Author: Japan Reacts Editorial

Singer Aki Wada (76) attended a disease-awareness event at KITTE Marunouchi in Tokyo on October 8 and revealed that she has bolts from an artificial joint in her hip and holds a Class 4 disability certificate. She says she was diagnosed with osteoarthritis of the hip after an injury sustained while training in 2022, and has since undergone hip replacement surgery twice. On 5ch, alongside wordplay riffing on the word “bolt,” the thread filled up with personal stories about family members’ hip replacements, disability certificate grades, and the perks they come with — reactions split over how to read the standards behind a Class 4 disability rating.

Aki Wada: “I have bolts in my hip. I also hold a Class 4 disability certificate” — reveals two hip replacement surgeries

Singer Aki Wada (76) attended a press event on the 8th at KITTE Marunouchi in Tokyo for the disease-awareness project “Exhibition: Continuing a Life of Walking,” hosted by Zimmer Violet. “As we live through an era where people can expect to live to 100, I want people to first think about living a life where they can walk on their own two feet,” she said.

Wada said that in September 2022 she felt a sudden sharp pain while strengthening her core doing “Tilapis” (likely a mangled rendering of “Pilates” in the original report), and was diagnosed with a torn iliac muscle in her hip — after which it also came out that she had osteoarthritis of the hip.

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

*This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Entertainment/Sports News+) thread “[Celebrity] Aki Wada: “I have bolts in my hip. I also hold a Class 4 disability certificate” — reveals two hip replacement surgeries.”

For the first time, Fukui Prefecture will send its representative to the 106th National High School Rugby Tournament (kicking off December 27 at Hanazono) without holding any qualifying matches. Fukui has only three schools with rugby clubs — Wakasa Higashi (25 players), Wakasa (8 players), and Tsuruga Technical (4 players) — and even combining them into a joint team couldn’t produce enough players to field a proper match, so the Wakasa Higashi/Wakasa joint team will go straight to the national tournament. This follows Shimane, which skipped its qualifier in the previous tournament. On 5channel, opinions clashed sharply between those blaming the declining birthrate and those arguing rugby itself is simply unpopular, with some calling for a regional-block representative system like the one used in the spring national high school baseball invitational.

Nikkan Sports [October 8, 2026, 18:42]

It was learned on the 8th through interviews with those involved that Fukui will, for the first time, hold no qualifying tournament due to a shortage of club members — following Shimane, which had no qualifier to decide its entrant in the previous tournament — for the 106th National High School Rugby Tournament (kicking off December 27 at Hanazono).

In Fukui, Wakasa Higashi has 25 players, but the only other schools with rugby clubs, Wakasa and Tsuruga Technical, have just 8 and 4 players respectively — even combined, that’s fewer than 15, not enough to field a match. For this tournament, Wakasa Higashi and Wakasa will enter the national tournament as a joint team.

Source: nikkansports.com / Original article here

*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5channel (Entertainment/Sports News+) thread “[Regional High School Rugby] Fukui, Shimane Hold No Qualifiers — Due to Player Shortage, a First for Fukui — Joint Teams Head to Nationals.”