Japan Reacts

Author: Japan Reacts Editorial

  • Chunichi’s Ryuku Tsuchida Suffers Depressed Fracture of Right Shoulder Blade After Being Hit by Kirishiki’s 147km/h Fastball in the 8th Inning vs. Hanshin

    In the 8th inning of the game against Hanshin, Chunichi’s Ryuku Tsuchida was struck in the back by pitcher Takuma Kirishiki’s 147 km/h fastball and diagnosed with a depressed fracture of his right shoulder blade. On 5ch, complaints flew about Hanshin’s frequent hit-by-pitches alongside defenses of Kirishiki as “just a rookie,” while the discussion spread to how Chunichi would rebuild its infield defense without its regular shortstop.

    ◇ August 26 — Chunichi 4, Hanshin 0 (Vantelin Dome Nagoya)

    Chunichi manager Kazuki Inoue revealed on the 26th, after that day’s game against Hanshin (at Vantelin Dome), that infielder Ryuku Tsuchida — who was hit by a pitch in the 8th inning — had been diagnosed with a depressed fracture of his right shoulder blade. Tsuchida had reportedly been sent to the hospital during the game.

    “It’s not good news. The trainer’s report was, ‘It’s the same as Muramatsu’s case.’ Tsuchida will come here [to Vantelin Dome] tomorrow, but we’ll see how things go… What’s happened has happened. We’ll work out a plan,” the manager said, his face twisted with concern, before heading home.

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

    6AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:23
    How many times do I have to say it — he's just showing his back, he's not dodging at all
    10AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:23
    When a Hanshin pitcher hits someone, it's apparently a 'clean' hit-by-pitch
    35AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:47
    Re: #10
    Exactly this.
    They complain the second they take a hit-by-pitch, but have no problem drilling the other team.
    13AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:25
    I don't want to sound crude, but I'd at least like to see them show some anger
    15AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:28
    Hanshin (mockingly nicknamed "Chin") loses it when their own guys get hit but has no problem beaning others? Pathetic.
    16AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:28
    It's a hit-by-pitch war!

    Hanshin vs Giants
    Hanshin vs Carp
    Chunichi vs Swallows
    Hanshin vs Chunichi — new!
    17AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:28
    How many more Chunichi players are gonna get wrecked at this rate
    18AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:29
    How do you even immobilize a shoulder blade, it's a floating bone to begin with
    Guess it's surgery then
    21AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:31
    Yikes
    They've got no shortstop now
    Can Kanya Tanaka handle it?
    If possible I'd like to see Ishikawa and Fukunaga in the starting lineup
    50AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:00
    Re: #21
    There's still Nene
    23AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:33
    A depressed fracture of the shoulder blade…
    Well, they say shoulder blades heal easily, but
    that's not really the point here
    24AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:34
    Ukyo Maekawa also had a shoulder blade fracture before
    Though he came back pretty quickly
    25AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:35
    An injury to the back is called a 'mukou-kizu' (a wound to the far side) — traditionally seen as a shameful mark of cowardice
    26AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:35
    Furious when it happens to them, smirking when they're the ones doing it
    27AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:37
    He should honestly just be glad it was the shoulder blade that broke — if it had hit slightly differently it would've been way worse.
    (Speaking from experience)
    28AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:39
    Turns out the whole 'taking it on the back means you dodged well' thing was uso-matsu (obvious BS/an exaggerated fake story)
    29AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:39
    Why target Tsuchida of all people? And from a 5th-place team, no less
    30AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:42
    Who cares if a B-class (bottom-half) team gets an injury
    31AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:43
    In principle this kind of thing is just part of the game and can't be helped, but Fujikawa specifically won't be forgiven for it — this is going to blow up big time
    How you carry yourself day to day really matters
    32AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:43
    Kirishiki's just a rookie, cut him some slack
    39AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:51
    Hanshin hits plenty of batters themselves
    They've just got way too strong a victim complex
    42AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:54
    Hanshin already does this stuff themselves, so why does Fujikawa always fly off the handle about it?
    Is it just an act?
    44AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:55
    This is exactly why acting tough for no reason is so lame
    Fujikawa's the manager and he's out there posturing right along with his players — incredibly embarrassing, he should seriously reflect on himself
    53AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:03
    Re: #44
    But it's surprisingly effective though
    When he comes out acting tough like that, opposing pitchers genuinely stop attacking the inside corner for a good while afterward
    67AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:33
    Re: #53
    Not 'surprisingly' — of course it's effective
    Oshiro even got sniped twice in a row in retaliation
    This is pure intimidation baseball
    69AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:36
    Re: #53
    If that's really the goal, Hanshin is way too cowardly — it's laughable
    45AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:56
    Hanshin, what have you done… they're completely out of shortstops now
    47AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:57
    This is exactly what they have Rodriguez for
    He's been training for years at Otobashi (Chunichi's practice facility), he'll come through
    Still stings though, since Tsuchida's defense was something special
    51AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:00
    It's always Hanshin causing drama over hit-by-pitches
    They go on about 'the Giants do it too,' but I've never once seen another team accuse the Giants of this
    Amazing Hanshin can still play the victim after all this
    61AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:20
    Re: #51
    Their actual starting shortstop is the one who just got wrecked though
    64AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:28
    The moment they put Tanaka at short he got injured, so does that mean he has to play through it anyway
    Or maybe it falls to Nene
    72AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:40
    There's zero reason for Hanshin to intentionally hit a Chunichi batter, so the fact that it's just an honest mistake makes it sadder

    Background and Key Points

    Chunichi and Hanshin are two of NPB’s Central League teams with one of Japanese baseball’s oldest rivalries — Chunichi based in Nagoya, historically a defense-first, low-scoring club, and Hanshin the Osaka-area team known for its fervent Koshien fanbase and a bench that plays up rivalry theatrics. Hanshin’s manager, Fujikawa Kyuji, was himself a hard-throwing closer known for pitching inside, which colors the thread’s read of his reactions now. A “depressed fracture” (陥没骨折) of the scapula means the bone was driven inward by blunt force rather than simply cracked — a serious, likely season-ending injury even though the shoulder blade is a “floating” bone not attached by a joint, which is why several posters found it strange to treat and slow to immobilize. The 147km/h pitch is fast but not exceptional by current NPB standards; what made it notable is that it came from a rookie (Kirishiki), which is why some posters extended him leniency while others didn’t.

    The thread didn’t split on the injury’s severity — everyone agreed it was bad — but on intent and hypocrisy: whether this was a harmless, apologize-and-move-on rookie mistake, or the latest entry in a pattern where Hanshin pitchers hit opposing batters freely but Fujikawa reacts furiously whenever his own players are hit, which several posters read as manufactured intimidation baseball rather than genuine outrage.

    What the thread never addresses is process: NPB umpires can issue a formal warning to both benches after a hit-by-pitch, restricting further inside pitching under threat of ejection — whether that was invoked here would clarify if the umpires themselves judged this incidental or worth flagging, and no post mentions it either way.

    *This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Geisoku+) thread “[Baseball] Chunichi’s Ryuku Tsuchida Suffers Depressed Fracture of Right Shoulder Blade After Being Hit by Kirishiki’s 147km/h Fastball in the 8th Inning vs. Hanshin.”

  • Formaldehyde-Soaked Cabbage: Health Ministry Says China Confirms ‘No Exports to Japan’

    It emerged that napa cabbage was being shipped after being soaked in a formaldehyde solution in Hebei Province, China. Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare explained that it inquired with the Chinese government and received a reply stating that none of it was exported to Japan.

    On 5ch, questions piled up over whether it’s really reassuring to ask the very party committing the wrongdoing and simply be told “there isn’t any.” Other posts described avoiding Chinese-made processed foods and pickles, explained the toxicity of formaldehyde, and brought up the past melamine-in-baby-formula scandal.

    Cabbage Shipped After Being Soaked in Formaldehyde Solution — Discovered in China, “None Exported to Japan”

    In Hebei Province in northern China, it was discovered that napa cabbage had been shipped after being soaked in the chemical formaldehyde.

    (omitted)

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

    5AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:38
    'Oh good, that settles it then~'
    Yeah, as if!
    6AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:39
    They asked the very people doing the fraud and got told it's fine, so that's the conclusion — no problem?
    This is exactly why Japan's Health Ministry is hopeless.
    7AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:39
    To begin with, 100% of napa cabbage sold in Japan is domestic.
    The issue is processed foods.
    Well, processed foods get treated beforehand, so there's probably not much residue left anyway.
    8AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:39
    Not worth trusting m9(´・ω・`)
    10AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:39
    Taking that at face value is seriously gullible.
    11AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:39
    If anything, it's being routed in through South Korea to dodge this.
    13AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:39
    Those trendy málà tāng (spicy Sichuan soup) shops everywhere right now sound terrifying.
    69AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:51
    "We asked China and confirmed none was shipped to Japan"
    That doesn't cut it — not from anyone with a shred of professional sense.
    109AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:57
    Re: #69
    Nothing but anxiety here.
    103AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:56
    Probably best to avoid Chinese products for a while.
    147AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:09
    Re: #103
    Do that and you'll have nothing left to buy.
    167AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:16
    Re: #103
    Ever since that gyoza pesticide-contamination incident, I've made an absolute rule of never buying Chinese products.
    Daiso's gummies are increasingly made in China now, but I refuse to buy them!
    A lot of peanuts are Chinese too, but I refuse!
    90% of store-bought jelly cups are made in China too, so I skip those.
    Pineapple jelly I'll buy since some uses Taiwanese pineapple.
    Mandarin orange jelly is 100% Chinese, so no thanks.
    112AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:58
    Can't you just wash it off and call it good?
    206AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:28
    Re: #112
    If formaldehyde is ingested orally, it causes severe corrosive damage to the digestive tract, plus acute systemic poisoning from the formic acid it's metabolized into in the body.
    Aqueous formaldehyde solution is extremely toxic — even a small amount can cause serious, life-threatening harm.
    120AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:00
    I make a point of never buying Chinese-made pickles.
    I always throw out the pickles that come with bento boxes.
    122AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:01
    Re: #120
    You wouldn't know if the country of origin were faked, though.
    Restaurant chains probably fake it all the time too.
    135AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:05
    Of course they'd say that.
    Of course they would!
    142AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:07
    Re: #135
    Exactly this!
    I'd like them to explain exactly how they "confirmed" it.
    155AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:11
    There was also that time they put melamine in baby formula.
    189AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:22
    Re: #155 Seriously, what an awful country.


    In 2008, the harmful substance melamine was found mixed into infant baby formula in China, causing kidney stones and other health damage in a huge number of infants and toddlers.
    According to China's then General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (now the State Administration for Market Regulation), by September 17 melamine had been detected in products from 22 of the 109 raw milk powder makers investigated.

    By the Chinese government's own count, the incident killed 6 people, and more than 300,000 infants suffered health damage such as kidney stones. Victims' families have voiced growing anger, saying compensation of 2,000 yuan per person (roughly ¥26,000, about $170) is far too little.
    158AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:13
    Shouldn't Japan just halt imports of all processed foods containing Chinese vegetables for now?
    Suspend it for about a year until safety is confirmed.
    China itself halted imports of Japanese seafood over a political dispute, after all.
    179AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:20
    The water pollution there seems worse than even Thailand's.
    Chinese goods, processed foods…
    you'd have to be an idiot to trust them.

    Re: #158
    Agricultural products, processed foods —
    a total import ban would be fine lol
    184AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:21
    This isn't a country that tells the truth just because you ask.
    What is this, a kid running an errand?
    196AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:24
    Re: #184
    Even if their own investigation finds it's in there, they'll still tell us "we didn't put any in" lol
    203AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:27
    Chinese food products really are dangerous.
    218AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:32
    Re: #203
    Cars made in China are scary too.
    There was a case before where they used tar-based materials with benzopyrene and the owner got cancer.
    Same with lead turning up in Chinese-made tableware, and carcinogens in clothing.
    224AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:34
    The fact that something like this even leaks out suggests China's situation might be really bad.
    225AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:35
    Re: #224
    If one case gets exposed, there are probably around 100 more like it that never come to light.

    Background and Key Points

    Formaldehyde is a preservative and antibacterial agent long banned for food use in China under its Food Safety Law, but enforcement gaps have surfaced repeatedly since local vendors use it to keep produce looking fresh during transport from inland provinces like Hebei. Japan’s food-safety system relies heavily on this kind of diplomatic inquiry: the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare does not independently test every shipment from China, but asks the exporting government to confirm compliance, and only escalates to import suspensions or intensified customs sampling if a violation is found in goods that already entered Japan. This is the same channel used after the 2008 Chinese-made frozen gyoza pesticide poisonings, an incident 5ch commenters reference as the reason many now distrust Chinese food assurances by default.

    The thread isn’t really split on whether formaldehyde is dangerous — everyone agrees it is — but on how much this specific case should change behavior. Some posters treat it as confirmation that all Chinese food products should be avoided outright; others (post 147) point out that’s practically impossible given how deeply Chinese ingredients run through Japan’s supply chain, from Daiso snacks to jelly cups to peanuts.

    What the thread misses is that fresh napa cabbage sold in Japanese supermarkets is almost entirely domestic (as post 7 notes but doesn’t dwell on), meaning this particular contamination poses little direct risk to whole cabbage on Japanese shelves — the real exposure route, if any, would be processed foods or restaurant ingredients where sourcing is far less transparent to consumers, which is exactly why country-of-origin labeling loopholes worry posters more than the cabbage itself.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (News Speed+) thread「Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare: “Cabbage shipped after being soaked in formalin solution — confirmed with the Chinese government that none was exported to Japan”」.

  • What Does It Mean to Be ‘Good at Flame Wars’? 5ch Users Weigh In

    A thread titled “What does it even mean to be good at flame wars (レスバ)?” sparked a debate over whether flame-warring is a technique for winding up your opponent so they stick around, or just a pointless, unproductive slugfest.

    In the end, it came down to everyone having their own personal definition of “winning” — from “it’s not about who’s right, it’s about who gets the last word” to “the safe bet is only jumping in when you can tell you’re backing the winning side.”

    1AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:43
    Does it mean someone with airtight logic, or just someone who's really good at pissing people off?
    6AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:48
    Anyone who's out here flame-warring has already lost, both sides.
    There's no such thing as "winning" that.
    9AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:50
    Re: #6
    Exactly, it's a technique for winding people up so the thread stays alive longer.
    Post normally and the thread just dies instantly on dead VIP (a low-traffic board).
    17AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:02
    Re: #9
    There's no winning or losing in that.

    Both sides just walk away with nothing to show for it.
    44AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:14
    Re: #9
    This is just your own personal rule, you can't generalize it as "true for everyone" — testing out picking a flame war with that line.
    18AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:03
    Re: #17
    There is something to gain —
    you get better at figuring out how to bait people with your replies.
    24AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:06
    Re: #18
    A flame war is just people who like flame wars hurling insults at each other, that's all it is.

    It's the same insult-slinging over and over, not a skill.

    There's nothing to gain from it, you just repeat it day after day.
    20AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:04
    The moment you're flame-warring you might as well be shouting "I'm an idiot," right?
    23AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:05
    Re: #20
    Well, yeah.
    21AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:04
    Flame wars on an anonymous board aren't real flame wars.
    Go have a serious showdown somewhere you can't run away from, like X (formerly Twitter).
    25AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:06
    Re: #21
    I'm genuinely into watching flame wars as a hobby, but I think it's only old-timers with nowhere else to post but VIP who actually do this.
    The content really does reek of "old man."
    27AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:07
    Re: #21
    I get that a bit.

    Anonymity makes it too easy to just bail.
    28AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:07
    Re: #24
    You get to experiment — "this works on this type, let's try that on this guy."

    VIP's so dead now that if you troll with the same theme, you reel in the same guy every time.
    29AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:08
    Re: #25
    You're not just watching, you're also a participant in flame wars yourself, aren't you?
    31AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:10
    Re: #29
    I always run my replies past an AI before posting,
    and it told me the same thing —
    something like "you're crossing from observer into manipulator territory."
    30AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:09
    Re: #28
    Flame wars are all the same one note.

    "What middle school are you from? You know so-and-so senpai? Huh?"

    That's the level we're talking about, zero technique.
    34AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:11
    Re: #31
    Nope.

    You've already left tracks in this very thread showing you flame-war all the time.

    Can you spot it yourself?
    36AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:11
    Re: #34
    Yeah, I flame-war.
    Obviously.
    43AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:14
    Now that we've got an answer…

    so is a flame war just killing time, a pointless battle with no winner, loser, or payoff? Is that the verdict?
    45AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:14
    Re: #43
    Yeah, it's pointless.
    I just enjoy it, that's all.
    47AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:16
    Re: #43
    A flame war isn't about whose conclusion is right. Whoever posts the last reply wins. (＾ω＾)
    46AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:15
    Re: #44
    I wrote that as my own opinion.
    I'm not trying to shoot down anyone who feels differently.
    52AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:18
    Re: #46
    This thread's about what "good at flame wars" generally means, so just laying out your own personal rule doesn't get us anywhere.
    It needs to hold up as at least somewhat general.
    48AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:16
    Re: #45
    Because you were the one saying flame wars sharpen your technique, that it's a skill.
    54AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:19
    Re: #48
    Well, yeah.
    That's just how I enjoy it.
    50AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:17
    Re: #47
    By your rule, whoever has the most free time on their hands wins.

    That's not really "winning or losing," is it?
    56AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:19
    Re: #50
    I mean, it's not a debate, it's a flame war, right?
    51AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:18
    In a flame war, whoever doesn't lose wins.
    55AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:19
    Re: #51
    That's the psychology of it —
    if you think you won, you won.

    And there's nothing to gain from it, it's pointless.
    58AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:20
    Re: #55
    I'll give you a serious answer —
    I'd say the moment you engage, you've already lost.
    60AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:21
    You're strong if you only ever back the winning horse.
    When other people are already flame-warring and it's obvious one side has the logic and the momentum, jumping in to back them up is the smart move.
    Only get involved when you're guaranteed to win, and ignore everything else — that's the tried-and-true method.
    64AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:22
    Re: #60
    There's no such thing as "logic" in a flame war, is there?
    66AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:23
    Re: #64
    Sometimes there is.
    I won't deny it's mostly dumb bickering and name-calling at its core.
    So I steer clear of the ones that look like they'll turn into a slog.
    At the very least, that means I never lose.
    70AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:25
    Re: #66
    Fair enough.
    There are idiots out there who just keep repeating "got a source?"
    even for stuff you could find with a two-second Google search.
    72AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:26
    Re: #66
    How do you even decide who won, though?
    I don't think you can judge it objectively —
    you can't measure how annoyed each side got, and there's no shared rule for what even counts as a win in the first place.
    79AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:29
    Re: #77
    Back in the PC era there were way fewer of these pointless shouting matches than there are now.
    83AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:31
    Re: #79
    Not sure what you mean by "the PC era," but this stuff's been around forever.
    84AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:32
    Re: #83
    Wait, don't tell me you're still browsing 5ch on a PC?
    90AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:33
    Re: #84
    I only ever do it on a PC.

    Only when I'm sitting at my desk at home, too.
    95AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:34
    Re: #84
    Funny how things flipped — people used to mock you with "what, you on a mo-shi-mo-shi phone?" (an old jab at mobile/flip-phone posters, back when browsing from a PC was the norm).

    Background and Key Points

    Flame wars (レスバ, “resu-ba,” short for “response battle”) are a fixture of 5channel culture, and the site’s mechanics shape how they play out. 5ch threads are anonymous, sequentially numbered, and can run to 1,000 replies before dying; VIP (livejupiter’s sister board, “Newsspeed VIP”) is one of the site’s oldest joke/chat boards but has bled traffic for years as users migrated to X and Discord, leaving mostly older regulars (“old-timers,” as one poster admits). That decline matters here: several posters frame flame-warring not as genuine anger but as a deliberate tactic to keep a dying thread alive with replies, since a normally-posted thread on “dead VIP” stalls out fast.

    The thread’s real fault line isn’t “is flame-warring good or bad” — nearly everyone agrees it’s petty and repetitive — but whether it has any instrumental value. One camp says it’s pure technique: a way to learn what bait works on which poster type, or a numbers game where you only jump in on the side that’s already winning. The other camp insists there’s no “winning” at all, since there’s no shared scoring rule, no way to measure who got more annoyed, and no stakes since anonymity lets anyone bail without consequence.

    What outsiders will likely miss is the PC-versus-mobile aside near the end — a callback to a much older 5ch hierarchy where PC users looked down on phone posters (“mo-shi-mo-shi” mocks old flip-phone email chimes), now reversed since PC browsing itself reads as old-fashioned. It’s a small detail, but it underscores the thread’s real subtext: this is less a debate about arguing technique than a snapshot of a graying userbase reminiscing about board culture as the platform empties out.

    *This article is compiled from excerpts of and a summary based on the 5ch (Newsspeed VIP) thread「What does it even mean to be good at flame wars?」.

  • Luxury Car YouTuber Turned Away by Official Dealer — 5channel Split Down the Middle

    Car YouTuber Amaneko revealed in a video that an official dealership refused to service the air conditioning on their Nissan GT-R. They say they’d had the same repair done at that dealership for two years running, and with the full details unclear, 5channel users were split — some said “that’s a fair business decision,” others said “based on the article alone, the dealer looks like the bad guy.”

    Luxury Car YouTuber With Multiple Vehicles Turned Away by Official Dealer, Baffled by the Treatment: “Sad That a Company Would Make This Call”

    Amaneko, a car YouTuber who owns several luxury vehicles, updated their YouTube channel by the 26th, revealing that an official dealership had refused to accept their Nissan GT-R for air conditioning repairs.

    Amaneko had the GT-R’s AC repaired at the same dealership for two years running, and when the same issue came up again this year, they asked for another inspection, fully understanding it would cost money.

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

    11AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:01
    They call it a "luxury car" but it's a Nissan?
    Go do this somewhere else lol
    12AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:02
    I don't know who this person is, but going by the article, the dealer just looks like the bad guy here.
    14AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:05
    "We won't accept you at all from now on" — that's basically a full ban.
    What did he even do?
    15AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:06
    Would they really point him out to other customers as "that guy's car"?
    Nobody would even recognize him.
    This story doesn't add up.
    22AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:10
    Re: #15
    (replying to myself)
    So if the dealer apologized for a compliance violation, they must have actually done something?
    I don't get it.
    16AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:06
    We really ought to hear the dealer's side of it too.
    17AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:07
    Banned from every dealership, not just this one location?
    18AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:08
    Shops have the right to choose their customers too, so that's fair enough.
    Still, what did he do to end up like this lol
    19AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:08
    >The other customers were apparently told it was Amaneko's car without permission —

    is that even confirmed?
    23AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:11
    >Amaneko had the GT-R's AC repaired at the same dealer two years running, and when it broke again this year, asked for another inspection, understanding it would cost money.

    Isn't the AC breaking down way too often to begin with?
    What's he doing to it? Or did he just get a lemon of a car?
    26AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:11
    As a business decision, it's the right call.
    He could just go to a different official dealer.
    27AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:11
    This might be a case where Nissan's side isn't blameless either, but if every single interaction gets turned into a video, no shop wants a customer like that.
    28AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:13
    Even if another customer was told "that's his car," would they actually know who he is?

    Re: #27
    Probably that's exactly it.
    29AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:13
    No shop wants to keep doing business with someone who posts disputes between a store and a customer online for strangers to gawk at. That's just common sense.
    30AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:13
    Going by the article alone, the dealer just looks like the jerk here.
    40AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:15
    Re: #30
    Since it's an official dealer, it's part of the Nissan network, right?
    He's not even complaining for a freebie — he says he'll pay for the repair.
    If he still got banned, he must have done something pretty serious.
    31AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:13
    The dealer's probably going to end up having to apologize again over this.
    34AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:14
    Re: #31
    So they don't even get to choose their own customers?
    33AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:14
    Drama like this probably makes someone money too.
    Not that I'd know.
    58AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:22
    Once it's made into a video, you know a whole army of his fanboys ("white knights") is going to come flooding in to complain.
    With that going on, the shop can't get any work done, so it probably ends up as "please never come back."
    Might've gone better if he'd just been angry about it without turning it into a video.
    61AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:23
    How can he even afford all these cars?
    Are they all rentals or something?
    67AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:25
    Re: #61
    Reportedly makes over ¥1 million a month from Super Chat donations, plus ¥800,000 a month from videos.
    70AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:26
    Banning him is fine, but
    there's also the question of why you manufacturer folks
    come around here in the first place.
    When pushy salesmen, or people acting like they're owed a favor, or some "friend" or "family member" I'd never even met showed up,
    I genuinely thought, wow, there really are unhinged people out there.

    This was back in the flush times.
    77AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:28
    Re: #70
    I have absolutely no idea what that means.
    72AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:27
    If the dealer were 100% at fault, it's hard to imagine it going as far as a ban.
    I can only guess he's been flagged as some kind of chronic complainer.
    74AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:28
    Re: #72
    Banning him is fine.
    He's nothing but trouble.
    Basically "please don't come to my shop either."

    Background and Key Points

    Japan’s “official dealer” system is more fragmented than English-speaking readers might assume. Nissan doesn’t run its dealerships directly — they’re operated by regional dealer corporations (historically split further by old brands like “Nissan Prince” versus “Nissan Motor” sales channels before a 1999-2000s consolidation), each legally independent and free to set its own customer policy. A ban from one storefront doesn’t necessarily mean a ban from “Nissan” as a company, and conversely, a single dealership can refuse a customer without head office involvement — both readings appeared in the thread. The GT-R itself is Nissan’s halo model, technically a “regular” Nissan badge but priced and marketed as a performance flagship, which is why poster #11’s “it’s just a Nissan” jab reads as trolling rather than a real objection from most others.

    The thread’s actual fault line wasn’t sympathy versus contempt for Amaneko — it was whether refusing service is a legitimate business right (many posters, e.g. #18, #26, #74, backed the dealer’s prerogative to drop a difficult customer) or whether, going by the video’s account alone, the dealer’s conduct looks unexplained and punitive (#12, #30, #40).

    What’s easy to miss: the claim that staff pointed Amaneko’s car out to other customers is unverified — it comes from Amaneko’s own video, and posters themselves (#19, #22) flagged that it isn’t confirmed. Readers should treat the dealership’s side, which isn’t represented anywhere in the source article, as simply absent rather than refuting Amaneko’s account.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5channel (Entertainment & Sports News+) thread “Luxury Car YouTuber With Multiple Vehicles Turned Away by Official Dealer, Baffled by the Treatment: “Sad That a Company Would Make This Call”.”

  • Toru Hotaru: ‘We Even Teased Tennen Shizai’ — On the Influence of Matsumoto Hitoshi’s 2-Million-Copy Bestseller ‘Testament’

    Toru Hotaru, former member of the comedy duo Amagari Kesshitai, appeared on TV Asahi’s “Mimi no Ana Kappojite Kike!” (“Open Your Ears and Listen!”) and spoke about the influence of Matsumoto Hitoshi’s book “Testament,” which became a bestseller with over 2 million copies sold. On the thread, users debated whether the “teasing” aimed at Tennen Shizai and Ninety-Nine back then was actually an attempt to crush them, along with the shifting relationship between Matsumoto, Hamada, and their junior comedians.

    Matsumoto Hitoshi’s “Testament” Had Insane Influence… Toru Hotaru: “I Think They Even Teased Tennen Shizai for Dancing” — The Book Sold Over 2 Million Copies

    TV Asahi’s “Mimi no Ana Kappojite Kike!” aired on the 24th, with Toro Salmon’s Kubota Kazunobu and Westland’s Iguchi Hiroyuki serving as MCs.

    On this episode, Toru Hotaru of the former duo Amagari Kesshitai appeared as a guest.

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

    2AnonymousAug 26, 2026 22:53
    The Yamanba skits on 'Hitori Gocchu' after that were unbelievably boring.
    4AnonymousAug 26, 2026 22:54
    They made them dress in hip-hop-style outfits, right?
    Hosshan too.
    5AnonymousAug 26, 2026 22:54
    Isn't Mattsun (Matsumoto) retiring already?
    37AnonymousAug 26, 2026 23:16
    Re: #5
    That's not something you can easily say…
    44AnonymousAug 26, 2026 23:25
    Re: #5
    As for 'isn't he retiring' — these days he's turned into the terrifying Baumkuchen Man (a mocking nickname referencing the sexual-misconduct allegations against him)!

    Any woman who eats it ends up getting hauled off in the location van!

    Somebody, please stop this Baumkuchen Man terrorizing all of Japan!

    The Ice Cream Man from that American movie has become real life!
    6AnonymousAug 26, 2026 22:55
    These days, Matsumoto's probably had his income completely overtaken by the Tennen Shizai guys.
    11AnonymousAug 26, 2026 22:56
    Re: #6
    I bet streaming pays more these days than TV, where fees are shrinking.
    25AnonymousAug 26, 2026 23:04
    Re: #6
    Over a decade ago, Degawa said Ninety-Nine's annual income was 200 million yen.
    26AnonymousAug 26, 2026 23:05
    Re: #6
    I think Okamura's the top earner, but his only regular gigs are Gurunai, Chiko-chan, two Kansai local shows, and a radio slot,
    so even at a high rate, it's probably not as much money as people assume.
    7AnonymousAug 26, 2026 22:55
    People who quit smoking have weak willpower.
    I'm never quitting, no matter what.
    8AnonymousAug 26, 2026 22:55
    Re: #1
    Teasing him about the Adidas tracksuit was no joke.
    10AnonymousAug 26, 2026 22:56
    They didn't mention that afterward, Shinsuke went on to produce comedians in Kansai, right? Was that Westland?
    12AnonymousAug 26, 2026 22:56
    The Japan Movie Specialty Channel was airing 'Osaka Story' with Ikewaki Chizuru, Sawada Kenji, and Tanaka Yuko,
    and there's a scene with Miyagawa Daisuke in it — he's got long hair like Kimutaku (Kimura Takuya) had back then, and it looked so out of place.
    14AnonymousAug 26, 2026 22:59
    Even back then, Matsumoto's cocky swagger was cringeworthy.
    76AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:52
    Re: #14
    And Junior, who was the poster child for being one of Matsumoto's yes-men,
    also hated the Tennen Shizai crew, Ninety-Nine included — and later, after Miyasako left Yoshimoto, he was blatantly kicking a man while he was down.
    18AnonymousAug 26, 2026 23:01
    Just shows how small-minded Matsumoto is.
    67AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:33
    Re: #18
    It's less 'teasing' and more like he was actually trying to crush them.
    21AnonymousAug 26, 2026 23:02
    On the behind-the-scenes footage that came as a separate video with the 'Kishiwada Shonen Gurentai' DVD,
    there's a bit where Ninety-Nine chartered a helicopter just to get from Kishiwada to an event in Nara.
    22AnonymousAug 26, 2026 23:03
    2 million copies, that's huge.
    I did read it standing in the bookstore though.
    23AnonymousAug 26, 2026 23:03
    Seeing the threads lined up like this hits different.
    24AnonymousAug 26, 2026 23:03
    Hotaru: 'That guy's finished now.'
    27AnonymousAug 26, 2026 23:05
    Underestimate [Beat] Takeshi and you'll never become him.
    39AnonymousAug 26, 2026 23:19
    Re: #27
    Takeshi's the one who got overtaken by Downtown and Tunnels in comedy long ago.
    He hasn't produced anything in comedy since the Heisei era began.
    I respect him as a film director, but as a comedian he's a thing of the past.
    43AnonymousAug 26, 2026 23:23
    He'd already made it big with 'Gotcha,' and at 30, was dissing up-and-coming comedians eight years younger than him
    — and not even playing it for laughs.
    83AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:19
    Re: #43
    What he was doing wasn't any different from Yasushi.
    51AnonymousAug 26, 2026 23:35
    Apparently he called Ninety-Nine 'Downtown's goldfish poop,' but
    the real goldfish poop is someone like Kimura Yuichi.
    52AnonymousAug 26, 2026 23:37
    And yet he coldly cut Miyasako loose, despite Miyasako being the one who helped him reach where he is today.
    55AnonymousAug 26, 2026 23:43
    Re: #52
    Miyasako only got popular thanks to Yoshimoto in the first place, but he mistook it for his own doing,
    went off the rails solo, and left Hotaru behind.
    56AnonymousAug 26, 2026 23:44
    I wonder what he thought about Hamada singing songs, getting all the screaming fangirls, and starring in dramas.
    58AnonymousAug 26, 2026 23:50
    Re: #56
    I think that was the era they got along worst.
    74AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:49
    Re: #56
    Downtown themselves sang and had girls screaming over them back in their Osaka days,
    even though they used to trash comedians who dyed their hair or bulked up…
    62AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:04
    All that karma came back around on him in his later years lol
    68AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:35
    Re: #62
    'Old men are total perverts, y'know?!'
    (Lizard Old Man, Episode 1 — a Matsumoto sketch character)
    66AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:25
    It's not just Ninety-Nine — I get the sense Moriwaki and Nakayama Hide got the same crushing treatment too.
    Moriwaki's own personality probably played a part in his case,
    but it's a wonder Nakayama Hide never got crushed.
    82AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:05
    Re: #66
    Hide-chan's talent agency has a lot of pull.
    72AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:45
    Matsumoto's a small man built on a pile of lies.
    78AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:55
    Re: #72
    Up until that whole Fuji TV incident, he was shielded by his partner Hamada and Chairman Osaki,
    but once those two started keeping their distance, the gilding completely peeled off Matsumoto.

    Background and Key Points

    Matsumoto Hitoshi’s “Testament” (遺書) came out in 1994, when he and Hamada Masatoshi’s duo Downtown were consolidating their grip over Japanese TV comedy through Yoshimoto Kogyo, the Osaka-based agency that also produced Ninety-Nine (Okamura and Yabe) and the trio Tennen Shizai, both junior acts under the same “senpai-kohai” (senior-junior) hierarchy that structures Japanese comedy troupes. Selling over two million copies was extraordinary for a comedian’s essay collection, and it cemented Matsumoto as a cultural arbiter whose on-air “ijiri” — the teasing/needling routine central to Japanese variety comedy — could make or break a junior act’s image.

    The thread doesn’t agree on how to read that teasing. Some posters treat it as ordinary senpai ribbing (the Adidas tracksuit jokes, the hip-hop styling), while others insist it was calculated to suppress rising kohai, especially once Ninety-Nine’s earnings reportedly began rivaling or exceeding Downtown’s own.

    What’s missing for outside readers is the context behind the asides about Miyasako Hiroyuki and Matsumoto’s declining protection: Miyasako left Yoshimoto in 2019 amid the agency’s “yami eigyo” (underground/unlicensed event) scandal, and posters allude to Matsumoto cutting ties without explaining that background. Likewise, the “Fuji TV incident” references Matsumoto’s 2024 sexual-misconduct allegations, which triggered his indefinite hiatus and the erosion of the protection he’d enjoyed from Hamada and former Yoshimoto chairman Osaki — the unstated frame behind the thread’s schadenfreude.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geisoku Sokuho+) thread “[Entertainment] Toru Hotaru: ‘I Think They Even Teased Tennen Shizai for Dancing’ — Matsumoto Hitoshi’s ‘Testament’ Had Insane Influence.”

  • A·ZU·NA’s New Single Stalls at #21 on Oricon — While Liella!’s Mini-Album Tops 20,000 Copies

    A·ZU·NA, the unit from Love Live! Superstar!!, dropped its first new song in four years — only to land at a modest No. 21 on the Oricon weekly chart. Over on 5ch’s Love Live! board, the gap with Liella!’s mini-album “Hyper Glowing!”, released around the same time and clearing 20,000 copies in its first week, became a hot topic. Fans of Nijigasaki and Liella! kept the sales debate going, comparing the unit’s past first-week numbers (14,203 → 13,181 → 16,626 copies).

    21st place, huh

    Source: oricon.co.jp / original article here

    2AnonymousAug 26, 2026 18:29
    Judging by the previous sales of the Project Sekai unit ranked right below them, maybe around 3,000?
    3AnonymousAug 26, 2026 18:31
    Meanwhile Liella!'s mini-album cleared 20,000… what are the Nijigasaki fans ("Nijishin") gonna do now?
    4AnonymousAug 26, 2026 18:31
    For real… It's losing even to Gakuen Idolmaster CDs, which have been available on download and streaming for months already, so buying the physical disc is basically just for collectors at this point. Kinda sad.
    5AnonymousAug 26, 2026 18:31
    Past first-week sales:
    1st: 14,203
    2nd: 13,181
    Anime Season 2 insert song: 9,349
    3rd: 16,626
    12AnonymousAug 26, 2026 18:43
    Re: #5
    If Nijigasaki fandom's peak energy was 100, I always figured it was down to like 30 or 40 by now —
    so this basically tracks with the sales.
    6AnonymousAug 26, 2026 18:34
    Nijigasaki fans were too busy bashing Liella!'s Sports Festival to show any real interest, so I had a feeling this would flop.
    7AnonymousAug 26, 2026 18:35
    This is still the cream of the crop, honestly — there's way worse-performing content out there.
    8AnonymousAug 26, 2026 18:36
    2026-07-08 20,089 copies — "Project Bonding with Liella!" mini-album "Hyper Glowing!" / Liella!

    Yep, Nijigasaki loses lol
    9AnonymousAug 26, 2026 18:36
    How much does Gakuen Idolmaster even sell again?
    I know the digital/streaming side does well.
    30AnonymousAug 26, 2026 18:55
    If Nijigasaki fans have time to bash the Sports Festival, they should pick up a Timee gig (a Japanese day-labor app) for some pocket money and go buy the CD instead.
    33AnonymousAug 26, 2026 18:56
    Re: #30
    Nijigasaki fans don't spend money on Nijigasaki, you know.
    Free Liella!-bashing is basically the most "support" they can muster.
    38AnonymousAug 26, 2026 18:57
    Take a page from Nijigasaki — even when a release flops, they've got the money to keep the franchise going.
    Let's get Love Live! Superstar!! doing unit singles too!
    40AnonymousAug 26, 2026 18:58
    Re: #38
    A brand-new unit's mini-album just topped 20,000 copies, in case you missed it.
    55AnonymousAug 26, 2026 19:18
    Is it really something to celebrate, Koichu fans, being on the same level as a franchise that's already winding down and phoning it in?
    59AnonymousAug 26, 2026 19:20
    Re: #55
    Koichu is just a joke/gag song, you know.
    It's strictly the show's theme song, not a serious Liella! release.
    Meanwhile you guys were expecting A·ZU·NA's first song under composer Hayashi to sell way more, weren't you?
    This right here is the result
    of an actual serious-versus-serious showdown.
    57AnonymousAug 26, 2026 19:19
    Don't get worked up over a song that doesn't even come with a serial code.
    58AnonymousAug 26, 2026 19:20
    Re: #57
    Weren't you the ones bashing the sales of "Koi no Tutorial," which also had no serial code…?
    61AnonymousAug 26, 2026 19:22
    Love Live! is done for, huh.
    67AnonymousAug 26, 2026 19:26
    Re: #61
    Love Live! is finished.
    It's the Idolmaster era now.
    66AnonymousAug 26, 2026 19:25
    Ordered mine on Amazon but for some reason shipping got delayed, so I won't get it until tomorrow.
    I actually like the coupling track — feels like it'd go over well live — but "Monochrome Labyrinth" is weak.
    85AnonymousAug 26, 2026 19:34
    Re: #66,68
    Yeah, it's true a CD with no serial code isn't going to sell these days.
    Also, shipping does seem delayed this time around.
    I preordered on Amazon ("Ama") back on 7/8 too, and it's now showing an expected arrival of Sunday.
    89AnonymousAug 26, 2026 19:36
    Re: #85
    So it's gonna keep climbing and hit 10,000, huh?
    Even then that's still half of 20,000 lolololol
    101AnonymousAug 26, 2026 19:40
    Re: #89
    What's the point of comparing it to a serial-code release in a reply to Re: #85?
    68AnonymousAug 26, 2026 19:27
    Re: #1
    No serial code and it's on streaming, so that number checks out.
    73AnonymousAug 26, 2026 19:31
    Re: #68
    Who was it again that kept chanting "2,409" over and over when someone said the same thing about Koichu?
    You're just getting the same thing thrown right back at you.
    75AnonymousAug 26, 2026 19:32
    Nijigasaki should run a Sports Festival too.
    Their CDs aren't selling, so they might as well contribute to Love Live! that way.
    77AnonymousAug 26, 2026 19:32
    Re: #75
    Nah, not doing that~
    We don't need to embarrass ourselves like that — we pull crowds in with proper lives~


    lol
    91AnonymousAug 26, 2026 19:36
    I mean, you can't call it a "flop" on release day itself.
    Are you seriously out of your mind?
    Sounds like someone who's never held down a real job.
    96AnonymousAug 26, 2026 19:37
    Re: #91
    People said the exact same thing during the "Eigasaki" movie's Chapter 1 too —
    "it's just opening day,"
    "it's a weekday"…


    And the result was a massive flop.


    Yep, debunked.
    100AnonymousAug 26, 2026 19:39
    Re: #91
    If it were selling out everywhere like Ren's soundtrack did recently, the cumulative total would keep climbing,
    but there's no sign of that happening here, so it'll basically come down to first-week numbers.
    There's no big release event planned either, right?
    103AnonymousAug 26, 2026 19:40
    Re: #91
    Nijigasaki fans keep getting owned lololol

    Just



    admit you lost already.
    123AnonymousAug 26, 2026 19:48
    Looks like we've found this year's group with the lowest peak sales.
    129AnonymousAug 26, 2026 19:51
    Re: #123
    Oh yeah, true.
    The "Ikizura" live sold decently since it came bundled with a Love Live Fes serial code.
    132AnonymousAug 26, 2026 19:52
    Re: #123
    Lay off trash-talking the 2,409.

    Background and Key Points

    Love Live! is one of Bandai Namco’s flagship multimedia idol franchises, built around several rotating “school idol” casts that release music, anime, and games in parallel: the original μ’s, Aqours, the Nijigasaki High School Idol Club cast, and Liella! from Love Live! Superstar!!. A·ZU·NA is not a rival group but a two-member sub-unit drawn from Liella! itself, so the thread’s framing of “A·ZU·NA vs. Liella!” is really an in-house comparison, while the sniping at “Nijishin” (Nijigasaki fans) drags in a third, unrelated cast entirely — a sign of how tribal the Love Live! fandom’s sub-groups have become. Oricon’s weekly singles/albums chart, the benchmark cited here, tracks physical CD sales, which in Japan are often inflated by bundled serial codes for handshake events, lottery draws, or concert tickets that push fans to buy multiples of the same disc.

    The thread’s real fault line is less “did it flop” than whether the comparison is even valid: posters split over whether A·ZU·NA’s single, which shipped without a serial code, could fairly be judged against serial-code releases, and over whether first-week Oricon numbers mean anything before cumulative sales are in.

    What’s likely to trip up outside readers is that serial-code presence, not raw fan enthusiasm, is often the biggest lever on Oricon rankings — a no-serial release competing against one with an event ticket attached is structurally disadvantaged regardless of the music’s reception, a distinction the thread argues about but never fully spells out for anyone unfamiliar with how Japanese CD sales actually work.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Love Live!) thread “A·ZU·NA’s Long-Awaited New Song After 4 Years Turns Out to Be a Shocking Flop!“.

  • Vaundy, Fujii Kaze Cancel Overseas Shows One After Another Amid ‘Unforeseen Circumstances’

    Popular artists Vaundy and Fujii Kaze have both announced cancellations of overseas tour dates — Vaundy’s Shanghai show and Fujii Kaze’s Bangkok show — adding to a growing string of canceled international performances by top acts. In both cases, the only explanation given was “unforeseen circumstances,” and on 5channel, users traded theories about what’s really behind it, from poor ticket sales to local regulations to the weak yen breaking the underlying business model.

    Singer-songwriter Vaundy (26) updated his official website on the 26th, announcing the cancellation of the Shanghai leg of his Asia tour, originally scheduled for November. Cancellations of overseas shows by popular artists have been piling up recently.

    The official site stated: “Regarding the Shanghai performance of ‘Vaundy ASIA ARENA TOUR 2026 “HORO”‘, originally scheduled for Saturday, November 14 and Sunday, November 15, 2026, we regret to announce that due to unforeseen circumstances, we have decided to cancel the show.” The tour was set to kick off with a Tokyo show on September 5, running to a total of 11 performances across 6 cities: Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong, Fukuoka, Taipei, and Shanghai.

    Singer-songwriter Fujii Kaze also updated his official website on the 21st of this month, announcing the cancellation of the Bangkok, Thailand date of his world tour, originally planned for December 26. The reason given for the cancellation was likewise “due to unforeseen circumstances.”

    Source: sponichi.co.jp / Original article here

    4AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:17
    If everyone knows how this is going to go, why do they keep insisting on booking shows in China?
    70AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:00
    Re: #4
    I think they're just endlessly stupid.
    5AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:18
    Hong Kong and Shanghai I get, but why Bangkok and Seoul too?
    22AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:26
    Re: #5
    I saw today that Jeju Island is in bad shape — is Seoul the same?
    8AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:19
    Was it just that tickets weren't selling anywhere except China?
    13AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:21
    For a cancellation like this, chalked up to 'unforeseen circumstances,' does insurance actually pay out?
    14AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:21
    Those guys sure love Japan, huh lol (they're barely interested in anything Japanese besides Romance of the Three Kingdoms)
    15AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:21
    Cases like this are usually just because the tickets aren't selling.
    39AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:37
    Re: #15
    Every artist's announcement uses almost identical wording, so maybe that really is the reason.
    16AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:23
    Fujii Kaze seems kind of interesting, but Vaundy and that fake-K-pop crowd — I wouldn't go even if they played the community center down the street lol
    20AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:26
    The fate of a 'popular singer' (popular in Japan only, of course) lol
    23AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:26
    Don't forget about Millennium Parade either (King Gnu's Daiki Tsuneta side project) — now Ado, she's the real deal.
    24AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:27
    Re: #1
    They'll probably look into what actually caused it, but I wonder if someone just bailed — the booking agent, the agency on this side, or the promoter over there? (´・ω・`)
    27AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:29
    Re: #24
    Nope — non-Japanese artists are running into the same thing.
    36AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:34
    Quit hiding behind 'unforeseen circumstances' and just explain it properly — this is happening all over the place: China, Thailand, Korea…
    37AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:35
    It's because they're not popular. Japanese fans won't travel either because of the weak yen, and with Japan in decline, this whole 'look, we're huge overseas!' marketing trick is finished.
    42AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:39
    Re: #37
    Ah (´・ω・`) so that's it — the audience was basically just Japanese fans flying in from Japan, and the weak yen tanked that whole business model.
    41AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:37
    If it's getting cancelled in Thailand and Korea too, isn't it just that tickets aren't selling, plain and simple?
    45AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:41
    Re: #41
    Some of these hadn't even gone on sale yet.
    50AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:44
    They reported it like it was selling great, but it turns out it just wasn't selling — it only went a little viral, that's all.
    58AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:49
    Re: #50
    Fujii Kaze is selling ridiculously well overseas though — there's no precedent for that among Japanese artists.
    80AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:06
    Re: #58
    He's still outside the main charts in every country though.
    82AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:08
    Re: #80
    At least on the Thai charts he's selling overwhelmingly well.
    84AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:09
    Re: #80
    Don't spread lies, hater —
    https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/albums-sales-chart/20250912/7511/
    63AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:51
    Fujii Kaze is popular overseas too, so it really makes you wonder what the actual reason is.
    67AnonymousAug 27, 2026 00:56
    Re: #63
    The venue in Thailand was just too big.
    71AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:01
    Then foresee it, genius.
    73AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:03
    Re: #71
    Everybody in the entertainment industry is an idiot, so there's no way in hell they could ever 'foresee' anything.
    88AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:12
    Is Vaundy only cancelling Shanghai, and still going ahead with Seoul and Hong Kong?
    93AnonymousAug 27, 2026 01:15
    Re: #88
    Yeah, those are still happening — they're sold out.

    Background and Key Points

    The Japanese entertainment industry’s boilerplate cancellation phrase is “yamu o enai jijō” or “fukakōryoku” — rendered here as “unforeseen circumstances” — a stock legal-sounding term agencies use to avoid stating a real cause, whether that’s contractual, financial, or political. Vaundy and Fujii Kaze are both major contemporary J-pop crossover acts (Fujii Kaze in particular has drawn real Western and Southeast Asian streaming attention, unusual for a Japanese artist), and their tours sit alongside idol groups like JO1 in a wave of 2026 cancellations spanning China, Thailand, and South Korea. One relevant fact the thread never raises: mainland Chinese authorities require government-level approval for foreign performers’ concerts, a bureaucratic and political chokepoint that has nothing to do with ticket demand and has scuttled Japanese and Western tours before — a simpler explanation for the Shanghai cancellation than anything posters floated.

    The thread’s real fault line is whether this is a demand problem or a business-model problem. One camp insists it’s plain: shows sell out where Japanese expat or fan-tourist demand exists (Seoul, Hong Kong stayed on sale) and get cut where it doesn’t. The other camp, crystallizing around post 37, argues the whole “we’re big overseas” promotional narrative was always built on Japanese fans flying out to see homegrown acts abroad, and the weak yen has quietly made that unaffordable — meaning “international popularity” for artists like these may be substantially a Japan-domestic phenomenon in disguise.

    Readers should also note the Fujii Kaze sub-argument (58–84) never resolves: chart placement in Thailand doesn’t necessarily forecast a specific venue’s ticket sales, so his overseas traction and this particular cancellation aren’t necessarily contradictory.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5channel (Geinosokuho+) thread “[Music] Overseas shows by popular singers keep getting cancelled — Vaundy, Fujii Kaze, JO1 and others forced into tough calls citing ‘unforeseen circumstances’.”

  • Comedy duo Pocket Korokke announces breakup, ending 7-year run

    On August 25, Shunsuke Aikawa and Takuma of the comedy duo “Pocket Korokke” each announced the group’s breakup on their own social media. On 5channel’s Geinou Sports Sokuho+ board, reactions ranged from “Who?” and “Never even heard of them” to surprised comments like “Weren’t they supposed to be the top favorites for this year’s M-1?”, sparking a lively back-and-forth over just how famous the duo actually was.

    8/26 (Wed) 15:00

    Shunsuke Aikawa (25) and Takuma (26) of the comedy duo Pocket Korokke announced on the 25th, each via their own social media, that they are disbanding.

    Aikawa posted a statement on X opening with “I—I have an announcement to make,” writing: “I’ve decided to disband Pocket Korokke, which I’ve been doing for close to 7 years!”

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

    3AnonymousAug 26, 2026 18:01
    No idea who they are, but this is a shock
    4AnonymousAug 26, 2026 18:01
    Are they even news-worthy?
    9AnonymousAug 26, 2026 18:03
    Never thought I'd see Pokekoro break up
    12AnonymousAug 26, 2026 18:04
    Whoa, that's the Pokekoro who was hyped as this year's top M-1 favorite?
    13AnonymousAug 26, 2026 18:04
    One-hit wonders known for the "Yellow Yellow Happy" bit
    29AnonymousAug 26, 2026 18:10
    Re: #13
    That's Black Biscuits you're thinking of, lol (a totally different 90s J-pop unit)
    14AnonymousAug 26, 2026 18:04
    Pocket and fried food — what a bold combo
    17AnonymousAug 26, 2026 18:05
    Sticking a korokke in your pocket would be a disaster, though (said in Kansai dialect)
    18AnonymousAug 26, 2026 18:05
    Turns out "Potekoro" — who might've been pals with the M-1 champs, no less — is done for!
    21AnonymousAug 26, 2026 18:08
    First time hearing this duo's name, but life's full of meetings and partings
    24AnonymousAug 26, 2026 18:08
    Isn't it Jungle Pocket?
    27AnonymousAug 26, 2026 18:09
    Hasn't there been zero real talent since King of Comedy?
    31AnonymousAug 26, 2026 18:10
    That's the Uchan and Vivian Hsu unit, right?
    They were still going?
    32AnonymousAug 26, 2026 18:11
    That's the Pumpkin Potato Korokke, huh
    34AnonymousAug 26, 2026 18:11
    3 years on YouTube and only 133 subscribers
    Random amateurs off the street would have more than that
    35AnonymousAug 26, 2026 18:11
    Re: #28
    Not knowing that Pokekoro is honestly kind of bad
    37AnonymousAug 26, 2026 18:12
    Seriously? Biggest shock I've had all hour
    38AnonymousAug 26, 2026 18:12
    Sounds like it could be one of Jarujaru's sketch characters
    39AnonymousAug 26, 2026 18:12
    Pokeko? I remember signing a petition to get them to put out a new song. Brings back memories
    40AnonymousAug 26, 2026 18:13
    Everyone's trying so hard to be funny here, but this thread's been boring from start to finish
    42AnonymousAug 26, 2026 18:14
    They should get invited on Downtown Plus, Saraba, Onigoshi, Soshina, or Miyasako's YouTube channel to hear the real story
    44AnonymousAug 26, 2026 18:14
    Haven't even "gotten" Pokekoro yet and they're already breaking up? Seriously… (the nickname doubles as the name of a dress-up mobile app, hence the mix-up)
    50AnonymousAug 26, 2026 18:16
    Whaaaaaaaat
    Who?
    52AnonymousAug 26, 2026 18:17
    The first time I ever hear their name and it's already breakup news
    56AnonymousAug 26, 2026 18:21
    This is what happens when you put a korokke in your pocket…
    58AnonymousAug 26, 2026 18:23
    Just came up with a bit where you shove a freshly fried korokke in your pocket and go "ow ow hot hot"
    Feel free to use it at the farewell show
    61AnonymousAug 26, 2026 18:24
    More famous than Asarido?
    67AnonymousAug 26, 2026 18:29
    Re: #61
    Asarido's famous, come on
    63AnonymousAug 26, 2026 18:27
    The Pokekoro once called "Pocket Korokke of the North, Puppet Mappet of the East" (´；ω；｀)
    66AnonymousAug 26, 2026 18:29
    Known for the bit "Ahh, you must be Ushi-kun, aren't you?!"
    71AnonymousAug 26, 2026 18:31
    For those who don't get it, in simple terms:
    This is Downtown-breaking-up level big
    80AnonymousAug 26, 2026 18:40
    Re: #71
    Just a matter of time?
    73AnonymousAug 26, 2026 18:34
    Master Pocket, Master Korokke, thank you for your hard work
    74AnonymousAug 26, 2026 18:34
    There's so much news about one half of some comedy duo I've never heard of dying, so a mere breakup still feels like something you can bounce back from
    82AnonymousAug 26, 2026 18:43
    There was that copypasta about korokke whenever a typhoon hits, right?
    Still don't get what it means to this day
    99AnonymousAug 26, 2026 19:01
    Re: #82
    You buy a ton of korokke before the typhoon makes it impossible to go out
    but then eat most of them before the typhoon even arrives
    Is that really so hard to get?

    Background and Key Points

    Comedy duos being obscure enough to trigger “who?” reactions on breakup isn’t unusual in Japan’s oversaturated owarai (comedy) scene, but the specific confusion here centers on a real institution: M-1 Grand Prix, the annual manzai competition run by Yoshimoto Kogyo and broadcast on TV Asahi since 2001, which functions as the single biggest career-making (or unmaking) event for two-person comedy acts in the country. Winning or even placing highly at M-1 can turn an unknown duo into a nationally recognized name overnight, and being named a “favorite” ahead of the contest carries real weight with industry insiders and hardcore comedy fans, even if the wider public has never heard of the act.

    The thread’s actual fault line isn’t over whether Pocket Korokke was good or bad — nobody offers an opinion on their material — but over a credibility gap: a vocal minority insists this duo was seriously tipped as a top contender for this year’s M-1, while the overwhelming majority insert their own admission of total unfamiliarity, some mistaking them for unrelated acts (Black Biscuits, a 90s J-pop girl group; Jungle Pocket, a racehorse). That gap between “insider hype” and “zero public recognition” is the whole joke of the thread.

    What’s easy to miss if you’re not steeped in Japanese entertainment: M-1 “favorite” status is often decided by comedians and industry bookers rather than TV ratings or mainstream exposure, so a duo can be a legitimate dark-horse pick for the country’s top comedy prize while having, as one poster notes, only 133 YouTube subscribers after three years — a gap that says more about how niche the manzai circuit’s internal hierarchy is than about the duo’s actual talent.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5channel (Geinou Sports Sokuho+) thread “Comedy duo Pocket Korokke announces breakup, ending 7-year run.”

  • Hidemasa Morita: “I Promise I’ll Be Back There” — Hinting at a Japan Squad Return? Adds the Japanese Flag

    Hidemasa Morita, who transferred to Hull City, posted on X with a Japanese flag emoji saying, “I’ll definitely be back there, I promise,” hinting at his desire to return to the Japan national team — right after making his post-transfer debut in the Carabao Cup away at Stoke (a 1-1 draw settled on penalties).

    On the thread, plenty of posters expressed regret that Morita had been left out of call-ups under former manager Hajime Moriyasu, while others were more skeptical — noting he still hasn’t played a Premier League match and finding his performance against a second-tier side underwhelming, with opinions split further by comparisons to Ao Tanaka’s track record.

    MF Hidemasa Morita (31), taking on his first challenge in England’s Premier League, updated his X (formerly Twitter) account on the 26th, hinting at his intention to return to the Japan national team.

    Morita, who moved to Hull City from Portuguese powerhouse Sporting, made his first appearance since the transfer in the away match against Stoke on the 25th (the 26th, Japan time).

    On X, he shared his feelings: “After six years in Portugal, in an environment where not many people got to watch my matches, I’m happy to have come to England, where people can cheer me on even from Japan. But I recognize the Japanese supporters who checked in and cheered for me every match even back when I was at Sporting, and I’m truly grateful.” He then added, alongside a Japanese flag, “I’ll definitely be back there, I promise.”

    Source: nikkansports.com / Original article here

    4AnonymousAug 26, 2026 22:49
    Moriyasu is seriously the biggest culprit here.
    Fire him already.
    41AnonymousAug 26, 2026 23:31
    Re: #4
    Exactly this.
    Eight years under Poichi (nickname for manager Moriyasu) was way too much.
    And there's still another six months left.
    5AnonymousAug 26, 2026 22:50
    Benching one of the guys who helped get us through qualifying…
    He must have been so frustrated.
    38AnonymousAug 26, 2026 23:29
    Re: #5 Re: #1
    Morita's Hull only drew 1-1 with second-tier Stoke and needed a penalty shootout — that's not exactly praiseworthy…

    Also, this morning's match wasn't the Premier League, it was the Carabao Cup.
    39AnonymousAug 26, 2026 23:29
    Re: #38
    Well, that's about right for his level.
    50AnonymousAug 26, 2026 23:36
    Re: #38
    Because he never finishes chances like this.
    https://youtube.com/shorts/WkTA-kb5FO0?si=AeM0oOh4siiH81bb
    6AnonymousAug 26, 2026 22:52
    He's better than Tanaka, and if they'd rotated him in as a backup alongside Kamada, it would've eased the load on Kamada too.
    The current national team roster is full of players who are too well-behaved and don't speak up enough.
    37AnonymousAug 26, 2026 23:27
    Re: #6
    No, the stats already show Tanaka beats Morita in physicality, defense, and attacking output.
    52AnonymousAug 26, 2026 23:36
    Re: #6
    Morita plays a different position from Tanaka — the guy whose position actually overlaps with his is Sano.
    It looks like Morita stopped getting call-ups right around when Sano got in, as some kind of swap.
    63AnonymousAug 26, 2026 23:45
    Re: #6
    This was his first match for Hull, and YouTube is flooded with videos making it look like some next-level performance, but honestly it wasn't that impressive — I felt the same kind of underwhelming vibe as with Tanaka.
    Even when he gets the ball, his movement is just sideways, and his dribbling to carry the ball forward looks sluggish.
    8AnonymousAug 26, 2026 22:53
    Morita was really good.
    Moriyasu, just go away already.
    73AnonymousAug 26, 2026 23:56
    Re: #8
    Morita's Hull only drew 1-1 with second-tier Stoke and needed a penalty shootout — not exactly praiseworthy…
    9AnonymousAug 26, 2026 22:54
    But Japan loses whenever this guy's in the lineup, no?
    45AnonymousAug 26, 2026 23:34
    Re: #9
    There's actually data showing Japan tends to lose more when Morita starts.
    He's just being conveniently used as a stick to beat Moriyasu-haters with.
    Barely anyone was even watching his matches before this anyway.
    10AnonymousAug 26, 2026 22:56
    Once Oiwa takes over there'll probably be a generational shift, so they won't pick a 31-year-old.
    12AnonymousAug 26, 2026 22:57
    Is that an indirect dig at Moriyasu?
    74AnonymousAug 26, 2026 23:57
    Re: #12
    People probably dislike you because you write stuff like this every time trying to stir things up.
    15AnonymousAug 26, 2026 23:02
    So basically he's sitting out the Asian Cup.
    Skipping the sinking ship that is Moriyasu's Japan.
    16AnonymousAug 26, 2026 23:02
    Morita really is good enough to make you think the World Cup results might've been different if he'd been there.
    17AnonymousAug 26, 2026 23:03
    He probably never imagined that speaking his mind to Poichi (Moriyasu's nickname) would get him frozen out, lol
    It's all Tashima's fault.
    18AnonymousAug 26, 2026 23:04
    So it's a matter of gritting it out (a reference to the proverb "lying on firewood, tasting gall" — enduring hardship for a future goal) until Moriyasu steps down?
    19AnonymousAug 26, 2026 23:04
    If they'd called up Morita, they could've rotated players to give them rest, and had more midfield options too.
    20AnonymousAug 26, 2026 23:05
    I think the team will get a lot younger once Oiwa takes charge.
    No chance for Morita there.
    21AnonymousAug 26, 2026 23:07
    There might be more, but he's already frozen out at least two guys.
    Can't bring myself to like Poichi.
    22AnonymousAug 26, 2026 23:07
    For Japanese football, Morita is worth far more than Moriyasu.
    The eight years spent with Moriyasu weren't wasted,
    but it was such a waste — essentially zero titles.
    For a golden generation of players often called the strongest in Japanese history
    to have no title they can be proud of with the national team
    is just abnormal.
    23AnonymousAug 26, 2026 23:07
    No matter who the manager is, they probably don't want to use a player who complains — but then again, someone like Doan, who ditched his ego and never spoke up for himself, feels kind of off too, honestly.
    29AnonymousAug 26, 2026 23:10
    League level is what matters, right?

    Moriyasu — J.League

    Morita — Premier League
    Endo — Premier League
    Even the players who don't get picked are playing at a higher level than he ever did.
    67AnonymousAug 26, 2026 23:50
    Re: #29
    That's exactly why Moriyasu was so attached to Nagatomo.

    On the surface, Nagatomo was positioned as some kind of spiritual pillar, but really, since Moriyasu doesn't have much of a playing career to back him up, he kept Nagatomo around to help win the other players over on his behalf.

    He actually said as much himself, in a conversation with baseball manager Kuriyama — that players based overseas are strong-willed, so how you get your message across affects squad selection.
    Kuriyama used Ohtani to hold the team together, but Moriyasu was just using Nagatomo the same way.
    42AnonymousAug 26, 2026 23:33
    Squad selection aside, the sheer lack of a game plan in the second half against Brazil was honestly shocking.
    51AnonymousAug 26, 2026 23:36
    Re: #42
    Even giving him the benefit of the doubt on having no game plan, the way they just holed up in the second half and kept hoofing the ball forward at random whenever it came at them was deflating.
    55AnonymousAug 26, 2026 23:37
    Re: #52
    No, the guy whose role actually overlaps with his is Kamada.
    70AnonymousAug 26, 2026 23:54
    Re: #55
    Kamada?? Morita doesn't have anywhere near the attacking output that Kamada or Tanaka have.
    Morita even got scolded by Mitoma, who told him, "Hide, you're dropping too deep!" (Hide-kun being Morita's nickname)
    66AnonymousAug 26, 2026 23:49
    Re: #63
    Ao Tanaka is on another level — he's dominated against top Premier League sides and earned real praise for it.

    Morita, meanwhile, has only played as a sub against a second-tier side and in a cup match so far.
    He still hasn't played in any of Europe's top five leagues.
    69AnonymousAug 26, 2026 23:53
    Re: #66 Re: #37
    Ao Tanaka played the full 90 minutes on his Premier League debut and was Man of the Match, putting in a huge, highly praised performance in a win.
    He's also scored against powerhouses like Chelsea and Liverpool, and got great reviews for dominating against Man United too.


    Tanaka's relentless pressing won a penalty and set up the goal that won the match.

    Even TV news reported him as Man of the Match.

    https://imgur.com/eOFBvzg.jpeg
    https://x.com/lufc/status/1957897908142870766

    Man of the Match according to Leeds' official channels too.
    Man of the Match according to media outlets like the BBC too.

    Ao Tanaka beat the very Everton side that beat Mitoma, Kamada, and Tomiyasu.

    Background and Key Points

    Hidemasa Morita spent six years at Sporting CP, one of Portugal’s “big three” clubs, before this summer’s move to Hull City — a transfer the article’s headline frames as “England’s Premier League,” but Hull actually play in the Championship, England’s second tier. That distinction matters: the Carabao Cup tie at Stoke, settled by penalties, was a domestic cup match between two second-tier sides, not a top-flight showcase. For readers unfamiliar with Japan’s setup, Hajime Moriyasu managed the national team for roughly eight years through the 2026 World Cup cycle, guiding a group widely called Japan’s strongest-ever generation (Mitoma, Kamada, Doan, Endo, Tomiyasu) to knockout-stage relevance without ever winning a trophy — hence posters’ frustration despite the individual talent involved. Kozo Tashima, mentioned in passing, is the Japan Football Association president who oversees managerial appointments. Go Oiwa is referenced as Moriyasu’s likely successor, expected to favor a younger core.

    The thread’s real fault line isn’t whether Morita deserves sympathy — it’s whether his Hull debut actually proves anything. Sympathizers treat his exclusion as proof Moriyasu mismanaged a proven qualifier-era midfielder; skeptics counter that a Championship-level penalty shootout says nothing, and that Ao Tanaka’s Man-of-the-Match Premier League performances for Leeds against Chelsea, Liverpool and Everton make the comparison lopsided.

    What the thread never addresses: Morita and Tanaka aren’t really direct competitors for one slot — posters disagree even among themselves on whether his positional overlap is with Tanaka, Sano, or Kamada — so the “who’s better” framing may be comparing players who wouldn’t be fighting for the same shirt anyway.

    *This article was compiled as excerpts and a summary from the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “[Soccer] Hidemasa Morita: “I’ll Definitely Be Back There, I Promise” — Hinting at a Japan Squad Return? Adds the Japanese Flag“.

  • Japan’s Consumer Affairs Agency Moves to Regulate ‘Dark Patterns’ That Block Cancellations — 5ch: ‘Just Make a Cancel Button Mandatory’

    A study panel under Japan’s Consumer Affairs Agency has released a draft interim report calling for comprehensive regulation of “dark patterns” — tactics like disguising subscription sign-ups as “trials” and obstructing cancellations. On the forum, posters called for mandatory cancel buttons and browser-only cancellation, pointed to Amazon and California’s regulations as examples, while others voiced skepticism about how slow the response has been.

    Japan’s Consumer Affairs Agency to regulate “dark patterns,” making cancellation obstruction illegal — panel releases draft interim report

    On August 24, Japan’s Consumer Affairs Agency presented a draft interim report to its “Study Group on Digital Transactions and the Act on Specified Commercial Transactions.”

    The draft states that comprehensive rules should be established against displays and UI (user interfaces) that distort consumer decision-making — so-called “dark patterns” — such as advertising something as a “trial” while actually steering users into a subscription.

    Source: japan.cnet.com / Original article here

    2AnonymousAug 25, 2026 22:34
    So even Amazon Prime contracts are going to get scrutinized now?
    3AnonymousAug 25, 2026 23:05
    Just hurry up and do it already.
    4AnonymousAug 25, 2026 23:20
    That's because DAZN screwed the pooch.
    6AnonymousAug 25, 2026 23:32
    I want it made mandatory to put a big, obvious 'Cancel' button right on the user account page.
    7AnonymousAug 25, 2026 23:39
    Re: #6
    California has a similar law — cancelling has to be at least as easy as signing up.
    8AnonymousAug 25, 2026 23:42
    Re: #7
    That's great lol
    9AnonymousAug 25, 2026 23:48
    If you can sign up through the browser, you should be able to cancel through the browser too.
    They absolutely need to include this.
    Otherwise, companies pull sneaky moves like a certain company we know — easy to sign up, but the moment things get tough for them, suddenly cancellation is email or phone only.
    21AnonymousAug 26, 2026 05:33
    Re: #9
    Not sure how it is now, but a few years back Mitsubishi UFJ Bank and some brokerages were like that.
    10AnonymousAug 26, 2026 00:02
    Back when I cancelled FOD [Fuji TV's streaming service], it was so convoluted I had to follow a walkthrough site step by step.
    This kind of regulation should've happened over a decade ago, back when mobile phones were becoming basic infrastructure — makes you wonder why only now.
    Cracking down on pressure against independent entertainers was decades late too. Really shows you the caliber of our politicians and bureaucrats.
    11AnonymousAug 26, 2026 00:22
    Way too slow. Do you have any idea how many elderly victims got left behind because they couldn't keep up?
    The Consumer Affairs Agency should seriously pay compensation out of their own pockets for a decade's worth of victims.

    Too slow! Move fast, now!
    Otherwise those scammers will already have their next workaround ready.
    12AnonymousAug 26, 2026 02:27
    Unforgivable, Amazon Prime!
    13AnonymousAug 26, 2026 04:46
    Forget that, just ban paid gacha in mobile games entirely already.
    14AnonymousAug 26, 2026 05:02
    >> In Japan too, tactics that use labels like "trial" to create the impression of a one-time purchase, while actually locking users into a subscription, are on the rise, especially in online transactions. Dark patterns can be deployed online at low cost and tend to affect far more consumers than similar offline tactics. The proposal warns this could lead to large-scale harm. At the same time, current law isn't clear enough to adequately cover today's online transactions, and aggressive displays that intimidate or confuse consumers aren't even covered by regulation.
    15AnonymousAug 26, 2026 05:02
    >> 'Comprehensive regulation' proposed for fast-changing tactics; illegal examples to be blacklisted

    >> In designing the regulation, the proposal notes that because problematic tactics are diverse and change quickly, making it impossible to list them all in advance, a 'reasonably comprehensive set of rules' with flexibility should be considered. At the same time, to avoid discouraging legitimate displays and UI design, it also calls for clear criteria — such as laying out illegal patterns as a 'blacklist' in subordinate regulations or guidelines. As for violations, the basic approach would be correction through administrative measures.
    16AnonymousAug 26, 2026 05:04
    >> Mandatory disclosure of total payment amount; cancellation obstruction to be made illegal

    >> The proposal also addresses the contract stage. Even after a 2021 revision to the Act on Specified Commercial Transactions required a final confirmation screen, consumer complaints about subscriptions have stayed at high levels. In response, the proposal calls for mandatory display of the total payment amount on the final confirmation screen, and a ban on splitting transaction terms across separate displays. For 'upselling' — presenting seemingly better terms after an order is finalized to push users toward pricier plans — it would require clearly marking what changed, so users can compare before and after.
    17AnonymousAug 26, 2026 05:05
    >> Measures were also called for around cancellation. Citing cases like phone lines that never connect or procedures made needlessly complicated for no good reason, the proposal says unduly delaying cancellation should be classified as illegal and subject to regulation.

    >> The panel also flagged that further study is needed on new sales methods combining AI, such as transactions handled through AI agents and AI-powered targeted advertising or dark patterns.
    18AnonymousAug 26, 2026 05:06
    >> Dark patterns are techniques that use displays and user-flow designs built on insights into psychological manipulation to steer consumers into contracts without letting them fully grasp what's happening. In a 2022 document, the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) defined them as practices that 'nudge, deceive, coerce, or manipulate consumers into choices that are often not in their best interest' — and they're viewed as a problem internationally.

    >> In Japan too, tactics that use labels like "trial" to create the impression of a one-time purchase, while actually locking users into a subscription, are on the rise, especially in online transactions. Dark patterns can be deployed online at low cost and tend to affect far more consumers than similar offline tactics. The proposal warns this could lead to large-scale harm. At the same time, current law isn't clear enough to adequately cover today's online transactions, and aggressive displays that intimidate or confuse consumers aren't even covered by regulation.
    20AnonymousAug 26, 2026 05:30
    Re: #1
    Like how Rakuten has the 'receive store emails' box checked by default, or how signing up for Yahoo's flea market app comes with terms sharing your info with PayPay, or how everything seems to have terms trying to share your data with LINE.
    23AnonymousAug 26, 2026 05:40
    It's not enough to just make cancellation obstruction illegal — they need to go as far as institutionalizing hefty damages so that victims of cancellation obstruction actually profit from it.
    Basically, a form of punitive damages system.
    24AnonymousAug 26, 2026 06:05
    First, I want them to go after NHK.
    26AnonymousAug 26, 2026 08:22
    Could they also ban making people register a credit card for a 1-month free trial?
    28AnonymousAug 26, 2026 09:40
    NTT, this means you.
    29AnonymousAug 26, 2026 10:16
    Re: #1
    Toyoko Inn too.
    Thought it looked cheap, looked into it, and it was a student discount rate (lol)
    33AnonymousAug 26, 2026 15:33
    First, just make it categorically illegal for customer service lines to use Navi Dial [Japan's premium-rate phone number service].

    The lines are already full, but instead of a busy signal you just get connected and left on hold forever — and you're the one paying for the call the whole time. That's beyond unacceptable.
    36AnonymousAug 26, 2026 16:03
    This is probably aimed at so-called subscription services, but couldn't they set it up like a long-term contract — similar to a car loan or lease — with a third party inserted in the middle?
    I mean, if it's not direct profit for the company itself, it'd be a lot harder for them to drag their feet on cancellations, right?

    I think the Apple Store works kind of like that —
    the subscription is tied to your store account rather than to you individually, so you can cancel just by going through the store.
    37AnonymousAug 26, 2026 16:26
    It's probably like this for anyone collecting subscribers:
    they can count on some percentage being people who won't cancel, or can't figure out how,
    plus a few percent more who just keep paying forever,
    even after they've literally died.

    People who never use the service but keep paying forever —
    that's probably where the profit comes from.
    38AnonymousAug 26, 2026 18:50
    At the very least, subscriptions shouldn't be allowed to auto-renew without consent —
    auto-cancellation by default should be mandatory.

    Background and Key Points

    Japan’s Consumer Affairs Agency (消費者庁, Shohisha-cho) is the cabinet-level body that enforces the Act on Specified Commercial Transactions (特定商取引法), the main law governing sales practices, cooling-off rights, and now, increasingly, subscription commerce. This isn’t the agency’s first attempt at the problem: a 2021 revision to the same law already forced companies to show a “final confirmation screen” before a purchase. The draft report presented on August 24 concedes that reform didn’t work — complaints about subscription traps have stayed high regardless — which is why the new proposal pushes for a broader, evolving “comprehensive” framework plus an illustrative blacklist, rather than another narrow, single-purpose rule. The reference to the OECD’s 2022 dark-patterns definition situates this as Japan catching up to an international regulatory conversation, not inventing the concept.

    The thread’s actual disagreement is less about whether regulation is needed — nobody defends the practice — and more about pace and mechanism: several posters want concrete, enforceable specifics (a mandatory cancel button, browser-based cancellation matching California’s “as easy to cancel as to sign up” standard) rather than the vaguer “comprehensive rules plus guidelines” approach the report describes, while others focus purely on how many years too late this is, invoking DAZN’s much-criticized cancellation flow and elderly victims as the cost of delay.

    What the thread doesn’t note is that this is still an interim report from a study panel, not legislation — there’s no bill, timeline, or penalty structure yet, and “correction through administrative measures” is far softer than the punitive damages posters are demanding.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Science News+) thread “[Society] Japan’s Consumer Affairs Agency to regulate ‘dark patterns,’ making cancellation obstruction illegal — panel releases draft interim report.”