Japan Reacts

Author: Japan Reacts Editorial

  • OP Heads to Ueno on a Drinking Trip — 5ch Thread: “Drinking Across the Whole Country Is My Life’s Goal”

    A poster riding the Keisei Skyliner to Ueno live-blogged the trip in a 5ch thread. The back-and-forth with fellow users hunting for bar tips in Ueno, Shinjuku, and Asakusa took off, and the thread caught fire over lines like “drinking across the whole country is my life’s goal” — plus a mid-thread mishap where the OP briefly lost track of their own thread.

    1AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:27
    Let's raise a toast if you're up for it
    4AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:27
    Wait for me in the bathroom
    and feel free to drop your pants while you're at it
    7AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:28
    Re: #4
    Wait, am I about to get jumped!?
    6AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:28
    Which do you like better, Chinchinken or Chinman? (two Chinese-diner chains)
    9AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:29
    Re: #6 A neighborhood Chinese joint (machi-chuka), huh!?
    10AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:29
    Alright then, let's go day-drinking at Daitoryo (a famous old Ueno izakaya)
    13AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:30
    Re: #10 Ooh
    Can you actually drink there?
    12AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:30
    What are you even going to Ueno for?
    15AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:30
    Re: #12 To drink!
    My hotel's in Shinjuku
    14AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:30
    Did the thread fall off the board?
    17AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:31
    Re: #14 I'm such a newbie at starting threads that once I stepped away, I lost track of my own thread 🦾
    24AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:35
    I could link up around 9pm
    25AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:36
    Re: #24 I'll be at the Tanunaka snack bar in Shinjuku around then
    26AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:36
    Cheers on Nikomi-dori ("Stew Street") in Asakusa!
    28AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:37
    Re: #26 You mean Hoppy Street!!!
    I went to Masa-chan there back in April!
    31AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:39
    I might be a genius — I saved the URL in my LINE notes
    Anyway, the guy next to me's been scratching his back nonstop, it's gross, I can't
    37AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:42
    Re: #31
    Are you a time traveler or something?
    48AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:58
    Not going to Daitoryo?
    50AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:59
    Re: #48 Right after this! Did you already hit the gado-shita (the drinking spots under the train tracks)?
    61AnonymousAug 28, 2026 14:14
    Didn't you already go drinking in Ueno before?
    64AnonymousAug 28, 2026 14:15
    Re: #61 I go to Tokyo to drink all the time!
    68AnonymousAug 28, 2026 14:17
    Thanks for keeping the pics low-res, OP
    Did you come all the way from Kumamoto just to drink?
    70AnonymousAug 28, 2026 14:19
    Re: #68 Well, the real goal
    was a snack bar run by an influencer named Tanukana
    but since I already love drinking, it turned into a whole drinking tour!
    Drinking across the whole country is my life's goal!
    76AnonymousAug 28, 2026 14:28
    Sounds like a fun thread 😊
    Right near the post office there's a coffee shop called Kohi Ojo ("Coffee Castle") that always has a line out front — good for a palate cleanser after all that drinking 🫴
    77AnonymousAug 28, 2026 14:28
    Re: #76 Enjoying it solo!
    Is that in Ueno!?
    88AnonymousAug 28, 2026 14:37
    Re: #70
    Some kind of "human rights" guy? (self-deprecating height joke)
    Where do you drink when you're outside Tokyo?
    92AnonymousAug 28, 2026 14:41
    Re: #88
    Yeah, I'm one of those "under 170cm" guys
    But it's a blast anyway
    It's a shame that bit got clipped out of context
    https://imgur.com/a/FG29rA7
    The places I've actually had drinks are the colored spots on this map
    I come to Tokyo regularly
    89AnonymousAug 28, 2026 14:37
    I want some carbs
    91AnonymousAug 28, 2026 14:39
    Re: #89
    Let's grab something to eat at the coffee shop

    Background and Key Points

    This 5ch Nandemo Jikkyo thread doesn’t require deep institutional background, but a few local references are worth unpacking for non-Japanese readers. Ueno, Asakusa, and Shinjuku are three of Tokyo’s classic izakaya-hopping districts, each with a distinct drinking culture: Asakusa’s “Hoppy Street” (formally Nikomi-dori) is a strip of open-air stalls serving hoppy, a low-malt beer substitute paired with stewed offal (nikomi), a working-class Tokyo tradition dating to the postwar black-market era; the “gado-shita” spots are bars wedged into the archways beneath elevated train tracks, a common izakaya format across Japanese cities because the space under rail lines is cheap and otherwise unusable. Daitoryo is a well-known Ueno izakaya famous for opening in the early afternoon, letting people day-drink long before evening. The OP traveled from Kumamoto, a city on the southern island of Kyushu roughly 900km from Tokyo, purely for a drinking tour, which is what triggered the “life’s goal” enthusiasm.

    The thread doesn’t really split into opposing camps — there’s no debate here, just a loosely organized live-blog where commenters volunteer bar recommendations and rib the OP for repeatedly losing track of his own thread. If there’s any tension, it’s mild skepticism (“didn’t you already drink in Ueno before?”) met with the OP’s insistence that he makes regular Tokyo trips specifically to drink.

    What outside readers might miss: the OP’s aside about being “under 170cm” is a self-deprecating joke referencing Japanese online slang where short stature is jokingly equated with lacking “human rights,” not a literal claim about legal status. Also unstated is that starting and managing a 5ch thread (bumping it, keeping it from falling off the board) requires active replies, which is why a newcomer OP kept losing his own thread — a structural quirk of the platform, not a personal failing.

    ※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “I’m on the Skyliner headed to Ueno right now for a drinking trip.”

  • Tomomi Itano’s 4-Year-Old Daughter Goes ‘English First’ at International School — 5ch Divided

    Former AKB48 member Tomomi Itano revealed that her 4-year-old daughter now speaks “basically English” as her primary language after enrolling at an international school. Her comment that the family’s housekeeper is also from overseas — reinforcing the English-first environment — sparked a flurry of technical terms on 5ch like “semilingualism” and “double limited” (a term for children who fail to fully master either language), as opinions split hard over the merits of bilingual education.

    Is a solid foundation in your native language a prerequisite for learning a foreign one, or does language acquisition favor whoever starts earliest? The back-and-forth over parenting philosophy kept going.

    Tomomi Itano: 4-Year-Old Daughter at International School Is “Basically English-Speaking,” “Even the Housekeeper Is From Overseas” — Reveals Her Worry: “What Should I Do?”

    Former AKB48 member and TV personality Tomomi Itano (35) opened up about the environment she’s raising her 4-year-old daughter in.

    She appeared on the ABEMA program “Super Nobishiro Time by Kyou, Suki ni Narimashita” (“Today, I Fell in Love”), which streamed on the 26th.

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

    4AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:48
    The value is in speaking BOTH Japanese and English — someone who can only speak English has basically zero value here in Japan too.
    6AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:49
    International school, a housekeeper… she really loves playing rich, doesn't she.
    8AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:51
    If you don't think in Japanese, you're bound to end up a failure of a human being.
    11AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:52
    Being able to speak English doesn't automatically make you smart, you know.
    16AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:53
    If the daughter's headed for a university overseas, English-first makes sense — but can they actually afford it until then?
    76AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:12
    Re: #16
    Apparently they live in a place with rent of 1 million yen a month (~$7,000), so money's clearly not an issue.
    18AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:54
    A behavioral geneticist once said 60% of a person's academic ability comes down to genetics, so studying itself is kind of out of your hands — but every kid is a genius when it comes to language acquisition. So sending them to international school is basically the strongest gift a parent can give (if you're rich enough to afford it).
    20AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:55
    Broken Japanese, fluent English — even living in Japan, that'd probably make it easier to find work. Smart move.
    26AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:56
    Re: #20
    Even native English speakers end up stuck in service jobs without an education, so she'll need to go to university too — overseas, that is.
    28AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:57
    Hurry up and make it to the majors already.
    119AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:31
    Re: #28
    Itano's husband isn't anywhere near the majors — he's on the chopping block to get cut.
    37AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:00
    Someone wrote this once: when it comes to your kid's education, it's not about spending money — it's about continuing to show them you're learning too.
    Basically, don't dodge responsibility by throwing money at it while making excuses like "I'm busy working" instead of studying yourself.
    You already know — past you and present you — exactly how much studying sucks, so don't force it on your kid. Show them you're willing to learn first.
    40AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:02
    Topics like this always draw a crowd of jealous people with an English-inferiority complex.
    41AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:03
    Does Itano actually make that much money?
    43AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:03
    If the daughter's mainly speaking English, can she even hold a conversation with her parents?
    86AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:16
    Why do talentless celebrities always send their kids to international school? (´・ω・`)
    94AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:20
    Re: #86
    So they can send them to study abroad early.
    102AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:23
    Nobody knows what the "right answer" is when it comes to raising kids.
    I went to private school starting from elementary, and here I am — 46 years old, still working part-time.
    106AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:25
    Re: #102
    Every household is different.
    If you're 46 and working part-time but still getting by just fine, I guess that's also something your parents gave you — not that I'd know.
    118AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:31
    Re: #102
    I had a classmate who was the star student of the whole area through elementary and into junior high, then partway through junior high he stopped going to school and became a shut-in.
    Never went to high school either.
    Didn't see him for years after that, but past 30 he showed back up in his hometown with a family in tow.
    He does something called formwork carpentry — a job I'd never even heard of — and now it's the classic "DQN" (Japanese slang for a rowdy, delinquent-esque type) family lifestyle: everyone's got dyed brown hair, cruising around in a Vellfire minivan on weekends, backyard barbecues — looks like a blast.
    No idea what happened along the way, but he went from a shy, introverted type to a total extrovert.

    Background and Key Points

    Tomomi Itano is a former member of AKB48, the idol group that functioned as a media institution in its own right through the 2000s and 2010s; members who leave routinely move into variety-show and tabloid-covered family life, which is why a throwaway comment about her daughter’s schooling became a thread. International schools in Japan sit outside the Ministry of Education’s standard curriculum, are not free, and often run into the millions of yen annually — a small, largely expatriate-and-elite population attends them, which is why posters fixated on the reported ¥1 million/month rent as proof this is a wealth story as much as a parenting one. “Semilingualism” (半言語, also called “double limited”) is a real term from Japanese bilingual-education research, applied since the 1970s–80s to returnee (kikokushijo) children who lose ground in Japanese without gaining full command of the second language.

    The thread didn’t split over whether English is valuable — nearly everyone agreed it is — it split over sequencing: whether a child needs a stable native-language base before a second language can be layered on safely, or whether the window for painless acquisition is simply widest in early childhood and shouldn’t be wasted waiting.

    What’s missing from the debate is that “double limited” outcomes are associated with weak input in *both* languages, not simply with early exposure to a second one — a wealthy, English-fluent household with an engaged parent is not the at-risk profile the term was coined to describe. Also unmentioned: international-school diplomas often don’t map cleanly onto Japan’s own university-entrance system, which matters far more than dinner-table fluency if the family ever wants a Japan-based fallback.

    *This article is an excerpt and summary from a 5ch (Entertainment & Sports News+) thread titled [Entertainment] Tomomi Itano: 4-Year-Old Daughter at International School Is “Basically English-Speaking,” “The Housekeeper Is From Overseas Too, So Our Daughter Is Becoming English-First”.

  • Last place, packed stands: Chunichi Dragons’ Manager Inoue seen returning next season

    Through 117 games, the Chunichi Dragons sit in last place with a 51-65-1 record, tied with Hiroshima on games back — yet they’re within 1.5 games of DeNA for third place. Even so, the dome keeps selling out, and with word spreading that manager Kazuki Inoue is likely to return next season, 5ch discussion ballooned into a debate over “why do fans keep showing up for a losing team,” ranging from Nagoya’s lack of entertainment options to the Hanshin Tigers’ dark years to attendance comparisons with J-League side Nagoya Grampus.

    The Chunichi Dragons have now closed to within 1.5 games of the Central League’s third-place Yokohama DeNA BayStars (as of August 26). Despite a hefty net loss of 14 games, the “finish in the top half” prediction that preseason commentators and pundits made is starting to look plausible again.

    Through 117 games, Chunichi sits at 51-65-1, in last place and tied on games back with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp. But thanks to a slump by the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, who led the league early on, a four-team race for third place — including DeNA — has broken out.

    Chunichi finished second in 2020 under manager Tsuyoshi Yoda (60), then fifth the following year. Under Kazuyoshi Tatsunami (57), who managed from 2022, they finished last three years running. Even in 2025, their first season under manager Kazuki Inoue (55), they finished fourth — stuck in what looks like a permanent lower-half slump. This season, too, they’ve settled into the bottom half of the standings so far, yet Chunichi fans remain as fired up as ever.

    Source: jprime.jp / Original article here

    5AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:41
    Does Nagoya really not have anything else to do for fun?
    24AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:51
    Re: #5
    Seriously, there's nothing. About the only thing to look forward to is the occasional late-night rerun of the original Mobile Suit Gundam.
    29AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:52
    Re: #5
    Just talking sports, Nagoya's actually home to teams in soccer, futsal, and basketball too, on top of baseball.
    11AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:43
    Honestly, you're not supposed to go watch them.
    129AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:41
    Re: #11
    This.
    Hiroshima's got it right.
    14AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:45
    No sarcasm, I think Chunichi fans are a model for sports fans worldwide.
    I can put up with a weak team, but if the front office is garbage or there's a string of scandals and cheating like some other team, I'd lose interest instantly.
    105AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:30
    Re: #14
    Plenty of English fans stick with perennially weak Premier League clubs too, right?
    22AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:49
    If fans don't stop showing up and send the front office a clear 'NO,' the Dragons will never turn things around.
    At this rate they'll be stuck fighting for last place forever.
    26AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:51
    Re: #22
    This year it's a fight for third, actually.
    27AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:52
    There's no relegation, and
    if fans show up even when you're weak,
    there's no need to actually win.
    114AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:34
    Re: #27
    Relegation chatter is scary stuff — but NPB doesn't have it, unlike the basketball or volleyball leagues.
    30AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:52
    There's no rival team in the Tokai region, and the local media pushes Chunichi hard, so even when the team's weak, the core players' salaries keep climbing.
    62AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:06
    Re: #30
    Yeah, Chunichi completely dominates the region
    and the Chunichi Shimbun's coverage area is huge too.
    41AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:56
    If they sort out the bullpen, I don't think the team's overall bad.
    The lineup even outscores a Giants team that can't develop players.
    53AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:02
    Re: #41
    And then before next season a bunch of pundits will predict a second-place finish, and the loop starts all over again.
    46AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:58
    The Carp used to be like that too.
    But now… it's grim.
    56AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:02
    Re: #46
    These days it's Grampus that's washed up
    even games at Toyota Stadium have been half-empty.
    47AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:58
    If fans show up even when you're weak and there's no relegation penalty, there's no reason to actually get stronger.
    It's a soft, forgiving world.
    If anything, the only ones who have it rough — or cruel, even — are the players who get treated as disposable.
    60AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:04
    Re: #47
    Terrible as a business model, but think about it from the local government's side — they were told a new stadium was needed to get promoted to J1, built one, and then the team got relegated anyway. That's rough.
    108AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:31
    Re: #47
    J-League's a tough world, that's why.
    57AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:03
    I was shocked to hear a fan of another team say they quit being a fan because the team was weak.
    Then I was doubly shocked to hear they started rooting again once the team got good.
    Is it really that easy to just quit being a fan?
    59AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:04
    Re: #57
    Same with the Hanshin Tigers — during their dark years the stands were full of empty seats.
    67AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:07
    Whenever a thread like this pops up, someone always shows up
    spouting the big lie that Hanshin was hugely popular and sold out even during their dark years —
    and yep, just as I was about to say that, here they are already.
    84AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:19
    Re: #67
    Back in the dark years a friend gave me tickets to a Hanshin vs. Taiyo game.
    Went to watch at Koshien Stadium and there were so few people
    that it was easy to get to the bathroom.
    72AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:11
    https://soccer.yahoo.co.jp/jleague/category/j1/game/2026082908/ticket?gk=2
    Meanwhile Grampus lol
    Half-empty, tickets piled up unsold lol
    And this is a weekend game lol
    Rough being washed-up, huh lol
    76AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:14
    Re: #72
    Grampus has leftover advance tickets, sure,
    but the stadium actually fills up decently on gameday.
    Same type as the BayStars.
    145AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:55
    Re: #72
    They're going for 300 yen on Ticket Jam (a resale marketplace).
    81AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:17
    Re: #76
    https://soccer.yahoo.co.jp/jleague/category/j1/game/2026082203/info?gk=2
    Liar, it was half-empty last time too lol
    89AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:22
    Re: #81
    Last matchday drew 31,000,
    and 37,500 tickets are already sold for the next one.
    Not exactly 'half-empty.'
    94AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:26
    Sold-out crowds plus Inoue-staying-on makes for good clickbait, huh
    these kinds of articles have been popping up nonstop lately.
    111AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:32
    Re: #94
    https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/f61d43106d88a630c1c87dabbef6ed5f8c6f4bbb
    TV ratings are in double digits too.
    97AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:28
    Re: #89
    Why are you lying?
    You're calling 30,651 people '31,000'?
    Quit lying already.
    99AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:29
    Re: #97
    Didn't you learn rounding in elementary school?
    100AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:29
    Since 'Chuny-yan' games are sold out (a nickname for the Dragons),
    I went to the Nagoya sumo tournament instead
    and it was SOUL'd OUT (a pun on 'sold out' and the hip-hop group SOUL'd OUT).
    115AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:34
    Re: #100
    Wait, was Diggy-MO' out there doing sumo?

    Background and Key Points

    The Chunichi Dragons are one of NPB Central League’s oldest franchises, owned by the Chunichi Shimbun newspaper, which also blankets the Tokai region’s biggest media market with team coverage — the “media pushes Chunichi hard” comment in the thread only makes sense once you know the club and the region’s dominant paper are the same company. They play at Nagoya Dome, and unlike the Central League’s Hanshin Tigers or the crosstown J-League club Nagoya Grampus, Chunichi has no other NPB team competing for Tokai-area fans. The team’s recent history is a slide: second place in 2020 under Tsuyoshi Yoda, three straight last-place finishes under Kazuyoshi Tatsunami (2022-24), and now a fourth-place 2025 and last-place-but-mathematically-close 2026 under Kazuki Inoue.

    The thread’s real fault line wasn’t whether the Dragons are bad — everyone agreed they are — but whether unconditional fan loyalty is admirable (the Premier League comparison, “a model for sports fans worldwide”) or actively harmful, removing any pressure on the front office to improve. A side argument broke out over whether Grampus’s attendance is really comparable, with posters disputing rounded figures (30,651 people called “31,000”) and dueling ticket-marketplace screenshots.

    What the thread leaves unstated, and what non-Japanese readers should know, is that NPB has no promotion/relegation system at all — a last-place finish costs the Dragons nothing structurally, unlike the relegation-driven soccer clubs posters kept comparing them to. That absence is the actual mechanism behind the “no incentive to win” complaint, not just fan psychology.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geisports Sokuho+) thread “Chunichi Dragons manager Kazuki Inoue’s ‘return next season’ looking real — dome sells out even in last place, fans celebrate like champions after a single win [Ailuropoda melanoleuca★]“.

  • Mala Tang’s Sudden Popularity Sparks 5ch Debate: ‘Forced Trend?’ ‘Dentsu Marketing Ploy?’

    Mala Tang, the Chinese-style hot pot dish, is rapidly expanding across convenience stores and food courts. On 5ch’s livestream discussion board, some users questioned whether its surging popularity was being “artificially pushed” or a “Dentsu (Japan’s biggest ad agency) marketing campaign,” while others debated whether it counts as a hot pot dish or a noodle dish, and even compared it to the tapioca bubble tea boom.

    1AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:28
    How it caught on
    Originally a hot pot dish born in Sichuan, China
    ↓
    8AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:29
    Looks tasty
    11AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:30
    Re: #8
    Gross
    Looks like a photo of an open sink drain
    29AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:34
    Re: #8
    What even is this, so nasty
    Looks like a drain
    124AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:58
    Re: #8
    It's basically the same idea as miso nikomi udon, so why does this look so much less appetizing


    15AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:32
    If it's actually popular, who cares
    23AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:34
    Kind of like tantanmen (spicy sesame noodles)?
    33AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:35
    Re: #23
    Not even close
    It's a hot pot dish, not a noodle dish
    You just toss whatever ingredients you want into spicy Chinese broth
    48AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:37
    Re: #33
    Oh, so it's a hot pot
    40AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:36
    50AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:37
    Re: #40
    The art on this is pretty badly drawn
    44AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:36
    Biryani's way better though
    47AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:37
    Re: #44
    Biryani really is delicious
    63AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:39
    Re: #44
    You can switch up the flavor all kinds of ways, plus the crispy scorched rice part is great — that's the one that should be trending
    53AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:37
    I always end up ordering the beef bone broth instead of the spicy one
    62AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:39
    Re: #53
    I'd rather have mapo tofu and white rice than this
    57AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:38
    I really love mala tang
    64AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:40
    The whole appeal of mala tang is the fun of picking your own ingredients like some kind of attraction, so you should actually go to a shop for it
    They're popping up everywhere now

    73AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:44
    Re: #64
    That's exactly what makes it a hassle
    Guys won't go for it unless the pricing is upfront and it's simple and fast
    77AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:46
    Re: #1
    That's a flat-out lie
    Mala tang has obviously been around for decades
    Marumiya put out their mala tang soup base back in 2012
    80AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:47
    Re: #77
    Well sure, it's existed for a long time…
    79AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:47
    "Honestly, women…"
    while eating Ramen Jiro

    lol this
    104AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:53
    Re: #79
    These days that applies to Yamaokaya, not Jiro
    82AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:48
    What does it even taste like?
    Some kind of numbing-spicy (shibikara) tantanmen?
    86AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:49
    Re: #82
    It's a single-serving, pre-cooked hot pot
    96AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:51
    Re: #82
    It's got cumin in it, so it's like curry-flavored tantanmen with vinegar mixed in
    122AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:57
    It doesn't even look like pig slop, it looks like a kitchen sink strainer basket — that's rough
    Can't they do something about the presentation
    126AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:58
    Re: #122
    Hot pot dishes don't really have 'presentation'
    128AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:59
    If you're a 'chii-san' (5ch slang for an awkward, nerdy-looking guy, from the 'chiigyu' meme) who eats at Yamaokaya, you're in no position to mock this
    136AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:01
    Re: #128
    Seriously
    Anyone hitting up Yamaokaya right now might be an even bigger fool than this
    130AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:00
    Re: #124
    That's a dish made from fixed ingredients the shop lines up and prepares
    Mala tang is a hot pot variant where you dump whatever ingredients you picked yourself into the pot and boil them, so comparing the two doesn't make sense
    147AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:07
    Re: #130
    You just moved the goalposts to 'hot pot,' didn't you?
    143AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:06


    This
    152AnonymousAug 28, 2026 13:09
    Sorry, my ID changed but it's me, the OP
    I was really frustrated seeing my favorite food get torn apart in both the article text and the comments on a matome (summary) site, so that's why I made this thread
    Really sorry, everyone

    Background and Key Points

    Mala tang (麻辣湯, “málà tāng”) is a Sichuan-style hot pot format built on huajiao (numbing Sichuan pepper) and chili oil — the “ma” is the numbing sensation, the “la” is the heat. In China it’s typically served as a self-serve stall: customers pick raw ingredients from a case, have them weighed, and watch them boiled in a shared spicy broth before serving, which is why several posters distinguish it from a noodle dish with fixed, chef-assembled ingredients. For readers unfamiliar with “Dentsu”: it’s Japan’s largest advertising agency, and in Japanese online culture it functions as shorthand for suspected astroturfing or “steruma” (stealth marketing) whenever a product’s popularity looks suddenly ubiquitous rather than grassroots — the accusation here isn’t about the food, but about whether its convenience-store and food-court rollout was bought media rather than organic demand.

    The thread’s actual disagreement isn’t over taste so much as legitimacy and category: some frame the boom as manufactured (the “forced trend”/Dentsu jabs), others shrug that popularity is popularity regardless of cause; separately, posters argue over whether it’s a hot pot dish at all versus a noodle dish like tantanmen, with the hot pot side winning on the “you choose your own ingredients” logic.

    What the thread never establishes is why now — no one cites actual sales data, a marketing campaign, or a supply-chain reason for the sudden convenience-store push, so the “Dentsu ploy” claims remain pure speculation. It’s also worth noting, per one reply, that mala tang soup bases have been sold in Japan since at least 2012, so this is a distribution/format boom, not the dish’s introduction.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “[Sad News] Mala Tang Has Gotten So Popular People Are Calling It a ‘Forced Trend’ and a ‘Dentsu Marketing Ploy’.”

  • Fuwa-chan Returns to Variety TV After 2 Years — Booked at Becky’s Request, Says “I’ve Spent a Year and a Half Reflecting”

    Fuwa-chan, who had been on hiatus, appeared in Season 2 of Prime Video’s “Can You Call 100 Friends?”, which began streaming on the 28th, marking her return to variety television for the first time in roughly two years since going on hiatus in August 2024. She reportedly landed the gig at Becky’s request, and on 5channel users traded jabs calling it a “screwups’ support group,” alongside mixed opinions about her sticking to streaming platforms instead of terrestrial TV.

    Fuwa-chan on her variety TV return after 2 years: “Is it really okay for me to be on this?” — asked about her recent situation, she laughed awkwardly and said, “I’ve spent the past year and a half reflecting.”

    Talent Fuwa-chan, who pivoted to pro wrestling at the end of last year, appeared in Season 2 of Prime Video’s “Can You Call 100 Friends?”, which began streaming on the 28th.

    It marked her first variety show appearance in two years, since going on hiatus in August 2024.

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

    2AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:07
    Sounds like a "screwups' support group."
    92AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:29
    Re: #2
    With this many members now, the support group could actually function.
    Actually, isn't it probably already secretly up and running?
    Just the other day there was also news that Kentaro Ito got cast in a drama starring and produced by Mei Nagano.
    97AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:31
    Re: #2
    A "screwups' support group" —
    we've got this year's buzzword of the year right here.
    117AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:37
    Re: #2
    Is Matsumoto the chairman?
    3AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:07
    What bugs me more than the sharp tongue is the lying in her excuses.
    5AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:07
    Since it's only on Amazon Prime, that's an early elimination for me.
    7AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:08
    She's fine, but please don't bring Onigoe on — their snark just isn't funny.
    They're pretty much blacklisted, but they still pop up now and then on Yoshimoto-affiliated shows. (Onigoe Combi, a comedy duo)
    8AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:09
    Re: #1
    Amazon must be paying Fuwa-chan the highest fee of anyone on the show.
    9AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:09
    Re: #1
    If it's just an internet show, she can do whatever she wants lol
    11AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:10
    Why is everyone so fixated on this?
    Is she coming back because the money's good?
    12AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:10
    She was always an internet-native type to begin with, so just let her do her thing.
    14AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:11
    Honestly, Netflix and Amazon are already a tier above terrestrial TV at this point.
    If names like these keep booking her, terrestrial will probably bring her back too — looking forward to it.
    15AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:11
    Was that whole "Fuwa" persona just a character?
    I honestly can't tell.
    17AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:12
    A lot of people were saying "fine, as long as she's committed to pro wrestling" — but just like predicted, her talent-show work is already outweighing the wrestling stuff lol
    37AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:16
    Re: #17
    I recall an article from a few months back saying she kept breaking etiquette rules in wrestling too, and the offers dried up there as well.
    48AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:19
    Even setting aside the whole Yasuko incident, Fuwa is chronically late, always forgetting things — basically a walking red flag for social incompetence — so why do so many celebrities still back her?
    71AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:26
    Re: #48Re: #49
    Isn't it simply that she's fun to be around? Fun enough that people let the chronic lateness slide.
    77AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:27
    Re: #48
    Among the friends who've come to accept that this is just who Fuwa-chan is, some have started rooting for her, saying things like "I can't help but worry — we really need to help her get her act together somehow."
    91AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:28
    Re: #48
    Psychologically, people feel reassured when they look at someone they see as beneath them.
    49AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:19
    She didn't really do anything that serious to begin with.
    A big part of getting blacklisted was probably just industry people not liking her personally.
    61AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:22
    Re: #49
    Slim Club really did sound the alarm on her.
    Their social-commentary bits are hilariously spot-on. (Slim Club, a comedy duo)
    52AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:21
    I don't want to see this person on TV, but did she really do anything bad enough to warrant a two-year blacklisting? Seems way overblown.
    58AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:22
    Re: #52
    She just wasn't cut out to be on TV to begin with.
    59AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:22
    I was hoping Becky would've invited "Gesu" instead. (a jab referencing Enon Kawatani, the musician from Becky's old affair scandal, nicknamed "Gesu")
    85AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:27
    Re: #59
    He's probably a no-go for joint appearances from his side anyway — he's the reason a marriage ended, after all.
    67AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:25
    I'd love to know where the demand for this woman even comes from.
    81AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:27
    Re: #67
    Probably from the production side. She's got personality, no restrictions on how she can be used, and for her name recognition she's cheap and easy to push around — isn't that the appeal?
    88AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:28
    Re: #67
    Exactly. At the very least, everyone around me is the "change the channel the second she shows up" type.
    Someone seriously tell me who's actually watching her.
    103AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:34
    If Ms. Fuwa hit Yasuko with a Dragon Screw on par with Great Muta's, you guys would probably forgive her. (Great Muta, a legendary pro wrestler; Dragon Screw, a leg-whip wrestling move)
    116AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:37
    Re: #103
    A Dragon Screw wouldn't accomplish anything at all.
    107AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:36
    Abema, Amazon Prime… it's nothing but streaming platforms.
    111AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:37
    Re: #107
    Streaming just has different standards than terrestrial TV — way more lax.
    109AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:36
    Watabe was appearing on ABEMA like it was nothing too.
    119AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:38
    Re: #109
    Watabe's drinking talk show is actually pretty funny — the guests are all seriously skilled performers lol

    Background and Key Points

    Fuwa-chan’s blacklisting traces back to 2022, when she was accused of ridiculing a fellow talent named Yasuko (of the comedy duo Yasukoman) — reports described a physical incident during filming, though the specifics were always murky and largely relayed through tabloid coverage rather than confirmed by broadcasters. Japanese terrestrial networks operate on tight, informal self-censorship: once a talent becomes “risky,” agencies quietly stop booking them, with no formal announcement, and rehabilitation typically happens gradually through lower-stakes appearances — variety-adjacent radio, YouTube, or as here, streaming platforms — before (if ever) a return to network TV. Streaming services like Prime Video and Netflix sit outside that self-censorship system entirely, since they aren’t beholden to Japan’s Broadcasting Ethics & Program Improvement Organization or sponsor pressure the way terrestrial channels are, which is exactly why posters flagged this as a meaningfully different, lower-risk venue than a real TV comeback.

    The thread didn’t split over whether Fuwa-chan should be forgiven — there’s little sympathy in these posts either way — but over how severe her original offense actually was relative to the two-year freeze-out. Some posters (49, 52) argue the punishment outweighed the crime and suspect she was blacklisted more for being personally disliked by industry insiders than for the incident itself; others (48, 71, 77) treat her unreliability (chronic lateness, forgetfulness) as the real, ongoing problem separate from the scandal.

    What the thread never engages with is the economics driving this booking: Amazon can pay a premium for a name with built-in controversy-driven curiosity, precisely because it doesn’t have to answer to the same advertiser and broadcasting-standards pressure NHK or commercial networks do — which is the structural reason “cancelled” talent so often resurface on streaming first.

    *This article is compiled as an excerpt and summary of the 5channel (Entertainment/Sports News+) thread “[Entertainment] Fuwa-chan returns to variety TV after 2 years! “Is it really okay for me to be on this?” “I’ve spent a year and a half reflecting” — appeared at Becky’s request.”

  • Juice=Juice’s Nikkei Entertainment Cover: Everyone in Red — 5ch: “Red Basically Means Juice Now”

    Nikkei Entertainment! announced the unveiling of Juice=Juice’s magazine cover and premium pin-up, sparking a wave of reactions on 5ch’s Hello! Project board. With Kawashima at center and the whole lineup unified in red outfits, comments poured in like “Red = Juice is locked in now” and “Perfect fit for Kohaku (Japan’s New Year’s Eve Red vs. White song contest).” Some fans looked back on how putting glasses on Hayashi and the change in Arisawa were key to the group’s breakout. Meanwhile, a more pessimistic take also surfaced — that “today’s Hello! Project is propped up by aging fans and headed for decline” — splitting opinion in the thread.

    Nikkei Entertainment!

    @nikkei_ent

    [Cover & premium pin-up revealed!]

    Source: amazon.co.jp / Original listing here

    2AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:13
    Not naming names, but the visuals here are rough — looks like some random person off the street.
    61AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:28
    Re: #2
    If some random person off the street can land a magazine cover, why can't ANGERME?
    5AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:13
    So the center line — Inoue, Ebata, Kawashima, Arisawa, Hayashi — is basically Juice=Juice's main lineup now.
    6AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:14
    Reiruru's on the Hamada Kayosai (music variety show) lineup
    https://www.tbs.co.jp/ookami_tbs/
    20AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:20
    Re: #6
    Isn't that the me:I member who's Ebata's classmate?
    22AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:20
    Re: #6
    Once they started selling Ebamifu separately (as a duo push), of course Reiruru was next. Saw it coming.
    25AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:22
    Re: #6
    At this point they can land TV spots regardless of whether they've got a hit song.
    10AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:17
    Everyone except Ebamifu and Riai looks rough in these — is that on the makeup artist or the photographer?
    23AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:20
    Re: #10
    The only one I thought looked bad was Sakurachi. Everyone else looks like they're at their real potential.
    11AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:17
    So the agency's fully committed to Kawashima as center, huh.
    13AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:18
    The second Ebamifu showed up on Utacon, I figured something was coming for Reiruru too — and here it is.
    16AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:19
    These promo photos are great right now. Good enough that I'd be happy sticking with this look for a while.
    17AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:19
    Ebamifu on Utacon,
    Reiruru on Hamada!
    Plus Yumeriai!
    And Sakuringo's in there too!
    18AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:20
    The "Juice = red" image is completely locked in now.
    21AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:20
    This group's visuals are just too good.
    24AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:21
    So glad we have Juice=Juice.
    Without them, Hello! Project would've been done for right at the 30th anniversary.
    52AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:27
    Re: #24
    Isn't that overhyping them a bit? Kinda cringe.
    59AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:28
    Re: #52
    That's just the "praise Juice" comedy hour, lol
    60AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:28
    Re: #52
    You're underestimating how the entertainment business works. They've been coasting on savings from the golden era. Once all the old-man otaku die off, that's the end.
    41AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:25
    This is the kind of thing Hello! Project shows up in a lot, huh.
    49AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:27
    With member-color outfits being the trend right now, having everyone in solid red might actually make them stand out — in a good way.
    63AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:29
    Re: #60
    I love this kind of cringe reply.
    74AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:30
    Re: #63
    You're the one being embarrassing here, not seeing the situation clearly. Without creating a boom, young fans won't come in — and audition numbers keep dropping too.
    81AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:31
    Re: #74
    Sounds like you don't actually go to shows.
    66AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:29
    Ringo on the cover is sexy and cute.
    67AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:29
    The public's settled on Juice = red.
    Perfect fit for Kohaku.
    71AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:30
    The sixty-something TV kids who never leave the house must be thrilled.
    72AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:30
    Juice=Juice's group colors are red and purple.
    77AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:30
    If "idol in red = Juice" becomes the go-to association, they can win even on solo bookings.
    The question now is whether they can keep landing TV spots.
    83AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:31
    Red's already Morning Musume's color, so Juice should claim maroon/wine-red instead.
    94AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:32
    Looking at the whole picture now, whoever decided to debut Hayashi with glasses had an incredible eye.
    127AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:38
    Re: #94
    The idiot antis who kept nagging "take the glasses off"
    really had zero eye for this, huh.
    129AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:38
    Re: #94
    The glasses soften her sharp eyes.
    Even with the bratty-kid persona, they make her come across as approachable.
    142AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:43
    Re: #94
    Truly a case of "the winner writes history."
    If it hadn't paid off, people would still be trashing the decision.
    98AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:33
    =LOVE wore red for a hot second and I thought "uh oh, Juice is in trouble," but so many people said "wait, is this Juice=Juice?" that they switched their promo photos right away.
    113AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:35
    Re: #98
    Red basically just means Juice now.
    117AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:35
    Re: #81
    I do go to shows.
    The "young fans" you're talking about are fickle — unless they make up a real majority, you can't sustain a boom. Look at Hello! Project venues these days: throw a rock and you'll hit someone who's retired from work. So thinking Hello! Project is finished once all those people are gone seems pretty reasonable to me.
    130AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:39
    Re: #117
    Totally obvious you're just posting from home.
    Where's this venue full of the super-elderly you're talking about?
    131AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:39
    Ringo baring her forehead as an "awakening" and Glasses-Niina joining were both essential for the breakout.
    135AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:40
    Re: #131
    And Arisawa's transformation was the final piece.

    Background and Key Points

    Nikkei Entertainment! is a mainstream monthly magazine published by Nikkei Business Publications, not an idol-niche outlet, so a Hello! Project group landing its cover and pin-up is treated by fans as a mark of crossover visibility rather than an in-house promo. Juice=Juice is one of the current flagship units of Hello! Project (the Tsunku-founded idol umbrella behind Morning Musume), and its “main five” — Inoue, Ebata, Kawashima, Arisawa, Hayashi — are singled out here as the group’s effective center line. The Kohaku references are to NHK’s Kohaku Uta Gassen, the New Year’s Eve Red vs. White singing contest that is Japan’s biggest annual TV music broadcast; associating a group’s image with “red” is shorthand for hoping they get booked onto it. Utacon and Hamada Kayosai are weekly TV music-variety programs, and bookings on them are read by fans as proof a group has mainstream TV traction beyond the idol fanbase.

    The thread’s real split isn’t about the photos themselves but about what they mean for Hello! Project’s future: one camp reads Juice=Juice’s visual dominance and TV bookings as evidence the franchise is thriving, while another insists the whole enterprise is being kept alive by an aging, dwindling otaku base and will collapse once that generation ages out — a disagreement that turned combative rather than settling anything.

    What outside readers will likely miss is that this pessimism isn’t really about Juice=Juice’s popularity, which nobody in the thread disputes — it’s a longstanding anxiety within the H!P fan community about shrinking audition pools and graying concert audiences, a demographic worry that predates this cover and has little to do with red outfits or magazine placements.

    *This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project) thread “[Image] Juice=Juice’s “Nikkei Entertainment!” Cover Unveiled ｷﾀ━━━━(ﾟ∀ﾟ)━━━━!!“.

  • Famitsu Top 30: ‘Liz and the Angel’ Locks In Million-Seller Status, New Release Can’t Crack 900 Copies

    The Famitsu Top 30 update sparked discussion on 5ch’s Hardware/Industry (“Geha”) board. While some declared “Liz and the Angel” a confirmed million-seller, the new Switch title “Bubble Bobble: Sugar Dungeon Boost” reportedly flopped hard, failing to even crack 900 copies sold — and a correction was issued after it was mislabeled as a console exclusive.

    Posters also noted that PS5 physical copies seem to be vanishing from store shelves, and compared Switch 2 and PS5 sales using an Amazon sales-rank coefficient.

    5AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:03
    The lower ranks have finally dropped to three digits…
    27, three more to go
    12AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:03
    Re: #5
    Thought it'd be 28-2, but it snuck in right at the very last second — my scrolling finger was shaking like crazy.
    8AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:03
    906
    Five titles are now down to three digits ("sanketa")
    10AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:03
    Doesn't even make the list even at three digits, what a joke wwwww
    Wasn't this one supposed to go Million?
    28AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:06
    Re: #10
    It's selling so well people are losing their minds over it, lmao
    21AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:04
    Reincarnation's still kicking, huh
    30AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:07
    Re: #21
    Isn't it running out of steam awfully fast?
    32AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:08
    Re: #21
    Don't get cocky over just 2,800 copies…
    22AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:04
    Feels like we've entered a gaming recession. Neither software nor hardware is selling anymore.
    25AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:06
    Re: #22
    Breaking it down by platform would make it even clearer.
    23AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:05
    Wait, Breath of the Wild was the Switch 2 Edition for two weeks straight, but this week it's the regular Switch version?
    26AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:06
    Re: #23
    Tracks with the console sales numbers.
    34AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:08
    Re: #30
    And this number is already half of what it was last week.
    36AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:09
    Re: #34
    Then next week it'd be 1,500 — if that's just barely enough to stay in the top 30…
    37AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:09
    Goemon was at 4,000 last week and now it's just vanished.
    40AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:11
    Re: #37
    Looks like it's out of stock again.
    42AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:11
    Could Liz and the Angel actually hit a million? (Probably already there if you count digital.)
    44AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:12
    Re: #42
    It's not 'could' — it's confirmed.
    Probably the last physical million-seller on Switch.
    46AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:12
    Re: #42
    I think it'll get there by early October at the latest.
    52AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:14
    Switch exclusive Bubble Bobble: Sugar Dungeon Boost couldn't even sell 900 copies, total flop wwwwwwww
    58AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:16
    Re: #52
    I get that it stings, but it's not actually an exclusive.
    62AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:19
    Re: #52
    There's a PS5 digital version too, so it's not exclusive — it's just not on the (physical) chart.
    60AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:18
    Tokon… where…?
    64AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:21
    Re: #60
    Under 900 copies is brutal… it's probably such a pathetic number that even padding the stats couldn't squeeze it into 30th place.
    74AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:27
    Star Sand Island

    Amazon
    Switch2: 600 points
    PS5: 200 points

    Famitsu
    Switch2: 3,415 units
    PS5: 906 units

    Famitsu/Amazon ratio
    Switch2: 5.7
    PS5: 4.5

    Yeah, Amazon really does favor PS5
    77AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:28
    Re: #74
    Fewer stores carrying it in the first place, so the ratio comes out lower too.
    83AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:32
    I thought 'Trashtation' (derogatory nickname for PS) ditching physical releases was still a long way off? Has it really fallen to Xbox's level, which never had physical releases to begin with?
    87AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:36
    Re: #83
    Full discontinuation isn't until the year after next, but retailers have no obligation to stick around that long.
    There's no reason to give shelf priority to a console and its games once everyone knows they'll stop being profitable the year after next.
    Plenty of PS stock clearance and shelf-space cuts have already been spotted this Obon shopping season.
    93AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:44
    What about Tokon? What about Pro Spirits?
    95AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:45
    Re: #93
    Both of them are basically stuffed into the bargain grab-bins now, lol
    96AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:45
    So both Pro Spirits and Honogurashi dropped off the chart, huh
    Pro Spirits passed 30,000 but Honogurashi probably hasn't even hit 10,000.
    101AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:49
    Honogurashi's buzz just vanished all at once, huh
    105AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:58
    Re: #101
    The fact that only the Switch 2 version is still hanging in there…

    Background and Key Points

    Famitsu’s Top 30 is Japan’s weekly best-seller chart, compiled by Famitsu magazine (part of Kadokawa) from physical retail sell-through data reported by a national sample of stores. It has tracked the industry since the 1980s and remains the reference point for “hit” status in Japan, where crossing one million physical copies is still treated as a landmark achievement, even in an era when much of the market has moved to download purchases the chart cannot see. That gap matters directly here: Bubble Bobble: Sugar Dungeon Boost was mocked in the thread for selling under 900 physical copies, but posters had to walk back an early claim that it was a Switch exclusive — it also has a PS5 digital release that never touches this chart at all, so the number reflects a shrinking physical retail channel rather than the game’s total reach.

    The thread’s real disagreement was less about that game and more about how much weight to put on this week’s numbers as a downturn signal — one poster called it a “gaming recession” across both software and hardware, while others pushed back that particular titles (like the “Reincarnation” game hovering at 2,800 copies) were simply past their launch bump, not evidence of a broader slump.

    What outsiders likely miss is the PS5 physical-media context: Sony has signaled it will wind down disc production within a few years, and Japanese retailers are already visibly cutting PS5 shelf space and clearing stock well ahead of that date — a supply-side reason for weak physical numbers that has nothing to do with a game’s actual popularity.

    *This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry [“Geha”]) thread “[7/28] Famitsu Top 30 Update.”

  • Dodgers Swept by Braves in Three-Game Set, Ohtani Goes 0-for-4, Yamamoto Suffers 8th Loss

    The Dodgers suffered a 0-1 shutout loss to the Braves on the 27th (28th Japan time), completing a shocking three-game sweep. Yoshinobu Yamamoto turned in 6.1 innings of one-run ball but got no run support and took his 8th loss, while Shohei Ohtani went 0-for-4 with 2 strikeouts against Cy Young-winning lefty Chris Sale. On 5ch, users are debating whether the Dodgers can still skip the Wild Card round and what’s behind Ohtani’s batting slump.

    ◇ The 27th (28th Japan time): Braves 1 – Dodgers 0 (Atlanta)

    The Dodgers’ lineup was shut out by 2024 Cy Young Award winner Chris Sale, their third shutout of the season, completing a three-game sweep at the hands of the NL East-leading Braves. Starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched well, allowing 4 hits and 1 run over 6.1 innings, but still took the loss — his 8th of the season against 12 wins. Shohei Ohtani went hitless in 4 at-bats with 2 strikeouts against Sale.

    In the first inning, leadoff hitter Baldwin squared up Yamamoto’s first-pitch splitter perfectly, sending it into the right-field stands for a leadoff home run — exit velocity 170.9 km/h (106.2 mph), distance 122.5 meters (402 feet).

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

    7AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:24
    Seriously, looks like Ohtani's past his peak
    29AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:32
    Re: #7
    Ohtani-the-hitter is obviously great, and Ohtani-the-pitcher would be amazing too if he could stay on the mound, but he gets hurt so fast now — can't dream about the two-way act anymore.
    115AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:02
    Re: #7
    Can't be helped, he's raising two kids now — he's got to put more into family life than ever before.
    8AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:25
    Re: #1

    Ohtani never hits when Yamamoto's on the mound lol

    Does he hate the guy or something? lol
    71AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:47
    Re: #8
    Maybe it's just that opponents bring out their ace when Yamamoto starts too?
    11AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:26
    Turns out there are a ton of Cy Young winners out there
    114AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:01
    Re: #11
    No Japanese pitcher has won it yet
    125AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:05
    Re: #11
    Well, a new one shows up every year
    12AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:26
    Sale pitching like this at 37 is a monster
    26AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:32
    Big Kite (nickname riffing on Ohtani's name) has turned into an electric fan — total whiff machine, can't buy a hit
    83AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:51
    Re: #26
    His strikeout total is actually low, what are you even looking at?
    Ohtani's the only guy with a slugging percentage this high and a strikeout rate this low.
    If you want to rag on someone for striking out too much, go after Schwarber.
    38AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:35
    Shohei Ohtani AVG .285 HR 30 RBI 80 OPS .927

    Seiya Suzuki AVG .270 HR 22 RBI 75 OPS .842

    Munetaka Murakami AVG .219 HR 29 RBI 58 OPS .860

    Kazuma Okamoto AVG .228 HR 26 RBI 74 OPS .736
    54AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:41
    Re: #38
    Murakami's OPS has really tanked
    Looks like Seiya's about to pass him
    46AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:38
    This was supposed to be a huge series with the postseason in mind, and this is bad.
    The Braves have closed the gap to just 1 game — at this rate there's no skipping the Wild Card round.
    And winning a short series is basically a coin flip anyway, so a Wild Card exit is a real possibility now.
    58AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:42
    Re: #46
    The Dodgers still have a lot of games left against teams that are eliminated or nearly eliminated from playoff contention, while the Braves have to keep facing division leaders and other top teams — so looking at the remaining schedule, the Dodgers are actually in a much better spot.
    160AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:17
    Re: #46
    Once the postseason hits they start playing like a real team, and they're stacked with guys who thrive on the big stage, so they just end up winning it all anyway.
    Wonder how long they can keep the title streak going.
    57AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:42
    Yama's the ace, so opposing teams throw their ace at him too — his win total being low is partly just bad luck of matchups.
    89AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:52
    Re: #57
    In a recent start Sale went toe-to-toe with Misiorowski and lost lol
    61AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:43
    Mr. Ohtani, ranked 103rd out of 125 qualified players in Late & Close situations
    https://www.mlb.com/stats/ops?split=lc&page=5
    72AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:47
    Re: #61
    Ohtani himself is terrible in tight late-game spots, but honestly the whole Dodgers lineup struggles in the clutch — 26th out of 30 teams.
    https://www.mlb.com/stats/team/ops?split=lc

    They keep getting shut down easily by opposing bullpens.
    63AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:43
    Grounder-tani (Ohtani hitting nothing but weak grounders) and Teoscar's defense are both a disaster
    68AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:46
    Re: #63
    They're both swinging at garbage pitches together, no sign either of them is even trying to work the at-bat
    65AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:44
    Ohtani's decline came on so suddenly. Why?
    75AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:48
    Re: #65
    He's like this whenever his focus drifts toward pitching
    87AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:52
    Re: #65
    Maybe it's from shifting his training toward pitching, but his bat speed has dropped and he's been late on fastballs a lot more.
    Even so he's still 3rd in OPS across all of MLB, so really he was just insanely good before, and this year's more of a pitching-heavy season league-wide.
    Look at Murakami, who people used to compare him to — the guy's having a rough year now.
    78AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:49
    Forget batting average with runners in scoring position… Shohei Ohtani's real issue is '68' — US reporter laments his 'clutch weakness,' calls it 'disappointing'
    https://full-count.jp/2024/06/14/post1569987/

    American reporters have been flagging his struggles in high-pressure, game-deciding moments for two years now.
    85AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:51
    Re: #78
    He looks calm but he's probably panicking inside
    94AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:52
    His left knee can't be in great shape, yet I saw reports he's about to return to pitching soon — are they serious?
    103AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:55
    Re: #94
    He just doesn't want to throw with Rushing catching — they're timing it to line up with Smith's return instead.
    112AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:59
    No contract next season for Rojas and Kiké Hernández, and trade Rushing, Teoscar, and Betts —

    The Dodgers won't actually turn things around unless they go at least this far.
    113AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:01
    The Dodgers average 5 runs a game and he's sitting on a 2.61 ERA, so how is he only 12-8?
    He should be winning way more than that.
    Does baseball just have it out for him or something?
    144AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:13
    Re: #113
    That's because they show zero mercy running up the score against scrub pitchers on weak teams — it's a different story against good ones.
    121AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:05
    0-for-4 lol
    No home runs in 7 straight games lol
    MVP's basically locked up, right? (sarcasm)
    133AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:10
    Re: #121
    The MVP race is basically down to just PCA and Ohtani at this point, but honestly it's looking bad for Ohtani.
    Right now the odds are something like 66% PCA, 34% Ohtani.

    Ohtani's supposedly coming back to pitch in September though, so if he throws a perfect game or a no-hitter or something absurd, there's a small chance he could still flip it.
    150AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:14
    Re: #133
    Given how few games are left, he's not going to pitch much anyway — or rather, the Dodgers won't let him.
    Everyone keeps saying he's slumping, but he's still the Dodgers' OPS leader, so they can't afford to risk an injury.
    159AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:17
    Re: #133
    Even if he pitches lights-out in one game it won't move the stats at all. He's jumping straight back to the majors with no rehab starts, so his first couple outings will only be around 2 innings. Even in his last two starts they won't stretch him past 5 innings or let him finish a game.
    130AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:09
    Re: #87
    Maybe it's time for Ohtani to just focus on hitting.
    Building your body for pitching and for hitting are completely different things, after all.
    At his age, trying to do both is probably starting to catch up with him little by little.
    If he focused only on hitting, his batting numbers would probably climb a bit more.
    If he picked just one role, he's still young enough that decline shouldn't be an issue yet.
    164AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:18
    Re: #130
    If Ohtani drops out of the rotation, they lose the extra rotation spot his two-way role gives them, so next year they'd naturally have to run a normal 5-man rotation — but Yamamoto and Sasaki probably can't hold up under that workload.

    Background and Key Points

    For readers outside Japan, a few things are worth knowing. This recap comes from 5ch, Japan’s largest anonymous forum, where a thread in the “Geisports Sokuho+” board reacts to same-day US sports news; posters write anonymously and number their replies, so “>>7” means “in reply to post 7.” The Dodgers are baseball’s reigning back-to-back champions and carry MLB’s largest Japanese contingent — Ohtani as a two-way player, plus starters Yamamoto and Sasaki — which is why a Japanese-language board tracks their box scores inning by inning. The “Wild Card exemption” being discussed refers to MLB’s postseason format: division winners with the best records get a bye straight into the Division Series, while lower seeds must survive a best-of-three Wild Card round first: a single bad series, like this sweep, can cost a team that bye.

    The thread doesn’t converge on one verdict about Ohtani. Some posters read the 0-for-4 and homerless streak as proof he’s declining, possibly because pitching duties are sapping his hitting; others push back with the underlying numbers, noting his OPS and low strikeout rate remain among the league’s best.

    What’s easy to miss is that “12 wins, 8 losses” with a 2.61 ERA isn’t really a measure of Ohtani’s performance — pitcher win-loss records depend heavily on how many runs teammates score in his starts, which the thread itself gestures at (post 113) without naming the stat. Likewise, no Japanese-born pitcher has ever won a Cy Young, a fact posters raise almost in passing but that frames why Yamamoto’s and Sasaki’s outings carry outsized attention back home.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geisports Sokuho+) thread “[Baseball] Dodgers Suffer Humiliating 3-Game Sweep to Braves, Shut Out by Cy Young Lefty — Ohtani Goes 0-for-4, Yamamoto Takes 8th Loss, Wild Card Exemption in Jeopardy.”

  • Atsuhiko Nakata Says His Top Priority Right Now Is a ‘Thanksgiving Marathon’ — Reactions Pour In

    Former Oriental Radio member Atsuhiko Nakata’s remark that “there’s still so much I haven’t done — what I want to do most right now is a Thanksgiving marathon special” sparked a wide-ranging 5ch thread, touching on his return from living in Singapore, his appearances on regional TV stations, and rumors that other performers refuse to appear with him. Positive comments were scarce, with harsh criticism dominating the discussion.

    1AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:02
    "There was a time I thought I'd done everything and figured I'd just retire, but then I realized there's still so much I haven't done. To put it simply, it's a Thanksgiving marathon. That's what I want to do most right now."
    4AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:05
    Go ask a Singaporean TV station then.
    6AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:06
    Bet he puts a ton of pressure on the local station staff.
    8AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:07
    Come to think of it, whatever happened to Neko Hiroshi? Is he still a Cambodian citizen? (comedian who took Cambodian citizenship to run in the Olympic marathon)
    9AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:07
    Didn't he retire and move abroad or something?
    11AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:09
    Seems like he thinks he's a really big deal.
    13AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:10
    An unfunny guy trying to pull off something unfunny.
    14AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:10
    Guess it's back to touring the sticks with his old partner doing "Buyuden" and "Perfect Human" (their old signature comedy bits).
    16AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:11
    Just buy your own airtime slot and produce it yourself then.
    17AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:12
    Apparently he's a former star who keeps coming up in Kanto
    In Kansai, nobody's talked about him, then or now.
    20AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:13
    Oriental Radio's name came up on Ametalk yesterday
    since they were looking back at the history of Yoshimoto's Tokyo branch.
    21AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:13
    The Tokyo Yoshimoto guy Chidori roasted over his "designer beard" and comedically "cut his head off."
    23AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:14
    At this point, I bet a lot of young people don't even know who this guy is.
    25AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:15
    I barely even turn the TV on, let alone late at night, so who cares lol
    27AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:17
    Suddenly getting all desperate lol
    Start with a sit-down chat with Matsumoto on Downtown Plus first lol
    28AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:17
    I already know he's not funny
    so I just change the channel right away
    that's literally it lol
    29AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:17
    If he picks a fight with Ota from Bakusho Mondai, I bet they'd invite him onto Sunday Japon
    Ota's a nice guy like that.
    30AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:17
    Write some material and go perform at a stage show or comedy event.
    44AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:24
    Did he actually say why he came back?
    51AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:34
    Re: #44
    Isn't it obvious without me spelling it out, come on ("jk" here = net shorthand for "obviously," not "just kidding")

    Japan's cheaper and just easier to live in overall.
    54AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:36
    Re: #51
    No, I think he wants to hear the excuse.
    52AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:35
    Staff don't like him, so he wouldn't get booked out in the regions anyway.
    55AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:36
    Re: #52
    Even before staff, viewers already have a bad impression of him.
    53AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:35
    Fujimori, who's grinding it out with pure energy, is way funnier.
    57AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:36
    Re: #53
    This guy really doesn't age, huh.
    64AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:40
    Wasn't there a story that he came back because his kid would've been subject to military conscription if they'd stayed there?
    69AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:42
    Re: #64
    That's something you could've checked before moving there
    so it's not really an excuse lol
    74AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:47
    A special where he does military service in his kid's place — now that'd be entertaining.
    89AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:06
    Re: #74
    He'd probably be useless and get turned away, or just get bullied.
    75AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:47
    Does this guy actually think he's amazing?
    I guess if you're surrounded by worshipful followers on YouTube, you end up like that.
    77AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:48
    Re: #75
    Sorry, but he was already arrogant before he even started YouTube.
    94AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:10
    He seems like he'd have a long list of people who won't appear with him
    There's no way Chidori would ever go on with him.
    95AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:14
    Re: #94
    If even his own partner publicly says he's on his no-appear-together list, that's game over for him lol
    99AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:17
    Why do comedians end up so full of themselves?
    101AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:19
    Re: #99
    Probably because they think that's part of being a comedian too.
    100AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:18
    Even local stations have slots for celebrities from that area
    Look at Fujimori — he's got Nagano local work locked down.
    109AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:30
    Re: #100
    Nagano, once called a wasteland for comedians, is now a fierce battleground
    Fujimori Shingo, palm-reading Shimada, Mou Ichido, Sakai from Onigoe Tomahawk, Nitcher
    Except for Sakai, they're all doing hometown work too, right?

    Background and Key Points

    Nakata’s remark isn’t happening in a vacuum—he split off from his longtime duo Oriental Radio at the peak of their fame in the mid-2000s to pursue a solo career, spent years courting controversy (a much-publicized bankruptcy, a stint studying and living abroad, most recently Singapore), and has periodically resurfaced with comeback attempts that Japanese media and audiences have met with skepticism. “Thanksgiving marathon” isn’t a typo for a charity relay: it’s a reference to the U.S. holiday format of celebrity-driven telethon specials, the kind of splashy, big-budget TV event Nakata associates with reclaiming national relevance rather than the humbler regional or online work he’s actually being offered. The “local station” angle in the thread title matters because Japanese broadcasting is intensely regionalized—each prefecture has its own affiliate stations, and comedians who can’t land Tokyo network slots often build second careers as beloved local personalities (the thread’s own example, Fujimori Shingo, has essentially become Nagano’s hometown comedian).

    The thread doesn’t really split into pro/con on Nakata’s talent — that’s settled hostility, not a debate. Where actual disagreement shows up is over motive: some posters take his return from Singapore at face value (cost of living), while others push the theory that it’s tied to his child’s exposure to conscription abroad, and a sub-thread even argues that explanation should have been foreseeable before he moved, not after.

    What outside readers likely miss: the “no one will appear with him” rumor is presented as unverified message-board hearsay, not a confirmed fact, and it’s the show Ametalk’s retrospective on Yoshimoto’s Tokyo talent history (a segment that seems to have aired the day before) that reintroduced Nakata into the conversation, not any news from him directly.

    *This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “Atsuhiko Nakata: ‘Wouldn’t it be funny if you turned on the TV late at night and Nakata’s doing a location shoot for a local station?’”.

  • All 5 candidate cities for Japan’s “sub-capital” are in — 5ch: “Why make a place that’ll die with us in the Nankai Trough quake into the sub-capital?”

    The lineup is complete for candidate sites to host part of Japan’s “sub-capital” functions: Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka, Sapporo, and Sendai — and it’s stirring up discussion.

    On 5ch, opinions split over the candidates based on Nankai Trough earthquake risk, fiscal strength, and proximity to the continent, with some users pushing for Sendai or Hiroshima instead.

    Image source

    Source: x.com / Original post here

    4AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:21
    Aichi and Osaka are no good — they'll die in the Nankai Trough quake
    6AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:21
    Re: #4
    Earthquakes can hit anywhere, though
    9AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:23
    Anywhere but Osaka works, right?
    10AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:23
    None of them qualify
    The gap with the No. 1 city (Tokyo) is way too huge
    16AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:24
    Hokkaido, Hiroshima, and Fukuoka are out
    Too far from Tokyo
    You need some level of coordination with Tokyo
    17AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:25
    It's gotta be Osaka or Nagoya
    Runner-up would be Fukuoka or Sapporo, under the banner of regional revitalization
    18AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:25
    Fukuoka, Sendai, Sapporo

    Osaka and Nagoya are a no
    21AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:29
    Hokkaido's the only choice — low odds of a quake hitting there at the same time as Tonkin (derogatory 2ch slang for Tokyo)
    22AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:30
    Osaka/Nagoya ← Nankai Trough
    Fukuoka ← too close to the continent
    Sapporo ← winters are scary

    Guess it's Sendai
    24AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:30
    Nagoya, maybe
    Osaka's already thriving enough
    27AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:32
    It's not like it has to be picked from the list of candidate cities anyway
    28AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:33
    So specifically, which capital functions would actually move?
    29AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:33
    Sapporo and Fukuoka are too close to hostile countries
    Osaka's finances are garbage
    That leaves Nagoya and Sendai — both carry earthquake risk, but given its finances and central location in Japan, Nagoya works fine, doesn't it
    51AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:46
    Re: #29
    What are you even looking at to call Osaka's finances garbage?
    They've improved massively
    30AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:33
    Doesn't affect my life one bit, so anywhere's fine

    Just carp swarming over bait
    31AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:33
    It's not mentioned here, but Gunma has thrown its hat in the ring as a candidate too
    32AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:33
    Oh, Hokkaido's in there too. It actually gets a fair number of earthquakes, plus heavy snow. There was that blackout too. Lots to worry about.
    34AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:35
    Osaka/Nagoya ← Nankai Trough
    Fukuoka ← too close to the continent
    Sapporo ← winters are scary

    Sendai or Hiroshima, maybe
    38AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:39
    Sapporo, obviously
    Why make a place that'll die with us in the Nankai Trough quake into the sub-capital?
    44AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:42
    Re: #38
    Building it on the front line against Russia is insane
    56AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:48
    How about "Osaka Sub-Capital" and elevating Fukuoka to "Fukuoka-fu" (metropolitan-prefecture status like Osaka/Kyoto)?
    Awkward to say at first, but you'd get used to it eventually
    59AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:50
    Re: #56
    Fukuoka should just rename itself Dazaifu
    61AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:51
    Couldn't there just be multiple sub-capitals?
    Make each one a regional outpost suited to that area's own characteristics
    63AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:52
    Re: #61
    Better to spread out the capital functions, yeah
    69AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:53
    As long as it's not Osaka, that's a good start
    73AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:54
    Re: #69
    Sounds like you've got an inferiority complex and some jealousy toward Osaka lol
    78AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:58
    There's a lot of vacant land in front of Sendai Station — the old Sakuranoya and EDEN sites — so it'd be easy to put some kind of building up there
    82AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:00
    Re: #78
    Yeah, it really is nothing but vacant lots
    The old Sakuranoya, EDEN, and the AEON that used to be in the Yomiuri Building
    83AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:02
    If they just made clear what it's actually for, this wouldn't be such a headache
    They're leaving that part vague, so of course no answer's coming

    Background and Key Points

    Japan doesn’t have a formal secondary capital — the “sub-capital” (副首都) concept is a policy response to fears that Tokyo, which houses the Diet, the imperial residence, and most corporate headquarters in one metro area, could see the entire national government crippled by a single disaster. The trigger is the Nankai Trough megathrust earthquake, which the government’s own seismology panel puts at roughly 70-80% likelihood within the next 30 years, with damage estimates in the hundreds of thousands of lives and over ¥200 trillion in economic loss along the Pacific coastal belt stretching from Shizuoka through Osaka and into Kyushu. A sub-capital law was floated in the Diet to designate a backup city that could house government functions if Tokyo were paralyzed, and Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka, Sapporo, and Sendai are the five cities that formally put themselves forward.

    The thread’s actual fault line isn’t whether a sub-capital is needed, it’s which risk should be weighted more heavily. Posters pit Nankai Trough exposure (ruling out Osaka and Nagoya) against distance from Tokyo (ruling out Sapporo and Fukuoka) against fiscal capacity and proximity to “hostile” neighboring countries (used against Fukuoka and Hokkaido). No candidate clears all three filters, which is why the thread drifts toward write-in alternatives like Sendai or Hiroshima rather than converging on the official five.

    What’s missing from the discussion is that nobody defines what “sub-capital” would actually do — post 83 flags this directly. The law under discussion is largely about administrative continuity and disaster-response coordination, not relocating the Diet or ministries wholesale, a distinction easy for outside readers to miss given how loosely the term is being used.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “[Image] The 5 candidate cities for sub-capital are all in. Which one’s best???.”