Category: Society

At around 11:30 a.m. on September 21, 2026, a rental shop on Lake Biwa in Otsu, Shiga Prefecture, called police to report that three men who had rented a jet ski (personal watercraft) had not returned. Only the jet ski itself was later found on the lake, and police and fire crews continue to search for the men. On the thread, posters debated whether the rental shop had actually checked the men’s boating licenses and ID, whether they had been wearing life jackets, and whether rough water from an approaching typhoon may have been a factor. At the same time, a fair number of crude comments mocking the region or the victims cropped up, making for a mix of fact-checking and mean-spirited joking.

Delivered 9/21 (Mon) 15:34 JST

Kansai TV

According to police, at around 11:30 a.m. today (the 21st), a shop in Otsu that had rented out a jet ski to three men filed a report with police after the men failed to return from Lake Biwa.

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

Note: “Mash, Ortega, and Gaia” is a joke referencing the “Black Tri-Stars,” a legendary three-man ace pilot squad from the Gundam anime franchise — the poster is comparing the three missing men to the famous trio. The reply in #47 mangles the names into crude puns and swaps “Tri-Stars” (三連星) for “Tri-Coupling” (三連結, like coupled train cars) as a joke.

Note: this claim of cardiac arrest circulated as unverified live-broadcast chatter within the thread and was not confirmed in the source article at time of writing.

Note: nutria are large invasive semi-aquatic rodents found in parts of Japan — the comment is a tongue-in-cheek joke, not a serious theory.

※ This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5channel (News Speed+) thread “[Shiga] Three Men Missing on Lake Biwa — Only Rented Jet Ski Found on the Water, Police and Fire Crews Searching.”

The mother of an Asahi Shimbun reporter received certified mail from Mitsubishi UFJ Bank stating it wanted to “confirm her intention to repay ¥23 million.” Her older brother, who lived in Nara, had died leaving debt behind, and as his younger sister, she had become a legal heir. On 5ch, most comments said “just renounce the inheritance” — but others pointed out the real hassle and cost involved, like gathering family register documents and filing with the family court, plus the crucial detail that the renunciation deadline is “3 months from the day you find out,” sparking a broader discussion.

“A letter suddenly arrived from the bank demanding ¥23 million back — what am I supposed to do?” That was the call the reporter, currently on assignment in Tochigi, got in July from their mother back home in Osaka. It turned out their uncle, who lived in Nara, had died carrying debt, and their mother, as his younger sister, had become his heir. Renouncing the inheritance seemed like the only option, but what exactly did that involve? Facing a problem that could ensnare almost anyone, the reporter took it on from afar.

“We would like to confirm your intention to repay ¥23 million.”

In mid-July, a registered letter with that message arrived addressed to the reporter’s mother from Mitsubishi UFJ Bank. Flustered, she suspected it might be a scam. The contact listed was the “West Japan Loan Branch,” but searching online turned up nothing. When the reporter called the bank’s call center, it took a while — perhaps because it’s a little-known department — but they were able to confirm the branch really existed.

Source: asahi.com / Original article here

※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Breaking News Plus) thread “Megabank Suddenly Demands ‘¥23 Million’ Back — An ‘Aging Society Relatable Moment’.”

An article in which Teikoku Databank used foot-traffic data to test the theory that “young people are abandoning Shibuya” drew a wave of reactions on 5ch’s News Express+ board. Posters pointed to specific patterns, like young people from the Saitama direction bypassing Shibuya entirely for Ikebukuro, Shinjuku, or Koshigaya Lake Town, and argued that Tokyu’s redevelopment is turning the area into an office district no longer geared toward young people. Others countered that the station area and Center-gai are still packed with people, so the thread was split on whether the “Shibuya exodus” is really happening. Comparisons noting that Omotesando and Yoyogi have kept their calmer atmosphere also became a talking point.

Is the “Youth Exodus from Shibuya” Real? Foot-Traffic Data Reveals a “Tale of Two Shibuyas”

Mon, Sep 21, 7:04 AM JST

Teikoku Databank

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

※This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (News Express+) thread “[Youth Exodus from Shibuya] Is It True? Foot-Traffic Data Reveals a ‘Tale of Two Shibuyas’”.

According to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare’s fiscal 2024 sanitation administration report, the number of public bathhouses (sento) nationwide has fallen to 2,730 facilities — meaning more than 80% have disappeared over the past 50 years. By prefecture, Yamagata now has zero sento, while Aomori ranks first nationwide with 22.40 facilities per 100,000 residents. The article drew responses from a wide range of generations on 5ch, with users sharing memories of visiting bathhouses back when they had no bath at home, discussing how rising water and gas bills are squeezing bathhouse operators, and comparing regional differences in hot spring and bathhouse culture.

Published 9/20 (Sun) 10:00

Asahi Shimbun

Neighborhood public bathhouses keep disappearing. According to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare’s sanitation administration report (fiscal 2024), sento classified as “public bathhouses” number 2,730 nationwide — meaning more than 80% have vanished over the past half century. By prefecture, Yamagata has become a “zero-sento prefecture,” while Aomori, with 22.40 facilities per 100,000 people, can be called “Japan’s most bathhouse-loving prefecture.”

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

6AnonymousSep 21, 2026 15:16

Apparently a lot of houses didn't have baths back in the day, but I honestly can't picture that

13AnonymousSep 21, 2026 15:19

Re: #6
There's a new-build apartment put up where an old machiya townhouse in the historic district used to stand — and unbelievably, it's shower-only, no bathtub.
Honestly, my real thought is "you're paying 80,000 yen rent for THAT?" @a prefectural capital in the Kinki region

45AnonymousSep 21, 2026 15:26

Re: #1

51AnonymousSep 21, 2026 15:27

A bath full of perverts sounds terrifying, hard pass

※This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Newsplus) thread “【♨】Bathhouses Down 80% in 50 Years — What Japan’s Top Sento Prefecture Reveals About Changing Bath Culture.”

In Fukuoka Prefecture, an 18-year-old female high school student reported that “it seems someone secretly filmed me naked,” leading to the arrest of her 18-year-old ex-boyfriend on suspicion of violating Japan’s law against filming sexual acts or exposed bodies. According to investigators, the man is believed to have shown video he filmed without her consent to the woman’s current boyfriend. His alleged motive — that showing the video would make the current boyfriend break up with her so she’d come back to him — drew a wave of “I can’t understand what he was thinking” reactions on 5channel. The thread was also divided over who the real victim in this case actually is.

“It seems I was filmed naked” — 18-year-old female high schooler’s report leads to arrest of her ex-boyfriend, an 18-year-old high schooler, who allegedly said “If I show her boyfriend the (nude) video, they’ll break up and she’ll come back to me…”

Mon, Sep 21, 13:18 JST

RKB Mainichi Broadcasting

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

*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5channel (Newsplus) thread “[Fukuoka] “I was filmed naked” — report by 18-year-old female high schooler leads to arrest of ex-boyfriend, 18, who allegedly said “If I show her boyfriend the video, they’ll break up and she’ll come back to me…”.”

As people reach middle age, hair on the ears, nose, and eyebrows suddenly grows thicker and coarser, while the hair on their head thins out — a phenomenon known as “senior hair.” A news article explaining this mechanism sparked a reaction on 5ch. Though the piece focused on why ear hair grows, the thread quickly expanded to cover hair troubles all over the body — eyebrows, nose hair, chest hair, shin hair — with users sharing everything from barbershop trimming methods to their own DIY grooming experiences. Many offered theories involving hormonal shifts and disrupted hair-growth cycles to explain the simple question: “Why does your head go bald while your ears and eyebrows run wild?”

Published 9/21 (Mon) 8:13 AM

BSS Sanin Broadcasting

Isn’t anyone else bothered by “ear hair” — the hair that grows in middle-aged men’s ears?

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

*This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Breaking News Plus) thread “[👂] What Causes “Ear Hair” in Middle-Aged Men? What Is “Senior Hair” — Nose, Ear, and Eyebrow Hair That Keeps Growing Thicker and Coarser?.”

A story shared on 5ch’s News Speed+ board describes a passenger who found a parent and child sitting in the reserved window seat they’d booked a month in advance on a limited express train. When the passenger spoke up, the father reportedly shot back, “I’ve got a kid, you know. Couldn’t you sit somewhere else?” But rather than debate the rights and wrongs of the situation, the thread quickly settled into a familiar refrain — “not this kind of story again” — with most of the discussion revolving around whether the tale was real or made up. Some pointed to a note attached to the original article as evidence that it’s actually an edited, reconstructed reader-survey submission rather than a straight account of real events.

I’d booked a reserved window seat on a limited express a month in advance, planning to go visit my mother back home.

I checked my boarding spot on the platform, then wheeled my suitcase onto the train.

Following the seat number down the aisle, I found a boy of about three sitting in my reserved window seat.

Source: news.jp / Original article here

*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (News Speed+) thread “👧”I’ve Got a Kid, You Know. Can’t You Just Sit Somewhere Else?” — Family Caught Squatting in Stranger’s Reserved Window Seat.”

A Nikkan Gendai article points out that quite a few women, when matchmaking, reject decent partners one after another, only to later regret it — thinking, “That guy wasn’t so bad, what a waste.” In response, a 5ch thread traded opinions and personal experiences on the “trial dating” system used by matchmaking agencies, the mathematical theory behind timing your choice of partner (the so-called 37% rule), and whether looks or substance should matter more. Notably, participants split over whether it’s even appropriate to frame matchmaking in terms of “gains and losses.”

“That Guy Was a Catch…” Too Late Now! The Pitfall of “Catch-and-Release” Women Who Keep Rejecting Matchmaking Men One After Another | Nikkan Gendai DIGITAL

Miyuki Uekusa

Dating & Matchmaking Advisor

Source: nikkan-gendai.com / Read the original article here

31AnonymousSep 21, 2026 10:16

Anyone with a STEM background already knows this optimal solution.
Must be rough for the humanities crowd.

38AnonymousSep 21, 2026 10:18

Re: #31
For reference, say you're planning to date through 10 people — the optimal strategy is to automatically pass on the first 4, then pick the first person after that who beats all of those first 4 on stats.

60AnonymousSep 21, 2026 10:24

Re: #31
Ah, the 37% rule.
But a spouse isn't a secretary hire — if a total catch shows up early and you turn them down, you'd probably spend the rest of your life thinking "what a waste."

202AnonymousSep 21, 2026 10:52

Re: #31 Re: #38
I'm a humanities dropout so I don't fully get the math, but if the top 4 candidates happened to come first and the worst one came last, wouldn't you end up "hiring" the worst one? I guess the point is that scenario is extremely unlikely, so doing it the way Re: #38 describes gives you the highest probability of a good outcome.

*This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (News Express+) thread ““That Guy Was a Catch…” Too Late Now! The Pitfall of “Catch-and-Release” Women Who Keep Rejecting Matchmaking Men One After Another.”

It’s been over a year since Adventure World in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture, sent its four headline giant pandas back to China. A drop in tourism was widely expected, but the prefecture’s “tourist trends survey,” released in late August, shows visitor numbers have actually stayed above the previous year’s levels even after the pandas left. On 5ch, some took the figures at face value, saying “guess we didn’t need the pandas after all,” while others pushed back with data, noting that “Adventure World itself — the town’s main earner — has actually seen fewer visitors” and “some months are down 50,000 to 100,000 people year-on-year.” Opinion split over whether the reported increase reflects the town as a whole or just its flagship attraction.

It’s been over a year since the leisure facility “Adventure World” in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture, sent all four of its headline giant pandas back to China at once.

Locally, a sharp drop in tourism was expected, but looking at the prefecture’s “tourist trends survey” for last year, released in late August, the total number of visitors to the town and attractions like Shirahama Onsen actually exceeded the figures from the year before that, and has held at roughly the same level in the months since the pandas’ return.

According to the town’s own survey, visitor numbers have remained strong into this year as well.

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

*This article is compiled by excerpting and summarizing the 5ch (News Express+) thread “[Wakayama] Tourist numbers up even with zero pandas — Shirahama’s mayor on the past year: “We got a flood of complaint calls to city hall, but now…”“.

An ITmedia article examining why Chiba Station feels “underwhelming” compared to Yokohama and Omiya stations became a hot topic on 5channel’s News Express+ board. All three are flagship JR East stations representing their prefectures, and there shouldn’t be a huge gap in station-front scale or number of connecting lines — yet the thread filled up with comments like “Omiya and Yokohama are hub stations where Shinkansen lines branch off, but Chiba is just the starting point for local lines heading to Uchibo, Sotobo, and Narita” and “Commuters from Chiba’s Tokyo-facing suburbs can get everything done in Funabashi or Kashiwa, so they rarely have a reason to go to Chiba Station in the first place.” Others pointed out that Shikoku and Chiba are the only regions in Japan without a Shinkansen line, and that road development was held back by fallout from the Narita Airport conflict. The discussion broadened into the idea that the “underwhelming” feeling comes less from the liveliness of the station front and more from the structure of the rail network and historical circumstances.

Kanagawa, Saitama, and Chiba prefectures all border Tokyo. Representing each of these prefectures is a flagship JR East station: Yokohama Station, Omiya Station, and Chiba Station. All three are major hubs served by numerous lines, supporting transportation for their regions.

Yet compared with Yokohama and Omiya, Chiba Station somehow feels underwhelming. It has plenty of shops inside the station and a department store out front. It has numerous platforms, with the Keisei Line and the Chiba Urban Monorail running alongside JR. As the central station of a prefectural capital, it’s by no means small in either scale or function.

So why does Chiba Station, despite being one of greater Tokyo’s major stations, leave such a different impression from Yokohama and Omiya? We went there in person to track down the source of that nagging feeling.

Source: itmedia.co.jp / Read the original article here

*This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5channel (News Express+) thread “Why Does Chiba Station Feel “Underwhelming”? The Decisive Gap With Yokohama and Omiya Stations.”