Festival Precisely Now, With TV Losing Viewers’ — NTV’s Thoughts Behind Reviving ‘Ultra Quiz: Across America’ With a Massive Production Budget.”

  • Grew Up in a National University’s Feeder School, Still Ended Up a Jobless College-Grad NEET — 5ch: ‘Guess I Can Blame My Genes, Right?’

    The original poster was enrolled by their high-school-educated parents in an elementary and junior high school affiliated with a national university, but now, after graduating from college, they say they’re unemployed — a NEET (“Not in Education, Employment, or Training”). Most of their classmates went on from elite universities straight into top-tier corporations, and when the poster asked 5ch’s “Nandemo Jikkyo G” board (a general chat/live-discussion board) whether it was fair to chalk the gap up to “genetics,” it sparked a lively debate. Most replies pushed back with “it’s environment, not genes” and “it’s effort, not environment,” and a string of posters shared their own stories of getting into elite universities despite having only high-school-educated parents. The original poster, however, refused to budge to the end, insisting “my parents putting me in a national school is the root cause,” and kept blaming environmental factors for striking out completely in job hunting. Even when others suggested research work or grad school, they brushed the ideas off as uninteresting, and the debate stayed at a standstill.

    1AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:01
    So I'm a NEET after graduating college.
    BTW, pretty much all my classmates went elite university → top-tier company.
    I can blame this on genetics, right?
    4AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:03
    Most people at top-tier companies are just cookie-cutter types anyway.
    I don't think it's genetics — I think it's because your parents, being only high school grads, just didn't know any better.
    6AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:04
    Re: #4
    They're high income though.
    Their future's bright.
    They've got social credibility.
    5AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:04
    Isn't it usually the case that most people just go with the flow and end up at some no-name company anyway?
    Or did you think you were the main character and slack off out of spite?
    12AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:09
    Re: #5
    I don't care about anyone besides me.
    9AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:08
    Sounds like you just slacked off, plain and simple.
    My parents are both high school grads too, but I got into Tokyo Tech, and a friend of mine — also raised by a high-school-grad single parent — got into Meiji University and is doing great.
    13AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:10
    Re: #9
    That's because your parents, despite not being highly educated, are actually sharp.
    11AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:09
    The part of intelligence that comes down to genetics is tiny.
    Most of it is decided by what kind of education the parents gave the kid — in other words, it's on the parents and on your own effort.
    15AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:13
    Re: #11 It's genetics AND environment.
    17AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:15
    Re: #15
    Between genetics and environment, environment has a massively bigger impact.
    Rich kids don't get into good universities because they're genetically smart.
    They get in because their parents set them up with a good environment.
    18AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:17
    Re: #17
    My home environment was bad.
    Everyone around me had it good.
    54AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:37
    Re: #17
    Apparently there was a case in Japan a while back where a rich family's baby and a poor family's baby got switched at birth — the one raised rich ended up a college grad, and the one raised poor ended up only a high school grad.
    19AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:18
    Looking at this, the person who screwed up the most here is clearly the guy himself.
    20AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:19
    Re: #19
    No way.
    Everyone who became an elite had good genetics AND a good environment.
    24AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:23
    My parents only finished middle school and a correspondence high school, but I studied hard and became a researcher.
    Sure, since I had to teach myself everything, it took me longer to build up cultural knowledge than classmates from other households (they'd been exposed to high-brow literature and music as a matter of course since childhood), but it just goes to show effort can get you anywhere.
    25AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:24
    I wanted to go to a national junior high too.
    I think I would've gotten in if I'd taken the exam.
    30AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:26
    Re: #25
    If you've got what it takes to become an elite, a national school's probably the better bet.
    26AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:24
    Struck out at every top-tier company in job hunting.
    I'm a NEET now.
    No idea when I'll start working.
    Gonna take a while to make peace with not landing a top-tier job.
    28AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:25
    Re: #26
    What university did you go to?
    56AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:38
    Re: #26
    A second-tier company should be a breeze then.
    29AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:25
    Re: #24
    I get that things can work out if I put in effort from here on, but landing a top-tier company job just isn't happening.
    37AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:30
    Re: #37
    Top-tier companies aren't the only definition of success.
    I'm in research, and I know plenty of people who went to grad school around age 30 and ended up hitting it big.
    Put in effort from here on and you can become anything.
    46AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:33
    Re: #37
    Isn't becoming a success outside of a top-tier company way too much of a gamble?
    47AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:33
    Re: #37
    No way people like that actually exist.
    32AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:26
    Re: #28
    A lower-tier regional national university.
    41AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:31
    Re: #32
    Then that's got nothing to do with your parents, does it?
    Sounds like the kind of school you wouldn't want handling nuclear engineering.
    No wonder a top-tier company's out of reach.
    67AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:44
    Re: #32
    If it's regional, not getting into one of the old Imperial universities (Todai, Kyoto Univ., and the like) already seals you as a loser — checks out.
    33AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:27
    Even if genetics plays a role, your parents aren't NEETs, so this one's on you.
    34AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:29
    Re: #33
    Being a NEET is my parents' fault too.
    Them putting me in a national school is the root of everything.
    36AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:30
    Same story here — public high school, national university.
    Got rejected by just two companies during job hunting, my spirit broke, and I became a NEET.
    Making about 6 million yen a year now (roughly $40,000), so I've turned things around somewhat, but it's still not proportional to what my parents invested in me.
    44AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:32
    Re: #36
    Job hunting's brutal, huh.
    40AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:30
    Re: #34
    If your parents were NEETs at some point too, maybe it is their fault.
    49AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:35
    Re: #40
    Nope.
    Still their fault.
    They put me in a national school.
    Then raised me in a bad environment.
    70AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:45
    Just go back to university already.
    79AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:51
    Re: #70
    Isn't it kind of pointless to go now?
    Won't help my chances at a top-tier company anyway.
    95AnonymousSep 12, 2026 16:01
    Re: #79
    Job hunting might be tough since you're not a fresh grad anymore.
    Go back to undergrad again, or head to grad school.
    Then straight into a research job or a foreign firm.
    98AnonymousSep 12, 2026 16:04
    Re: #95
    Not interested in research though.
    99AnonymousSep 12, 2026 16:04
    Re: #95
    Isn't a research career basically impossible for humanities majors?
    106AnonymousSep 12, 2026 16:09
    Re: #98
    Saying flat-out "not interested" just sounds spoiled.
    Re: #99
    That mindset's normal for humanities majors, I guess, but even in the humanities, research means creating your own subject of study.
    107AnonymousSep 12, 2026 16:11
    Re: #106
    Nah, there's basically no such thing as humanities research.
    109AnonymousSep 12, 2026 16:11
    Re: #106
    I'm only interested in landing a top-tier company job.
    So there's no point going to grad school.

    Background and Key Points of This Discussion

    Elementary and junior high schools affiliated with national universities were originally set up as training sites for student teachers, and admission is usually decided by lottery or aptitude test — they aren’t necessarily “elite feeder schools” directly tied to the university itself. Even so, as commenters pointed out, it’s a well-established idea in the sociology of education that one’s surrounding family environment and level of educational drive strongly shapes one’s path. What divided the thread was the classic debate over whether “genetics” (innate intelligence) or “environment” (parents’ educational investment and one’s own effort) determines outcomes — with voices favoring the latter winning out, while the original poster stood apart by sticking to “it’s my parents’ fault” right to the end. The “rich and poor babies switched at birth” story mentioned in reply #54 appears to reference an actual newborn mix-up case in Japan, in which the child raised in the wealthier family went on to graduate college while the one raised in the poorer family only finished high school — a case that later went to trial and is fairly well known. While a statistical correlation between education level and income does exist, it’s a common misconception that an individual’s job-hunting results can be explained by environment alone.

    *This article was compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “My high-school-grad parents put me in a national university’s affiliated elementary/junior high school, and here’s how it turned out.”

  • Gas stations vanishing faster in rural Japan — 5ch: “Might have to drive dozens of kilometers just to find one”

    According to a survey by Teikoku Databank, bankruptcies and voluntary closures among gas station operators have risen for five straight years running, with more than 1,700 companies disappearing over the past decade. In rural areas, filling stations have grown scarce — in the mountains of Hakone, there’s reportedly a large sign warning “Only two gas stations ahead.” On the thread, users debated whether this signals a full-scale shift to EVs, or whether gasoline demand still holds strong for things like portable fuel cans and farm equipment, drawing on the realities of rural life.

    Posted 9/12 (Sat), 7:00 AM

    Teikoku Databank

    Trends in bankruptcies and closures among gas station (“SS”) operators (January–August 2026)

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

    4AnonymousSep 12, 2026 13:01
    The Utsukushigahara Kogen Museum's doggy vuvuzela hereby announces post #2 (a nonsense copypasta meme, unrelated to the actual topic)

    ( ∪^3▃▃▃▅▆▇▉ BWOOOOOOM
    79AnonymousSep 12, 2026 13:21
    Re: #4

    Last week I went to Hakone, and right around where Route 1 enters Hakone-machi, there was a huge sign that said:
    "Caution! Only two gas stations ahead in the Hakone mountains!"
    21AnonymousSep 12, 2026 13:06
    Rural areas will probably go EV, huh.
    112AnonymousSep 12, 2026 13:46
    Re: #21
    In rural areas people keep portable fuel cans in the car
    since they use gasoline for brush cutters and farm equipment too.
    116AnonymousSep 12, 2026 13:50
    Re: #21
    That's probably how it'll go
    you'll end up having to drive dozens of kilometers just to find a gas station.
    69AnonymousSep 12, 2026 13:18
    Nothing but EVs on the road these days
    what would you even use a gas station for?
    74AnonymousSep 12, 2026 13:19
    Re: #69
    Vehicle inspections
    Wiping windows
    Cleaning out the ashtray
    93AnonymousSep 12, 2026 13:26
    Re: #69
    Hybrids, maybe, but you barely see EVs out in the countryside. Aren't you mixing something up?
    70AnonymousSep 12, 2026 13:19
    There used to be a ton of stations open pretty much round the clock,
    but nowadays if you're driving through the countryside at night, you'd better check ahead of time or you're in for a rough time.
    76AnonymousSep 12, 2026 13:20
    Re: #70
    There are more self-service stations than there used to be, so hasn't the number of 24-hour stations actually gone up?
    82AnonymousSep 12, 2026 13:22
    Re: #70
    Just head for a shopping mall — there's usually one nearby.
    118AnonymousSep 12, 2026 13:52
    Re: #112
    Keeping gasoline in your car during summer will make it explode
    way too dangerous.
    122AnonymousSep 12, 2026 13:54
    Re: #118
    It's not going to explode. Never even heard of that happening.
    133AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:00
    Re: #122
    There was that famous incident where a fuel can exploded at a festival, remember?
    Leaving gasoline sitting out in the summer heat is dangerous.
    204AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:36
    Re: #133
    If portable fuel cans were that prone to exploding, motorcycles would be blowing up all over the place, no? Their tanks are basically the same thing.
    121AnonymousSep 12, 2026 13:53
    At this point the only option left is to build out EV charging infrastructure and push for rapid adoption, huh?
    144AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:03
    Re: #121
    In the end that's the only way.
    Build EV charging gear at roadside stations and shopping malls like AEON, and push home charging the rest of the way.
    For travel, ryokan and hotels will just have to install chargers.
    171AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:18
    Re: #121
    At current charging rates it doesn't even pay for itself.
    123AnonymousSep 12, 2026 13:55
    That car called the "Rakko" ("sea otter" — a cheap compact EV) actually seems like it'd quietly sell well in rural areas.
    No current Japanese automaker could pull off those specs.
    126AnonymousSep 12, 2026 13:57
    Re: #123
    Probably won't sell — if it breaks down there's nowhere nearby to fix it out in the countryside.
    153AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:09
    Re: #123
    Heard that exact same line when the Sakura launched too.

    For old folks in rural areas who don't want anything to change, installing home charging along with an EV is a high hurdle.
    They'd probably forget to charge it every day anyway.
    134AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:00
    There's not much to fix on an EV, right?
    Just stuff like brake pads and tire changes.
    137AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:01
    Re: #134
    What about brake fluid? Even if you barely drive, it absorbs moisture and degrades over time.
    143AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:03
    Re: #134
    Brake fluid
    Wiper rubber/blades
    AC filter
    Coolant (for the motor/battery)
    12V battery (most EVs still have one)
    152AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:08
    Re: #133
    That incident happened because a fuel can placed right next to a generator's exhaust vent got abnormally hot,
    and since it was filled almost to the cap, the gasoline that sprayed out when the cap was opened caught fire.
    That's not an explosion.
    Re: #134
    The suspension is the same as on an engine car, so tie-rod end boots need replacing every few tens of thousands of kilometers
    — sooner if you're doing a lot of tight turns on mountain roads.
    182AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:26
    Are EVs (probably meant "EV," typo'd as "ED") on the rise? Wouldn't opening a charging station be profitable then?
    192AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:32
    Re: #182
    Even now, with low upfront investment and subsidies covering almost the whole installation cost, charging stations still aren't profitable.
    Demand is small because there just aren't many EVs out there, and home charging is convenient.
    Tesla owners mostly charge at home or at Superchargers, so they're not going to bother with CHAdeMO except in an emergency.
    185AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:28
    It's not just gas stations — decent repair shops have really thinned out too.
    Some shady shops deliberately damage worn parts and then act like "it was already like that," others take payment upfront and just keep pushing the delivery date back with no explanation.

    For older cars, parts supply is drying up too, so maybe the only option left is to give up on cars as a hobby and just treat cheap Chinese EVs as disposable.
    193AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:32
    Re: #185
    Toyota's actually started supplying reissued and modernized parts for old cars now, so things are getting kind of surreal.
    200AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:35
    Re: #185
    Chinese EVs have it even worse for getting parts
    it's turning into a problem in countries all over lol
    187AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:28
    Around here they've actually been increasing lately.
    Is it just the dying rural hamlets where they're disappearing?
    201AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:35
    Re: #187
    What's disappearing is the old-fashioned full-service stations.
    Self-service stations keep slowly increasing.
    For now it's really just customers consolidating around wherever they can still get gas.
    197AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:33
    On remote islands there are so few stations that EVs seem to have become the mainstream choice.
    205AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:36
    Re: #197
    Do the boats run on electricity too?
    214AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:42
    Re: #197
    "Mainstream"? You should probably separate "remote islands have a higher EV ratio than the national average" from "mainstream."

    According to data as of July 2025 (compiled by Miyakojima City's Eco Island Promotion Division), the number of EVs registered in the city is 423, putting the EV share of all vehicles on the road there at about 0.75%.
    For comparison, other areas:
    ・Okinawa Prefecture overall: about 0.29% ・Ishigaki City: about 0.17% (84 vehicles) ・National average: about 0.3%
    218AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:43
    Given typical replacement cycles, even by 2030 Japan's EV adoption rate will likely still only be in the 10% range on its own,
    but from around 2035 it'll climb into the 30% range,
    and by 2040 it'll pass the halfway mark.
    After 2040, engine vehicles will only be sold for niche special-use cases, so it'll effectively become forced EV adoption.
    222AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:46
    Re: #218
    Sounds like Honda's blueprint.
    223AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:46
    Re: #218
    If "adoption rate" means share of new car sales, then EVs would need a 30% share of new car sales for 10 straight years just to bring gasoline cars down by 30%.

    Background and key points of debate

    The decline in gas stations isn’t simply down to EV adoption. It traces back to the 1998 deregulation of station openings, which drove a shift from full-service to self-service stations; under that thin-margin, high-volume model, smaller operators without the financial cushion to compete have been dropping out ever since. Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry treats municipalities with three or fewer stations as “gas station deserts,” a designation that also matters for securing fuel during disasters. Where the thread split was over whether rural fuel demand will keep centering on gasoline going forward, or genuinely shift over to EVs and charging networks. On the question of storing portable fuel cans, one claim that they “explode” got corrected — the real festival incident involved gasoline igniting after spraying out under high heat, not a straightforward spontaneous explosion. It’s also easy to miss from the article alone that the “over 1,700 companies gone” figure includes not just bankruptcies but plenty of voluntary closures due to a lack of successors.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (News Speed+) thread “[Gas Stations] Rural gas stations disappearing — bankruptcies and closures rise for 5th straight year, over 1,700 companies gone in a decade.”

  • Sony Rumored to Have Pulled Funding After Kojima Productions Rejected Buyout Offer

    According to a report from an overseas source, a rumor is making the rounds on 5ch’s Hardware/Industry board (Geha) claiming that Sony Interactive Entertainment repeatedly proposed acquiring Kojima Productions, but Hideo Kojima kept refusing — so Sony cut off funding. The reasoning given is that anything short of full exclusivity on the PS5 hardware itself, rather than just a timed exclusivity deal, wasn’t worth the investment. The thread mixed voices questioning Sony’s fixation on exclusivity with others praising Kojima Productions for holding firm on its independence, and the discussion expanded into comparisons with past exclusive titles and speculation about where future titles will end up.

    1AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:26
    @WilliamRAguilar
    William R. Aguilar
    Sony/PlayStation has proposed acquiring Kojima Productions multiple times over the years, and Kojima has turned them down every time. Recently, Sony made another acquisition offer, which was again rejected — so funding is being cut off. The reasoning: anything short of full exclusivity on PlayStation hardware itself, as opposed to a mere "timed exclusive," wasn't judged worth the cost and risk.
    7AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:29
    So how come Bloodborne and Demon's Souls managed to stay exclusive?
    12AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:31
    Re: #7
    Back in those days, Persona was still around too 😭
    20AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:32
    Re: #7
    Probably because that's the kind of contract they made it under.
    Re: #8
    The whole reason they went independent was to hold onto the game's rights — that's exactly what they're doing. Going exclusive means handing over rights.
    22AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:33
    Re: #7
    It wasn't that big a title anyway, and Elden Ring is multiplatform.
    8AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:29
    With dev costs skyrocketing, going PS5-exclusive at this point is basically suicide — it's already a graveyard of failed exclusives. Even if it eventually comes out, missing its window does more harm than good, so of course it'll get snapped up by Microsoft, who's more tolerant of multiplatform releases.
    10AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:30
    Apparently overseas there's zero criticism of Kojima — Sony's the villain, consumers with an anti-corporate spirit.
    18AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:32
    Re: #10
    Overseas fans: "Hideooo! ♡ Hideooo! ♡"
    But they don't actually buy the games.
    30AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:36
    Re: #10
    Unlike Japanese users who buy a PS5 basically as an oversized smartphone, overseas users actually want a steady supply of buy-to-play games to play on it. If Sony turns around and tells people to buy an overpriced Xbox or a PC instead, for the very game they'd been looking forward to, some people are going to snap. And honestly, if Sony had been cranking out masterpieces on PS5 like Last of Us 1 or Ghost of Tsushima, would they be getting bashed this hard?
    21AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:32
    So does that mean whatever partnership they signed with Microsoft — Microsoft will fund the next title too, but it'll only ever end up as a timed exclusive?
    25AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:34
    Re: #21
    MS is pretty lax about this stuff these days — it's mostly just Game Pass priority, or the occasional timed console exclusive for indie titles.
    33AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:37
    Re: #21
    It'll come out on PC. Under the current setup it doesn't look like it's coming to PS5, though.
    23AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:33
    Not just games — they even had Sony Pictures let them use its facilities to try to get a movie made too, all while Kojima Productions insisted on keeping the rights and only offering timed exclusivity. And when they got turned down, suddenly it's "out of nowhere"? lol
    27AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:34
    Re: #23
    Sony, which used to put even its first-party games on PC, suddenly did a 180 into lockdown mode. That's a total reversal from what was originally agreed.
    34AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:37
    Even if you say it "can't be exclusive," it's only multiplatform on PC. Why isn't that being seen as a strength?
    37AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:38
    Re: #34
    It came out on Xbox too though?
    42AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:42
    Re: #37
    Didn't know that. My bad.
    43AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:42
    Re: #37
    Part 2 didn't come out on Xbox. And it's absurd to demand exclusivity when they're literally making OD (Kojima's Xbox-backed project) with Microsoft. It's like Sony bankrolled them saying "I'm not trying to tie you down," and then suddenly flipped to "don't you dare go have dinner with another guy!" lol
    36AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:38
    They went independent because they wanted the credit for themselves — no way they're agreeing to a buyout.
    38AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:38
    Re: #36
    Then make your games with your own money.
    40AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:40
    Re: #38
    Landing a patron is a skill in itself, you know? He's definitely thinking that. And in fact, he's already landed Microsoft, at least for now.
    46AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:43
    Re: #40
    Then getting cut loose is also down to (a lack of) skill, so that's just how it goes.
    49AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:45
    Re: #46
    He found a new patron, so maybe that's a talent too. Though it looks like the old patron's getting frozen out.
    44AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:42
    This is just Sony taking out the trash before PS6. Trash belongs in the trash can.
    47AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:44
    Re: #44
    Problem is, PS6 is going in the trash can right along with it lol
    57AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:49
    So it's not that Shitny (a common derogatory nickname for Sony on 5ch) stopped seeing value in Kojima and dumped him — he was too valuable, but since they couldn't make him theirs, they had no choice but to let him go.
    61AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:49
    Re: #57
    Then Nintendo should've just scooped him up.
    59AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:49
    If you believe what Kojima's saying, this had already fallen apart by mid-June — yet there wasn't a single leak about it until now.
    67AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:52
    Re: #59
    He used really harsh language reacting to the disc-drive discontinuation announcement — looking back, people are saying that's probably when it had already happened.
    76AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:55
    Wait, hold on — the money they already invested isn't coming back, and they don't even get the game out of it? Isn't that just plain stupid?
    78AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:56
    Re: #76
    It's still at the planning stage — barely anything's been made yet.
    79AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:56
    Re: #76
    That just shows how much PlayStation's value as a platform holder has dropped.
    87AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:59
    Re: #76
    At least it stops the bleeding going forward. And besides, Sony offered both a buyout and an exclusivity deal — it was Kojima's side that turned it down. In the end PHYSINT will probably still come out on PS too.
    77AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:56
    Obviously, after moving to Xbox they'll scrap everything they produced with Sony's development funding, right? Otherwise it's just unfair to Sony.
    89AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:00
    Kojima's been saying this for years now — Shitny just got sick of it after trying to force them under its umbrella anyway.

    https://x.com/HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN/status/1514844190819373056
    "Sorry for any confusion this may have caused, but KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS has always been, and will continue to be, an independent studio."
    102AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:03
    Re: #89
    This is exactly why it comes to "fine, we're just taking full ownership of the Death Stranding IP ourselves."
    91AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:00
    Teaming up with Microsoft, Xbox exclusivity is possible, but "Xbox-only, no PC or Steam release" will never happen. So even with Kojima turning down the buyout, that's lower risk than the PS exclusivity he didn't want. The contract terms are loose enough that it could still show up on Sony's or Nintendo's hardware a year or two down the line.
    95AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:02
    Re: #91
    The sensible users out there are saying, "Great, now it'll come to Steam too."

    Background and key points of this discussion

    When Kojima Productions became independent from Konami in 2015, it received financial backing from Sony to develop the “Death Stranding” series for PS4/PS5. At the same time, Hideo Kojima has repeatedly stated that the studio “will remain independent,” maintaining a stance of preserving management freedom even while accepting outside investment. In recent years, as game development costs have soared, publishers have grown much stricter about demanding a return on investment commensurate with exclusivity deals, and this rumor appears to fit that broader trend. That said, this information comes from a leak by an overseas source, and neither Sony nor Kojima Productions has issued any official statement — so it should be treated with appropriate caution.

    *This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry (Geha)) thread “[Rumor Leak] Sony Cut Ties with Kojima After He Refused the Buyout — Because Sony Wasn’t Getting Full Exclusivity, Just a Big Bill.”

  • Aiko Wada’s Favorite High-End Restaurant Bans Foreign Tourists — Reason Had Her ‘Laughing to Death’

    On a radio program aired on the 12th, Aiko Wada shared a story about her favorite high-end shabu-shabu restaurant in Akasaka. According to the episode, a foreign tourist who ordered sukiyaki was afraid of the raw egg and asked for it to be swapped for a fried egg instead — and the restaurant subsequently banned inbound tourists altogether. Wada recalled that she “laughed to death” over it. On 5channel, opinions split between sympathetic voices saying “it can’t be helped, since raw-egg culture doesn’t exist overseas,” and others saying “asking for a change like that while the dish is already being prepared in front of you is just strange.” The thread also picked up an eyewitness account of a tourist pouring barley tea into a hot pot, expanding into a broader discussion about differences in food culture.

    9/12 (Sat) 12:50

    Singer Aiko Wada (76) appeared on the Nippon Broadcasting System show she hosts, “God Afternoon: Akko’s About Time for 1000 Episodes” (Saturdays, 11:00 AM), which aired on the 12th. She revealed she was shocked by the reason her favorite restaurant gave for banning inbound tourists.

    Opening the show, she began: “I’ve got one story that’s got nothing to do with anything. You know that little restaurant in Akasaka you’ve all been to? The one with great shabu-shabu. It’s a bit pricey. I went there recently with my brother, and…”

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

    5AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:03
    Well, foreigners not being able to handle raw eggs, sure, I get that. But is it really a laugh-to-death kind of thing?
    31AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:15
    Re: #5
    Probably because that's a tourist who pushed past that fear (and ordered it anyway).
    38AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:17
    Re: #5
    That's exactly how ignorant, stupid people act — they mock things they don't understand themselves. There was a celebrity on a location shoot who laughed at an ordinary person for pronouncing "teiji-ro" (T-junction) as "teijiro."
    120AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:43
    Re: #5
    Sure, everyone gets that some people won't or can't eat raw eggs — the issue is they said this at a high-end restaurant while the dish was already being prepared right in front of them mid-order. That's the "what are you even saying" part. If they'd asked ahead of time, fair enough.
    7AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:04
    Guess this person doesn't realize there's no raw-egg-eating culture overseas.
    32AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:15
    That's fine, isn't it? There's no rule saying the egg has to go in.

    Re: #7
    Where did it say that?
    62AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:26
    Re: #7
    Even so, a fried egg is just wrong. If that's the case, don't go there in the first place.
    9AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:06
    It's like a Japanese person abroad being told, 'eat this raw chicken, it's fresh,' and just not being able to do it. Though I don't actually know of a country that eats raw chicken.
    13AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:08
    Re: #9
    They eat it in Kyushu, Japan (torisashi). It's pretty well known.
    24AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:12
    Re: #9
    By that logic, this tourist ordering the fried egg would basically be saying, 'I eat raw eggs back home, but here in Japan it's a bit scary…'
    18AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:10
    Rocky drank raw eggs, though.
    23AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:12
    Re: #18
    Wasn't Stallone actually pretty reluctant to do that?
    42AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:19
    Re: #23
    Wait, didn't Stallone write the Rocky screenplay himself?
    132AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:48
    Re: #23
    It was his own idea.
    26AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:12
    This happened when I went to a sukiyaki and shabu-shabu place. A tourist, probably Chinese, poured the barley tea they'd been served straight into the hot pot and ate it that way. Maybe they mistook it for some kind of dipping sauce?
    56AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:25
    Re: #26
    Could be a mix-up. There is such a thing as tea-based shabu-shabu broth, for what it's worth — light and tasty.
    37AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:17
    Does she not realize that, worldwide, eating raw eggs is the unusual thing to do?
    46AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:21
    Re: #37
    They specifically came to enjoy Japanese culture, and then go 'muri desu' (can't do it)? That's the funny part.
    49AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:23
    Re: #37
    Silence! This is Japan! — straight out of Onoda (lol) (referencing WWII holdout soldier Hiroo Onoda's famous defiance)
    39AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:18
    Overseas, raw eggs have the image of making you sick. It's the same feeling a Japanese person would have about eating raw ground pork — like, no way. That's why the raw-egg scene in Rocky lands as a far more striking moment for them than the Japanese take of 'he wants to get strong that badly…!'
    73AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:29
    Re: #39
    Lol, that completely rules out milkshakes too (raw egg is a classic ingredient)
    47AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:21
    Re: #1
    If you're serving sukiyaki specifically to court inbound tourists, you'd better have a substitute for the raw egg ready to go.
    50AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:23
    Re: #47
    It's not like they started serving sukiyaki to target inbound tourists — the place already served it, tourists just showed up on their own and demanded a fried egg instead. That's the funny part.
    65AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:27
    For foreigners, eating a raw egg probably takes the same kind of resolve as us eating street food from an Indian food stall.
    79AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:31
    Re: #65
    If anything, that just shows how amazing Japanese eggs are. And cheap, too.
    86AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:32
    Re: #65
    We are forgiven! — straight out of "Chilled Crab Ramen Komeo" (lol) (a viral meme catchphrase)
    87AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:32
    "What, you didn't know they don't eat raw eggs overseas?! (smug face)" — that's not the point. Not being able to eat it is fine, but making them change it into a fried egg is the weird part. It's like a Japanese tourist going to Italy and ordering Napolitan (a Japanese-invented pasta dish, not authentic Italian) — think about how that'd look.
    102AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:36
    Re: #87
    Well, even if a foreign visitor figured a fried egg was the only way they could manage eating egg in that situation, I still don't feel like laughing at it.
    94AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:34
    It's basically the same as going abroad, being served raw beef yukhoe, and asking them to cook it — and the locals being exasperated by that.
    101AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:36
    Re: #94
    What country abroad even serves raw yukhoe?
    103AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:36
    Re: #94
    Over there they have a raw crab dish called ganjang-gejang — if you're unlucky, parasites can really mess you up.
    111AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:39
    Re: #94
    That's not yukhoe, lol. That's steak tartare, dude (lol)
    124AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:45
    Beaten raw egg isn't something you're absolutely required to use anyway. Some people just prefer eating it plain.
    127AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:46
    Re: #124
    Yeah, it actually tastes better without the egg.
    133AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:48
    Re: #124
    I hated the beaten egg with sukiyaki as a kid, but I grew to love it as an adult (lol)
    134AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:49
    Re: #124
    My family doesn't use egg at all — we just season the sukiyaki itself.

    Background and Key Points of This Topic

    In Japan, eating raw chicken eggs is common, but that’s thanks to a distribution system built around thorough egg washing, sterilization, and expiration-date management as a countermeasure against salmonella. In many countries, differing hygiene standards mean there’s no custom of eating raw eggs at all. So it’s not unusual for visitors to Japan to shy away from raw eggs, and the thread had plenty of sympathetic voices. What split opinion, though, wasn’t “not eating raw eggs” itself but how to judge “demanding a sudden change mid-preparation at a high-end restaurant” — a point that requires separating cultural understanding from consideration for how a restaurant is expected to respond. It’s also worth noting, since it’s easy to misread, that the eyewitness account of a tourist pouring barley tea into a hot pot came from a different poster’s personal experience, unrelated to the incident Wada described on air. As for the reason behind banning inbound customers, the reporting only specifically explains this one episode — the full chain of events behind the restaurant’s final decision hasn’t been made public.

    *This article is compiled by excerpting and summarizing the 5channel (Geino/Sports News+) thread “Aiko Wada Shocked by the Unexpected Reason Her Favorite High-End Restaurant Banned Inbound Tourists: ‘Laughed to Death’.”

  • Giants Take Early Lead but Fail to Add On Against Tigers, Managerial Second-Guessing Ensues — 5ch: ‘He’s the National Vegetable’

    In a thread about the Giants-Tigers game at Tokyo Dome, the early innings became the hot topic. The Giants scored first in a scoring chance, but after opting for an aggressive at-bat instead of a sacrifice bunt, they failed to add another run, sparking a wave of criticism over the manager’s decisions. Cabbage’s continued struggles at the plate also came up, with one sarcastic comment calling him “the national vegetable” for always tasting the same. News that a large group of supporters had gathered from Tokyo, Osaka, Hokkaido, and Hiroshima was also shared, and the thread buzzed with both game commentary and debate over strategy.

    1AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:51
    Previous thread
    Giants Acting Manager Thread #132
    2AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:51
    2025-2026
    Departures
    Released: 26 Imamura, 28 Takahashi, 36 Baba, 54 Otsaka, 95 Toda
    Free agency (released): 29 Griffin, 33 Keller, 39 Fulp, 42 Hernandez, 50 Okoe
    Active Player Draft (taken): 68 Kikuchi
    Player compensation (sent): 48 Tanaka C.
    Trade (sent): 59 Wakabayashi
    Posting system: 25 Okamoto
    Retired: 7 Nagano, 30 Kondo, 43 Shigenobu

    Demoted to developmental roster: 69 Sasahara, 90 Ishida Mitsuru, 94 Kita, 98 Suzuki, 99 Kyomoto

    Arrivals
    Draft picks: 21 Takemaru, 30 Tawa, 33 Kohama, 36 Yamashiro, 39 Minagawa, 99 Fujii
    Free agent signings: 9 Matsumoto, 43 Norimoto
    Active Player Draft (acquired): 54 Matsuura
    Trade (acquired):
    Other: 26 Whitley, 28 Howard, 29 Dalbec, 42 Mata, 56 Kitaura, 98 Ogasawara

    Promoted to first-team roster: 25 Daiki, 48 Luciano, 50 Tima, 59 Suzuki, 68 Utsunomiya, 69 Hirayama, 94 Chinen, 95 Sasahara

    2025 first-team roster count: 69
    2026 first-team roster count: 70

    Available uniform numbers
    7 18 55 83
    3AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:51
    Tokyo Dome
    Starting Lineups
    [Giants] [Tigers]
    4 Urata 8 Chikamoto
    8 Cabbage 7 Tateishi
    3 Dalbec 9 Morishita
    2 Oshiro 5 Sato
    5 Sakamoto 3 Ohyama
    6 Izumiguchi 4 Nakano
    7 Maru 2 Sakamoto
    9 Matsumoto 6 Motoyama
    1 Takemaru 1 Murakami
    6AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:53
    Nothing he could hit.
    7AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:53
    Yeah, no way he was coming through in that clutch spot lol
    10AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:53
    Heading out to the hair salon, so please stop Kurosaki Nanako for me, okay?

    75
    32AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:55
    Re: #10
    Just get the barbershop owner to put the baseball game on the radio!
    13AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:53
    Re: #1
    Thanks for the thread
    Just win
    That's all that matters
    14AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:53
    ヽ(･ω･)/ズコー (a classic "thud" sound effect for a comedic letdown)
    17AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:54
    Same old Cabbage.
    18AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:54
    Same as always with Cabbage.
    19AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:54
    The slugger who electrified Koshien enrolled at a powerhouse university but dropped out after just three months, saying he'd "burned out at Koshien"… He later made a comeback in an independent league: "I couldn't give up baseball"
    https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/398f1865f4350bf975491308930987a4eeb72b8d
    20AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:54
    Knew it, gone just like that huh.
    21AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:54
    Same as ever when there's a chance to score.
    22AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:54
    Cabbage always tastes the same, that's why he's the national vegetable (a pun: his name, Cabbage, sounds like kyabetsu, the Japanese word for cabbage).
    23AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:54
    That attack was a real 'the mountain heaves and out comes a mouse' situation — all buildup, no payoff (also a pun on Tigers' Ohyama).
    24AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:54
    With Ishizuka or Sasaki on the mound, that inning would've been a quick three-and-out.
    Gotta hand it to the veterans.
    25AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:54
    Done in on the second pitch.
    26AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:54
    Murakami isn't someone you can just hit easily — unless someone makes a fatal error, we're losing this 90% of the time.
    27AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:54
    If we win today does the magic number disappear?
    28AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:54
    This lineup really chokes in scoring chances, huh.
    29AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:55
    Only getting one run here is going to come back to bite us later.
    30AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:55
    Should've let Maru swing away there.
    With the pitcher's spot coming up next, it was basically already 2 outs anyway.
    34AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:55
    Re: #30
    This is probably going to come back to haunt us.
    58AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:01
    Takemaru
    Why throw a fastball to Tateishi
    He could've just stuck to forkballs and sliders.
    62AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:01
    Exactly, exactly.
    As long as he doesn't miss his spots at key moments, he's fine.
    64AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:02
    At this point we just have to hold on with this one run.
    68AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:03
    [Giants] Unusually massive cheering squad forms for showdown with Tigers — over 40 people from four groups in Tokyo, Osaka, Hokkaido, and Hiroshima gather, Tokyo Dome erupts
    https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/97c17c372e95d7ab2a3c12a7bf40aa1c63621999
    76AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:05
    Re: #68
    Can't tell if that's a lot or a little.
    71AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:04
    WAKA IS HEEERE ━━━━(ﾟ∀ﾟ)━━━━!! (classic 5ch "he's here!" meme)
    82AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:05
    AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
    Jammed it.

    Background and Key Points of This Discussion

    The thread title “Acting Manager” reflects that the Giants are currently being led by an interim manager rather than an officially appointed one. The lineup shown includes draft pick pitcher Takemaru and high-school-drafted outfielder Urata, suggesting a roster that has undergone major turnover after the offseason release of players like Imamura and Takahashi and the free-agent additions of Matsumoto and Norimoto. Opinion in the thread split over whether it was right to swing away instead of calling for a sacrifice bunt with runners on first and second and no outs — a decision that drew heavy criticism once it failed to produce an extra run. Meanwhile, Cabbage’s ongoing slump kept coming up repeatedly, with talk even turning to whether his contract should be extended. That said, the final result of the game isn’t known from this excerpt alone — this is only a reaction to how the early innings played out.

    ※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hello Pro) thread “Giants Acting Manager 133“.

  • Pompompurin: “My friends in Juice=Juice are a group where all 11 members are the stars”

    Hello! Project’s Juice=Juice appeared at the opening ceremony of “Pom Fes,” which kicked off on September 12 at the Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse, taking the stage as the very first act. Pompompurin, who’s marking 30 years since debut this year and just took first place in the “2026 Sanrio Character Grand Prix,” had a Hello! Project group headline the opening of his own flagship event. When Pompompurin introduced them at the ceremony as “those girls named after tasty things, just like me,” it sparked a debate on 5ch’s Hello! Project board over who actually got the spotlight treatment.

    “Pom Fes,” a festival starring Pompompurin, kicked off today, September 12, at the event plaza of the Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse in Kanagawa. Juice=Juice appeared at the opening ceremony and served as the first act of the live show.

    Pompompurin, celebrating 30 years since his debut this year, took first place in the “2026 Sanrio Character Grand Prix.”

    Appearing at the opening ceremony held from 11:00 AM, he opened with, “I want to call over some friends — those girls named after tasty things, just like me,” then joined the crowd in calling out, “Come on out, Juice=Juice!”

    Source: natalie.mu / Original article here

    2AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:23
    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HR_aGzSb0AA3q9E.jpg
    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HR_aG5taEAAx5Ll.jpg
    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HR_aHAYboAArw2Q.jpg
    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HR_aHHdbYAA2m7M.jpg
    3AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:23
    Wow, you really know your stuff lol
    5AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:24
    Thanks, Pom!
    6AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:25
    There's a mysterious beauty hiding inside that Pom costume
    7AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:25
    Don't turn your butt to us, your butt!
    8AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:25
    As expected of Pompompurin.
    You Juice=Juice haters bashing specific members ought to be ashamed of yourselves
    9AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:26
    Irie's just a background player, right?
    10AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:26
    They coordinated their outfits for this
    21AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:28
    The only real stars are Reiruru and Mifu, honestly
    29AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:28
    Following yesterday's pig…
    30AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:28
    If Yanamin popped out of that Pom costume
    Rurun would burst into tears
    46AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:33
    They didn't even say the thread title lol
    47AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:33
    That's amazing
    Sharing a stage with a national superstar
    48AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:35
    This reaches all the way to the Sanrio crowd
    49AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:35
    Pompom-Musubu-tan is in there too (a joke nickname mashing up Pompompurin with another mascot)
    50AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:35
    Thank you, Pompompurin!
    51AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:36
    Pompompurin's 30th Debut Anniversary "Pom Fes" Kicks Off! Lavish Collab with Juice=Juice Delivers "Mote! Mi Amore" — "Pom Fes" Media Preview & Opening Ceremony
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwOuyvPVV-w
    52AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:38
    About half of them are just background extras though?
    53AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:40
    Wait, was the slot right after the opening ceremony actually a good one to get?
    55AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:43
    That's straight-up star treatment
    56AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:45
    We don't accept anyone but Gaokki
    58AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:48
    The opening gets the most eyes on it, after all
    That's a huge break for them
    59AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:50
    Simply because their screen time went up
    60AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:54
    For some reason she always ends up being the slightly unlucky one lol
    61AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:54
    I think that's the one Nonaka's a fan of
    63AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:01
    Got bashed with "just hand your job over to Nonaka"
    64AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:02
    The loud one, the one who can't actually do it but points fingers like they're better than everyone, the selfish one, the hard-to-work-with one, the dumb one, the one with a smart mouth and an attitude, the unmotivated one, the stuck-up one
    Every single one of you is a star!
    67AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:03
    Re: #64
    Ah, so THAT's what gave me the déjà vu
    65AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:03
    Calm down, Kogata-san
    66AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:03
    Enough with the Kogata copypasta
    68AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:04
    Both Kogata-san and Purin-kun really know how to read people
    69AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:06
    Does Mifu point a kitchen knife at people too?

    Background and Points of Debate

    “Pom Fes” was a commemorative event for Pompompurin, held at the Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse to mark 30 years since his debut this year and his first-place finish in the “2026 Sanrio Character Grand Prix.” The article doesn’t spell out exactly why Juice=Juice was picked as the opening ceremony’s first act, but Pompompurin himself introduced them as “those girls named after tasty things, just like me” — a pun linking the group’s name to sweets and drinks that served as the hook for calling them onstage. Opinions split in the thread over whether the slot right after the opening was a “flashy, high-profile break” or a “modest warm-up act,” with some pointing to the number of appearances and matching outfits as evidence for the former, while others singled out specific members as mere “supporting players.” Note that replies touching on personal likes/dislikes toward individual members or old in-jokes have been partly excluded, as they fall outside the scope of this article.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project board) thread “Pompompurin: “My friends in Juice=Juice are a group where all 11 members are the stars”.”

  • Mercari: ‘We Won’t Take Our Selling Fee’ Amid Chiikawa Collab Stolen-Goods Scandal

    The “Chiikawa” collaboration run by conveyor-belt sushi chain Kura Sushi was called off on September 5 after misconduct by an employee came to light. The problem: as early as September 3 — apparently before the collab had even begun — merchandise that hadn’t been distributed yet was already showing up for sale on the flea-market app Mercari. On September 7, Mercari officially responded to these listings, stating it “will not collect any selling fees” on them, but reports say that as of September 10 — three days later — plenty of matching listings were still up. On 5ch, opinion split over whether waiving fees alone actually stops the listings, and what responsibility Mercari bears for leaving suspected stolen goods up once it knows about them.

    September 12, 2026, 7:00 AM

    Searching “Chiikawa” on Mercari’s site on the afternoon of September 10 still turns up numerous listings for “this” merchandise — three days after Mercari publicly addressed the controversy on its official X account on the 7th.

    “Conveyor-belt sushi chain Kura Sushi had been running a ‘Chiikawa’ collaboration campaign scheduled from August 21 to September 30, but announced its cancellation on September 5 after misconduct by an employee came to light. On the major flea-market app Mercari, listings for merchandise that hadn’t been distributed yet were already confirmed as of the 3rd, and suspicions that an employee had been skimming stock had been circulating even before Kura Sushi’s announcement.” (IT journalist, same throughout)

    Source: news.livedoor.com / Original article here

    2AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:47
    Guess I'll watch Peace-kun — the world's most famous capybara, from Omiya Zoo — on YouTube while I have my snack
    9AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:49
    The government needs to properly rein in these gangster-tier companies (hansha, slang for firms tied to organized crime)
    12AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:50
    Even Rakuichi Rakuza (Nobunaga's old free-market policy) had someone accountable for it
    The government needs to hurry up and regulate this stolen-goods marketplace already
    13AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:50
    Stolen goods are being fenced right out in the open
    Imagine if this were an actual licensed secondhand dealer (kobutsushō) — this would be a massive deal
    14AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:51
    Is it true the person who reported this got their account suspended?
    16AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:53
    This guy's always blowing up with complaints, huh
    19AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:55
    So not taking a fee just means it's prime time for scalpers now?
    20AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:56
    If you can't handle it, just shut the service down already, idiot
    23AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:57
    Why bring this up only now?
    25AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:58
    Does 'only one store was involved' still hold up? If so, narrowing down the suspicious-looking accounts shouldn't be that hard
    Everything else is legitimate resale
    'Legitimate resale'?
    26AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:59
    Mercari, X, Amazon — always getting dragged, huh
    27AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:59
    I honestly think Japan would be a little better off if Mercari just went under
    29AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:00
    Re: #1
    Sorry, I have no idea what you're even trying to say
    30AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:00
    I wonder how they're even determining what counts as fraudulent here
    31AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:00
    Just scrap limited-edition collab merch entirely already
    It always either ends like this or turns into scalper bait
    32AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:00
    Mercari: 'Next time, just use our Private Listing feature and pull it off smoothly!'
    34AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:01
    The dark web — or should we say, the gray web: Mercari
    35AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:02
    Well, Mercari's basically Japan's black market at this point
    39AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:03
    Re: #35
    Though the salaries there are pretty good
    36AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:02
    Just rename the app 'Thief Market' already
    37AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:02
    They're not even taking a fee? So it's pure profit for the criminal then?
    38AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:03
    Embezzling company supplies and offloading them happens more than you'd think
    And they do it with a totally straight face too
    That's terrifying
    40AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:03
    Re: #1
    Scalper: 'Wait, seriously? My margins just went up, guess I'll flip even harder now lol'

    That's exactly what's gonna happen, you idiot
    50AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:07
    Usagi's like 'Wha— huh?!'
    Meanwhile Hachiware's saying 'This isn't about money — just turn it into a proper criminal case.' (Usagi and Hachiware are Chiikawa characters)
    53AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:08
    Re: #50
    ???: 'I just wanna sell the stuff I stole!!'
    52AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:08
    Once arrests happen and they actually identify the sellers, they won't be able to just keep saying 'no fee for us' — a decent company has to at least look like it's trying
    68AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:15
    Following Kura Sushi, JR Central's 'Chiikawa collab' goods may also be getting mass-resold
    https://hayabusa9.5ch.io/test/read.cgi/mnewsplus/1788850896/

    'Tokaido Shinkansen Tsutsu-Ura-Ura Journey' mini tote bag

    – Limit: 1 per person per day
    – Reselling or transferring the bonus item is prohibited

    ↓

    Only about a week since the campaign started, yet
    the same account has listed around 60 of them on Mercari
    and every single one has sold

    ↓

    People are speculating someone's been skimming stock

    ↓

    JR Central: 'We're ending on-site redemption and switching to mail delivery instead'



    i.imgur.com/KGtvP36.jpeg

    Background and key points of the debate

    “Not collecting a fee” is a separate measure from pulling listings down or issuing refunds — it just means Mercari is giving up a slice of the revenue it would otherwise have earned. Kura Sushi’s “Chiikawa” collaboration began on August 21 and was called off on September 5 over employee misconduct, but reports say that on Mercari, merchandise that hadn’t even been distributed yet was already listed as of September 3 — before that announcement — and that listings believed to match the stolen goods were still up on September 10, three days after Mercari’s official response. Thread opinion split two ways: one side argued that merely forgoing fees doesn’t actually stop the listings or cut into scalpers’ profits, while the other raised the regulatory question of what liability applies under the Secondhand Goods Business Act for knowingly leaving listings of stolen merchandise up. Worth noting — something easy to miss from the replies alone — around the same time JR Central’s Shinkansen collab goods were also reported mass-listed by a single account, framing this as a structural problem with flea-market-app skimming and resale that goes well beyond any one company.

    *This article is compiled as an excerpt/summary of the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “Mercari says it “will not collect selling fees” on transactions involving stolen Chiikawa collab goods.”