Author: Japan Reacts Editorial

  • Nintendo Releases Official Elden Ring Trailer — 5ch: “If It Runs Well, That’s Proof Enough Switch 2 Is Powerful”

    Nintendo has officially released a “Getting Started” promotional video for the Switch 2 version of ELDEN RING. On 5ch’s Hardware/Industry (“Geha”) board, discussion broke out over whether FromSoftware games are a good fit for Nintendo’s userbase and whether the Switch 2 version will actually sell. The conversation also branched off into topics like the narrator’s voice and the brutally difficult content hidden inside Nintendo’s own titles.

    5AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:26
    Nintendo and From Software
    Talk about oil and water.
    8AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:28
    Re: #5
    That's exactly why it makes sense as a strategy
    10AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:29
    Re: #8
    Does it though?
    It's pretty much guaranteed the Switch 2 version of Elden Ring won't sell
    12AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:30
    Re: #10
    Lol, "it won't sell" coming from a guy who's still gimme-gimme'ing for it (クレクレ, slang for a shameless beggar)
    17AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:33
    Re: #10
    Of course it makes sense
    Companies act with the future in mind

    Look at what happened to past Nintendo hardware lineups
    from that you can predict where things are headed, and act accordingly
    13AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:31
    Re: #12
    It's not about begging for it, it's just definitely not going to sell
    Do you seriously think it'll sell?
    15AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:32
    Re: #13
    Of course it'll sell
    It's the Switch 2 we're talking about
    20AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:33
    The narrator's voice doesn't sound familiar at all — wonder who that is
    41AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:51
    Re: #20
    Listened to a bit of it, sounds like just some average middle-aged guy, kind of off-putting honestly
    21AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:34
    It's a game that's already 4 years old, and on top of that a version that drops to 15fps
    What kind of person is starting it now, seriously?
    24AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:35
    Re: #21
    Normal people only know Nintendo
    Most young people have no idea what a PlayStation even is
    32AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:44
    It's basically the "Skyrim on Switch" slot
    Elden Ring on Switch 2

    Well, "if Elden Ring runs, Switch 2 must be impressive" is an easy story to sell
    39AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:48
    Re: #32
    Honestly, the titles that have dropped PS4 support are more technically impressive, but unfortunately there's no PS5-gen title with more clout than Elden Ring
    At best, Monster Hunter Wilds might beat it in Japan, but even that didn't do much in the West and its reputation is lukewarm to begin with
    34AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:45
    This is way too much rage
    Same level of meltdown as when Monster Hunter came to 3DS
    37AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:47
    Re: #34
    Well, after Monster Hunter left PSP behind (脱P), From Software was the next thing people hyped up
    Both ended up landing on Nintendo's side lol
    Now that From's slipped away again, the hype's shifted to Chinese games lol
    47AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:57
    From Software's games seem like a bad match for Nintendo's userbase though
    Would people really want to play something with that whole gloomy, dark art style and world?
    51AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:00
    Re: #47
    I don't think that's true
    Even Zelda has entries with an incredibly dark atmosphere
    Majora's Mask, for one
    55AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:02
    Re: #47
    Personally I don't think so — the Switch 2 in particular has been pulling in more third-party users
    Given that similar-genre titles have already done well overseas, it should sell just fine

    Even back on the original Switch, Skyrim, The Witcher 3, Diablo III and others performed well,
    and third-party titles keep increasing on Switch 2, so isn't that kind of thinking already out of date?
    117AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:58
    Re: #47
    The more accurate read is that so few dark/horror-visual games came out that the audience for them never got the chance to grow
    Ever since the GameCube Resident Evil (バイオ) exclusivity incident, there's been a long-standing tendency to avoid them
    92AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:43
    Nintendo: "It's a title that sold like crazy on other hardware, so it'll sell on Switch 2 too!"
    As if!

    Wake up!
    106AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:50
    Re: #92
    It's clearly a trailer meant to hook at least some new customers, and that's exactly why it matters
    If you keep running away with "there's no audience for it!" there'll never be one
    114AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:54
    Re: #92
    That's not it
    Nintendo's angle: "Get gamers who aren't even Nintendo fans to pick up a Switch 2"
    From Software's angle: "Get people who only play Nintendo games to pick up a From game"
    It's hard to keep growing your user base by releasing software on the same platform forever,
    but on a different platform, new users come easily
    I actually started Cyberpunk on Switch 2 myself, then bought The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk again on Steam, and even watched the anime through the Netflix original series
    This holds true for every industry — a company that doesn't bring in new customers has no future
    Just look at Square Enix, you get it, right?
    They finally managed to course-correct though
    94AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:43
    Nintendo games actually have a lot of brutally hard content, you know
    Take the bonus/"special" courses in Super Mario World — no kid is clearing those
    96AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:44
    Re: #94
    Clearing it is easy
    It's what comes after that's brutal
    101AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:45
    Re: #94
    Galaxy is rough even for adults
    The purple coin missions are way too brutal

    Background and Key Points

    Elden Ring is FromSoftware’s 2022 action RPG, one of the best-selling titles of the generation with over 20 million copies sold worldwide, built around punishing combat and an intentionally obscure, gloomy world. It never appeared on the original Switch — the hardware couldn’t run it — so this “Getting Started” trailer for a native Switch 2 port matters because it’s the first time Nintendo’s own hardware can host a game long associated with PlayStation and PC. The reference to Monster Hunter (posts 34, 37) points to a real precedent: that series left Sony’s PSP for the Nintendo 3DS in 2012 and became a cultural phenomenon in Japan as a result, which is why posters treat a From Software–Nintendo pairing as historically loaded rather than random.

    The thread’s actual disagreement isn’t about Elden Ring’s quality — it’s about whether releasing a four-year-old, technically compromised port persuades anyone. Skeptics argue existing owners on PS5/PC won’t double-dip and that Nintendo’s userbase skews toward family-friendly titles, so the port mainly serves as a “look how capable Switch 2 is” marketing exercise rather than a genuine sales play. Others counter that past Switch ports of Skyrim, The Witcher 3, and Diablo III sold well despite similar skepticism, framing this as cross-platform audience-building rather than a one-off gamble.

    What the thread never explains is why Nintendo platforms historically lag on darker, mature-rated software: the post about the “GameCube Resident Evil exclusivity incident” references Capcom’s early-2000s deal making Resident Evil GameCube-exclusive, which underperformed against the far larger PS2 install base — a cautionary tale that shaped decades of publisher hesitation toward Nintendo hardware for this genre, independent of whether Nintendo’s audience would actually enjoy such games.

    *This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry, aka “Geha”) thread “Nintendo Officially Releases “Getting Started with ELDEN RING” Video!“

  • A society where half of people have no spouse — 5ch reacts: “I’d marry if I had the money”

    An ABEMA TIMES article about a future society where “half of people have no spouse” became a hot topic on 5ch’s Newsspeed+ (News Speed+) board. In the thread, opinions split along generational and personal lines — from financial gripes like “I’d marry if I had the money,” to accounts of the liberating feeling after divorce, to questions about the link between non-regular employment and marriage.

    Is a society where “half of people have no spouse” just around the corner? What does Japan’s future of “more people not marrying” look like… Experts weigh in: “Building a society that doesn’t depend on children could, paradoxically, increase the number of children”

    Thu, 8/27, 11:00 AM JST

    ABEMA TIMES

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

    2AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:28
    I don't have that kind of money.
    5AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:30
    If I had money, I'd actually want to get married…
    15AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:33
    Re: #2 Re: #5
    It's precisely because you don't have money that you get married — two incomes make one full income. These days, unless you work for a seriously good company, your testicles or ovaries will have already rotted away by the time a single income could support you.
    8AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:31
    Re: #1
    Call it an old-fashioned value if you want, but we shouldn't have thrown away the idea that you're only truly a full-fledged adult once you're married.
    46AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:40
    Re: #8
    That's on married people who never actually grew up. Please go be a proper adult (´・ω・`)
    19AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:35
    In today's society, being older and single doesn't really put you at any disadvantage, so given the choice between marrying some boring woman (or man) and staying single forever, I'll take single forever.
    55AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:43
    Re: #19
    If you earn a reasonable amount, you can live a reasonably fun life. I'm nearly 50 and got my motorcycle and boat licenses — started going fishing and camping, picked up all sorts of new hobbies.
    21AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:35
    Re: #15
    What's someone supposed to do if they just want to be a "Category 3 insured person" (a dependent spouse who pays no pension premiums but still gets pension credit)?
    40AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:39
    Re: #21
    People like that should just move to some Islamic country and settle in as, say, a third wife. Japan itself had concubines listed in the family register up through the early Meiji era, so I think it'd be fine to bring that back. If a man has the money and can love them all equally, why not allow polygamy?
    22AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:36
    24 years into my marriage, my kid grew up and moved out on their own, and I finally divorced the wife I never got along with. Living alone for the first time in 24 years, I feel so liberated — it's incredibly refreshing. No child support to pay either, so now I get to spend my entire ¥400,000 monthly salary on just myself, and I've got real financial breathing room too. Hooray for single life!!
    82AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:51
    Re: #22
    Congrats! Being stuck married when you don't get along is rough.
    88AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:52
    Re: #22
    I don't know anyone else who's as much of a true winner as you.
    25AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:36
    People without kids really are narrow-minded — they're always shoving their own idea of "righteousness" on everyone else.
    230AnonymousAug 27, 2026 18:15
    Re: #25
    Though a broke parent playing the "I have kids so I'm special" card is way worse.
    30AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:37
    You don't even need to get married — just make having at least one kid mandatory. Men provide the "seed," too. Society as a whole raises whatever child is born, and whoever gave birth gets a big subsidy. Win-win, right?
    34AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:38
    Re: #30
    Once you give birth, you're on the hook for child support forever.
    38AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:39
    It's the age of diversity, so treating being single as some kind of problem is the weird part.
    43AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:40
    Re: #38
    This whole "age of diversity" thing is just an illusion.
    44AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:40
    Sure, you occasionally get weird people who are married, but people who've never been married are, without exception, not right in the head.
    64AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:45
    Re: #44
    Among men especially there are a lot of socially awkward weird types, but men who've been single their whole lives are pretty seriously odd — basically all of them are the type who are better off not forcing themselves to deal with other people and just living freely on their own.
    48AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:41
    Even if you get married, unless you both die at the exact same moment, divorce or bereavement means one or both of you inevitably ends up without a spouse eventually.
    54AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:43
    Re: #48
    Which is why most people go ahead and have kids anyway.
    69AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:47
    I'm 51, high school grad, no work history — I can still turn my life around, right? I can land a permanent job at a decent company and get a wife around 35, right?
    94AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:53
    Re: #69
    There's no "starting over" in life. Life is what you've built up along the way.
    81AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:51
    I make a decent income but I'm still single, so I figure there must just be something wrong with my personality.
    148AnonymousAug 27, 2026 18:03
    Re: #81
    Older singles who can't get married even past 40 tend to share the same traits: stingy, only thinking about themselves, and egoists incapable of consideration for others.
    97AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:54
    Young people today think they've got plenty of room to just play around without marrying. By the time they realize it as they approach 30, it's already too late.
    106AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:56
    Re: #97
    Past 30 I got lonely and got married. Now I come home from work and there's someone waiting with dinner made — what a happy thing that is.
    168AnonymousAug 27, 2026 18:07
    Can't be helped that the Ice Age generation (Japan's "employment ice age" cohort, hit hardest by the 1990s–2000s job crunch) couldn't get married. Guess you gotta blame the government on this one lol
    182AnonymousAug 27, 2026 18:10
    Comparing to when I was a kid myself, today's kids — both boys and girls — seem more passive somehow.
    Re: #168
    That generation was still pretty proactive.
    229AnonymousAug 27, 2026 18:15
    Re: #168
    The marriage rate had already been falling before the Ice Age generation. It's almost certain that generations after the Ice Age cohort will end up with an even higher lifetime unmarried rate than the Ice Age generation itself. It's simply not true that only the Ice Age generation isn't marrying or having kids — if anything, the birth rate actually recovered while the latter half of that generation was having children. So no matter what the government does, it can't reverse the trend of falling birthrates and rising non-marriage. Every developed country is the same way.

    Background and Key Points

    Japan’s “lifetime unmarried rate” (the share of people still unwed at 50) has climbed for decades and is projected to keep rising, a trend distinct from most peer nations’ more stable rates. Two institutional details the thread assumes readers already know: the “Category 3 insured person” (dai-san-go hihokensha) status lets a dependent spouse, usually a wife, draw national pension credit without paying premiums, an incentive some Japanese women weigh when deciding whether marriage is worth losing to divorce; and the “employment ice age generation” (shushoku hyogaki sedai) refers to those who entered the job market during the 1990s-2000s downturn, when many were shut out of stable, seishain (regular) employment and, poster 15 argues, still can’t single-handedly support a household today.

    The thread doesn’t really split on whether non-marriage is rising, everyone accepts that, but on where to place the blame: individual failings (money, “stinginess,” poor character) versus structural ones (wage stagnation, the ice age generation’s job scars, an outdated norm that marriage equals adulthood).

    What outside readers will likely miss is poster 229’s correction: the decline in marriage predates the ice age generation and shows no sign of reversing with the generations after it, so pinning the whole phenomenon on that one cohort, as poster 168 does, is a common but inaccurate shorthand. Also easy to miss for non-Japanese readers is that Japan’s koseki (family registry) genuinely once recorded concubines as legal household members, until it was abolished in the early Meiji era, which is what poster 40’s “bring back polygamy” joke is actually referencing.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (News Speed+) thread “Is a society where half of people have no spouse just around the corner? What does Japan’s future of more people not marrying look like…”.

  • “I Barely Used Any Oil, So Why Is It So Greasy?” — 5ch Investigates a Cooking Newbie’s Dilemma

    A cooking novice’s complaint that stir-fried vegetables and pork miso soup keep turning out greasy — despite using only a small amount of oil — drew a wave of responses on 5ch’s Nyusoku VIP board.

    Posters offered a stream of practical advice: measure oil precisely with a measuring spoon, don’t crank the heat too high, blot excess oil with paper towels. Partway through, the thread even veered into a lively price comparison between rice oil and canola oil.

    1AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:09
    I've barely used any vegetable oil ("salad oil" in Japan) but my stir-fried veggies come out greasy,
    and my pork miso soup turns out greasy too.
    3AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:10
    Maybe just… don't use any oil?
    7AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:11
    Re: #3
    If I don't, it burns/sticks to the pan though…
    6AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:10
    What a beginner thinks is "a little" might actually be way too much by normal standards.
    12AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:12
    Re: #6
    So you're saying I should cut back on the oil even more?
    10AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:11
    First, actually measure things out properly — a tablespoon or a teaspoon.
    Adding ingredients before the oil's properly heated is also why it gets greasy/sticky.
    15AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:13
    Re: #10
    I add the oil while heating the pan, and once it's melted I swirl it around the pan,
    then cook the meat and add the vegetables.
    28AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:22
    Re: #10
    A teaspoon of salt is the kind of amount that makes you nervous, like "is it really okay to add this much? Isn't that too much?"
    But a teaspoon of oil makes you nervous the opposite way — "wait, that's it? There's no way that's enough!"

    Getting the measurements right really matters.
    11AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:11
    Re: #7
    Your heat's too high.
    For stir-fried vegetables, low-to-medium heat is plenty.
    17AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:13
    Re: #11
    So the idea is: use as little oil as possible and keep the heat low?
    14AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:12
    If you're using pork belly, the meat itself renders enough fat that you barely need any oil.
    16AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:13
    Re: #14
    That doesn't apply if you're using a really crappy pan.
    18AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:14
    Re: #14
    All I can afford is scrap-cut pork… pork belly's expensive…
    20AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:17
    Aren't you using a Teflon pan?
    If so, you can go easy on the oil.
    26AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:21
    Re: #20
    What's that, mahjong?
    Just a cheap pan, like 1,000 to 2,000 yen.
    It warps and becomes useless pretty fast.
    21AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:18
    If it seems like there's too much oil, soak it up with a paper towel.
    27AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:22
    Re: #21
    Re: #22
    So blotting up as much oil as possible with a paper towel makes it less greasy?
    And less greasy tastes better, right?
    22AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:19
    Why not spread the oil in the pan, then wipe off the excess with a paper towel?
    23AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:19
    For stir-fries or soups, unless it's Chinese cuisine, even a teaspoon per serving is on the high side for some people.
    If you're using pork, the fat renders out of the meat anyway — without it, well, a little oil is barely even necessary.
    29AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:23
    Re: #23
    So you're saying it's better not to add any oil at all?
    24AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:20
    Pour off the fat that renders out when you cook the meat.
    And buy a non-stick pan.
    30AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:23
    Re: #24
    You go that far, huh…
    Like wiping the oil off with a paper towel after cooking the meat?
    31AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:24
    Re: #28
    I only put in a little, but it still comes out greasy…
    51AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:29
    Re: #31
    How much is "a little," exactly?
    For a meat-and-veggie stir-fry, even 15cc (about a tablespoon) is more than enough for two servings — some people use way less than that.
    33AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:25
    With pork, oil that spreads to about the size of a 10-yen coin is plenty.
    The rest comes from the fat the meat itself renders.
    41AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:27
    Re: #33
    That's about all I'm putting in though…
    34AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:25
    With a cast-iron pan, pouring in oil generously actually makes things tastier,
    but a cheap pan is probably Teflon-coated.
    You should use less than the recipe calls for.
    44AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:27
    Re: #34
    It's just a cheap pan from the supermarket.
    Using it daily, it warps out of shape within a few months.
    39AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:26
    Isn't heating a cheap pan until it smokes basically forbidden in the first place?
    43AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:27
    Re: #39
    Teflon coating peels off if you dry-heat the pan (heat it empty).
    56AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:31
    Re: #39
    What I always do: turn on the heat, add the oil,
    once the oil's heated through, swirl it around the pan and add the meat,
    once there's no more pink, add the vegetables and turn the heat down,
    once the vegetables are cooked through, add salt and pepper, dump on some shichimi (Japanese seven-spice chili pepper), and it's done.
    69AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:39
    Rice oil, for example, has a nice light, clean taste.
    73AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:41
    Re: #69
    Rice oil's great, right?
    81AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:49
    Re: #69
    If it's cheap, maybe I'll give it a try.
    97AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:00
    My canola oil is 900ml for 200 yen.
    But rice oil runs close to 900 yen for the same amount, doesn't it?
    99AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:02
    Re: #97
    Well, different stores probably carry different brands, so hard to say.
    105AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:03
    Re: #97
    With 700 yen you could buy a beef sirloin steak instead lolololololol
    109AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:05

    My memory was pretty off.
    On the left, canola oil, 800g for about 200 yen — that was such an insane bargain I had to buy it lol.
    On the right, rice oil, 1300g for probably around 900 yen — and I think that's still on the cheap side for rice oil.
    114AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:08
    Re: #109
    Personally I'd just buy regular vegetable oil (salad oil) and get a beef sirloin steak with the difference lolol

    Background and Key Points

    I barely used any oil, so why is it greasy? — some background: “salad oil” (サラダ油) is Japan’s generic term for neutral vegetable/canola oil, sold in nearly every household in large plastic bottles, and used by the tablespoon or teaspoon in everyday stir-fries. Teflon-coated frying pans in the 1,000–2,000 yen range are the default starter pan sold at Japanese supermarkets and home centers; they’re known to warp and lose their coating within months of regular use, which is a running joke in the thread. Pork belly (豚バラ) is prized in Japanese cooking specifically for its fat content, while “off-cut” or scrap pork (切り落とし) is the cheaper, leaner alternative many budget cooks reach for instead — a distinction that matters because rendered pork fat, not added oil, is what several posters identified as the real source of the greasiness.

    The thread’s actual disagreement wasn’t about whether oil causes grease — everyone agreed on that — but about where the line for “a little” actually sits. Several posters insisted the original poster’s idea of a small amount was still objectively too much by experienced-cook standards, while the poster kept pushing back, asking incredulously whether a teaspoon or even less was really the expected amount.

    What outside readers are likely to miss: the debate over pan quality was tangled up with income-level implicit references, cheap pans are consistent with cheap cuts of pork, and neither is a personal failing so much as a shared, unspoken class marker on Japanese message boards. Also worth knowing: the closing detour comparing canola oil and rice oil prices, joking that the price difference could instead buy beef sirloin, is a stock 5ch comedic beat about frugality rather than a serious nutritional argument.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Nyusoku VIP) thread “I’m new to cooking but everything comes out greasy — what do I do?“

  • Osaka Gov. Yoshimura Calls on Hokkaido for ‘Secondary Capital’ Pact — Gov. Suzuki: ‘We Need a Multi-Polar Growth Model’

    Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura has called on Hokkaido Governor Naomichi Suzuki to sign an agreement toward realizing a “secondary capital” that could take over capital functions in the event of a major disaster. The thread’s discussion ranged from whether Hokkaido is suited as a defense stronghold and issues like heavy snowfall, to distrust of an Osaka-only plan, and even speculation that this could be a step toward a regional-state (dōshūsei) system.

    Toward realizing a “secondary capital” that would take over capital functions during a major disaster, Governor Suzuki revealed his intention to sign an agreement with Osaka Prefecture and seek simultaneous designation for both.

    At around 10 a.m. on August 27, Governor Suzuki and Sapporo Mayor Akimoto met with Minister for Regional Revitalization Kikawada, who oversees the secondary capital initiative, and handed him a request document calling for the plan’s realization.

    The secondary capital initiative aims to serve as a backup hub for capital functions during a major disaster, as well as to ease the concentration of population and economic activity in Tokyo.

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

    5AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:31
    Capital functions and defense functions go hand in hand everywhere in the world, so why not just have the four cities with defense bases — Sapporo, Sendai, Osaka (Itami), and Kumamoto — team up?
    18AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:36
    Re: #5
    If they're going as far as dispersing ministries, whether the place offers a living environment that satisfies bureaucrats and their families should probably take priority.
    6AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:32
    Could Sapporo hold up if Russia invaded?
    Isn't Tokyo more solid?
    166AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:29
    Re: #6
    If anyone seriously attacked Japan, they'd start with a naval blockade to starve us out first, so it wouldn't matter much where the capital is.
    9AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:32
    They probably want to spin this as 'it's not just about Osaka'…
    188AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:45
    Re: #9
    They basically admitted Osaka alone can't check every box.
    It's more like 'no way we're letting only you have all the fun.'
    10AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:33
    Ah well, that pretty much kills off Sendai's, Nagoya's, Hiroshima's, and Fukuoka's chances too.
    25AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:37
    The way they're doing this, lol.
    Do they know full well Hokkaido would never actually get picked and are just saying 'let's cooperate' anyway?
    32AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:40
    Re: #25
    Sounds like inviting the plain-looking girl to a group mixer just to round out the numbers.
    26AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:38
    Maybe it's actually true that Ishin (the Osaka-based party) is aiming for a regional-state (dōshūsei) system.
    So under the 'secondary capital' banner, they want to build up regional capitals?
    68AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:51
    Re: #26
    Hokkai Region — Sapporo
    Tohoku Region — Sendai
    North Kanto Region — Utsunomiya
    South Kanto Region — Chiyoda Ward
    Koshinetsu Region — Niigata City
    Hokuriku Region — Kanazawa
    Tokai Region — Nagoya
    Kinki Region — Umeda Ward
    Chugoku Region — Hiroshima City
    Shikoku Region — Takamatsu
    Kyushu Region — Fukuoka City
    Ryukyu Region — Naha
    27AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:38
    Rather than a 'secondary capital,' just dispersing capital functions would be enough, no?
    46AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:44
    Re: #27
    Connect everything with a high-speed network so core functions can be taken over in an emergency — isn't that the bare minimum goal here?
    29AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:40
    Osaka is absolutely a non-starter
    34AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:41
    Hokkaido has a low risk of getting hit by a natural disaster at the same time as Tokyo.
    Any place that would take damage simultaneously with Tokyo in a Nankai Trough megaquake is out of the question.
    92AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:58
    Re: #34
    Fukuoka: 'Yeah, fair enough, lol' (せやな — Kansai dialect for 'that's right')
    38AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:41
    First off, Sapporo's out — it's buried in snow for half the year.
    40AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:42
    Re: #38
    Even if it's basically dormant, seems like it'd be fine to just park the Diet (parliament) in Hokkaido.
    94AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:58
    This 'secondary capital' thing is nothing but this guy's ego, going on about 'third time's the charm.'
    97AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:59
    Re: #94
    Seriously, this guy's still around, lol — mixing up the 'secondary capital' plan with the 'Osaka Metropolis' plan.
    101AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:01
    Yoshimura: 'I will never again attempt the Osaka Metropolis plan.'
    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/G8w7sKFaoAA_6qV.jpg
    Yoshimura: 'I will never again pursue the Osaka Metropolis plan.'
    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GfFFN6raoAA6anK.jpg
    106AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:02
    This… did he actually say this?
    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HE0WhjdbwAExppv.jpg
    127AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:10
    Secondary capital infrastructure development plan


    Expo infrastructure development plan


    They match.
    137AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:15
    How exactly are you supposed to travel all that way from Tokyo during a massive disaster?
    This is a colossal waste of tax money.
    139AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:18
    Re: #137
    Expo, Olympics, Asian Games, secondary capital — they just want an excuse for infrastructure spending.
    145AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:22
    Re: #137
    Not just in Tokyo — right after a disaster, people stay put at first.
    The workers needed for recovery stay behind, while the elderly, children, and women evacuate elsewhere and get support.

    Even in the Great East Japan Earthquake, because of the radioactive contamination issue, I'd bet quite a few people sent their wives and kids off to another prefecture for safety.
    154AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:25
    Re: #137
    It's to keep Japan running.
    In a major disaster, Tokyoites get let go — that's a whole lot of self-importance.
    146AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:22
    Just change the capital every hundred years — after five hundred years, won't everywhere basically look like Tokyo?
    149AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:23
    Re: #146
    The capital is Kyoto.
    What on earth are you on about (written in Kansai dialect).
    160AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:28
    Re: #146
    If anything, hasn't Tokyo become more like Kansai over the past 100 years?
    192AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:46
    Ishin's 5-point wish list to the national government

    1. Hold Diet sessions in Osaka
    2. Strengthen Osaka's fire department
    3. Cut taxes for Osaka only
    4. Build out Osaka's infrastructure
    5. Give Osaka more national tax revenue

    Background and Key Points

    For readers unfamiliar with Japanese domestic politics: the “secondary capital” (副首都) concept is a legislative push, championed mainly by Osaka’s Ishin no Kai, to designate a city that could take over government functions if Tokyo were crippled by disaster — most pointedly a Nankai Trough megaquake, the government’s worst-case seismic scenario for the Pacific coast. It’s distinct from the decades-old debate over relocating the capital outright, and distinct from Yoshimura’s earlier “Osaka Metropolis plan” (大阪都構想), which would have restructured Osaka City into special wards like Tokyo’s — a proposal Osaka voters rejected twice, in 2015 and 2020, after which Yoshimura publicly vowed not to revive it. Suzuki’s Hokkaido, led by Sapporo, is one of several regional capitals in this conversation, alongside Sendai, Nagoya, Fukuoka and others tied to Japan’s Self-Defense Force bases.

    The thread’s real fault line isn’t disaster logistics but motive: posters split between treating Hokkaido as a genuine geographic hedge (distant from a Nankai Trough hit, though vulnerable to Russia-adjacent security concerns and heavy winter snow) versus reading the outreach as Osaka recruiting a token partner to make a one-prefecture push look national — the “plain girl invited to round out the mixer” line captures that skepticism directly.

    What outsiders likely miss is that this same push overlaps almost exactly with Osaka’s Expo 2025 infrastructure buildout, which posters flagged as sharing planning documents — suggesting “secondary capital” status functions partly as a durable justification for continued public works spending in Osaka rather than a neutral, nationwide contingency framework.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Newsplus) thread “Osaka Gov. Yoshimura Reaches Out — Agreement with Hokkaido Sought for ‘Secondary Capital,’ Gov. Suzuki: ‘We Need a Multi-Polar Growth Model’.”

  • Boss: “Caring for my parents is brutal” Me: “My parents will be fine” Boss: “Ah, you’re young”

    The thread kicked off when the original poster’s boss complained, “Caring for my parents is brutal,” and the poster replied, “My parents say they won’t be a burden like that.” The boss shot back, “Ah, you’re young.” From there, posters shared their own family struggles with elder care — from the challenges of managing finances once dementia sets in, to the harsh realities of finding a care facility, to experiences of watching a parent through their final days.

    1AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:54
    Boss: "Mine used to say the same thing, but once they couldn't move around anymore, they started asking for all kinds of things."
    Me: "Wait, seriously? 😭"
    4AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:55
    There are actually people who sell off their own house and just check themselves into a care facility.
    5AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:57
    Re: #4
    Isn't that risky though?
    There's always a chance the facility could go under,
    and then you'd have no home to go back to.
    8AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:58
    Re: #5
    Well, if you just ignore all that, the regional support center (a public elder-care coordination office) will sort it out somehow.
    The kids can just play dumb and get by.
    16AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:01
    Re: #5
    They could always get into public housing or something.
    11AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:59
    I've got nothing but resentment for my parents, so there's no way I'm ever doing elder care for them.
    But I want that life insurance payout, so I stop just short of cutting off contact completely.
    15AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:00
    Re: #11
    Even with a relationship like that, they still have life insurance?
    28AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:07
    Once a parent's dementia progresses far enough, they become nothing more than "the thing that used to be my parent."
    38AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:15
    Re: #28
    You know the movie Benjamin Button?

    I think it helps to just think of your demented parent as a child.
    Though I imagine it's actually really tough in practice…
    30AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:09
    The reality of a parent forgetting their own child is a pretty brutal thing for that child to deal with.
    32AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:11
    Re: #30
    It's not all bad though — by the time they die, you won't feel as sad about it.
    33AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:12
    Re: #32
    Doesn't it make you even sadder, realizing you feel relieved when the parent you once loved so much finally dies?
    40AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:17
    Re: #33
    Can't be helped, I guess — probably better to just accept that as normal.
    41AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:17
    My grandma ("babba") has dementia, and the worst part by far is that she can no longer manage money.
    She's completely lost the ability to budget a daily allowance or cut back on spending.
    84AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:34
    Re: #41
    Once dementia sets in, they drop money without noticing and can even shoplift without realizing it.
    There's just nothing you can do about it.
    50AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:20
    Dad: "I'm gonna live fast and die young (booze and smokes)! I'll kick the bucket early so I won't be a burden!"
    ↓
    "I don't want dialysis… I can't even rent an apartment…"

    Dying quickly and cleanly is just a fantasy.
    58AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:22
    Re: #50
    If you're gonna say you won't be a burden, at least buy a house.
    People have been talking about the "can't rent an apartment in old age" problem forever.
    62AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:23
    Re: #50
    Exactly, and they say this stuff but then just… don't die.
    51AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:20
    We probably need some kind of system where people are allowed to die once they can no longer take care of themselves.
    63AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:23
    Re: #51
    Even if both the person and their family are mentally prepared for that, actually seeing a parent who can't move anymore, covered in filth and groaning, makes you feel like something has to be done.
    54AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:21
    You end up having to deal with their poop, you know.
    61AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:23
    Re: #54
    They did the same for me when I was a baby, so cleaning up poop doesn't really bother me, I guess.
    65AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:24
    Re: #61
    But the baby phase is over in no time.
    We're talking about someone who could keep living for another 10 years after they stop being able to move.
    85AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:35
    Re: #61
    It's just a different level of tough.
    The body size is different, and so is the smell and size of the… output.
    73AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:28
    They should just turn prisons into nursing homes.
    Inmates could earn cooking or caregiving certifications, and residents could get in cheap.
    It'd help with rehabilitation more than making them do woodworking that never sells anyway.
    75AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:28
    Re: #73
    Seems like inmates bullying the residents would start pretty quickly though.
    81AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:30
    Seriously, they just won't die.
    I mean it, they really don't die.
    87AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:36
    Re: #81
    My grandpa lived almost 10 years after a stroke left him paralyzed on one side.
    Couldn't say it to my grandma, but I honestly thought it would've been better if he hadn't survived and had just passed away.
    88AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:38
    Putting them in a facility is really the only option — there's a limit to what you can handle caring for them at home.
    94AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:49
    Re: #88
    Getting them into a special nursing home (a subsidized long-term care facility) is the best option.
    Though of course, there's a waiting list.
    90AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:39
    I used to work in Tokyo, but when I heard my self-employed parent's health was declining, I moved back to my hometown.
    Now I've taken over their shop.
    Since I was single, I could quit my job and come straight back — but I don't think I could've done it if I had a family of my own.
    93AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:49
    Re: #90
    🥺 Same here — I'm planning to move back home from Tokyo next year too.
    My parent can't get around anymore and is about to have surgery.
    Guess it's about time.
    100AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:57
    Why don't people who care for their parents themselves just leave it to professionals who do it for a living? No money?
    101AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:59
    Re: #100
    Most places have waiting lists — it's not like you can just get them in the moment you want to.
    105AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:03
    Re: #100
    When you already know someone's dying, whether they pass in a hospital, a facility, or at home comes down a lot to their own wishes — you naturally want to respect that as much as possible.
    107AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:05
    Re: #100
    You want to do what the person themselves actually wants, don't you?
    111AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:07
    Re: #110
    You stick them in a facility and end up paying several hundred thousand yen a month.
    113AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:09
    Re: #111
    I've got no savings.
    What am I even supposed to do?
    114AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:10
    Re: #113
    It's for your parent, so just pay out of your parent's own pension and savings, lol.
    120AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:11
    Re: #113
    "What am I supposed to do" — guys like you are exactly the type who end up letting a parent die at home, never reporting it, and leaving them there until it makes the news…

    Background and Key Points

    The debate sits on top of Japan’s kaigo hoken (long-term care insurance) system, introduced in 2000 and funded by mandatory premiums from age 40. It graded citizens by care-need level and created a network of chiiki houkatsu shien centers — public “regional comprehensive support centers” mentioned in the thread — that assess elderly residents and route them toward home help, day care, or facility placement. The cheapest institutional option, the tokubetsu yougo roujin homu (tokuyou, “special nursing home”), is income-tested and heavily subsidized, which is why it has multi-year waiting lists in most cities; private paid facilities admit faster but run several hundred thousand yen a month, which is the number posters cite when talking about draining a parent’s pension and savings. Japan’s over-65 share is above 29%, the highest of any country, so this isn’t a niche family problem but a structural one discussed constantly in national media.

    The thread’s real fault line isn’t whether to love or resent one’s parents — it’s whether institutions can actually be trusted to absorb the burden the family can’t. One camp treats the support center and facility system as a safety net you can lean on and “play dumb” toward; another points out facilities go bankrupt, waiting lists stall, and the state ultimately expects the family to pay from the parent’s own assets anyway.

    What outsiders likely miss is the closing reference to parents “dying at home, unreported, until it makes the news” — this alludes to a recurring Japanese scandal where families conceal a parent’s death to keep collecting pension payments, a fraud problem distinct from ordinary neglect.

    ※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5channel (Nandemo Jikkyou G) thread “Boss: “Caring for my parents is rough, ngh…” Me: “My parents say they won’t be any trouble like that” Boss: “Ah, you’re young”“.

  • 5ch User Wants to Become a Vtuber, Gets Flooded with Advice: ‘Try Talking to Yourself for 30 Minutes First’

    A 5ch user’s post about wanting to become a Vtuber drew a wide range of replies — everything from talk of gaming PCs and voice changers to the harsh realities of actually making money at it. One veteran’s account in particular — that “you’ll spend dozens of hours talking to yourself with zero viewers before anything changes” — really drove home how tough streaming can be.

    1AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:27
    I've got a gaming PC
    4AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:28
    All you need after that is a camera and mic, right?
    Oh, and the most important thing — being a girl
    8AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:29
    Re: #4
    I never said I was a guy or a girl! 😡
    5AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:28
    Couldn't you just be a normal streamer for now?
    10AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:29
    Re: #5
    Because showing my face is a no-go
    Vtuber's the only option left
    15AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:32
    Re: #10
    Then just don't show your face
    6AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:28
    I want to become a Vtuber and make money streaming games
    9AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:29
    Re: #6
    Only the top tier actually makes money
    Better to start small first
    12AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:30
    Re: #6
    If you're doing this, sounds like you should skip YouTube
    YouTube's basically the Grand Line of the streaming world (a One Piece reference — the roughest, most cutthroat sea to sail)
    7AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:29
    Voice training, that's the key
    If the 'person inside' has a squeaky voice, nobody's gonna watch (a crude pun on 中の人/"nakanohito," Vtuber slang for the performer behind the avatar)
    11AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:30
    Re: #7
    Wait, Vtubers actually do voice training?
    17AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:32
    If you're just doing it casually, a smartphone's enough
    22AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:36
    Re: #17
    I said I already have a gaming PC
    18AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:33
    Re: #15
    There are voice-only YouTubers too
    but if you're not showing your face, isn't it better to have a Vtuber model?
    I dunno, it's more approachable or something?
    21AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:35
    Re: #18
    If you can't get popular on voice alone, it probably doesn't matter either way
    it's a red ocean at this point
    20AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:35
    Voice changer, that's the answer
    23AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:36
    Re: #20
    I never said I was a guy or a girl! 😡
    Just for reference though, which brand of voice changer is good? Purely for reference
    24AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:38
    Re: #23
    Never used one so I wouldn't know 😡
    OP's a guy anyway, right? Gonna be rough without a voice changer
    25AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:38
    I was using a voice changer, but I accidentally clapped while talking and it glitched into the 'Mirror of Ra' (an internet meme reference)
    28AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:39
    Re: #25
    LOL ("草"/"grass," common Japanese internet slang for laughing)
    What happened after that? Did you quit?
    30AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:40
    Re: #25
    Wait, you're not supposed to clap while talking?
    Does that cause some kind of error?
    26AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:38
    Re: #21
    For game guides or highlight-reel plays you don't need a face (Vtuber model)
    but for regular gameplay, isn't having a face more approachable?
    33AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:41
    Re: #26
    Having one is better than not, sure
    but the avatar model ('gawa') is expensive, so it's risky if you can't make your own
    27AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:39
    You need the skill to keep talking with zero comments coming in
    Early on nobody comments, but if you don't talk nobody watches — it's a real catch-22
    32AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:41
    Re: #27
    That's the rough part 😭
    I'll give it a while and quit if it doesn't work out
    34AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:42
    Re: #32
    You need to stockpile small-talk topics ahead of time or it's brutal
    Being able to ramble for 3 hours straight off the top of your head is the exception, not the rule
    44AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:46
    Re: #34
    I'm confident in my talking
    My gaming skills suck though
    35AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:42
    Modern voice changers should be fine even with clapping
    42AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:46
    Re: #35
    What do you mean?
    Did clapping used to disable the voice changer back in the day?
    45AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:47
    Re: #42
    The clap registered as noise, so it couldn't be recognized as a voice, and the processing would just drop out
    76AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:01
    Re: #42
    With a normal voice changer the effect strips off and you get caught
    With RVC (an AI-based voice conversion tool), non-voice sounds get AI-generated into 'voice' too, so you get caught that way instead
    38AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:43
    Wouldn't AI voice cloning be better than a regular voice changer?
    53AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:50
    Re: #38
    I don't have that kind of skill 😭
    61AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:56
    Suddenly talking non-stop solo is probably impossible anyway, so let's start as a duo with me
    72AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:59
    Re: #61
    I can probably handle the talking
    but games make me motion sick, so that's rough
    83AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:05
    Re: #72
    Install some recording software, boot up any random game right now, and just talk non-stop for 30 minutes like you're actually streaming — just record it
    Even the big names today started with zero viewers and no comments, so it was dozens of hours of talking to themselves
    Then go back and listen to your own 30 minutes — waiting for you is some random stranger's incredibly boring rambling
    85AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:06
    Re: #83
    You don't even need to talk
    Just click your tongue once in a while
    Go commentate Street Fighter II Turbo
    91AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:09
    Re: #83
    Talking non-stop while actually playing a game is pretty hard, huh
    Free-talk is easy though
    71AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:59
    If you're a guy, 100 concurrent viewers is enough to live off merch sales
    78AnonymousAug 27, 2026 17:03
    Re: #71
    Seriously? So target a female audience then? 🤔

    Background and Key Points

    Vtuber culture in Japan traces back to Kizuna AI’s 2016 debut and exploded once agencies like Hololive and Nijisanji began scouting and training talent under contract, complete with in-house voice coaching, scripted debuts, and merchandise pipelines. That institutional backing is exactly what’s missing for a solo hopeful posting on 5ch with just a gaming PC: everything from the “gawa” (avatar model, mentioned in the thread as expensive to commission) to microphone technique to audience-building has to be self-funded and self-taught. The platform landscape matters too — Japanese streaming skews heavily toward YouTube rather than Twitch, and by 2026 there are reportedly tens of thousands of registered Vtuber channels, which is the “red ocean” posters kept invoking.

    The thread didn’t split on whether to try, but on whether an avatar is actually necessary once you’re hiding your face and voice. Several posters argued a Live2D model reads as more “approachable” than a bare voice-only channel; others countered that without an audience even for voice alone, the model is irrelevant window dressing on a product nobody’s watching.

    What outsiders likely miss is how fragile the anonymity tools are — the joke about a voice changer glitching from a clap wasn’t just a gag, it points to a real technical weakness in pitch-shift-based changers versus newer AI conversion (RVC), which processes any sound as if it were speech and thus avoids that failure but raises other detection risks. The thread also never mentioned that most viral Vtuber successes came through agency debuts with built-in fanbases, not solo indie starts like the one being planned here.

    *This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “[Urgent Request] I’m thinking of becoming a Vtuber — what do I need to prepare?.”

  • Nagisa Watanabe: ‘The idea that people with a screw loose make things more interesting is outdated’ — Also Touches on the Sato Jiro Controversy and Janpoke’s Saito

    Former TV director Nagisa Watanabe has argued that the entertainment-industry mindset of “people with a screw loose make more interesting content” is outdated. The article cites a University of Tokyo graduate school survey published this past March, which found that 70% of 119 women working in the broadcasting industry had experienced sexual jokes or teasing.

    On 5channel, users brought up the Sato Jiro dressing-room controversy and the case involving Janpoke’s Shinji Saito, sparking a flurry of posts both for and against the culture of the TV industry.

    (Omitted)

    “On TV, people with a screw loose make more interesting stuff.” “That’s just how show business is.” ──── These are things I heard often back when I worked at a TV station.

    This past March, a research team including one from the University of Tokyo’s graduate school published a survey on working conditions in the broadcasting industry. Of the 119 women who took part, 70% said they had experienced sexual jokes or teasing. As many as 53 women (44.5%) reported experiences such as “being touched unnecessarily.” On top of that, 14.2% of women said they had been “assigned to sexual-entertainment duty,” underscoring just how low awareness of human rights is in the broadcasting industry.

    Source: news-postseven.com / Read the original article here

    2AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:14
    Sounds more like she's the one with the screw loose.
    9AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:17
    Re: #2
    Yeah
    Guess you're only following the story in vague outline.
    3AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:15
    Why does this get shadier by the day?
    5AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:16
    As for the Sato Jiro thing —
    the actress involved and Nagisa-chan
    have the same people pulling strings behind the scenes, so… you can guess.
    13AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:19
    Isn't that just how the creative field is?
    Good-for-nothings who excel at one thing.
    15AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:19
    >The biggest problem is the power harassment of barging into the dressing room and declaring that if she has trauma-related limitations, she shouldn't keep working.

    Lying again, lol

    What Sato Jiro actually said was that if her trauma-related limitations couldn't be shared with co-stars in advance, then she shouldn't keep working.
    Twisting things and lying like this is exactly why nobody trusts any of it anymore.
    38AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:24
    Re: #15
    Don't nitpick.
    The real problem to begin with is barging into the dressing room in the first place.
    16AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:19
    He might be serious about relationships but still have a screw loose somewhere.
    17AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:19
    Glad to see she's healthy enough to write such a long emotional statement.
    18AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:20
    Talks like she thinks she's the sane one —
    creepy how, right after waking up feeling unwell, she sets up filming gear to make a candle.
    21AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:21
    As the screws get tightened, the TV industry's own neck keeps getting strangled too (wordplay on "screw" and "neck/throat" in Japanese).
    22AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:21
    You'd have to have a screw loose to sell a dish rag for 90,000 yen.
    23AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:21
    That old-school Fuji TV vibe
    has been passed down to ABEMA these days.
    34AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:23
    Re: #23
    Yeah, they say ABEMA and other streaming shows are popular because their compliance standards are as loose as the Showa era.
    24AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:21
    Isn't nobody even watching anymore?
    25AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:21
    Guess talking about this doesn't trigger any PTSD or trauma, huh.
    26AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:21
    It's not like you're the one making it — what is this guy even talking about.
    27AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:22
    Creators who make things that stand out from everyone else really are a bit unhinged somewhere.
    Novelists are the same way.
    28AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:22
    The only guy who was genuinely funny because he had a screw loose was Yoshinori Ebisu.
    30AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:22
    I don't think you should lump "having a screw loose" together with actual crimes, though.
    31AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:23
    No way she works as a commentator —
    playing the victim is all she's got.
    32AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:23
    Looks like she's writing some comment she pulled from somewhere else
    as if it were her own idea.
    36AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:24
    Selling two coasters for 5,000 yen sounds like having a screw loose too, if you ask me.
    39AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:24
    Who's really the crazy one here, I wonder.
    40AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:24
    Re: #38
    That's not nitpicking —
    it's an extremely important point.
    53AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:27
    Re: #40
    The part about sharing it with co-stars in advance?
    41AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:25
    TV entertainment is impossible unless it's made by people with a screw loose.
    Chiikawa, which is all the rage right now, is probably the same.
    43AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:25
    Sato Jiro has an anxiety disorder too — filming the drama without ever being told physical contact was off-limits, then suddenly getting branded a sexual harasser, is plenty of a human-rights violation in itself.
    45AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:25
    But the result of all that…
    walking shows,
    shows where they eat corporate tie-in food and go "delicious!",
    and… what else was there again?
    46AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:26
    Re: #1
    "Fuji TV, for mothers and children"

    CX was originally granted its broadcast license as primarily an educational-programming station.
    69AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:31
    Tokyo University published this survey back in March, and it barely made any waves at all.
    72AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:32
    Re: #69
    Really?
    Wow, so many suckers take the bait that a Nagisa-chan thread gets made every time lol

    Background and Key Points

    Nagisa Watanabe worked as a director at TV Asahi before going independent, and she has periodically used her platform to push back on entertainment-industry norms, which is the frame for this post. Sato Jiro is a veteran actor and TV personality; the “dressing-room” incident refers to an on-set dispute with an actress over whether her trauma-related limitations on physical contact had been communicated to castmates beforehand, which spun into a public harassment controversy. Janpoke (ジャングルポケット, “Jungle Pocket”) is a comedy trio, and Shinji Saito is one of its members, tied to a separate scandal referenced only in passing here. The University of Tokyo survey cited — 119 women in broadcasting, published this past March — found 70% had experienced sexual jokes or teasing on the job, with 44.5% reporting unwanted touching and 14.2% saying they were assigned “sexual-entertainment duty” (a euphemism for being pressured into hostessing-adjacent roles at industry gatherings). That data point is what elevates Watanabe’s comment from personal opinion into a structural critique.

    The thread’s actual fault line isn’t over the survey — almost no one contests it — but over the Sato Jiro framing. Posters split between those calling the dressing-room confrontation straightforward power harassment and those insisting Watanabe’s telling reversed the actual sequence, that Sato was raising a legitimate coordination need rather than dismissing her trauma. That factual dispute over what was said, not the broader harassment-culture argument, is where the thread actually gets heated.

    What’s easy to miss is how muted the survey’s real-world impact was: one reply notes it was published in March and “barely made any waves,” meaning its reappearance here is riding on Watanabe’s name recognition rather than the study cracking through on its own.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5channel (Entertainment/Sports News+) thread「Nagisa Watanabe: “TV is more interesting when made by people with a screw loose” is an outdated idea! Also touches on the Sato Jiro controversy and Janpoke’s Saito [Ailuropoda melanoleuca★]」.

  • Shingo Fujimori Claps Back After Partner Atsuhiko Nakata Teases Him About His Ex — 5ch: ‘Nakata’s Lost His Touch Too’

    Oriental Radio’s Shingo Fujimori appeared on Nobuyuki Sakuma’s radio show alongside his comedy partner Atsuhiko Nakata, where he found himself teased about his ex-girlfriend. Since it was the duo’s first joint appearance since Nakata’s return from Singapore, 5ch’s reaction focused less on the ex-girlfriend herself and more on Nakata’s “oblivious” behavior — with many commenters noting that Fujimori now seems to be the bigger star of the two.

    8/27 (Thu) 14:55

    Shingo Fujimori (43), of the comedy duo Oriental Radio, appeared alongside his partner Atsuhiko Nakata (43) on Nippon Broadcasting’s late-night show “Nobuyuki Sakuma’s All Night Nippon 0 (ZERO)” (airing Wednesday late nights at 3:00), which aired in the early hours of the 26th. During the broadcast, he was teased about his ex-girlfriend.

    It was the duo’s first joint appearance since Nakata returned from Singapore. The appearance reportedly came about after Fujimori appeared alongside TV producer and radio personality Nobuyuki Sakuma on TV Asahi’s “MEGUMI Mama no Iru Bar” this past March, where he consulted with Sakuma about his future plans.

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

    6AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:18
    Re: #1
    Nakata's lost his touch too
    13AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:21
    Re: #6
    He went on about breaking away from old media and ditched Fujimori to get off TV, and now he's suddenly saying he wants back on TV. He trashed radio and denied all of Fujimori's work, and yet now he wants to do radio too, going on about wanting to appear on TV together with Fujimori as "memories of the two of them" — no wonder Fujimori snapped at him.
    70AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:18
    Re: #6
    He's always been like that. Same as Hikari Ota — he never had friends growing up, so this is just how he relates to people. No experience with real success or failure, so he can't tell what's okay to say versus not, or what's actually funny versus not.
    7AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:18
    No way you could ever marry someone's ex when you actually know the guy lol
    8AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:18
    Wild that they can even work together at this point — the guy ditched his partner and skipped the country.
    10AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:19
    Does this guy want to repeat that on-air trainwreck where he tried to one-up everyone with his Evangelion trivia, coming back now with that smug 'I'm back' face?
    12AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:20
    Kind of want her to play up the 'ex-girlfriend' angle everywhere and drag the married couple's name through the mud.
    15AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:22
    This kind of oblivious behavior is probably exactly what she couldn't stand about him.
    16AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:22
    This is just standard comedian teasing.
    Complaining about "tact" over this is kind of missing the point…
    then again, that's exactly what 5ch is for.
    17AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:22
    JOY once revealed that Nakata used to date a girl JOY had introduced him to.
    18AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:24
    That's just not something a decent person does.
    19AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:24
    lol it's actually Sakuma doing the teasing here, not Nakata
    24AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:27
    Making an enemy of Kame(nashi, of KAT-TUN)? Guess he's out of touch with Japan after being away.
    26AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:27
    Hard to believe this is the same guy who talked down about "that whole scene" — zero class.
    27AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:30
    Unlike King Kong (comedy duo), the power balance has actually flipped here — Fujimori's above Nakata now.
    28AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:30
    Saw this on 5ch a while back — apparently several KAT-TUN members were in the guest seats at Akanishi's live show, but Kamenashi wasn't there and Fujimori was? Is that actually true, or just a joke?
    29AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:33
    This is just standard when you date a comedian — you'll only end up as material for jokes.
    31AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:34
    Don't really care about Sakuma, but Nakata's the type who goes dead serious the moment it's done to him, so this doesn't sit right. Guess he really should've just stuck to being a comedian — his current shtick looks painfully forced.
    34AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:40
    Nakata's teasing style is Showa-era levels of old-fashioned…
    35AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:40
    Nakata's kind of cringe, honestly
    he's just spinning his wheels.
    36AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:40
    Never thought Fujimori would end up outranking him…
    With Audrey it was Wakabayashi who came out on top, with Nankai Candies it's Yamasato — guess I've had no eye for talent since the days of Beat Takeshi and Shinsuke Shimada.
    37AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:41
    Someone should just clap back with 'Shut up, you're the guy who skipped the country to dodge taxes and came scurrying home the second the yen got weak.'
    39AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:44
    Does Nakata have something on Fujimori that he can't cut him loose?
    He should drop him sooner rather than later.
    43AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:50
    Re: #39
    Maybe he's just got enough breathing room that he can afford to help him out.
    62AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:08
    Re: #39
    I think Fujimori's just a genuinely nice guy
    not really the type to get angry.
    40AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:46
    Oriental Radio dropped off the map once, yet they've still got a seat at the table.
    Funny thing is, they're just as entertaining as ever…
    41AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:48
    Is there some kind of "handover" involved?
    Like tips on "it's better to lick the chestnut nice and slow"? (crude innuendo — "kuri," chestnut, is slang wordplay)
    42AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:50
    It's not like he got blacklisted or anything
    he just chose to step back from TV himself, so if there's demand, they'll use him.
    44AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:51
    Nakata's just so lacking in cooperation that it makes Fujimori's social skills stand out even more.
    Apparently when they first met, Nakata thought "Fujimori's too good-looking, I have to protect him" — but it's actually the opposite; sounds like Fujimori's been the one covering for Nakata from the very start.
    45AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:51
    Always thought Fujimori and Minami Tanaka made a good match, but there was a rumor her parents were dead set against it.
    64AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:13
    I wonder if Sakuma still makes his daughter's lunch box.
    69AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:17
    Re: #64
    He's used being devoted to his wife and daughter as a shield, but it feels like he's due for a slip-up soon.
    There were some close calls with Aoki Macho and Kei Fubuki too.
    72AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:20
    Actually listened to the radio show — Nakata was so oblivious and his talk skills were so lacking that he just bombed over and over, coming off as a genuinely unpleasant guy.
    Fujimori, by contrast, was clearly seasoned and handled it well.
    If this keeps up, Nakata's negative vibes are going to drag him down — Fujimori should just go solo.
    79AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:33
    Re: #72
    It's less that he can't read the room and more that his sense for variety shows has seriously dulled.
    He couldn't even pull off the basics he used to manage
    like, he was so eager to land a joke that he kept pushing to talk over everyone, all scrambled and clumsy, like a first-year rookie comedian.

    Background and Key Points

    Oriental Radio has been one of Japan’s best-known comedy duos since their 2006-2008 “Perfect” dance-gag boom, but the pair’s paths diverged sharply in recent years: Nakata rebranded himself as a self-improvement/business content creator, publicly criticized Japanese television as “old media,” and relocated to Singapore, largely stepping back from the entertainment industry there. Fujimori, by contrast, stayed visible in Japan across TV, radio, and stage work (including a notable turn as Julius Caesar in a stage production), effectively becoming the more consistently working half of the duo. “All Night Nippon 0” is a long-running, prestigious late-night radio franchise on Nippon Broadcasting, so Nakata’s appearance on it alongside Fujimori and host Nobuyuki Sakuma marked a symbolic return to the “old media” he had previously disowned.

    The thread’s real disagreement wasn’t about the ex-girlfriend joke itself — several posters explicitly frame the teasing as ordinary manzai-style banter (post 16) — but about whether Nakata’s on-air fumbling reflects genuine social obliviousness or simply rusty performance instincts after years away from Japanese variety shows (posts 70 vs. 79). A secondary thread of debate concerns status: commenters compare the duo to other pairs like King Kong and Audrey to argue Fujimori has now surpassed Nakata in stature.

    Readers should note the thread never confirms who the “ex-girlfriend” actually is — the JOY anecdote and the Minami Tanaka rumor are separate, unverified pieces of gossip that posters loosely connect, not established facts from the broadcast itself.

    *This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Geisports Sokuho+) thread “Shingo Fujimori on being teased by his partner about his ex: ‘She’s already married, you know’ / ‘You didn’t need to bring that up.’”

  • IGN: Xbox’s Disc-to-Digital Transition Beats PlayStation’s, Says Report

    IGN has reported that Xbox’s approach to transitioning from physical to digital games is superior to PlayStation’s. The report details plans to let owners digitize their disc-based games so they can be played on PC, handhelds, and next-generation hardware.

    On 5ch, some praised Microsoft’s emphasis on backward compatibility, while the discussion expanded to touch on the Sony acquisition lawsuit and advertising contract disputes.

    Xbox is handling the shift from physical to digital far better than PlayStation.

    A little respect for users goes a long way toward building real trust.

    Xbox has announced plans to let players digitize the packaged games they already own, making them playable across a range of devices — PC, handheld gaming devices, and even (likely) the next-generation PC/console hybrid “Project Helix.”

    Source: jp.ign.com / Original article here

    11AnonymousAug 27, 2026 13:55
    Impressive that MS has been printing serial numbers on discs for 14 years already

    Sounds like Shitty Sony (クソニー, a common insulting nickname for Sony) never did that at all
    19AnonymousAug 27, 2026 14:11
    Re: #11
    I'd guess it's because we're in the Blu-ray era now — can't the company that made the Blu-ray standard do something like this too?
    16AnonymousAug 27, 2026 14:05
    This makes me respect IGN again

    I was sure it'd be another acrobatic defense of PlayStation
    25AnonymousAug 27, 2026 14:22
    Re: #16
    That's just a fancy way of saying 'Sony can't afford the ad budget'
    21AnonymousAug 27, 2026 14:15
    Sony's been doing something similar with the UMD Passport program
    80AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:22
    Re: #21
    The UMD Passport wasn't a license transfer though — it just let you buy digital versions of supported titles at a discount. Similar, but not really the same thing
    31AnonymousAug 27, 2026 14:29
    Setting Western games aside, for Japanese games these days nobody puts out a physical version even when it's multiplatform with Xbox
    Retailers stopped carrying Xbox software, so there's no point releasing discs anyway
    35AnonymousAug 27, 2026 14:30
    Re: #31
    Well this gen, even if they did release it, it'd be XSX-exclusive anyway
    They're not gonna bother unless it's something big
    38AnonymousAug 27, 2026 14:33
    Re: #31
    It's not a Japan-only service, you know
    Funny how you people always go on about 'the whole world' until it's convenient to make it just about Japan
    Also, it's not that retailers stopped carrying it — it's a Sony block
    Part of a lawsuit settlement contract that excludes Xbox from advertising
    37AnonymousAug 27, 2026 14:32
    Even Sony's decision to drop discs was made after considering the industry-wide shift away from physical media
    Ignoring that and just condemning them for it is pretty gross
    41AnonymousAug 27, 2026 14:35
    Re: #37
    What are you even talking about — getting criticized isn't the same as being 'condemned'
    48AnonymousAug 27, 2026 14:43
    There's still the thin cardboard 'paper package' version, no?
    Though it probably won't sell
    52AnonymousAug 27, 2026 14:52
    Re: #48
    Counter-move: let people buy and sell those paper packages too (valid for 170 days)
    49AnonymousAug 27, 2026 14:44
    Doing all this and it still doesn't sell
    Just how hated are MS and Xbox around the world
    50AnonymousAug 27, 2026 14:45
    The difference between MS, which has traditionally valued backward compatibility, and Sony, which just throws everything away when it doesn't work out
    56AnonymousAug 27, 2026 14:57
    Re: #50
    Isn't it just that those things have no value, hence the crushing defeat?
    53AnonymousAug 27, 2026 14:53
    Re: #51
    That wheelchair basketball game (a specific title) was hyped up like a god before release
    Didn't even crack the weekly top 30, confirmed under 1,800 copies sold
    And yet something like that was sitting at around #6 on the eShop — wild
    57AnonymousAug 27, 2026 14:57
    Re: #53
    Impressive that they can even put out experimental stuff like that
    Building up tech know-how and reusing it is exactly the kind of strength a software maker should have
    Total opposite of the idiots who go around crushing developers
    59AnonymousAug 27, 2026 14:59
    Sony was working hard to block Xbox from selling well, you know, lol
    Don't run away from the Activision Blizzard acquisition trial documents, lol
    60AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:00
    Re: #59
    That massive acquisition itself was clearly aimed at obstruction
    61AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:01
    Re: #60
    LOL, imagine dying because parity clauses got in your way
    67AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:04
    Re: #60
    What obstruction???
    What's obstructive about Activision Blizzard being acquired? Are you okay in the head, lol
    68AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:06
    Re: #67
    They were trying to sign a deal to cut COD multiplatform after 10 years, remember?
    76AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:17
    Re: #68
    'Trying to'?
    It's a 10-year contract. Get real.
    75AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:14
    Suddenly went quiet, lol
    You should really check your facts before making bold claims
    78AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:21
    Even if that's true, I still don't want an Xbox
    If I'm buying an Xbox, I'd just buy a PC instead
    88AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:49
    Re: #78
    But that Xbox is turning into a PC, lol
    It's absorbing both Steam and Epic, lol lol
    84AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:42
    People overseas seem pretty hyped about this announcement
    Feels like players are moving from PS to Xbox
    85AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:43
    Re: #84
    Looking forward to the August worldwide hardware sales figures
    89AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:50
    Re: #84
    Though July's sales came right after the disc-discontinuation announcement
    95AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:54
    Re: #93
    You can't just ignore how much of a real-world impact those things actually had
    100AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:56
    Re: #95
    What impact?
    PlayStation pulling out of discs?

    Background and Key Points

    Xbox has sold in vanishingly small numbers in Japan for years — weekly hardware charts often show low three-digit or even double-digit units — and major Japanese retailers such as Bic Camera and Yodobashi have largely stopped stocking Xbox software, which is the retail reality behind the “no point releasing discs” comments above. Sony, by contrast, effectively owns the Japanese console market with PlayStation, and its move away from physical media (following Digital Edition pushes and rising disc-drive costs) has been read domestically as Sony optimizing for its dominant position rather than serving players. The “14 years of serial numbers” reference is to Xbox 360-era licensing, where disc ownership has long been tied to a Microsoft account — a system Sony never replicated, apart from the PSP-era UMD Passport, which (as one poster correctly notes) only offered discounted digital repurchases, not a true license transfer.

    The thread doesn’t converge on whether Microsoft’s move is a genuine consumer win or simply cheap goodwill from a company with nothing to lose in Japan; it also splits hard on the Activision Blizzard lawsuit — one side treating Sony’s opposition and the alleged “no Xbox advertising” clause as documented fact, the other demanding evidence, and neither side settles it.

    What’s easy to miss: this is a US-market-oriented Xbox feature being read through a Japan-specific retail collapse that has almost nothing to do with digitization policy — Xbox software vanished from Japanese shelves years before this announcement, for reasons tied to sales volume, not backward-compatibility philosophy. Framing this as Xbox “beating” PlayStation in Japan overstates a market where Xbox barely registers at all.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry (Geha)) thread “IGN: ‘Xbox is handling the shift from physical to digital far better than PlayStation’.”

  • Honami Suzuki Raves About Jamiroquai — 5ch Says ‘One-Hit Wonder’

    Actress Honami Suzuki (60) revealed on a radio show that she was blown away by a commercial she stumbled across on social media that looked just like an old Jamiroquai music video, and said she’s been revisiting the band’s music ever since. The remark sparked discussion on 5ch, where longtime fans weighed in with deep-cut opinions — from how the sound changed after the bassist’s departure to a full-on debate over whether Jamiroquai was really just a one-hit wonder.

    8/27 (Thu) 14:28

    Actress Honami Suzuki (60) appeared as a guest on TOKYO FM’s “Blue Ocean” (weekdays 9:00 AM) on the 27th. During the show, she shared which artist she’s currently obsessed with for being “so cool.”

    When asked to pick a song to play on air, Suzuki said, “Lately I’ve been revisiting this song too, kind of by chance — it’s a bit nostalgic. I happened to see a video on social media of a commercial made to look exactly like an old Jamiroquai music video? I don’t think it airs in Japan. It’s a liquor ad, but it was just so cool,” referencing the popular British artist.

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

    2AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:20
    Jamiroquai was way cooler than L'Arc-en-Ciel.
    4AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:22
    Is Jamiroquai's weird bug-like dancing an actual genre or something?
    5AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:22
    He's looked like an old man since way back.
    7AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:24
    Scatman John was good too.
    66AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:57
    Re: #7
    My email address is still a Scatman John pun to this day.
    9AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:24
    Shocked at how old he's gotten.
    11AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:25
    Jamiroquai (Jay Kay), 56
    Honami Suzuki, 60
    12AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:25
    Jay Kay put on weight for a while but he's slimmed back down lately.
    He's turning into a cool older guy.
    14AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:26
    Jamiroquai is the band's name, you know.
    17AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:28
    Re: #14
    Oh, so it's like TM Revolution then.
    24AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:32
    Re: #14
    It's called a band, but it's basically a solo project.
    21AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:29
    Classic case of listening to Western music without speaking English 🎠🦌 — so relatable
    30AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:35
    Re: #21
    She's actually been studying English for ages — her daughter goes to an international school where all the paperwork and communication is in English, and she's the kind of unusual person who's kept taking the university entrance exam's English section for decades.
    28AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:33
    Well, people stay obsessed for life with whatever they got into as teenagers.

    …or so I thought, but wasn't Suzuki already an adult by the time Jamiroquai got big?
    42AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:45
    Re: #28
    She saw Frankie Goes to Hollywood's 'Relax' on Best Hit USA back in junior high, and her taste in music has kept being shaped by that ever since.
    36AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:40
    That's talking about JK (Jay Kay), right?
    56AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:51
    Re: #36
    Yeah, that's right.
    Jay Kay's the same age as me.
    Of course I've followed him in real time since the first album,
    and I just bought the reissued 2LP×3 set that came out recently.
    41AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:45
    He's the type of artist where you go 'he's a one-hit wonder, but what about his other songs?' → '…' (dead silence).
    45AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:47
    Re: #41
    Nah, he's not a one-hit wonder.
    48AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:47
    Re: #45
    Sorry, but I only know 'Virtual (something)'.
    68AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:58
    Re: #48
    Re: #49
    That's because it was a Walkman commercial back when Walkman still had a lot of momentum.
    49AnonymousAug 27, 2026 15:48
    Sure, 'Virtual Insanity' might've been the big hit, but he's had other successful songs too.
    72AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:00
    I love the 'Cosmic Girl' music video.
    The purple Lamborghini Diablo is just so cool.
    73AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:01
    Re: #72
    That is pretty cool, isn't it.
    91AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:08
    It's really all about Stuart Zender's bass, like on 'Space Cowboy'.
    Once Zender left, the band got boring.

    …at least that's what I thought for years, but I recently found out that on the album version of 'Space Cowboy', Zender's playing was actually replaced and isn't even used.
    101AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:12
    Re: #91
    The version most people hear in the music video is the Zender one.
    Even on the Japan release, that's the upbeat bonus-track version — separate from the longer, moodier album cut.
    102AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:12
    Re: #91
    The fact that JK wasn't satisfied with Zender's bass line and had it replaced really shows his taste — it's still a classic you can listen to today.
    97AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:10
    Their first big hit was all about the global environmental crisis, but a few years later there he was cruising around in a Ferrari in the music video — all I could do was cringe-laugh.
    103AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:12
    Re: #97
    My favorite is 'Revolution 1993' lol
    106AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:14
    Re: #97
    Outside of the music, he's basically like Kazushige Nagashima (the flamboyant son of a legendary Japanese baseball star, known for his eccentric antics).
    104AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:13
    Re: #101
    Well, I bought the album.
    116AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:18
    Re: #104
    The Japanese release includes the Zender version as a bonus track.
    107AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:15
    People tend to think t.A.T.u. was a one-hit wonder, but they actually had multiple hit songs, so they're not.
    And honestly, their other songs are so good you go 'yeah, of course this sold' — it's kind of surprising.

    But I do think Jamiroquai was a one-hit wonder.
    110AnonymousAug 27, 2026 16:16
    Re: #107
    Jamiroquai has a lot of good songs too, though.

    Background and Key Points

    Jamiroquai is the London acid-jazz/funk-rock act fronted by Jason “Jay Kay” Cheriton, formed in 1992 and famous worldwide for 1996’s “Virtual Insanity,” whose Grammy- and MTV-winning video (Jay Kay sliding across a room with a moving floor) became one of the most parodied clips of the decade. In Japan the band’s profile owes a lot to commercial licensing rather than chart presence — their tracks have soundtracked Sony Walkman and drinks ads for years, which is exactly the route by which Suzuki, a 60-year-old actress who came of age on 1980s new wave (she cites seeing Frankie Goes to Hollywood on the import-video show “Best Hit USA”), rediscovered them via a liquor commercial mimicking their old video style. The thread is from 5ch’s Geinou/Sports News+ board, the anonymous forum’s dedicated space for celebrity and entertainment chatter.

    The actual fault line in the thread isn’t about Suzuki at all — it’s longtime fans arguing over whether Jamiroquai deserves the “one-hit wonder” label that casual listeners (who know only “Virtual Insanity”) pin on them, with defenders pointing to “Cosmic Girl,” “Space Cowboy,” and others as proof of a deeper catalog.

    What outsiders likely miss: “Jamiroquai” is the band name, not Jay Kay’s own name (one poster even mistakes it for a solo alias, prompting a joke comparison to Japan’s TM Revolution). Also overlooked is that bassist Stuart Zender, credited with the band’s signature funk sound and namechecked as the reason things “got boring” after he left in 1998, wasn’t even used on the official album take of “Space Cowboy” — only the video and Japan-only bonus track feature his playing.

    *This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “Honami Suzuki: Jamiroquai ‘is still cool even as a middle-aged man’ — ‘I’ve been listening to their songs again’.”