Category: Society

  • Ramen Jiro Kyoto Denies “Yelling at Customer,” Says Staff Did No Such Thing — 5ch Fires Back: “Jiro Should Be Even More Brutal”

    On October 8, the official X (formerly Twitter) account for Ramen Jiro’s Kyoto location issued a statement after a post claiming “a staff member yelled at me the moment I walked in” went viral. The store said that after checking with its staff, it confirmed no such thing happened. The post is believed to have come from a Kyoto University student, who said that upon entering, a staff member yelled “Number!” at them twice. On 5ch, a theory spread that this “Number!” shout was simply a heavily abbreviated version of the instruction “line up at your floor number,” and reactions split between blaming the customer’s lack of familiarity with Jiro etiquette and blaming the store’s customer service.

    The official X account for “Ramen Jiro Kyoto” posted an update on the 8th addressing the viral post about one of its staff members.

    The store’s official account stated: “There was a post on X claiming that a customer was suddenly yelled at the moment they entered our shop, but after checking with our staff, we can confirm that no such action took place.”

    “We will continue looking into the facts of this matter. We sincerely apologize for the concern this has caused.”

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

    3AnonymousOct 8, 2026 21:16
    Clerk: "Wrong password!" (a Dragon Quest reference — the classic in-game error message for entering the wrong revival spell)
    62AnonymousOct 8, 2026 21:31
    Re: #3
    Is this world Dragon Quest or something?
    250AnonymousOct 8, 2026 22:17
    Re: #3
    Nah, it should be like the original SaGa game — "What do you want?!"
    4AnonymousOct 8, 2026 21:17
    Anyone who goes to Ramen Jiro isn't exactly living their best life anyway, so of course they get yelled at.
    32AnonymousOct 8, 2026 21:25
    Re: #4
    So they yell at you like, "Why are you even living a life that leads you to a place like this?"
    13AnonymousOct 8, 2026 21:20

    16AnonymousOct 8, 2026 21:20
    Sounds like customers are fleeing faster than ever.

    [Sad News] Ramen Jiro shops are turning into ghost towns everywhere lolololololol — customers are flooding to friendlier "inspired" copycat shops instead [398059782]
    https://greta.5ch.io/test/read.cgi/poverty/1791432268/
    52AnonymousOct 8, 2026 21:28
    Re: #16
    Yeah, people have been saying this for a while. Don't know the real numbers, but I can see it happening — at least for someone like me.
    19AnonymousOct 8, 2026 21:21
    Bet the customer had earphones in while staff was trying to take the order.
    151AnonymousOct 8, 2026 21:50
    Re: #19
    Yeah, that sounds exactly like something that'd happen.
    24AnonymousOct 8, 2026 21:23
    So Jiro yells at you if the customer messes up?
    61AnonymousOct 8, 2026 21:30
    Re: #24
    I mean, that's just the kind of place it is, right?
    58AnonymousOct 8, 2026 21:29
    If you were a sane, normal person, a ramen shop like that…
    64AnonymousOct 8, 2026 21:31
    Re: #58
    Everyone's gone at least once, we're not little kids here.
    253AnonymousOct 8, 2026 22:18
    >58
    Re: #64
    "Normal" people don't go there.
    60AnonymousOct 8, 2026 21:30
    Jiro-style ramen is genuinely good as ramen goes, it's addictive. But if there's a well-made "inspired" copycat around, I'd go there instead.
    82AnonymousOct 8, 2026 21:36
    Re: #60
    This is Kyoto, a ramen powerhouse. There are plenty of inspired-style shops and tons of options besides Jiro. Why would anyone deliberately go somewhere that yells at them?
    79AnonymousOct 8, 2026 21:35
    So they yell at you if the customer's at fault? What even counts as "at fault"? That's scary.
    83AnonymousOct 8, 2026 21:37
    Re: #79
    Yeah, that's exactly how the statement reads.
    85AnonymousOct 8, 2026 21:37
    Even by Kyoto standards it's in a seriously out-of-the-way spot. Why not just open near Kyoto Station?
    90AnonymousOct 8, 2026 21:39
    Re: #85
    It's near the Tenkaippin flagship store. Being close to the station would actually be the considerate move.
    104AnonymousOct 8, 2026 21:42
    Re: #85
    There's already a "Ramen Alley" on top of the station building anyway.
    88AnonymousOct 8, 2026 21:38
    If they're saying they got yelled at "the moment" they walked in, isn't this probably the case where you try to enter right after the shop's cut off the entry count for the group ahead of you? Otherwise nobody would describe it as "the moment I walked in."
    153AnonymousOct 8, 2026 21:52
    Re: #88
    Don't yell over something that minor.
    100AnonymousOct 8, 2026 21:41
    Apparently here's what actually happened —

    1 Anonymous Recruiting… 2026/10/08 (Thu) 07:42:38.900 Reply (2)
    Kyoto University Cooking Club — Follows Back 100% @kyodai_cooking

    At Ramen Jiro Kyoto, the moment I walked in, the part-time assistant yelled "Number!" at me. Twice.
    "Line up at your floor number" got abbreviated way too hard. Truly a certified direct-lineage Jiro shop (as opposed to an unaffiliated "inspired" copycat).
    Yumekata's ramen was 100 times better.
    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HT8611Da0AARVdl.jpg:orig#.jpg
    106AnonymousOct 8, 2026 21:43
    Re: #100
    So their "mistake" was not lining up at the floor number?
    103AnonymousOct 8, 2026 21:41
    Re: #1

    Here's the actual post that started all this:
    105AnonymousOct 8, 2026 21:42
    Re: #103
    Just looking at it fills me up.
    124AnonymousOct 8, 2026 21:46
    Re: #103
    See, they really were yelling after all.
    123AnonymousOct 8, 2026 21:46
    Re: #105
    Come on, there's a limit to how pathetic that is. This is what a regular "Jirorian" (devoted Ramen Jiro fan) normal order looks like:

    175AnonymousOct 8, 2026 21:56
    So this is it…

    https://x.com/kyodai_cooking/status/2107467852710388138
    >>At Ramen Jiro Kyoto, the moment I walked in, the part-time assistant yelled "Number!" at me. Twice.
    >>"Line up at your floor number" got abbreviated way too hard. Truly a certified direct-lineage Jiro shop.
    >>Yumekata's ramen was 100 times better.
    184AnonymousOct 8, 2026 21:57
    Re: #175
    Hard to believe there's a direct-lineage shop that bad outside of "Sumoji" (nickname for the notoriously harsh Sugamo branch)…
    187AnonymousOct 8, 2026 21:59
    Re: #175
    >>At Ramen Jiro Kyoto, the moment I walked in, the part-time assistant yelled "Number!" at me.

    Assistant: "Number!"
    Customer: "One! Two! Three! Four! Five!…"
    195AnonymousOct 8, 2026 22:01
    Re: #175
    One! Two! Three! Shine!
    238AnonymousOct 8, 2026 22:13
    Listen — Ramen Jiro is supposed to be way more brutal than this.
    256AnonymousOct 8, 2026 22:18
    Re: #238
    At the Meguro shop, when the owner himself is working the counter, the air inside gets tense. I've seen him blow up at someone a few times. Personally though, I've never been yelled at or had a bad experience there.
    260AnonymousOct 8, 2026 22:20
    Re: #256
    I went to a shop run by someone who trained at the Meguro store, and the vibe was intense. The food was great though.
    263AnonymousOct 8, 2026 22:21
    Re: #256
    "No need to push yourself" (lol) — that line is actually a warning sign.

    Background and Key Points of This Discussion

    Each Ramen Jiro location has its own particular calling-out system, and at many shops customers are made to announce their own seat “number” themselves after entering. The Kyoto location follows the same system, and the original poster may have interpreted being repeatedly told the word “number” as “being yelled at.” The blunt, no-frills — even harsh — service at Jiro-style shops is itself well known as part of the shop’s “etiquette,” something regulars have come to accept as part of the culture, and it’s against this backdrop of a distinctive shop culture that voices in the thread said things like “Jiro should be even more brutal.” On the other hand, the store has clearly denied that any such incident occurred, so the post’s account and the store’s explanation remain at odds, and which is closer to the truth is still being confirmed. The separate thread referenced in the discussion claiming “customers are fleeing” is unconfirmed information from an unrelated thread, with no direct evidence tying it to this incident.

    ※This article is compiled as an excerpt and summary from the 5ch (Breaking News+) thread “Ramen Jiro Kyoto Location — Statement on Viral Post Claiming “Yelled at by Staff the Moment I Walked In”: “After Checking With Our Staff, We Confirmed No Such Thing Happened”“.

  • Nurse Secretly Films Patients, Posts Mocking Short Videos — Chiba Nishi General Hospital Apologizes

    It has come to light that a nurse at Chiba Nishi General Hospital in Matsudo, Chiba Prefecture, secretly filmed hospitalized patients and posted edited short videos to social media. The clips carried mocking captions like “way too fat, way too smelly” and “grandma-taaan,” ridiculing the patients. The hospital has issued an apology, and the nurse in question has been suspended from duty. Following the news, discussion on 5ch spread beyond criticism of the confidentiality and privacy violations to cover whether the punishment was appropriate, broader views on the nursing profession, and the media literacy of the social-media generation.

    Nurse secretly films patients, posts short video; Chiba Nishi General Hospital apologizes — caption read “way too fat, way too smelly”

    10/8 (Thu) 19:25 JST

    Sponichi Annex

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

    14AnonymousOct 8, 2026 19:43
    That's grounds for firing, surely.
    23AnonymousOct 8, 2026 19:44
    Re: #14
    She's a "precious nurse," so it'll probably just be a slap on the wrist.
    67AnonymousOct 8, 2026 19:53
    Re: #14
    It won't just be firing — there'll be damages to pay too.
    94AnonymousOct 8, 2026 20:00
    Re: #14
    Personality like that doesn't change.
    Even if she gets a warning, she'll just change her approach, wait a bit, and do it again.
    21AnonymousOct 8, 2026 19:44
    Back when I was a student I had a part-time job delivering bedsheets, and the nurses I saw backstage had serious attitude problems.
    35AnonymousOct 8, 2026 19:48
    Didn't some other Chiba hospital have a scandal before too? Hope it's not the same one.
    47AnonymousOct 8, 2026 19:50
    Re: #35
    Chiba University Hospital, maybe? I followed that story for a while but forget how it turned out.
    153AnonymousOct 8, 2026 20:17
    Re: #35
    Wasn't that the one with something in the IV drip? Different hospital, I think.
    69AnonymousOct 8, 2026 19:54
    I bet the one who filmed and posted it is sitting there going "huh? did I do something wrong?" with a totally blank look on her face.
    That's the scary part.
    76AnonymousOct 8, 2026 19:55
    Re: #69
    Filming inside a hospital is basically banned anyway.
    72AnonymousOct 8, 2026 19:54
    Just checked X — it's not really a close-up on any specific patient, but still, pretty tasteless.
    78AnonymousOct 8, 2026 19:56
    Re: #72
    This is bad, lol.
    84AnonymousOct 8, 2026 19:57
    Hiring Gen Z, raised on short-form video and social media, is a risk.
    You should be hiring people around 45-50 who lived through the early internet and actually have solid net literacy.
    88AnonymousOct 8, 2026 19:59
    Re: #84
    That's the generation that gets sued for online harassment the most, though.
    92AnonymousOct 8, 2026 19:59
    I'm currently hospitalized myself, and honestly I have nothing but respect for nurses.
    They handle all the garbage demands from selfish patients with a smile.
    Let them vent about it in private, that much I can forgive.
    Posting it online is a different story though.
    95AnonymousOct 8, 2026 20:00
    Re: #92
    That's exactly the "different story" we're talking about right now.
    93AnonymousOct 8, 2026 20:00
    https://video.twimg.com/amplify_video/2108079522390364160/vid/avc1/720×988/t0OMCnm7wvXw_qlK.mp4?tag=29

    This is rough, lol.
    102AnonymousOct 8, 2026 20:02
    Re: #93
    Not a shred of taste in that video.
    Probably just not very bright.
    109AnonymousOct 8, 2026 20:03
    Re: #93
    Not a shred of guilt either, lol.
    Is she okay? lol
    138AnonymousOct 8, 2026 20:12
    Re: #93
    I know how hard nurses work, so I want to let some grumbling or small mistakes slide.
    I'd even say double their pay.

    But honestly, I'd still rather have a sincere, cheerful, skilled foreign nurse than one like this.
    100AnonymousOct 8, 2026 20:01
    Nurses and caregivers work night shifts rotating with day shifts, so their sleep gets wrecked — probably what messes with their heads.
    117AnonymousOct 8, 2026 20:05
    Still, this is probably nurses' honest true feelings though.
    120AnonymousOct 8, 2026 20:06
    Re: #117
    And? That's all there is to say.
    If everyone lived purely on their "honest feelings," society would collapse — everyone has those.
    228AnonymousOct 8, 2026 20:35
    Re: #117
    There really are people out there who genuinely think "it's just the truth" or "just being honest" is some kind of get-out-of-jail-free card.
    118AnonymousOct 8, 2026 20:06
    I know this hospital — family of mine has been treated there, inpatient and outpatient. Most of the staff do their jobs properly, and quite a few doctors and nurses are skilled and kind. But it's also true that a handful of the doctors and nurses are just awful people.
    176AnonymousOct 8, 2026 20:22
    Re: #118
    Maybe that proportion has been growing.
    121AnonymousOct 8, 2026 20:06
    This needs consolation money for the patient and proper damages for tarnishing the hospital's reputation, on top of firing her.
    170AnonymousOct 8, 2026 20:20
    Re: #121
    Yeah, it's about the damages to the hospital's reputation and trust.
    Honestly, she could never pay that back even with a lifetime of atonement.
    123AnonymousOct 8, 2026 20:07
    So basically not guilty for now — "we'll be more careful next time," huh.
    152AnonymousOct 8, 2026 20:16
    Re: #123
    The nurse in question is currently suspended from duty, lol.
    That ship has sailed, lol.

    Background and Key Points of This Story

    The apology stems from a nurse secretly filming hospitalized patients while on duty and posting the footage to social media with mocking captions; as of the report, the nurse involved has been suspended from duty. On the thread, the main points of debate were how severe the disciplinary action should be and whether damages would be paid, while opinions were split on whether the video actually zoomed in close enough to identify individual patients. Some posts also conflated this case with a past scandal at a different medical institution in Chiba Prefecture — readers should note that this is a separate, unrelated incident. While some voiced sympathy given the harsh working conditions nurses face, criticism of the act of secretly filming and posting it online made up the bulk of the thread’s sentiment.

    ※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (News Speed+) thread “[Matsudo] Nurse secretly films patients, posts short video; Chiba Nishi General Hospital apologizes — caption read “way too fat, way too smelly,” “grandma-taaan”.”

  • Meiji Discontinues “Super Cup Matcha” Ice Cream — 5ch: “Because China Found Out About Tea”

    It has emerged that Meiji’s popular ice cream “Essel Super Cup Matcha 200ml” quietly ended production earlier this year. On social media, a wave of regret followed, with comments like “No way” and “That’s sad.” Since the article never spelled out a specific reason for the discontinuation, the 5ch thread filled up with posts tying it to rising overseas demand for matcha, climbing tea-leaf prices, and the rise of Chinese-made matcha. The discussion spread into suggestions for replacement flavors and comparisons with rival companies’ ice creams, eventually touching on deeper structural issues in the tea industry.

    Delivered 10/8 (Thu) 15:45

    Otonanswer

    It has come to light that Meiji (headquartered in Chuo Ward, Tokyo) ended production this year of its popular ice cream “Meiji Essel Super Cup Matcha 200ml” (hereafter, Super Cup Matcha). On social media, a flood of distressed reactions followed, including “No way!”, “I knew something was off when I stopped seeing it at the supermarket…”, “I love it so much, this is shocking,” and “Of all the matcha ice creams, Super Cup was my favorite, so this is sad.”

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

    6AnonymousOct 8, 2026 19:35
    Because China found out about tea.
    83AnonymousOct 8, 2026 19:54
    Re: #6
    Matcha's been heavily "remodeled" at this point, so it's basically a different thing from Chinese tea — but the custom of tea-drinking, and the cultivar that's the ancestor of today's Japanese tea, were actually brought over from Song-dynasty China.

    Well, maybe it's best not to tell foreigners about too many of Japan's good things.
    106AnonymousOct 8, 2026 20:00
    Re: #83
    China's already growing matcha. The pricier Japanese stuff might stop selling.
    11AnonymousOct 8, 2026 19:35
    Big companies really only know how to discontinue things, huh.
    97AnonymousOct 8, 2026 19:58
    Re: #11
    They added too many variations, and now cutting the lineup in half is the only way the production division can stay afloat.
    A while back, unpaid overtime was the norm for factory workers, and slamming partner companies with impossible orders was business as usual.

    Now there's a serious labor shortage, overtime pay has to actually be paid (unpaid overtime's banned), and partner companies are bold enough to raise their participation fees.

    They're getting squeezed by planning quotas and budgets set half a century ago.

    On top of that, inflation just keeps climbing.

    At this point you just have to accept that cheap, small-batch production across tons of different items was the abnormal thing all along.
    13AnonymousOct 8, 2026 19:36
    This conversation feels so disjointed, it's bugging me.
    32AnonymousOct 8, 2026 19:40
    Re: #13
    It's like a flawless, 100-point textbook answer with no room to poke holes in.
    Just zero warmth to it.
    25AnonymousOct 8, 2026 19:39
    They actually did the collab.
    Bring it back already.
    Not that I'll eat it, though.



    34AnonymousOct 8, 2026 19:40
    Here we go again — sell Japanese food overseas and Japanese people end up with nothing left to eat, that pattern again?
    38AnonymousOct 8, 2026 19:41
    Re: #34
    Tuna, eel, scallops, etc.
    Seriously, what a foolish nation.
    44AnonymousOct 8, 2026 19:43
    Matcha products might disappear in Japan entirely.
    It'll all go overseas.
    51AnonymousOct 8, 2026 19:44
    Re: #44
    Every hillside on the Pacific side turns into a tea field, and boom — monoculture economy incoming.
    63AnonymousOct 8, 2026 19:48
    New release — now made with Chinese matcha!
    70AnonymousOct 8, 2026 19:50
    Re: #63
    China spotted Japan's matcha boom and is now selling it worldwide at a fraction of the Japanese price.
    112AnonymousOct 8, 2026 20:01
    Re: #70
    That's got nothing to do with the domestic Japanese market though.
    73AnonymousOct 8, 2026 19:50
    Maybe ditch matcha and go with weed-flavor or something…
    76AnonymousOct 8, 2026 19:51
    Re: #73
    That'd just make it the go-to flavor for Saitama residents. (a running joke that Saitama is nothing but empty fields and weeds)
    77AnonymousOct 8, 2026 19:51
    Don't go blaming other people.
    81AnonymousOct 8, 2026 19:53
    Super Cup is ice cream for poor people who can't afford Häagen-Dazs.
    169AnonymousOct 8, 2026 20:17
    Re: #81
    That's not true.
    Even wealthy people eat this.
    It's just genuinely tasty.
    88AnonymousOct 8, 2026 19:56
    I only ever pick Häagen-Dazs so I don't care either way.
    Super Cup's got way too much volume and nowhere near enough richness.
    94AnonymousOct 8, 2026 19:57
    Re: #88
    Quit acting like such a connoisseur!
    103AnonymousOct 8, 2026 19:59
    Matcha's best drunk as tea — it doesn't suit sweets.
    109AnonymousOct 8, 2026 20:00
    Re: #103
    Cheap stuff is fine for confectionery use, but apparently the good, pricey stuff meant for drinking is getting bought up wholesale — the hardcore tea-ceremony crowd was lamenting it.
    104AnonymousOct 8, 2026 19:59
    So now they'll use this mysterious thing called "Chinese-made Uji matcha"?
    123AnonymousOct 8, 2026 20:03
    Re: #104
    Uji matcha has always had low production volume — the old common knowledge was that Nishio matcha got slapped with the "Uji" label for confectionery use without much basis.

    These days it's mostly Chinese-made matcha, and if you're unlucky, even the factory itself is in China.
    118AnonymousOct 8, 2026 20:02
    I've only ever seen Super Cup in vanilla.
    Did they even have a tea flavor?
    Is there a chocolate one too?
    132AnonymousOct 8, 2026 20:05
    Re: #118
    Yeah, there's a chocolate one.
    127AnonymousOct 8, 2026 20:04
    Instead of matcha, how about mugwort — the "queen of herbs" — flavor, or tatami-rush flavor?
    153AnonymousOct 8, 2026 20:11
    Re: #127
    Bought a sasa-dango (bamboo-leaf rice dumpling) ice cream — well, soft serve — at a roadside rest stop in Ojiya, Niigata…
    It genuinely tasted like real sasa-dango.
    146AnonymousOct 8, 2026 20:09
    Feels like mugwort could actually be a solid contender, though.
    154AnonymousOct 8, 2026 20:12
    Re: #146
    The farmers are aging out with no successors.
    Even Kagoshima's purple sweet potato only saw a wave of new products once seed potatoes got exported to China or Taiwan for mass production.
    Japanese-grown produce could end up completely wiped out if things go badly.
    162AnonymousOct 8, 2026 20:16
    That powdered green tea they serve at conveyor-belt sushi places — that'd work fine.
    For the not-particularly-high-grade matcha used in ice cream, that could probably substitute, no?
    175AnonymousOct 8, 2026 20:20
    Re: #162
    If you powder sencha instead, the bitterness gets way stronger though.
    165AnonymousOct 8, 2026 20:16
    Super Cup's not tasty, don't need it.
    Bokujo Shibori and MOW are all I need.
    180AnonymousOct 8, 2026 20:21
    Re: #165
    Got curious so I checked the official sites — looks like neither of those has a matcha flavor anymore either.
    171AnonymousOct 8, 2026 20:19
    China's started growing matcha, so it'll probably make a comeback eventually — with imported matcha.
    181AnonymousOct 8, 2026 20:21
    Re: #171
    Japanese trading companies are already buying up a ton of it, so Chinese-made matcha circulating domestically is bound to increase.
    173AnonymousOct 8, 2026 20:19
    Seriously, stop recklessly selling things essential to Japanese daily life, like tea, overseas just to turn a profit.
    182AnonymousOct 8, 2026 20:22
    Re: #173
    That's backwards. Back in the Meiji era, tea was expensive and ordinary people barely drank it — most of it went to America. Production ramped up because it sold well there, and only after the tea boom faded in America did ordinary Japanese people start drinking it.

    Background and Key Points of This Discussion

    In recent years, rising overseas demand has driven up prices for Japanese tea, including matcha, and it’s said that even confectionery-grade matcha has become harder to secure. In the thread, posts showing real familiarity with industry circumstances stood out — things like the expansion of matcha production in China, and the backstory of how Nishio-produced matcha, intended for confectionery use, ended up being sold under the “Uji matcha” name as a matter of convenience. That said, the quoted portion of the article never explicitly states an official reason for the discontinuation, so the price increases and raw-material shortages remain speculation on the 5ch side. It’s also worth flagging, as a reader, that the thread sometimes blurred the line between the high-grade matcha used in tea ceremonies and the lower-grade matcha used in confectionery — the two have always differed in quality and price, and lumping them together under one “matcha shortage” narrative glosses over that distinction.

    ※This article excerpts and summarizes the 5ch (News Express+) thread “[Ice Cream] “Super Cup Matcha” Discontinued, Fans Say “Sad,” “Shocked”… It’s Popular, So Why? We Asked Meiji and Found the “Real Reason”.”

  • Kodaira City’s Official Website Knocked Offline by Ransomware Attack — Personal Data Possibly Leaked

    Tokyo’s Kodaira City official website has been inaccessible since shortly after 8 a.m. on October 7, after suffering a ransomware attack. According to the city, the cloud service used by the contractor that maintains the website appears to have been hit by a third party, and personal information of residents that the city had collected through its contact forms and other channels may have been leaked. There is no timeline yet for restoring service. On 5ch, the discussion branched out in all directions — doubts about the contracted cloud infrastructure and the state of government IT, distrust of the My Number (Japan’s national ID) system, and more.

    In Tokyo’s Kodaira City, the city’s official website has been inaccessible since the 7th after being hit by a ransomware attack from a third party. According to the city, residents’ personal information may have been leaked.

    According to Kodaira City, the website outage began shortly after 8 a.m. on the 7th, and there is still no prospect of restoration.

    The cloud service used by the contractor responsible for maintaining the website is said to have been hit by a third-party ransomware attack, and personal information the city had obtained through its contact forms and other means may have been leaked. (Source continues below)

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

    5AnonymousOct 8, 2026 17:13
    Guess bureaucrats outsource literally everything, huh
    15AnonymousOct 8, 2026 17:15
    Re: #5
    Just a clerical job
    121AnonymousOct 8, 2026 18:15
    Re: #5
    A data center beats on-prem anyway, right?
    18AnonymousOct 8, 2026 17:16
    The real question is whether this was an inside job, deliberately leaked
    19AnonymousOct 8, 2026 17:16
    There's no way a city government can pay a ransom
    So targeting Kodaira of all places means…
    27AnonymousOct 8, 2026 17:18
    Re: #19
    We'll be fine if every resident just chips in ¥1,000
    28AnonymousOct 8, 2026 17:18
    If it's the IDC Frontier incident, a whole region just got wiped out, so there's probably no actual data leak
    But snapshots and everything got nuked too, so without a local backup recovery is basically impossible
    32AnonymousOct 8, 2026 17:20
    Re: #28
    No way the hackers didn't keep a copy for themselves
    The whole point is to hold the data hostage for extortion
    35AnonymousOct 8, 2026 17:20
    Re: #28
    Why are you being so naive about this?
    36AnonymousOct 8, 2026 17:21
    Isn't personal information supposed to be kept offline or something?
    41AnonymousOct 8, 2026 17:21
    Re: #36
    If that were true, you wouldn't be able to print a residency certificate instantly at a convenience store lol
    51AnonymousOct 8, 2026 17:25
    Ugh…
    Guess a My Number (national ID) data leak is coming soon too lol
    54AnonymousOct 8, 2026 17:28
    Re: #51
    No problem
    It's written right in the terms that even if My Number data gets leaked or misused, the government takes zero responsibility
    57AnonymousOct 8, 2026 17:29
    Re: #51
    That's probably already happening lol
    Going forward AI is going to pull together your LINE, Ameba, and old Twitter-era messages and link it all straight to your personal data
    We're headed into an era where AI compiles celebrity wikis listing exactly who spent how many hours with whom at a love hotel — the tabloids are done for
    64AnonymousOct 8, 2026 17:33
    Re: #51
    It's fine, the government takes zero responsibility anyway
    84AnonymousOct 8, 2026 17:54
    Deng Xiaoping was the paramount leader who drove China's reform and opening-up, laying the foundation for modern China's economic development.
    (Just riffing on the "Shouhei" name connection — Kodaira is written with the same kanji, 小平, as Xiaoping)
    110AnonymousOct 8, 2026 18:10
    Re: #84
    Is Otani a "Mao" too then? (continuing the pun chain — baseball star Shohei Otani shares the "Shouhei" reading, now linking to Chinese leader Mao Zedong)
    97AnonymousOct 8, 2026 17:58
    Wondering if I should buy a condo near Kodaira Station
    Nerima and Itabashi are just too expensive
    118AnonymousOct 8, 2026 18:13
    Re: #97
    There can't be many places right by the station…
    Can you even build anything on the cemetery side?
    112AnonymousOct 8, 2026 18:10
    The takeover of IDC Frontier's cloud infrastructure really isn't getting the news coverage it deserves given how serious it is
    124AnonymousOct 8, 2026 18:19
    Re: #112
    Maybe they're going easy on it out of deference to parent company SoftBank?
    129AnonymousOct 8, 2026 18:22
    Re: #112
    The evening news really avoided saying "SoftBank"
    (This was on) Nippon TV
    127AnonymousOct 8, 2026 18:20
    I used to live in Kodaira a while back
    Wonder if my old data got swept up in this too
    170AnonymousOct 8, 2026 18:47
    Re: #127
    Same here
    Who knows
    133AnonymousOct 8, 2026 18:23
    This really shows just how much they've been looking down on IT engineers
    The skill level is rock bottom
    141AnonymousOct 8, 2026 18:26
    Re: #133
    Feels like it's already too late at this point
    They tout "improved service" while it's full of holes
    147AnonymousOct 8, 2026 18:29
    Re: #133
    It's less about the engineers and more that they don't want to pay for equipment or updates
    156AnonymousOct 8, 2026 18:37
    By this time next week, won't something like 30% of municipal websites in Japan be down?
    160AnonymousOct 8, 2026 18:43
    Re: #156
    Honestly, it'd be better if it just disappeared outright
    There's a real chance it gets secretly hijacked and starts pumping out misinformation
    Imagine a flood-danger alert getting swapped for "It's fiiine, totally safe~"
    186AnonymousOct 8, 2026 18:57
    With a company, the motive is obvious — hold the data for ransom
    But hacking a government system,
    what's even the point, that part's unclear
    Is this a dry run for a real crisis
    a nation-vs-nation conflict
    in other words, prep work for war?
    193AnonymousOct 8, 2026 19:01
    Re: #186
    If residency certificates and other government services go down
    I'd imagine quite a lot of people would be in real trouble
    198AnonymousOct 8, 2026 19:03
    But honestly, maybe it's a good thing they're attacking now? If a real war actually breaks out, the infrastructure attacks will be on a whole different level.
    204AnonymousOct 8, 2026 19:05
    Re: #198
    They don't even need to attack infrastructure — the US, China, and Russia could all be wiped out instantly anyway

    Background and Key Points of This Discussion

    In recent years, ransomware attacks on local governments have increasingly entered not through the municipality itself but through a contracted cloud vendor. Local governments outsource much of their operations to vendors, which makes it hard for the public to see where responsibility for an outage or breach actually lies. In the thread, discussion went on without ever quite settling whether this was simply a case of “the site being encrypted and inaccessible” or whether “data was actually stolen.” In recent ransom-driven attacks, the common method has shifted to stealing data in advance and then threatening to publish it, so the site outage and the potential data leak may well be separate issues. Note that the information at risk here is data the city itself held via its contact forms and similar channels, and is not directly tied to the My Number national ID system itself.

    *This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (News Express+) thread “[Tokyo] Kodaira City’s official website remains inaccessible after ransomware attack… residents’ personal information possibly leaked.”

  • Measles Outbreak Hits Biggest Scale in 30 Years Across the US — New York Declares State of Emergency

    Measles infections are spreading across the United States, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirming 3,887 cases as of October 2 — the largest outbreak in 30 years. In response, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed an executive order declaring a state of emergency. In 5ch threads, many commenters pointed to anti-vaccine sentiment under the Trump administration and the policies of the Secretary of Health and Human Services as the cause, while others debated whether vaccinated generations still carry sufficient antibodies and voiced concern about the outbreak spreading to Japan, with some calling for free testing and wider access to vaccination.

    In the United States, measles is spreading at a scale not seen in decades. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 3,887 cases had been confirmed as of October 2 — the most in the past 30 years.

    Original title: New York Declares State of Emergency Over Measles Outbreak (excerpt)

    (c) 2026 Bloomberg L.P.

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

    3AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:09
    What are they plotting right before the midterms?
    4AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:09
    This is going to keep getting spread to Japan too.
    Hurry up and do what they did with rubella — free testing, and free vaccines for anyone without antibodies.
    Even just free testing would be fine.
    187AnonymousOct 8, 2026 17:03
    Re: #4
    Measles vaccine schedule in Japan:
    – Born before 1972: no routine vaccination
    – Born from 1972: one routine dose
    – Born from 1994: one routine dose + one optional booster
    – Born from 2000: two routine doses

    Apparently two doses is enough to be safe.
    I'm from the one-dose generation — when I paid out of pocket for an antibody test at my checkup, my antibody level was only barely reassuring.
    9AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:11
    If we're talking measles, isn't Japan the one that's been spreading it to the rest of the world?
    Though no idea if the strain going around New York is actually the Japanese one.
    21AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:20
    Re: #9
    When was that supposed to be?
    Word is it's China and Southeast Asia spreading it around these days.
    11AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:11
    Well yeah, that's because the Health Secretary himself is the godfather of the anti-vax crowd lol
    12AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:11
    Is it the 'best' yet? (likely a typo for ペスト, "plague")
    17AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:13
    Re: #12
    *Plague.

    Reports of a second suspected plague case in eastern Russia; government insists it's "fake news"
    https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/c1591ae33b6122567bd0f7790abe00d8d614f11e
    23AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:21
    Re: #17
    COVID got stuck with "Wuhan pneumonia," so I wonder what name this plague ends up with.
    15AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:12
    Bet Trump cut the budget for this or something.
    25AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:21
    Declaring a "state of emergency" probably won't change a thing — this is the land of the free, after all, America.
    29AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:24
    Re: #25
    Realistically, handing out free vaccines is about the only thing they can actually do.
    A lockdown would be tough to pull off.
    TB and measles are way more serious than COVID — not even comparable.
    35AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:26
    What era does America think it's in?
    46AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:31
    Re: #35
    Is this such a big deal because measles had basically vanished, and now it's making a comeback?
    38AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:28
    America's long had a certain number of people who refuse to vaccinate their kids.
    Ask them "what if there's an outbreak?" and apparently they say "it won't spread, because everyone else is vaccinated."
    45AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:31
    Re: #38
    And then they talk about building "natural immunity" and deliberately get their kids in close contact with infected children to spread it through the group.
    39AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:28
    Re: #1
    Wait, adults are catching measles too…lol
    That's really not good lol
    55AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:35
    Re: #39
    Well, there was talk that once it's completely gone from your surroundings, you lose the immune boost you'd otherwise get from exposure.
    That same idea was floated with the chickenpox vaccine even before the COVID vaccines came along.
    56AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:35
    More anti-vaxxers means fewer people getting vaccinated.
    61AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:40
    Hurry up and give Trump one too already.
    62AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:40
    Did they cook up an artificial pandemic just to change the subject from the midterms? (´・ω・)
    76AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:47
    Re: #62
    The NY governor is Democrat Kathy Hochul — if anything, this lets her go after Trump's anti-vax policies.
    84AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:51
    Re: #62
    Forget mail-in voting, now they're even bringing up internet voting… no money for that though.
    64AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:41
    Does measles give you lifelong immunity?
    I had it as a kid, so I don't need to worry, right?
    137AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:56
    Re: #64
    If you caught it and developed immunity, that immunity lasts a lifetime.
    75AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:46
    If it's in New York, it'll probably be in Japan before long too…
    Wait, what even is measles again?
    Should I be wearing a mask?
    100AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:07
    Re: #75
    Measles spreads massively through the air, and masks don't stop it.
    There's no specific cure either, so the vaccine is the only real countermeasure.
    86AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:52
    This makes them sound like a developing country.
    87AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:53
    With all the anti-vaxxers running around under the Trump administration, this is basically America reaping what it sowed 🤣
    98AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:06
    Way to go, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

    Background and Key Points of This Topic

    In Japan, the routine measles vaccination schedule has differed by generation: those born before 1972 received no vaccination, while a two-dose standard became the norm for those born from 1994 onward — meaning antibody levels can vary even within the same generation. Regarding the US outbreak, in addition to the spread of vaccine hesitancy, commenters repeatedly pointed to the fact that the current Secretary of Health and Human Services has previously taken a skeptical stance on vaccine policy as a contributing factor. Meanwhile, since the New York governor belongs to the Democratic Party, some posts linked the emergency declaration to criticism of federal policy, and others framed it in the political context of the upcoming midterm elections — though these remain speculation rather than facts substantiated within the thread, and should be read with that caveat.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (News Speed+) thread “New York Declares State of Emergency — Governor Signs Executive Order Amid Measles Surge.”

  • Free School Lunch Program Blamed as Complaints About Shrinking Portions Rise — 5ch: “We’ll Pay, Just Give Us Real Food”

    A photo of a Sapporo elementary school lunch, sent in by a viewer to Hokkaido Television (HTB), sparked a news segment on parents’ suspicions that portions have gotten smaller since school lunch fees became free. The resulting 5ch thread filled up with posts comparing the photo to Showa-era (1926–1989) school lunches, alongside parents’ candid opinions like “we’d rather pay and get a decent amount and quality.” Meanwhile, Sapporo Mayor Katsuhiro Akimoto explained at a press conference that “the nutritional standards and portion sizes haven’t changed before or after the fee waiver” — and the gap between parents’ lived experience and the city’s official explanation became the thread’s central point of debate.

    This is a photo of a Sapporo school lunch sent to HTB by a viewer.

    Parents are raising questions: has the portion size gotten smaller since elementary school lunches became free?

    This is a photo of the school lunch served to a 6th grader in Sapporo.

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

    4AnonymousOct 8, 2026 17:18
    Well, of course that's what happens.
    If you want a proper meal, pay for it.
    95AnonymousOct 8, 2026 17:32
    Re: #4
    Yes. I want to pay. Please let us pay.
    115AnonymousOct 8, 2026 17:33
    Re: #4
    I'll pay, so just feed them properly.
    124AnonymousOct 8, 2026 17:34
    Re: #4
    I'll pay. Most parents feel the same way.
    20AnonymousOct 8, 2026 17:22
    Showa-era elementary school lunches
    The idealized image
    https://image-tm.s2mr.jp/i/original/1791447702367.jpeg
    The reality was this
    https://image-tm.s2mr.jp/i/original/1791447717982.jpeg
    61AnonymousOct 8, 2026 17:28
    Re: #20
    It wasn't quite this bad.

    Also, I don't remember vegetables like these.
    I never liked raw vegetables so I don't recall them being served much, but there was a nutritionist planning things, right?
    There was curry in there too — or was that just a drink?
    106AnonymousOct 8, 2026 17:33
    (Sapporo Mayor Katsuhiro Akimoto)
    "School lunches have set standards for how much nutrition and volume are needed depending on the student's grade level. Those standards haven't changed before or after the lunch fee waiver, so the portion size, menu, and nutritional content haven't changed either."

    Hmm, so are we just imagining it?
    130AnonymousOct 8, 2026 17:35
    Re: #106
    Maybe the portions were actually excessive back when we were kids?
    143AnonymousOct 8, 2026 17:36
    Re: #106
    This guy's already announced he's not running in next year's Sapporo mayoral election, so he probably doesn't care anymore.
    109AnonymousOct 8, 2026 17:33
    The Showa era really had it good.
    I remember whale kara-age (deep-fried whale meat) piled high on a single plate.
    There was so much that nobody could finish it, so the leftovers piled up too.
    But they made you stay until you finished everything, so a lot of kids hid their bread and milk in their desks until it went moldy.
    128AnonymousOct 8, 2026 17:34
    Re: #109
    There's basically no demand for whale meat anymore anyway, so they might as well put it in school lunches.
    144AnonymousOct 8, 2026 17:36
    Re: #128
    The whale meat you occasionally see at the supermarket is actually pretty pricey — more expensive than beef.
    156AnonymousOct 8, 2026 17:37
    Re: #128
    Maybe the whale catch has gone down. These days it's probably too expensive for the unit price to work out.
    Anyway, whale used to show up constantly in school lunches back then — it was like "ugh, whale again?"
    117AnonymousOct 8, 2026 17:33
    I think most parents are saying: we'll pay, just give our kids something a bit more decent to eat.
    145AnonymousOct 8, 2026 17:36
    Re: #117
    When the lunch fee waiver was decided, the view that parents should keep paying on top of the waiver was a minority opinion.
    The lunches we have now are what most of the public actually wanted.
    Even though people warned quality would suffer with the waiver alone, parents were still thrilled about getting free lunches.
    148AnonymousOct 8, 2026 17:37
    Don't Hokkaido prefectural assembly members take overseas trips like they do in some other prefectures?
    If they do, cut that budget instead.
    157AnonymousOct 8, 2026 17:38
    Re: #148
    Hokkaido has a whopping hundred assembly members. They need to cut that in half.
    161AnonymousOct 8, 2026 17:38
    Re: #148
    There isn't a single prefectural elementary or middle school in Hokkaido, though.
    166AnonymousOct 8, 2026 17:39
    Tax revenue is at an all-time high, and the child population is shrinking — so why are school lunches shrinking too?
    188AnonymousOct 8, 2026 17:40
    Re: #166
    People keep saying tax revenue is at an all-time high, but specifically, how big is the actual budget surplus?
    202AnonymousOct 8, 2026 17:41
    Re: #166
    Well, the national debt hits an all-time high every year too.
    167AnonymousOct 8, 2026 17:39
    Don't think you can eat for free. You're taking the world way too lightly.
    191AnonymousOct 8, 2026 17:40
    Re: #167
    Right.
    If you think money just falls from the sky, you're dead wrong.
    Every resource in this world is finite.
    198AnonymousOct 8, 2026 17:41
    Re: #167
    Tell that to the LDP lawmakers.
    273AnonymousOct 8, 2026 17:47
    A typical Japanese meal

    286AnonymousOct 8, 2026 17:49
    Re: #1

    [Aichi Asian Games] Vegetables with 3 pieces of chicken… "You expect us to compete on this?" Shocking meal at the competition venue, posted on social media by Thailand's coach ★4
    https://hayabusa9.5ch.io/test/read.cgi/mnewsplus/1789884655/


    i.imgur.com/fv0VE1t.jpeg
    i.imgur.com/E1COlDE.jpeg
    294AnonymousOct 8, 2026 17:49
    Hokkaido's poverty-level school lunch
    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HPwDWVxbEAAInG3.jpg

    Background and Key Points of Debate

    Free school lunches are a policy spreading across municipalities nationwide funded by national government subsidies, and this thread touches on the fact that “this fiscal year’s waiver is funded using national subsidies.” The waiver itself isn’t meant to change nutritional or menu standards, and Sapporo Mayor Katsuhiro Akimoto said as much at his press conference, stating “the standards haven’t changed before or after the waiver.” In other words, there’s officially no reason for portions to have shrunk — yet parents are making concrete complaints like “the portions are too small” and “my child comes home hungry,” and this discrepancy became the thread’s focal point. Without speculating beyond the facts, it’s worth noting a structural point for readers: if food costs rise due to inflation while subsidy funding stays fixed, the actual amount and quality served could change even under unchanged official standards. Several commenters in the thread said they’d rather pay and get better quality, revealing that for many parents, “free” doesn’t automatically mean “satisfactory.” At the same time, there was plenty of nostalgic back-and-forth comparing it to Showa-era lunches, mixing in questions about how much of that memory is rosy exaggeration versus reality.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (News Speed+) thread “Shrinking School Lunches? Rising Complaints of “Too Little Food” and “Kids Coming Home Hungry” — Behind the Scenes in Sapporo.”

  • 60% of Households Have Left the AC Running 24/7 — 5ch Reacts: ‘Shocked to Find It Full of Mold’

    According to a Panasonic survey, households this summer ran their air conditioners for an average of 13 hours and 6 minutes a day, 32 minutes less than the previous year. The drop is thought to be linked to a later-than-usual end to the rainy season and cooler temperatures in the latter half of summer, yet 60% of respondents said they had left their AC running 24 hours straight at some point. By prefecture, Okinawa topped the list at 16 hours 37 minutes of daily use, while Hokkaido was lowest at 10 hours 49 minutes. The thread debated the truth behind the claim that “leaving the AC on nonstop is cheaper than switching it on and off,” which costs more — dehumidify mode or cooling mode — and rising AC unit prices, with plenty of personal anecdotes thrown in.

    A Panasonic survey found that households nationwide ran their air conditioners for an average of 13 hours and 6 minutes a day this summer, 32 minutes shorter than the previous year. The change is believed to reflect a later end to the rainy season — especially around the greater Tokyo area — and a handful of relatively cool days in the latter half of summer. Meanwhile, 60% of respondents said they had left their AC running 24 hours straight at some point.

    How often households left their AC running “24 hours straight” this summer

    The company surveyed usage patterns among owners of its “Eolia” brand air conditioners from June through August. By prefecture, daily usage time was longest in Okinawa at 16 hours 37 minutes, followed by Kagoshima (14 hours 16 minutes) and Fukuoka (14 hours 5 minutes). Hokkaido had the shortest usage time at 10 hours 49 minutes.

    Source: yomiuri.co.jp / Original article here

    3AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:07
    Wasn't it supposed to be more expensive to keep switching it on and off?
    154AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:46
    Re: #3
    Isn't that just a myth?
    10AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:13
    Apparently today's minors won't even live to 60 because of global warming.
    20AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:18
    Re: #10
    But I heard a mini ice age is supposed to hit around 2030 or so (´・ω・`)
    67AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:46
    Re: #10
    Re: #20
    So which is it, lol
    11AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:14
    I run a dehumidifier and the AC's cooling mode at the same time.
    125AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:22
    Re: #11
    I get it — nights when the outdoor thermometer reads 29°C and it's raining.
    12AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:14
    I turn mine off at night.
    This year and last year were cool enough.
    The year before that was so hot I had no choice but to keep it on overnight too.
    181AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:59
    Re: #12
    Calling a year with repeated 40°C+ days "cool"… wow.
    17AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:17
    Once the room cools down I switch it to auto and just leave it running.
    Should I get a circulator fan too?
    28AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:23
    Re: #17
    I use a circulator fan too.
    21AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:18
    Same here. My kids' room AC is only allowed before tests, otherwise it's banned. So now everyone studies in the living room where the AC is on.
    While we were at it, we sold the sofa, bought futons, and now all five of us sleep lined up together in the 20-tatami-mat living room.
    This morning the forecast said 16°C, so we even turned on the heater to sleep.
    But they're pricey — big-room air conditioners. When we replaced ours recently it cost 360,000 yen.
    100AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:09
    Re: #21
    Right, that's about 100,000 yen more than it used to cost.
    23AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:19
    The temperature gap between indoors and outdoors is so extreme now that apparently a lot of people are dying from heat shock.
    27AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:22
    Re: #23
    That's a winter thing. In summer, people die from stubbornly refusing to use the AC, not from using it.
    39AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:26
    We've turned into people who can't function without AC anymore. Step outside and our bodies just can't take it.
    44AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:29
    Re: #39
    It's not our bodies that are broken, it's the climate. Humans were never built to survive long exposure to 40°C.
    42AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:28
    In summer you're only going from 35°C outside to about 27°C inside, so the gap is around 8°C. But in winter you're going from 0°C outside to about 22°C inside, so the gap is 22°C. You can guess which one costs more in electricity, right? I saw that on TV and it made sense to me.
    That said, even when summer's outdoor temp is quoted as 35°C, a sun-facing house or room can actually hit something like 42°C in direct sunlight. And in winter, even if it's 10°C outside, a sunny spot can feel more like 18°C.
    Honestly, I wish the Japan Meteorological Agency would report temperatures with multiple readings — like, 'this is the reading in the shade, but sunny spots were running about this much higher.'
    141AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:32
    So basically what Re: #42 said — it rained constantly and stayed cool this year, so even leaving the AC on nonstop didn't use that much power.
    46AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:31
    Running it continuously puts less mechanical stress on the unit than constantly switching it on and off.
    51AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:32
    Where I live it rarely hits 37°C — even on hot days it's more like 35°C. I've been living here without AC for about 30 years now.
    108AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:13
    Re: #46
    But mine isn't an inverter model, so it keeps cycling on and off anyway.
    71AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:49
    I turn mine off at night because leaving it running makes the room too cold.
    77AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:52
    Re: #71
    Can't you just adjust the set temperature on your AC?
    79AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:53
    Re: #71
    At my age, I turn it off when I go to sleep and use the timer so it kicks on for a bit while I'm sleeping, then switches itself off again.
    88AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:59
    Re: #71
    This summer just wasn't the type where nights got cold.
    84AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:56
    I'm amazed you can sleep with the AC off. Doesn't your futon end up soaked with sweat?
    85AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:58
    Re: #84
    These days there are air-cooled mats and water-cooled mats, you know. Live smart!!
    95AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:05
    Re: #84
    As long as it's around 27°C at night, I don't sweat much and it's not that uncomfortable for me. I've done it this way for years, so I'm probably just used to it. I sleep fine, so that's just what I do personally — but I do tell my family to just use the AC normally when they sleep.
    94AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:04
    I wonder how much the electricity bill actually differs. I've always been too nervous to leave it running nonstop.
    My routine: AC on auto at 25°C for 30 minutes, then fan only for 1-2 hours, repeat. Doing that through July and August cost me just over 7,000 yen.
    114AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:17
    Re: #112
    With all the rain this year, that's probably extra likely to happen. Better do a chemical cleaning before switching over to heating mode.
    126AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:23
    Re: #94
    I feel like insulation matters more than the AC itself. I haven't checked my bill lately, but I think running 4 units costs a bit over 10,000 yen.

    AC 1: evening to morning
    AC 2: morning to night
    (AC 3: barely used since getting married)
    AC 4: runs 24/7, even stays on while the kid is at school
    AC 5: turned off while the kid is at school
    Fan: DC model, used instead of a circulator

    Filter cleaning once a month (no self-cleaning feature)
    24-hour ventilation filter also cleaned once a month
    136AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:26
    Re: #114
    Mold suddenly exploded in mine. First time this has ever happened. Not sure if it's because the unit's getting old and losing its dehumidifying power, or because I felt sick and just hadn't been checking on it. I taped it off with plastic wrap and scrubbed it down with mold remover. One of the blades on the spinning fan part broke in the process lol

    138AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:28
    Re: #126
    Your insulation must be pretty good then.

    Re: #136
    Okay that's seriously too far gone lol. Why not buy one of those fan-cleaning sprays and wash it out? Actually, just replace the thing.
    112AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:15
    Looked inside my AC's air vent yesterday and nearly screamed — completely covered in mold \(^_^)/
    137AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:27
    Re: #112
    That happened to me too when I was slacking on filter cleaning.

    Newer units blow air even after you power them off. The one I bought recently has some kind of "internal clean" mode that blows air for over an hour.

    Even on my old AC, just cleaning the filter once a month got rid of the mold.
    158AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:48
    Re: #138
    It still works, so replacing it is kind of… (^_^;) no money anyway lol. Mold just suddenly exploded on me, first time in my life! I'll post a photo of it after cleaning lol
    More importantly, my TV antenna broke and I'm trying to figure out a cheap fix ~(^_^;)


    159AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:48
    Wait, dehumidify (dry) mode actually costs more in electricity than cooling?? For real??
    186AnonymousOct 8, 2026 16:07
    Re: #159
    There are two types of dehumidify mode (plus hybrid versions).

    In terms of cost: weak-cooling dehumidify < cooling < reheat dehumidify
    https://smtgvs.weathernews.jp/s/topics/img/201906/201906250075_box_img1_A.jpg

    Electricity cost per hour:
    Weak-cooling dehumidify: ¥4.1
    Cooling: ¥11.0
    Reheat dehumidify: ¥14.9
    200AnonymousOct 8, 2026 16:20
    Re: #186
    Non-reheat dehumidify (dry mode) is basically just weakening the airflow. From a former regular of the home-appliances board's AC thread.
    205AnonymousOct 8, 2026 16:25
    Re: #200
    Seems like it. Should've posted the bottom part of that article too, I guess.
    https://smtgvs.weathernews.jp/s/topics/img/201906/201906250075_box_img2_A.jpg
    https://weathernews.jp/s/topics/201906/250075/
    213AnonymousOct 8, 2026 16:31
    Re: #205
    It costs more, but if you want to dehumidify without actually cooling the room, reheat dehumidify is the only option.

    Reheat dehumidify removes moisture using the cooling function, then uses the heating function so the room doesn't get too cold.


    Difference between reheat dehumidify and weak-cooling dehumidify:

    Reheat dehumidify: Cools the humid air to remove moisture, then warms it back up to a comfortable temperature before blowing it out, so it doesn't feel cold.

    Weak-cooling type: Cools the humid air with a weak cooling operation to remove moisture, then blows it out as-is, so the air coming out can feel cold and give you a chill.

    https://kadenfan.hitachi.co.jp/support/ra/q_a/a41.html

    Background and Key Points of Debate

    The claim that “running the AC continuously is cheaper than switching it on and off” was itself questioned in the thread as possibly a myth — in reality, it depends on a room’s insulation, the gap with outdoor temperature, and whether the unit is an inverter model, so no single answer applies. On dehumidifying, the figures posted in the thread (weak-cooling dehumidify: ¥4.1/hour, cooling: ¥11.0/hour, reheat dehumidify: ¥14.9/hour) show that the common assumption “dehumidifying saves more energy than cooling” doesn’t hold for the reheat dehumidify method — an easy point to miss. The survey itself only covers users of Panasonic’s “Eolia” brand air conditioners, not an average across all households, which is worth keeping in mind when reading the numbers.

    ※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (News Flash+) thread “60% of Households Have Experienced Leaving the AC on 24/7 This Summer… Panasonic Survey Says It’s ‘Becoming the Norm’“.

  • Big 4 Beer Makers Suspected of Price Cartel: Managers Allegedly Shared Pricing Sheets at Meetings

    The Fair Trade Commission has launched a mandatory investigation into suspected violations of the Antimonopoly Act by Japan’s four major beer makers over an alleged price cartel, sources say. At meetings where section-chief-level employees from each company discussed shipping prices, they are believed to have shared price lists broken down by product size. On 5channel, commenters split between those flatly calling it “an obvious case of collusion” and those who shrugged it off with “every industry does this.” Some also suggested the story is getting little coverage because the beer industry is a major TV advertising sponsor.

    Thu, Oct 8, 8:53 AM JST

    Kyodo News

    In the price cartel case involving Japan’s four major beer makers — now under mandatory investigation by the Fair Trade Commission on suspicion of violating the Antimonopoly Act — sales representatives from each company are believed to have discussed shipping prices while sharing price lists at meetings, sources told reporters on the 8th. It also emerged that these meetings were mainly attended by section-chief-level employees, who appear to have coordinated prices by product size. The commission is working to clarify how decisions were made on the timing of price revisions and the size of price hikes by analyzing seized documents.

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

    2AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:21
    Wait, is this actually that bad?
    65AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:43
    Re: #2
    This is about as bad as it gets
    156AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:25
    Re: #2
    This is a textbook cartel if there ever was one
    Honestly weird it wasn't a problem until now
    Guess it felt like "safety in numbers, we're the almighty beer companies, look how much tax we pay"
    But the media's biggest sponsor is beer, so this'll blow over fast
    3AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:22
    This isn't really funny, but since the beer industry is a huge sponsor of mass media, of course they won't cover it properly
    Stations like TV Asahi usually make a huge fuss over stuff like this, but since it involves their parent company, they're just ignoring it
    132AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:09
    Re: #3
    Yeah, they're all over the commercials
    They've really got pull
    But isn't this how every industry works?
    It's basically the same handful of players everywhere
    5AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:23
    Ice cream makers were in the news for the same thing not that long ago
    62AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:42
    Re: #5
    I mean
    every industry does this
    the Fair Trade Commission knows it too, and still goes after it
    14AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:26
    They said "we'll fully cooperate with the investigation" like butter wouldn't melt, but they clearly knew everything all along
    21AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:28
    Re: #14
    >"We'll fully cooperate with the investigation"

    That's exactly the kind of line a guilty party says
    16AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:27
    Guess we really do need foreign competitors to shake things up
    90AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:53
    Re: #16
    Nothing changes until people start buying Chinese or Southeast Asian beer instead
    17AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:27
    Didn't realize section chiefs had the authority to run a cartel
    That's the more surprising part to me
    60AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:42
    Re: #17
    Just scapegoats thrown under the bus while the top brass walk free (lit. "cutting off the lizard's tail")
    32AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:33
    Cell carriers do the same thing, gas stations do the same thing, every industry does the same thing
    35AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:34
    Re: #32
    Tell me exactly which phone plans are identical then
    34AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:33
    Antitrust violation aside, which beer makers are we even talking about here?
    I don't drink, so I have no idea
    40AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:35
    Re: #34
    Orion, the one from Okinawa
    48AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:39
    (door slides open) "Cocktail conspiracy?? Who the hell created this cartel?!" (a pun — "cartel suspicion" and "cocktail charm" sound alike in Japanese)
    (door slides open) "I heard everything! Mankind is doomed!"
    58AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:42
    Re: #48
    Boring. Your story was boring.
    Yamada, take away all his cushions! (catchphrase from the comedy show Shōten, where a bad joke costs you your sitting cushion)
    52AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:40
    Re: #35
    Wasn't it the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry that was furious at the three big carriers over something like this?
    Though Rakuten got left out of that one lol
    82AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:49
    Re: #52
    Wasn't that something other than the Antimonopoly Act? If they were actually charged under it, show me a source
    87AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:52
    Re: #82
    Forget "prohibiting" monopolies — Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is actively promoting them
    129AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:08
    Re: #87
    Like I said, show me actual proof they colluded. No proof, no case — that's just a baseless accusation
    96AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:54
    Companies like Kotoku Shinryo, Shinmei, Itochu…
    isn't the rice industry looking pretty shady lately too?
    148AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:18
    Re: #96
    Turns out retailers were making the biggest profit off rice, so everyone shut up about that
    100AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:55
    Cartel or not, everyone's just buying Ichiban Shibori anyway (Kirin's top-selling beer brand)
    107AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:57
    Re: #100
    Harahettaa (a riff on "hara hetta" — "I'm hungry")
    116AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:02
    Train fares and car dealers probably have cartels too, don't they?
    121AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:04
    Re: #116
    Instant ramen, ham, and gasoline are under suspicion too
    125AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:06
    They're doing whatever they want
    Stores, please stock more imported beer and give consumers some actual choice
    128AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:08
    Re: #125
    Funny thing is, the big retailers already tripped over their own feet pushing Korean private-label beer
    Even rushing back to domestic brands now won't wash off the image that stuck
    131AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:09
    What's even the point of "freedom" when individuals aren't allowed to brew their own beer for fun in the first place…
    146AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:18
    Re: #131
    Because it counts as tax evasion
    Plus there've been a lot of fatal oxygen-deprivation accidents too
    152AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:22
    What's actually wrong with this? Isn't it just where competition ends up?
    154AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:23
    Re: #152
    That's the thing — they stopped competing
    157AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:25
    Re: #152
    It's the opposite lol
    "Let's quit the price wars and the R&D arms race"
    "People are drinking less and less, so let's stop wasting money on that stuff"
    "Let's just get along" — that's not competing, that's colluding
    159AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:25
    Re: #152
    If this is fine, then we don't even need the Fair Trade Commission anymore
    200AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:51
    The real problem is there are too few makers on store shelves to begin with
    Every industry is effectively an oligopoly at this point

    Making sure the law guarantees healthy market competition —
    isn't that supposed to be the government's actual job?
    208AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:58
    Re: #200
    Under a free-market economy, state intervention is supposed to be off-limits
    Most Japanese people don't seem to realize it, but bureaucrat-led economic control has continued unbroken since the wartime era
    So price controls that don't match the state's own intentions just aren't allowed
    The smartphone pricing case is a classic example
    216AnonymousOct 8, 2026 16:01
    Re: #200,201
    These days you can find even domestic beer selling for a borderline insane 1,000+ yen for a 350ml can
    If we're going to talk about fair market principles for beer, rationalizing the liquor tax should come first

    Background and key points of this story

    At the heart of this case is whether the conduct amounts to an “unreasonable restraint of trade” (cartel) banned under the Antimonopoly Act. The Fair Trade Commission is still analyzing seized documents to determine how shipping prices and price hikes were decided — no charges have actually been filed yet. Several commenters argued that “other industries like phones, rice, and gas are just as bad,” but that doesn’t make a cartel any less serious — sharing price lists and coordinating on shipping prices is potentially illegal under antitrust law regardless of industry. Many also linked the light media coverage to the beer industry’s status as a major TV sponsor, but that connection is speculation, not something established as fact in the article.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (News Speed+) thread “Big 4 Beer Makers May Have Shared Price Lists — Cartel Suspicions Center on Manager-Level Meetings.”

  • New Rice Hits Shelves at Half the Wholesale Price, 5kg Bags Drop to ¥2,000s — 5ch: ‘Found Koshihikari Selling for ¥1,399’

    The 2026 rice harvest has begun hitting shelves in earnest, with wholesale trading prices among rice distributors running 50% below where last year’s 2025 crop started out. Retail prices could fall as low as the upper ¥2,000 range for a 5kg bag, and with this year’s harvest at record levels, expectations are strong that prices will keep sliding. On 5ch, posters shared a string of photos showing Koshihikari and Akitakomachi rice selling for as little as ¥1,399 or ¥1,699 at local supermarkets, with many welcoming the price drop. Others pushed back, noting that prices were even lower before the spike two years ago, or that rice “is still expensive” — leaving the thread split on just how big a deal this drop really is.

    Distribution of the 2026 rice crop has begun in earnest. Wholesale trading prices among rice distributors are running 50% below where the 2025 crop stood at the start of its distribution season, putting retail prices within sight of the upper ¥2,000 range for a 5kg bag. With a record surplus on hand, expectations of further declines remain strong — but if prices keep falling, it risks undermining the sustainability of Japan’s rice production base.

    According to spot wholesale prices that Nikkei regularly gathers from market participants, benchmark Niigata-grown Koshihikari stood at ¥18,250 per 60kg of unmilled rice as of the 5th…(continues in the paid edition, 1,063 characters remaining)

    Nikkei, October 8, 2026, 11:00 AM

    Source: nikkei.com / Original article here

    37AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:14
    Went shopping at the supermarket yesterday

    https://image-tm.s2mr.jp/i/original/1791360702264.jpeg
    41AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:16
    JA (the farmers' co-op) and the wholesalers are the real culprits here — I'd rather pay farmers directly
    74AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:22
    Re: #41 (replying to post #41)
    My family buys direct from a farmer, but it's not something just anyone can do — it's very location-dependent.

    Plus you have to build and maintain the relationship, and when the harvest is bad or something happens — or conversely when market prices get too low — it's on us to help the farmer out in return. It's not all upside.
    43AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:16
    Calrose rice is about to become the pricier option. Its market price has jumped 50% this year and is expected to keep climbing into next year, so the two will flip places.
    54AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:18
    Re: #43 (replying to post #43)
    Blame Trump — the weak yen is making American rice more expensive. Bring the dollar back down to ¥80 already.
    51AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:17
    No problem at all if the rice wholesalers suffer — call it karma. It's got nothing to do with farmers anyway, so let prices keep dropping.
    67AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:20
    Report it in 10kg terms

    For 10kg, it's about ¥4,000 for new rice, ¥3,300 for old rice.
    72AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:22
    Re: #67 (replying to post #67)
    Rice doesn't officially become "old rice" (koime) until November
    69AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:21
    Back in the day, cheap rice was ¥1,500 for 5kg and brand-name rice was ¥2,500 for 5kg.
    Going forward, I think ¥2,500 for cheap rice and ¥3,500 for brand-name rice would be just about right.
    107AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:27
    Re: #69 (replying to post #69)
    The price spike happened two years ago
    Before that, local new-crop Koshihikari was ¥1,500
    70AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:21
    Single-variety rice is already selling for ¥1,980 for 5kg — why would I pay upper-¥2,000s?
    But some stores are dumb enough to still be sitting on ¥3,000-range stock from bad buying decisions
    Do they think expensive automatically reads as "good rice" to customers? lol
    75AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:22
    Re: #70 (replying to post #70)
    For the record, that's Koshihikari
    77AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:23
    Bought 30kg today for ¥12,000.
    95AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:25
    Re: #77 (replying to post #77)
    Same here, bought from a relative last week.
    30kg of unmilled rice for ¥12,000.
    It's Uonuma Koshihikari, by the way (a premium Koshihikari-growing region in Niigata)
    80AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:23
    People still saying it's expensive — do you even go shopping? Do you know how much everything else got marked up in October?
    133AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:31
    Re: #80 (replying to post #80)
    Because they jacked prices up to such ridiculous levels, young people who started living alone in April didn't even bother buying a rice cooker, and more people switched to a rice-free lifestyle
    They realized bread or noodles are way cheaper than cooking rice, and faster to eat too
    81AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:24
    My local supermarket is still using false-bottom containers in their bento boxes even though rice prices are falling (a trick to make the portion look bigger than it is).
    Unforgivable.
    98AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:25
    Re: #81 (replying to post #81)
    Over here they're advertising bentos with "60g more rice!" lol
    That's not an increase, that's just putting back what they cut earlier — had me fuming for a good while
    92AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:25
    I buy in 2kg bags so it ends up costing more per kilo
    Even a 5kg bag, I can't finish it in a month
    145AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:33
    Re: #92 (replying to post #92)
    If you store it in Daiso's food-grade vacuum storage bags, it barely degrades even at room temperature (Daiso is a Japanese discount variety-store chain)
    https://jpbulk.daisonet.com/products/4550480125817
    204AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:44
    Re: #92 (replying to post #92)
    Dry goods can be preserved with a food sealer, so it's handy to own a decent one
    94AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:25
    New-crop Akitakomachi, ¥1,599


    New-crop Akitakomachi, ¥1,699
    111AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:28
    Re: #94 (replying to post #94)
    Thought Sato's kirimochi (cut rice cakes) were cheap, then realized it's only 750g, lol
    134AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:32
    Re: #94 (replying to post #94)
    Cheap even for a sale, lol — what prefecture is this?
    Limit 2 per family
    Makes sense, can't have resellers (tenbaiya) swooping in and buying it all up
    108AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:27
    Don Quijote (discount retail chain)
    New-crop Fusakogane, ¥1,699

    119AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:29
    Everyone, be careful
    This year's super El Niño makes a record-low snowfall pretty likely
    In past years following a super El Niño, low snowfall meant less groundwater and poor harvests from water shortages
    On top of that, the earthquakes and flooding this year mean more regions won't be able to grow rice next year
    Don't miss this chance to buy cheap — the odds of being able to buy at these prices again next year are pretty low
    152AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:34
    Re: #119 (replying to post #119)
    The Japan Meteorological Agency gets it wrong all the time — this year's Chiba downpour is a perfect example
    161AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:35
    Re: #119 (replying to post #119)
    If it gets expensive again, people will just shift back to foreign rice or wheat-based foods — that'll only accelerate the move away from rice
    176AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:38
    Re: #119 (replying to post #119)
    They need to scrap tariffs on both rice and wheat and fully liberalize the market
    153AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:34
    If rice is cheap now, convenience stores should bring their ¥170-180 onigiri back down to the ¥120 range
    162AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:35
    Re: #153 (replying to post #153)
    Lol, buying from a convenience store — you seem like the type who'd also blow money on pachinko and mobile gacha games
    193AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:42
    Re: #153 (replying to post #153)
    Domestic nori (seaweed) had a bad harvest and has gotten ridiculously expensive — might even cost more than the rice itself now, lol
    They may have already switched to Korean nori
    I used to buy from an onigiri specialty shop, but stopped once the label started saying "Made in Korea"
    The thing that really should get a price cut is packaged rice (pack gohan)
    If a brand doesn't bring that back down to pre-spike levels, I say boycott it
    154AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:34
    Mammy Mart (a regional supermarket chain)
    New-crop Koshihikari, ¥1,399
    171AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:37
    Trend in Akitakomachi's provisional payment price (gaisankin, the advance paid to farmers before final settlement)

    The past two years were just abnormal — it's still plenty expensive
    180AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:39
    Re: #1 (replying to the original post)

    Trend in retail rice prices

    Everyone's just gotten numb to it — it's still expensive, you know?
    https://imgur.com/CbXOZyA.jpeg

    Background and Key Points of Discussion

    The rice price surge that persisted from around 2024 — often dubbed the “Reiwa Rice Riot” — kept 2025-crop wholesale prices elevated. The 50% drop reported for the 2026 crop is being driven by a record-large harvest. Thread posters shared multiple photos of cheap Koshihikari as real-world examples, suggesting that actual prices vary significantly by region and purchase volume. At the same time, some pointed out that prices are still higher than pre-spike levels from two years ago (around ¥1,500 for 5kg), splitting opinion between those who saw the drop as substantial and those who saw it as only halfway there. One reply also noted the lesser-known rule that rice is only officially reclassified as “old rice” starting in November. Some argued that Japan’s broader move away from rice consumption, and the resulting drop in demand, is itself a factor in the price decline — suggesting a structural shift that a bumper harvest alone doesn’t fully explain.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (News Speed+) thread “[Rice] New-crop distribution begins at 50% off, 5kg in the upper ¥2,000 range, further declines expected.”

  • The ‘XX Lady’ Title Is Dying Out — 5ch Fires Back: ‘Just Speak Japanese’

    Women-only job titles like “stewardess” and “Yakult Lady” are increasingly being swapped out for gender-neutral terms. The original article highlighted new coinages like “Sonaeru-ju.” On 5ch, the thread split between posters questioning what practical difference the new names actually make and those who dismissed the skeptics as out-of-touch relics. Many replies pointed to real-world job titles — Yakult Ladies, Pink Lady, the history of JAL and ANA’s cabin crew titles — to argue just how messy renaming actually gets.

    Job titles that once specified a woman’s gender are shifting toward gender-neutral forms. The hope seems to be that moving past gender distinctions will open the door for a more diverse range of people to thrive. (By Saki Sakamoto)

    ■”Out of step with the times”

    “Our nickname is now ‘Sonaeru-ju.’”

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

    2AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:23
    Sanaeru-ju
    42AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:30
    There's no point coining a term nobody understands.
    Customers have no idea what the job even is, so you end up having to explain it every single time.
    You'll inevitably have to invent a separate term that actually makes sense to outsiders.
    46AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:30
    Meanwhile, words like "ossan" (derogatory slang for "old/middle-aged guy") that arguably promote discrimination against men get a complete free pass — talk about unfair.
    4AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:23
    This is ridiculous
    How long are we going to keep up this outdated genderless act
    Men and women actually are different, you know
    8AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:24
    Re: #4
    Most people in the world are idiots anyway
    so it's best not to expect too much from society
    148AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:50
    Re: #4
    Yeah, I really do think that too
    Stop wasting time on this nonsense and get back to work
    It's probably just busywork, but must be nice having such an easy job
    246AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:11
    Re: #4
    Fair point, but there's no need to deliberately create gender distinctions either
    6AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:23
    Just speak Japanese (net slang for 'that makes no sense')
    16AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:25
    Re: #6
    I guess it counts as Japanese, since it comes from "sonaeru" (to prepare/equip)?
    40AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:30
    Re: #16
    "Sonaeru-jo" would just barely pass as Japanese
    18AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:25
    I'd buy Yakult from a Yakult Lady, but if some guy showed up yelling "Dick Yakult, right here!" you wouldn't buy it, would you?

    That's exactly my point
    95AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:41
    Re: #18
    "Yakult Boy" just makes you wonder where exactly the Yakult is coming from, and "Yakult Person" doesn't sit right either.
    194AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:02
    Re: #18
    Yakult sales work by having the seller buy stock from Yakult every morning and resell it to customers
    so if you're unattractive or a man, you simply can't move product and won't last
    in the end, only charming, cute women survive in that job
    22AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:26
    So what do we call Pink Lady now, then?
    51AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:32
    Re: #22
    A Hayashiya Pāko wannabe? (a famously loud, flamboyant Japanese TV personality)
    24AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:26
    Thinking about it now, "Pink Lady" is a pretty wild name
    41AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:30
    Re: #24
    Then what about "Pink Saturn"?
    132AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:48
    Re: #24
    And "My Wife" too, lol
    37AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:29
    No matter what anyone says, I'm sticking with "nurse," "stewardess," and "waitress" — this is ridiculous
    45AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:30
    Re: #37
    Welcome to the world of out-of-touch old-timers
    267AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:14
    Re: #37
    A textbook case of an out-of-touch old-timer
    39AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:29
    Re: #1
    So JAL only switched to "CA" (cabin attendant) quite a while after everyone else, huh
    150AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:51
    Re: #39
    JAL looked down on ANA, so they probably didn't want to copy them
    Once JAL went bankrupt, though, the tables turned
    311AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:21
    Re: #39
    In the US and UK it's "flight attendant," isn't it
    47AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:30
    Honestly, it's absurd to call these terms "discriminatory" when they actually add a certain prestige
    "female doctor," "actress," "Miss So-and-so" — why would you want to shrink your own spotlight like that?
    170AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:55
    Re: #47
    I'm in my 20s, and honestly all of those sound dated to me

    "Joyuu" (actress) makes me think of "sexy actress" (a porn-industry term) these days
    It took me about two days to get used to just calling everyone "actor,"
    but "actor Non" or "actor Yu Aoi" sound great to me
    318AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:21
    If they abolished Ladies' Day, people would probably lose their minds in a blind rage
    329AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:23
    Re: #318
    Rename it "Vajainuru Day" (a crude pun riffing on "vagina")
    331AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:23
    Re: #318
    Instead of scrapping it outright, they just made it cheaper for men too
    Ladies' Day → Cinema Day
    with discounts for both men and women

    Background and Key Points of Debate

    Gender-neutral job titles have been a long-running trend in the airline and service industries — as one thread post noted, JAL switched to calling its cabin crew “CA” later than ANA did, showing that individual companies have each picked their own terminology rather than following any unified standard. There’s no legal requirement driving this; it’s largely a branding choice. The thread split along two lines: a practical argument over whether changing a title actually accomplishes anything (since new terms can be confusing and require extra explanation), versus a values-based argument that the old titles are simply “out of step with the times.” Neither the article nor the replies touch on this, but it’s worth noting for readers: renaming a job title doesn’t change the actual duties or working conditions that come with it — a change in name and a change in substance are two separate issues that are easy to conflate.

    ※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (News Express+) thread “The disappearing “XX Lady” — gender-neutral titles spread… “Sonaeru-ju,” “Ambassador,” “Cabin Attendant”.”