Category: Society

  • Hacker Claims to Be Selling Data on 101 Million Rakuten Members, Posts Sample — Authenticity Unverified

    On October 4, 2026, a post appeared on a cybercrime forum claiming to be “selling approximately 101 million Rakuten member records for $700.” The sample data reportedly includes names, email addresses, home addresses, dates of birth, and Rakuten Point balances, but the source of the leak and the authenticity of the data remain unverified. On 5ch, the thread lit up with a mix of reactions — shock that the number approaches the size of Japan’s entire population, calm reminders of past phishing attacks targeting Rakuten, and debates about the limits of password-based authentication.

    Hacker Claims to Be Selling Personal Data on 101 Million Rakuten Members — Sample Includes Name, Address, and Point Balance Info; Source and Authenticity Unverified

    On October 4, 2026, a post titled “SELLING Rakuten Japan 101M” appeared on a cybercrime forum, offering for sale approximately 101 million records described as Rakuten member data.

    The seller describes the data as a “rakuten.co.jp database,” listing the total record count as “101M” and the price as $700. The post includes several sample lines of data containing names, email addresses, phone numbers, home addresses, dates of birth, membership rank, Rakuten Point balances, and last login timestamps.

    Source: rocket-boys.co.jp / Original article here

    6AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:22
    I got rejected for a Rakuten credit card, so I'm safe!
    Sucks to be you guys 😂😂😂😂
    33AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:25
    Re: #6
    You still handed over your personal info applying, so you're screwed too
    168AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:40
    Re: #6
    Heard you can get approved even writing "sniper" in the occupation field
    38AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:26
    >> Source and authenticity unverified
    Quit writing garbage clickbait articles off unverified leaks
    73AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:30
    Re: #38
    The fact-check-free trash media (masugomi) strikes again lol
    40AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:27
    Rakuten alone is still survivable.
    But if Amazon ("Ama") gets hit too, I'll never be able to get married (´・ω・`)
    54AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:28
    Re: #40
    Come on over, I'll take real good care of you~
    55AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:28
    Guess we're heading into an age of 100 million passkey users.
    The ID-and-password era is officially dead.
    70AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:30
    Re: #55
    Yep, the era of text passwords being useless is here.
    Came faster than expected, but it was bound to happen sooner or later.
    59AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:29
    Rakuten already had that scandal where unauthorized access got people's brokerage accounts forced into buying garbage stocks.
    A data leak barely surprises me at this point.
    75AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:31
    Re: #59
    That one was a phishing scam, so plenty of other companies got hit too, not just Rakuten.
    Feels like after that they bolted on biometric auth, two-factor auth, email alerts, then yet another layer of authentication on top.
    74AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:30
    At this point basically every Japanese person has had some kind of info leaked somewhere.
    151AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:38
    Re: #74
    Keep slacking off like that and the tokuryu (loosely organized scam crews recruited online) will come for you!
    76AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:31
    This is basically a nationwide naked festival (hadaka matsuri) — everybody's exposed.
    83AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:31
    Re: #76
    Even so, apparently it's way worse overseas.
    87AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:32
    Re: #83
    Now I'm worried about Amazon.
    79AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:31
    Well, as long as you haven't linked your bank account to e-money, you should be fine.
    Though it might be game over for all the smug cashless-payment show-offs.
    88AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:32
    Re: #79
    Banks will get hit eventually too.
    93AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:32
    Re: #79
    Mine's linked, but I've got biometric auth on everything so I don't think it can actually be used.
    Plus I basically only use my bank account for automatic debits anyway, and I've set my daily withdrawal and transfer limits to the bare minimum.
    84AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:31
    If they'd just wipe out my revolving credit balance, I'd root for the hackers.
    96AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:33
    Re: #84
    Same thought lol
    like, if only they'd wipe my debt clean.
    101AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:33
    Info on over 100 million people — Japan's population is about 120 million, so that means roughly 90% of everyone's personal info got taken.
    128AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:36
    Re: #101
    Though surely that count is padded with a ton of duplicate accounts.
    132AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:36
    Re: #101
    Foreign residents living in Japan can sign up too, you know.
    103AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:33
    Those were the days.
    Let's just go back to the Showa era.
    106AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:34
    Re: #103
    That era was full of scams too, you know.
    176AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:41
    Re: #103
    Switching back to paper forms would cut down on data leaks too.
    110AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:34
    If this happened to Google or someone in the US, everyone would be asking 'wait, can AI even protect anything?' and it'd be absolute pandemonium.
    126AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:36
    Re: #110
    Everything's optimized for offense these days.
    Even US news coverage is all about the attacks, never the defense.
    209AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:44
    Re: #110
    Big companies hold way more data, so the damage ends up bigger when they get hit.
    131AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:36
    Isn't it weird how foreign-owned services barely get targeted at all (´・д・`)?
    135AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:37
    Re: #131
    Maybe they're just better at defending themselves? 🥺
    148AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:37
    Re: #131
    Unlike Japanese companies, they actually take security seriously.
    I mean, Japan can't even handle My Number (the national ID system) properly — that's hilarious lmao
    234AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:47
    Wait, Rakuten really has 100 million members?
    238AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:47
    Re: #234
    That's probably counting duplicate sign-ups.
    242AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:48
    Re: #234
    Most Rakuten members are Japanese, so if data on just over 100 million people got taken out of Japan's population of 120 million, that basically means most of the country's info is out there.

    Background and Key Points of the Discussion

    Posts advertising “data for sale” on cybercrime forums commonly inflate record counts and prices to lure buyers, so even if the sample rows turn out to be genuine, the authenticity and origin of the full dataset are a separate issue. The article makes no mention of any official breach disclosure from Rakuten, and the thread repeatedly circled back to the premise that “the source and authenticity remain unverified.” The figure of 101 million roughly matches Japan’s population of about 120 million, but as commenters noted, the total likely includes duplicate sign-ups from the same person as well as foreign residents, so reading it simply as “almost every citizen’s data was leaked” would be premature. Rakuten has also previously made headlines over phishing attacks targeting brokerage accounts — but that involved scammers tricking users into entering their own information on fake sites, not unauthorized access, a distinction that’s easy to confuse with this latest sales claim.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (News Speed+) thread “Hacker Claims to Be Selling Personal Data on 101 Million Rakuten Members — Sample Includes Name, Address, and Point Balance Info; Source and Authenticity Unverified.”

  • Tottori Prefecture’s Population Hits Nationwide Low of 523,073 — 5ch: ‘That’s 200,000 Fewer Than the City of Saitama’

    In finalized results from the 2025 national census released by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications on September 29, Tottori Prefecture’s population came in at 523,073 — the lowest of all 47 prefectures. The decline of 30,334 people and the 5.5% drop rate from the previous 2020 census were both the largest since records began in 1920, and it was also the first time every one of the prefecture’s 19 municipalities saw population decline. On 5ch’s News Flash+ (Newssoku+) board, commenters piled on comparing Tottori’s population to other cities and Tokyo’s special wards, with many expressing surprise while citing specific places like the city of Saitama, Hachioji, and Koto Ward. Meanwhile, plenty of posts also revisited proposals to merge with Shimane Prefecture and looked back at the history of prefectures being split and merged in the past.

    The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications released the finalized results of the census — conducted every five years — on September 29. As of October 1, 2025, Tottori Prefecture’s population stood at 523,073 (250,396 men and 272,677 women), the lowest of any prefecture, down 30,334 from the previous count in 2020.

    According to the prefecture, both the decline in numbers and the decline rate (5.5%) were the largest since the census began in 1920 (Taisho 9). It was also the first time since the census began that all 19 municipalities in the prefecture saw a population decrease compared to the previous survey. By municipality, six towns saw declines of over 10%, including Wakasa (down 18.4%), Nichinan (down 14.6%), and Hino (down 14.3%).

    Additionally, the proportion of the prefecture’s “working-age population” (ages 15-64) fell to 54.3%, the lowest since the census began. The number of foreign residents in the prefecture rose to 6,088, an increase of 1,450 (31.3%) from the previous count.

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

    7AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:23
    Even if Tottori and Shimane merged, they'd still have 200,000 fewer people than the city of Saitama
    9AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:24
    Re: #7
    So a prefecture is losing to a city now…
    11AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:25
    Re: #9
    It's even losing to Hachioji
    57AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:43
    Re: #9
    Shikoku is in trouble too — even all four Shikoku prefectures combined have fewer people than the city of Yokohama. Ehime barely clears 1 million on its own.
    13AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:26
    Re: #1
    With falling birth rates, there aren't enough workers or people to support the social safety net, so we're heading toward a world where you work until you die.

    If you don't want that,

    working-age people need to have three or more kids,

    current seniors should keep working until their healthy life expectancy runs out,

    and society needs to stop tolerating freeloading NEETs (people Not in Education, Employment, or Training).
    115AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:00
    Re: #13
    Then the government should provide jobs for people, shouldn't it
    193AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:32
    Re: #13
    I don't think there's any obligation to pay welfare to people who haven't worked, paid taxes, or paid into pension
    14AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:26
    Might as well just fill it up with immigrants, like the government apparently wants
    23AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:29
    Re: #14
    Well, at this rate it'll be a genuine ghost region in like 20 years
    24AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:29
    Where people move to
    LOL, they're getting sucked into neighboring Shimane

    Shimane Prefecture (12.7%) is the top destination, followed by Osaka (11.3%), Hyogo (10.2%), Hiroshima (9.9%), and Okayama (8.0%)

    https://www.pref.tottori.lg.jp/38472.htm
    101AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:56
    Re: #24
    I live in the Kanto area so honestly I kind of just lump them together as practically one prefecture, but I guess Shimane's the better option? Now I'm curious where people from Shimane move to, though.
    104AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:57
    Re: #24
    Wait, seriously? lol
    What's even in Shimane?
    158AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:17
    Re: #24
    Shimane was actually the #2 destination

    Osaka (12.3%) is the largest, followed by Shimane (11.3%), Hyogo (9.7%), Hiroshima (9.4%), and Okayama (8.0%) — these five neighboring prefectures account for over half (50.6%) of all moves out of the prefecture.
    32AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:31
    33 Koto Ward Tokyo 524,310
    34 Utsunomiya City Tochigi 518,757

    That's about where it stands right now
    47AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:39
    Re: #32
    Koto Ward's population is actually growing — places like Toyosu are packed with kids
    50AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:41
    They should just merge with Shimane already — they used to be one prefecture anyway

    From August 21, 1876 (Meiji 9) to September 12, 1881 (Meiji 14), for about five years, Tottori Prefecture was absorbed into Shimane Prefecture as a single unit.
    75AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:48
    Re: #50
    Oh, back around then, huh
    94AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:54
    Re: #75
    Weren't Miyazaki, Saga, Tokushima, Kagawa, Nara, and Fukui also abolished back then too?

    Those ought to get merged as well
    117AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:01
    Re: #75
    Ehime and Kochi, lol, that's a good one
    70AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:47
    Koto Ward, the 8th-biggest of Tokyo's special wards, has 524,000 people

    Setagaya Ward 943,664
    Nerima Ward 752,608
    Ota Ward 748,081
    Edogawa Ward 697,932
    Adachi Ward 695,043
    Suginami Ward 591,108
    Itabashi Ward 584,483

    Tottori should just get folded into Tokyo and become 'Tottori Ward'
    152AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:13
    Re: #70
    Other way around!
    I think it'd be better to fold Setagaya Ward into Tottori Prefecture
    77AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:48
    I live in Tottori and my office rent is 2,000 yen (roughly $13) — electricity included
    81AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:50
    Re: #77
    Guess people with no money should just move to Tottori then
    88AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:52
    My wife's family is from Tottori so I go there all the time, but it's a mystery where most people actually work — her dad's a former civil servant. Is the whole place held up by government workers alone?
    91AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:54
    Re: #88
    There's farmland, there are fishing ports, and there are shops too — country-style, but they're there
    97AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:55
    Hyogo Prefecture was stitched together from:
    Settsu of the Kinai region (split off from Osaka)
    Tanba of the San'in region (split off from Kyoto, later partly absorbed into Osaka too), and Tajima
    Harima, Bizen (Fukura in Ako City), and Mimasaka (part of Sayo Town, Sayo District) of the San'yo region
    Awaji of the Nankai region
    which is why it ends up spanning both the Sea of Japan side and the Seto Inland Sea side
    https://kotobank.jp/image/dictionary/nipponica/media/81306024018325.jpg
    100AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:56
    You're all having a laugh about this, but the disappearance of rural areas eventually leads to the disappearance of the big cities and Tokyo too — meaning the disappearance of Japan itself. You get that, right?
    102AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:56
    Prefectural declining-birthrate ranking
    113AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:00
    The only option left is to merge with Shimane and become 'Tottori City, Shimane Prefecture'
    118AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:01
    Re: #113
    Too far from Matsue
    119AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:02
    Wasn't this the prefecture whose governor came out against raising the minimum wage — or was it the one next door?
    131AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:06
    Re: #119
    In an era where entry-level pay for appliance store sales clerks tops 400,000 yen (about $2,700) a month, being against a minimum wage hike is just going to make everyone leave
    129AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:05
    They've got Detective Conan, Kitaro, and Izumo Taisha Shrine — so why is it like this?!
    145AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:10
    Re: #129
    Izumo is in Shimane Prefecture
    132AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:06
    They should merge into 'Shima-tori' Prefecture (a pun splicing the kanji of Shimane and Tottori)
    136AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:07
    Re: #132
    Correct answer
    Tottori Prefecture would be better off as part of Shimane Prefecture
    138AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:08
    Re: #132
    What do we even call it then, 'Chiri'? (a pun — チリ can read as 'scraps/dust' or as the country Chile)

    Background and key points of this discussion

    Tottori was already the least-populous prefecture in the country, so it’s easy to overlook that this result isn’t a ‘first-ever fall to last place’ — it’s simply the existing record-holder breaking its own record further. In the outmigration data that came up on the thread, neighboring prefectures — Shimane, Osaka, Hyogo, Hiroshima, and Okayama — top the list, showing that most people leaving Tottori are moving to nearby cities within commuting or school-commuting range rather than farther afield. Posts proposing mergers or joking that Tottori ‘should just become a Tokyo ward’ aren’t serious policy arguments — they’re spreading as a lighthearted, intuitive way of grasping the scale of the population figures. The drop in the working-age population share to a record-low 54.3% is a metric directly tied to future tax revenue and the shrinking pool of people supporting the social safety net, and in practical terms it may carry more weight than the overall population decline itself.

    *This article is composed of excerpts and a summary from the 5ch (News Flash+) thread “Tottori Prefecture’s Population Hits Nationwide Low of 523,073 — Both Decline Count and Rate at Record Highs.”

  • Denmark leaks 8.8 million citizens’ ID numbers — 5ch: ‘In security, the defenders always lose’

    Someone gained unauthorized access to Denmark’s civil registration system, leaking information on roughly 8.8 million people, including their personal ID numbers. The Danish government has called it an “extremely serious situation.” In the 5ch thread reacting to the news, many commenters worried that, unlike past breaches, this one might involve AI-powered automated attacks, sparking a lively debate about the security of Japan’s own My Number system, which works on a similar principle. The thread also veered off into side chatter comparing Denmark’s population and land area to Japan’s.

    Denmark: Unauthorized access to civil registry leaks 8.8 million personal ID numbers, government calls it “extremely serious” – ITmedia NEWS –

    October 6, 2026, 12:41 PM

    By Yuya Hayashi

    Source: itmedia.co.jp / Original article here

    7AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:55
    Personal data leaks have really been increasing lately.
    Guess it's AI after all, huh?
    20AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:58
    Re: #7
    I bet there are organizations using AI to launch attacks worldwide, plus individuals just doing it for kicks.
    It's been proven that with AI, you can pull off cyberattacks even without any real knowledge.
    9AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:56
    Denmark lol (草 = internet slang for "lol")
    My Number cards would get owned just as easily, right?
    161AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:44
    Re: #9
    It's probably already been hacked.
    The government's just paying to keep it quiet.
    11AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:56
    "A system similar to Japan's My Number"
    The anti-My Number crowd is going to be thrilled about this.
    14AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:57
    Could they be using AI to hack this?
    That's seriously bad.
    17AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:58
    Re: #14
    If AI is the one finding the holes,
    couldn't you just tell an AI to patch them instead?
    43AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:04
    Re: #17
    In the end it's just an AI cat-and-mouse game, I think.
    AI is a double-edged sword for humanity.
    92AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:19
    Re: #17
    In security, the defenders always lose.
    Same goes for crime prevention and war.

    Basically it's the defending side that takes the damage,
    and it's impossible to prepare a perfect countermeasure.

    I think eventually even real-world crime, like burglaries,
    will become something the police can't handle either.
    25AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:59
    Isn't the real question more like, "so what if the info leaked"?
    38AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:01
    Re: #25
    The fact that this was likely done by AI, unlike past breaches, is the real problem.
    It's not even on the same level as just worrying about leaked info anymore.
    27AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:59
    Honestly, going back to analog is the smart move at this point.
    If you're fine with digital, that's on you.
    Old-fashioned cards are good enough — no need for app membership IDs.
    What's scary about digital is that once you're hit, everything gets cleaned out at once.
    It's convenient, but the risk is no joke.
    34AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:00
    Re: #27
    Even if it's a paper card,
    whatever's managing it behind the scenes is still digital.
    46AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:06
    AI is seriously scary, man… I miss the good old peaceful days of the internet…
    54AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:08
    Re: #46
    The early days of the internet were fun, man~
    Everyone was young back then too.
    70AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:12
    Re: #38
    Why's it a problem if it's AI?
    97AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:21
    Re: #70
    Whoa, I think I just touched on something serious there.
    It means even people with zero knowledge can carry out attacks just by giving AI instructions, and if something that directly affects the economy gets attacked, the economy could collapse.
    Plus, since AI's doing the attacking, the attack frequency is insanely high, so the "one hit out of many tries" scenario becomes much easier to land.
    Even a split-second vulnerability is enough to get breached now.
    74AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:13
    My Number's probably already been breached too.
    The government just won't admit it.
    78AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:16
    Re: #74
    Seems more like it was leaked/sold off on the side rather than an actual hack.
    93AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:20
    Going back to standalone (offline, non-networked) systems seems like the quickest fix for data defense.
    140AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:36
    Re: #93
    Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defense moved all its classified info onto an American Big Tech cloud.
    "Defense secrets to be run on the cloud — migration prep starts next fiscal year"
    Jiji Press, August 2, 2026
    https://www.jiji.com/jc/article?k=2026080100280&g=pol

    Re: #92
    Down at the lower levels, until just a few years ago it was one PC per several people, with only a handful of machines connected to the intranet —
    most were standalone, files were swapped via USB drives, and old important documents
    were kept on MO disks, except the drives for reading them don't exist anymore, so you'd have to borrow one from another department…
    and by the way, if you have the physical disk but can no longer read it, that counts as a "lost document" and gets disposed of.
    On top of that, security was so sloppy that until a few years ago it was fairly common for a rank-and-file employee to log into the branch manager's account and read their email.
    95AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:20
    Is some kind of global cyberterrorism happening right now?
    Japanese companies have also been seeing more unauthorized access lately.
    Which country could be behind it, I wonder?
    98AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:21
    Re: #95
    Probably AI gathering intel at a level beyond normal limits.
    143AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:37
    The My Number card data too, maybe…?
    156AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:41
    Re: #143
    Wouldn't surprise me if the My Number card system has already been breached, photo IDs and all, and the Digital Agency either can't even detect it or is just covering it up.
    190AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:54
    Re: #143 Re: #156
    Even if it leaks, it's not a problem.
    Because the Digital Agency is exempt from liability regarding use of My Number Portal and the like.
    They can't be held responsible no matter what happens — it's written right there in the terms of service.
    145AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:37
    Denmark only has 6 million people?
    That's a pretty small country.
    183AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:52
    Re: #145
    Japan's only 370,000 square kilometers?
    That's a pretty small country too.
    192AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:55
    Re: #183
    Ranked 61st out of 197 countries worldwide.
    62nd out of 235 countries and territories.

    So actually it's a bit bigger than average.

    Background and Key Points of This Topic

    Denmark’s civil registration number (the CPR number) is, like Japan’s My Number, an identifier widely used for identity verification in government services and financial institutions. Because it’s difficult to change the number itself once it has leaked, it’s prone to secondary harm such as identity theft. The speculation that kept coming up in the thread — that AI might have been used in the attack — reflects a real concern that the technical barrier for attackers has dropped, making large-scale attacks possible even without specialized knowledge. That said, no reporting has confirmed that AI was actually behind the methods used in this particular incident, so it’s worth noting this remains speculation on 5ch’s part. Likewise, comments claiming “My Number has already leaked too” or “the government is hiding it” are unsubstantiated speculation and shouldn’t be read as fact. What’s worth taking away instead is the structural problem that large-scale personal data databases like this tend to become attack targets regardless of country, and that the defending side is almost always stuck playing catch-up.

    *This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (News Express+) thread “Denmark: Unauthorized access to civil registry leaks 8.8 million personal ID numbers, government calls it “extremely serious”.”

  • Man Attacked in Osaka’s Minato Ward, Robbed of Luxury Watch — 5ch Reacts: ‘He Was Asking for It, Wearing a Watch Like That’

    At a coin-operated parking lot in Osaka’s Minato Ward, two men who spoke no Japanese and threatened their victim in a northeastern Chinese accent attacked a 45-year-old man, pointed what looked like a handgun at him, and made off with his luxury watch. The incident, reported by Kansai TV on the morning of the 6th, also drew claims in the thread that the victim himself was Chinese. Rather than dwell on the brutality of the crime itself, the discussion drifted into side issues: confusion over whether “China” in the headline meant the country or Japan’s own Chugoku region, the risks of wearing an expensive watch out in public, and how the media’s coverage intensity compared to a recent incident in Okinawa.

    [BREAKING] Speaking no Japanese, threatening in a northeastern Chinese accent… two men attack 45-year-old man at coin parking lot, point what looks like a handgun, steal luxury watch — Osaka’s Minato Ward

    Published 10/6 (Tue) 7:45 AM

    Kansai TV

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

    4AnonymousOct 6, 2026 09:40
    Honestly, walking around these days wearing a luxury watch like that is just asking for trouble.
    78AnonymousOct 6, 2026 10:10
    Re: #4
    Tell that to the victim.
    88AnonymousOct 6, 2026 10:20
    Re: #4
    If anything, the watch is probably the reason he wasn't hurt worse.
    5AnonymousOct 6, 2026 09:41
    Re: #1
    http://xxup.org/TlQ0R.jpg
    140AnonymousOct 6, 2026 11:09
    Re: #5
    Wait, why
    Isn't it 700 yen per 10 minutes?
    7AnonymousOct 6, 2026 09:41
    Please make up your mind — is it the Chugoku region or the Tohoku region?
    87AnonymousOct 6, 2026 10:19
    Re: #7
    Same, that tripped me up for a second lol
    Made me wonder if Tsugaru dialect doesn't even count as Japanese lol (Tsugaru-ben: a notoriously thick Aomori dialect often joked about as unintelligible)
    14AnonymousOct 6, 2026 09:44
    Report this with the same intensity you gave the Okinawa incident.
    35AnonymousOct 6, 2026 09:51
    Re: #14
    Nobody got killed here.
    Which matters more to you, a human life or a wristwatch?
    53AnonymousOct 6, 2026 09:59
    Seriously? Tottori Prefecture residents are the worst. (joking that "Chugoku region" means Tottori, a prefecture in western Japan's Chugoku region)
    65AnonymousOct 6, 2026 10:05
    Re: #53
    Isn't it Shimane Prefecture? (another Chugoku-region prefecture — keeping the joke going)
    63AnonymousOct 6, 2026 10:03
    Since the accent description refers to a region of China, you can't actually tell whether the "koi ya" ("get over here") the culprit shouted was Japanese or Chinese.
    67AnonymousOct 6, 2026 10:06
    Re: #63
    That's gotta be Japanese "Ikebukuro dialect." There's no way you'd translate Chinese as "koi ya" (rough, yankee-style Japanese slang for "come here")
    113AnonymousOct 6, 2026 10:40
    Northeast China, huh — so that's around the area Gongsun Zan used to rule? (a warlord from China's Three Kingdoms period)
    128AnonymousOct 6, 2026 10:49
    Re: #113
    Ancestral homeland of the Jurchen people.
    Birthplace of the Qing dynasty.
    138AnonymousOct 6, 2026 11:07
    Do the Chugoku region and the Tohoku region actually have similar accents?
    162AnonymousOct 6, 2026 11:33
    Re: #138
    They do.
    It's the so-called "zuzu-ben" accent. (a nickname for the slurred, blurred vowel sounds shared by parts of Tohoku and Izumo in the Chugoku region)
    146AnonymousOct 6, 2026 11:15
    I get recognizing a Chinese accent, but telling it's specifically a *northeastern* Chinese accent…
    what kind of expert are you supposed to be?
    154AnonymousOct 6, 2026 11:28
    Re: #146
    The victim was Chinese too, you know. Between two Chinese people, picking out a northeastern accent is easy.

    Background and Key Points of This Discussion

    The headline’s “northeastern China” refers to the northeastern part of the country of China, but in Japanese “Chugoku region” (中国地方) is also the name of a part of western Japan that includes Hiroshima and Okayama, which briefly trips up readers who take it the wrong way. Street and parking-lot robberies targeting luxury watches are a crime type that has reportedly been rising nationwide, often carried out with replica guns or knives for resale purposes. The thread also surfaced information about the victim’s background, including his nationality, but many posts used the perpetrators’ nationality to disparage an entire nation’s people, or veered into political attacks unrelated to the incident; this article excludes those and is composed from what remains.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (News Express+) thread “[Osaka] Speaking no Japanese, threatening in a northeastern Chinese accent… two men attack 45-year-old man at coin parking lot, point what looks like a handgun, steal luxury watch.”

  • GMO’s ‘infoQ’ Leaks 950,000 Records, ¥2.87M Fraudulently Exchanged — 5ch: ‘Blame a Country With No Penalties’

    On October 5, GMO Research & AI announced that its survey site “infoQ” had suffered unauthorized access through an exploited vulnerability, leaking the personal information of up to 948,498 members. Of those, 611 accounts had a combined ¥2,869,500 in points exchanged for Amazon gift codes without the account holders’ consent, and the company says it plans to fully reimburse the fraudulently exchanged amounts. On 5ch, many users speculated that automated AI-driven attacks are on the rise and criticized Japan’s light penalties for data breaches, while others questioned the company’s past claims of strong security measures.

    On October 5, GMO Research & AI announced that its survey site “infoQ” had been accessed without authorization through an exploited vulnerability, with up to 948,498 records — the entirety of its membership’s personal information — taken out externally. The service is currently suspended.

    Details of the leak (from the news release)

    In 611 of those cases, points were reportedly exchanged for Amazon gift codes (totaling ¥2,869,500) without the account holders’ consent. The company will fully reimburse the fraudulently exchanged points.

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

    4AnonymousOct 6, 2026 11:42
    It's gotta be either humans using AI to attack, or AI agents attacking on their own.
    Probably the former.
    29AnonymousOct 6, 2026 11:47
    Yeah, it's definitely AI behind these.
    Ever since that story about some AI going rogue broke, this stuff's been happening way too often.

    Re: #4
    Whether it's an organization or some individual, they're probably just blasting indiscriminate attacks everywhere.
    7AnonymousOct 6, 2026 11:43
    It's this country's fault for having no penalties for leaking data.
    Say "sorry" and you get off scot-free.
    191AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:13
    Re: #7
    Seriously, this.
    They need to crack down hard on anyone who leaks data.
    Otherwise no company's ever going to spend the money to beef up security.
    25AnonymousOct 6, 2026 11:46

    GMO supposedly has world-class white-hat hackers on staff — so how did this happen?
    76AnonymousOct 6, 2026 11:55
    Re: #25
    So the consultants were all talk, huh?
    114AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:03
    Re: #25
    Kind of like some famous karate master or something lol
    33AnonymousOct 6, 2026 11:48
    Wait, is the AI going to use Amazon gift codes to buy up GPUs and upgrade itself!?
    166AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:10
    Re: #33
    So humans are already enslaved, huh lol
    50AnonymousOct 6, 2026 11:51
    Are they coordinating the order of these announcements behind the scenes?
    Something feels off.
    66AnonymousOct 6, 2026 11:53
    Re: #50
    Some points site I used also suddenly went into maintenance and shut down completely yesterday.
    Probably a ton of indiscriminate attacks going around and everyone's panicking.
    91AnonymousOct 6, 2026 11:59
    Re: #50
    They're just piggybacking on the timing with their own announcement.
    That way the bad impression gets diluted.
    51AnonymousOct 6, 2026 11:51
    Right now you can just blame it on AI and get away with it — it's basically a golden opportunity.
    64AnonymousOct 6, 2026 11:53
    What the heck is going on here?
    Did a war break out in cyberspace or something?
    93AnonymousOct 6, 2026 11:59
    Isn't the only real countermeasure for this worldwide AI regulation?
    Seriously, the moment something convenient gets invented, someone shows up to abuse it.

    Re: #64
    Since it got publicized that AI can pull off unauthorized access on its own,
    there's probably people out there going "now's my chance" and using AI for indiscriminate attacks.
    123AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:04
    Isn't the government going to do anything about this?
    143AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:07
    Re: #123
    Oh, they're already taking action — amending the law so leaking personal info isn't a problem anymore!
    149AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:08
    You should spread your money across multiple accounts.
    If you keep it all in one place and that account gets hit, you're done.
    172AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:11
    What's the situation like in other countries?
    Well, it's not making headlines elsewhere right now, so you can probably guess what that means.
    203AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:15
    Re: #172
    Re: #149
    I've got my entire fortune parked at Mitsubishi UFJ, so I'm fine.
    256AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:21
    Re: #172
    This kind of thing has been happening worldwide for ages.
    In 2024, a healthcare service provider in the UK suffered a massive ransomware attack — thousands of surgeries, appointments, and tests across multiple hospitals and clinics were cancelled, and one death is believed to be linked to the resulting disruption.
    174AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:11
    Re: #141
    Which screwup are you talking about?
    181AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:12
    Re: #174
    They screwed up last year, remember?
    193AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:14
    Re: #181
    Wasn't that one a phishing case?
    I think the actual leak was at Rakuten Mobile.
    223AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:17
    Re: #193
    Right.
    It was still unauthorized access either way, and the response was so bad that the Financial Services Agency came down on them — which led the whole industry to set up a compensation system.
    Other online brokerages followed suit too.
    252AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:21
    Re: #193
    If you mess up yourself and get your password stolen,
    there's nothing the company can do no matter how much security they put in place.
    At that point the only option left is to block logins even when the correct password is entered.

    Background and Key Points of This Story

    Japan has no regulation that directly penalizes data leaks themselves — the Act on the Protection of Personal Information relies mainly on administrative guidance and recommendations, with nothing like the EU’s GDPR heavy fines. As a result, every time a leak happens, the same complaint — “the penalties are too light” — gets repeated, but no system designed to actually prevent recurrence has been put in place yet. It’s also easy to overlook that the announced figure of “up to 948,498 records” is simply the upper bound estimated at the time of the investigation, while confirmed fraudulent use was limited to 611 accounts totaling ¥2,869,500. The thread also included baseless accusations against China and other political comments, which this article does not adopt, as they are unsubstantiated speculation. Recently, in the case of unauthorized logins at Rakuten Securities, the Financial Services Agency issued administrative action and the industry moved to set up a compensation system — a similar response may be called for here as well.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Breaking News+) thread “GMO’s ‘infoQ’ Hit by Unauthorized Access, Up to 950,000 Members’ Data Leaked — ¥2.87 Million in Points Fraudulently Exchanged“.

  • Daiki Suisan Sushi Chain: Data of Up to 175,000 Customers Possibly Leaked After App Hack

    Daiki Suisan, a sushi chain based in Sakai City, announced on October 6 that personal information belonging to roughly 175,000 customers who registered through its official app between November 2024 and September 15, 2026 may have been leaked due to unauthorized access to the app’s system. The data potentially exposed includes names, phone numbers, and addresses; no misuse has been confirmed so far. On the thread, some speculated the timing of the announcement was chosen so it would slip by unnoticed amid other companies’ major breaches, while others repeatedly questioned why a restaurant chain was holding onto customers’ personal information in the first place.

    Daiki Suisan announces possible leak of personal data for about 175,000 people — unauthorized access confirmed on official app system — no misuse confirmed at this time

    Amid a wave of unauthorized access incidents hitting companies, Daiki Suisan, a sushi chain in Sakai City, Osaka Prefecture, announced that it may have suffered a leak of personal information for 175,000 people following unauthorized access.

    According to Daiki Suisan, unauthorized access to its official app system was confirmed on September 15. Personal information — including names, phone numbers, and addresses — of roughly 175,000 customers who registered via the official app between November 2024 and September 15 may have been leaked, though no misuse has been confirmed so far.

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

    2AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:17
    Why this timing of all times?
    5AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:18
    Re: #2
    To keep it murky exactly where the leaked info ended up getting misused
    167AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:44
    Re: #2
    Big names like Times (car sharing) and Monogatari (restaurant chain) already screwed up, so if you dump your announcement in with theirs, it gets lost in the crowd.
    178AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:46
    Re: #2
    Nobody's paying attention right now, so this is our chance to sneak the announcement out in the chaos!
    4AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:18
    Way too many hacks lately
    What is even going on
    41AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:25
    Re: #4
    It's a threat from China and Russia
    "Do what we say or we'll hurt you worse"
    77AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:30
    Re: #4
    With AI, literally anyone can hack now
    22AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:23
    Honestly, best to never hand over your personal info anywhere anymore
    42AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:25
    Re: #22
    Feels like companies are hoarding way more personal data than they actually need
    47AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:26
    Re: #22
    Guess that rules out 5ch for you too, then
    27AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:23
    Why would anyone give their personal info to a sushi chain
    89AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:31
    Re: #27
    Probably for coupons and reservations or something
    50AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:26
    Let's just go back to floppy disks
    59AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:27
    Re: #50
    Once you're online at all, it's the same risk either way
    65AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:28
    Re: #50
    Otsuka Floppy (a nonsense riff off the previous joke)
    80AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:30
    There's AI for hacking but no AI for protecting? (picking nose — i.e. "well, duh")
    92AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:32
    Re: #80
    Some company went and built an AI model specialized for vulnerability testing. If they'd released a matching defense model alongside it, this wouldn't be happening…
    113AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:34
    Re: #80
    There probably is one
    They'll probably market it as "only Mythos can protect you from Mythos" or something
    85AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:31
    People who hand over their personal info anywhere are idiots

    It leaks constantly
    116AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:34
    Re: #85
    I haven't registered anywhere myself, but like, when you bring stuff into a secondhand shop to sell, they check your driver's license and type your details in by hand.
    They used to just scan it with a machine before — that's dangerous too, if you think about it.
    88AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:31
    Is this all being done by the same people?
    142AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:39
    Re: #88
    Most of this is organized
    Some are private hacker groups, some are state-backed
    If it's a nation-state, there's not much you can do against an IT/AI superpower like China
    Their IT units run AI built for their own country, take orders, are well-trained, loyal, and won't hesitate to attack Japan
    102AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:33
    Please! Just let DLsite hold out! 😭 (DLsite = a major Japanese digital content marketplace, including doujin games)
    106AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:33
    Re: #102
    That one looks pretty shaky too though
    110AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:33
    This is exactly why I refuse to link my credit card to any company's app
    127AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:36
    Re: #110
    Yeah, that's why I even pay for stuff like Amazon via convenience-store payment. I never use my credit card online.
    125AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:36
    Aren't they all probably outsourcing to basically the same system vendor?
    This whole simultaneous-attack spree, I mean
    135AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:38
    Re: #125
    If the vendor's master key leaked
    The damage is only going to keep growing from here
    146AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:40
    Re: #125
    Same company, huh
    Or just a lot of companies leaving security holes unpatched
    126AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:36
    The US and Denmark got hit too, you know

    Unauthorized access to US Department of Defense personnel database — personal data of over 3 million people possibly viewed, reports say
    https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/ca23a056b53ed4a5183c4b464f9c438487617d23

    In Denmark, 8.8 million national ID numbers leaked — including those of deceased citizens —
    more than the country's entire population
    https://ufm.dk/aktuelt/pressemeddelelser/2026/oktober/omfattende-uautoriseret-adgang-til-borgeres-cpr-oplysninger/
    155AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:41
    Re: #126
    Every country has leaks, but you don't normally see this many private companies hit all at once in such a short span
    Japan is clearly being targeted right now
    134AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:38
    Every company's security is way too sloppy — go hire better engineers already
    143AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:39
    Re: #134
    They're probably not managing it in-house at all
    They outsource it, so they wouldn't notice no matter what happened
    205AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:50
    Re: #134
    Should've trained up the "Lost Generation" properly while they were still young. (Japan's employment ice-age generation, who struggled to land stable jobs)
    181AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:46
    This is exactly why I was against the Digital Agency

    The IT industry only cares about quick money
    190AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:48
    Re: #181
    Seriously, this

    Once all the weak-security companies get picked off, the real fight — AI vs. the companies with strong security — is going to start
    193AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:49
    Re: #181
    Net users have been saying for 20 years now that once everything goes digital, cyberattacks would get more sophisticated lol

    The government just hasn't caught up with the times lol

    Background and talking points

    Under Japan’s Personal Information Protection Act, a business facing a possible data leak is required to notify affected individuals and report to the Personal Information Protection Commission, and this announcement falls within that framework. On the thread, opinions were split: some suspected the company picked this moment because it would get lost amid a string of recently disclosed breaches at major companies like Times (car sharing) and Monogatari Corporation (restaurant chain), while others argued the attacks are simply clustering around the same period by coincidence. Commenters also pointed out that similarly large-scale leaks have been reported overseas, including at the US Department of Defense’s personnel database and in Denmark’s national ID number system, suggesting this isn’t a problem unique to Japan. One thing worth noting: an announcement that data “may have” leaked doesn’t mean misuse has actually happened — and Daiki Suisan itself says no misuse has been confirmed at this time.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (News Speed+) thread “Sushi chain “Daiki Suisan” announces possible leak of personal data for about 175,000 people.”

  • Oita Prefecture Recommends Pay Raise for Civil Servants for 5th Year Running — Average Annual Salary to Rise by ¥208,000

    On October 5, the Oita Prefectural Personnel Commission recommended that Governor Sato raise the monthly salaries and bonuses of prefectural employees. This marks the fifth consecutive year of recommended raises, and if implemented, average annual pay would rise by ¥208,000. Based on survey findings showing prefectural employees earned ¥11,232 less per month and 0.04 months less in bonuses than workers at private companies in the prefecture, the commission is calling for a monthly pay increase of ¥11,218 and a bonus increase of 0.05 months’ pay. On 5ch, the thread split between users who felt it only made sense to match private-sector wage hikes, and those who questioned the raise by pointing to how the comparison companies were chosen or comparing it to pay in Tokyo’s 23 wards — the discussion broadened into a wider debate over civil servant compensation in general.

    The Oita Prefectural Personnel Commission recommended on the 5th that Governor Sato raise the monthly salaries and bonuses of prefectural employees. This is the fifth consecutive year such a recommendation has been made.

    According to the commission’s survey, prefectural employees’ pay was ¥11,232 lower per month and 0.04 months lower in bonuses compared to private-sector workers in the prefecture.

    Taking this survey and the National Personnel Authority’s recommendation into account, the commission is calling for an average monthly pay increase of ¥11,218 and a bonus increase of 0.05 months’ pay.

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

    13AnonymousOct 6, 2026 06:33
    > Prefectural employees' pay was ¥11,232 lower per month and 0.04 months lower in bonuses compared to private companies in the prefecture.

    That's basically a rounding error.
    Don't raise it.
    17AnonymousOct 6, 2026 06:35
    Re: #13
    No need to match the private sector.
    14AnonymousOct 6, 2026 06:33
    Re: #1
    I want to know Oita's median annual income.
    123AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:38
    Re: #14
    Probably around ¥3 million.
    24AnonymousOct 6, 2026 06:38
    Private-sector wages really are going up.
    If you're gonna claim they're not, at least say what industry you're in.
    Most of you are just lying.
    184AnonymousOct 6, 2026 08:31
    Re: #24
    Education, especially universities.
    If educational institutions are like this, the country's future looks bleak.
    38AnonymousOct 6, 2026 06:48
    Local civil servant pay should be pegged to the regional minimum wage.
    Why is it benchmarked against big corporations?
    40AnonymousOct 6, 2026 06:49
    Re: #38
    Then nobody will apply anymore~
    75AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:14
    Re: #40
    That's just a civil servant's excuse.
    There's no way nobody would apply.
    The application rate is high and the turnover rate is low — don't mess around.
    82AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:17
    Re: #40
    It's mostly routine clerical work anyway.
    Just automate it.
    48AnonymousOct 6, 2026 06:54
    Do the people saying 'cut their pay' not know civil servants are overworked and underpaid, and teachers don't even get overtime pay?
    99AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:21
    Re: #48
    Look at this ↓
    Starting salaries for civil servants working in Tokyo's 23 wards are up 25% from 5 years ago, pushing annual pay up by more than ¥1 million — the 4th straight year of raises.
    A 36-year-old section chief's annual salary goes from about ¥9.17 million to about ¥10.22 million, and a 42-year-old department head's goes from about ¥11.83 million to about ¥13 million.
    https://www.fnn.jp/articles/-/945789
    57AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:04
    If you asked me 'would you want to be a civil servant?' I'd say absolutely not, so I think it's a fair deal.
    95AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:20
    Re: #57
    Being a civil servant is cushy, so it's not like people would stop applying.
    Raising their pay with tax money and creating more inequality is just wrong.
    59AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:06
    ↑↓ Just jealousy from people who couldn't even become civil servants.
    69AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:11
    Re: #59
    This is clearly written by a tax-thief civil servant.
    Every minute a civil servant spends posting here is tax money going to waste.
    62AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:07
    The moment you're talented enough to pass the civil service exam, you're exactly the kind of person private companies are competing for too.
    74AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:14
    Re: #62
    A lot of companies steer clear of people trying to switch out of civil service jobs — they smell like landmines.
    At the very least, they won't be prioritized over someone who's worked at a competitor in the same industry and can point to concrete skills and hands-on experience.
    Higher-ups from ministries or local governments are a different story, though.
    78AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:17
    Re: #62
    That's just a civil servant's fantasy.
    It's weird how civil servants always imagine they'd earn more in the private sector.
    All they did was pass the civil service exam once when they were young.
    It's no different from an unemployed person with a fancy university degree fantasizing they could've made big money at a major company.
    63AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:07
    Japan is heading down the same road as Greece.
    90AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:19
    Re: #63
    Civil servants really are a nuisance.
    They're the biggest nuisance in society.
    65AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:09
    The people wither away while local government alone thrives, huh…
    68AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:10
    Re: #65
    They drain residents dry with taxes
    so that only civil servants survive —
    civil servants are basically harassing the residents.
    85AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:18
    People would still apply even without the bonus.
    Going forward, AI will handle the hard work anyway,
    so you won't need talented people.

    Besides, anyone who actually wants to work their butt off wouldn't become a civil servant in the first place lol
    87AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:18
    Re: #85
    Yeah, tax-funded bonuses aren't necessary.
    92AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:19
    Don't increase the number of clerical civil servants — we're heading into the AI era.
    96AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:20
    Re: #92
    It's the technical staff who are the real waste.
    They barely have any real skills and just lean on consultants — no different from clerical workers.
    122AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:38
    So there's money for this? Then there's no need to raise taxes, right? Your salaries don't come out of a magic treasure box, you know.
    147AnonymousOct 6, 2026 08:00
    Re: #122
    Relying on furusato nozei (hometown tax donations)?
    143AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:57
    Re: #92
    The number of civil servants keeps shrinking.
    As it shrinks, the work shifts to outsourcing and temp staffing.
    Try looking at temp-staffing job listings sometime.
    You'll be surprised how wide a range of work gets outsourced.
    Even data entry of personal information gets outsourced.
    You're the ones who said to cut civil servants, so you'll just have to live with it.
    160AnonymousOct 6, 2026 08:12
    Re: #143
    Civil servants are basically a privileged class at this point.
    The point isn't that — it's that their pay is too high once you adjust for cost of living compared to other developed countries, so it should be cut — but instead they just adjust by hiring fewer new people…

    157AnonymousOct 6, 2026 08:07
    > Prefectural employees' pay was ¥11,232 lower per month and 0.04 months lower in bonuses than private-sector workers in the prefecture.

    AI Overview
    The average annual income for full-time (regular) workers in Oita Prefecture is about ¥4.47 million

    AI Overview
    According to the recommendation announced by the Oita Prefectural Personnel Commission on October 5, 2026,
    Oita prefectural employees' average annual salary would be ¥6,345,000 if the raise goes through
    161AnonymousOct 6, 2026 08:13
    Re: #157
    In any other developed country they'd bring it down to match that ¥4.47 million…
    162AnonymousOct 6, 2026 08:13
    What exactly are they using as the benchmark here…
    164AnonymousOct 6, 2026 08:16
    Re: #162
    They only look at the cream-of-the-crop high earners.
    And of course, companies that went bankrupt or fell on hard times get written out of existence — they just look at whatever's on top at any given moment.
    180AnonymousOct 6, 2026 08:29
    Re: #164
    Well, obviously.
    What good would it do to benchmark against third-rate companies?
    187AnonymousOct 6, 2026 08:35
    Re: #180
    This place will end up like Yubari eventually (a city that went bankrupt in 2006).

    Background and Key Points of the Debate

    This recommendation is part of the Oita Prefectural Personnel Commission’s annual routine of surveying private-sector pay in the prefecture and factoring in the National Personnel Authority’s recommendation, marking the fifth straight year of pay raises. Worth noting: the “¥11,232 lower monthly pay, 0.04 months lower bonus” figure in the article refers to the public-private comparison gap found in the survey, which is a separate calculation from the actual recommended increase (¥11,218 monthly, 0.05 months bonus). Some thread comments along the lines of “a gap that small doesn’t justify a raise” were actually conflating these two different figures. The thread split between those who felt civil servant pay should track the wave of private-sector wage hikes since the spring labor negotiations, and those who argued the survey sample skews toward large companies and overstates the real picture — with comparisons to the pay growth rate of Tokyo’s 23-ward employees also coming up.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (News Speed+) thread “Prefectural Employee Pay and Bonuses: 5th Straight Year of Raise Recommendations, Average Annual Salary Up ¥208,000 — Oita Prefectural Personnel Commission“.

  • Ransomware Gang Leader Detained in Japan, Extradited to Germany — 5chers: “Wait, Hackers Actually Get Caught?”

    A Russian national (28), believed to be a core member of the ransomware group “Qilin,” was detained by Japanese investigators while visiting Japan and handed over to German authorities investigating him on extortion charges, the Asahi Shimbun reports. Qilin is known for encrypting corporate systems and demanding payment, and its attacks have drawn attention domestically as well. In the thread, reactions ranged from surprise that the group shares its name with a creature from Chinese mythology, to questions about why Japan handed him to Germany instead of arresting him itself, to speculation linking the case to a recent string of unauthorized-access incidents.

    Oct 6 (Tue), 5:00 AM JST

    Asahi Shimbun

    Japanese investigators have detained a Russian national (28) believed to be a core member of “Qilin,” a ransomware group that has repeatedly carried out cyberattacks on companies worldwide. On the 2nd, Japan handed him over to German authorities, who are investigating him on extortion charges.

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

    2AnonymousOct 6, 2026 09:17
    Seriously? Kirin Beer sucks (mixing up the hacker group's name, Qilin, with the unrelated Kirin beer brand — same word in Japanese)
    42AnonymousOct 6, 2026 09:30
    Japan is insanely soft on economic crime and sex crime
    46AnonymousOct 6, 2026 09:31
    Wait, hackers actually get caught?
    51AnonymousOct 6, 2026 09:32
    "My Ransomware Girlfriend," original by Yoshizumi (a pun on the manga/rom-com "Rent-A-Girlfriend," swapping "rental" for "ransom")
    4AnonymousOct 6, 2026 09:18
    They should've just locked him up and made him work for Japan's benefit
    152AnonymousOct 6, 2026 10:28
    Re: #4
    You think he'd actually work properly though?
    7AnonymousOct 6, 2026 09:19
    My files just got encrypted by ransomware — is it actually possible to restore them? Do you have to pay the ransom to get them back?
    15AnonymousOct 6, 2026 09:21
    Re: #7
    The police will restore them for you (sarcasm)
    9AnonymousOct 6, 2026 09:19
    I want to ask someone who really knows this stuff — if you had to compare this to Babel II, what part would it be??? (Babel II: a classic sci-fi manga/anime about a boy with psychic powers and giant robot servants)
    157AnonymousOct 6, 2026 10:31
    Re: #9
    The part where Babel II storms into the hideout in Yomi's lair (Yomi is the series' main villain)
    16AnonymousOct 6, 2026 09:21
    Well, getting punished in Germany probably means a harsher sentence anyway
    102AnonymousOct 6, 2026 09:56
    Re: #16
    German prisons are basically paradise — you can even bring in a TV
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqVQzA0uc44
    25AnonymousOct 6, 2026 09:23
    Could all these recent data-breach incidents be retaliation for this?
    39AnonymousOct 6, 2026 09:28
    Re: #25
    Attack tools are sold all over the dark web, so anyone anywhere could pull this off. Though it's true Russia and North Korea are putting serious effort into cyber ops…
    29AnonymousOct 6, 2026 09:25
    Japan's investigators actually did pretty well here
    53AnonymousOct 6, 2026 09:33
    Re: #29
    Germany told them who the guy was, so they had no choice but to hand him over…
    85AnonymousOct 6, 2026 09:48
    Re: #29
    Honestly, tracking this stuff down first should be the Public Security Bureau's job… take the hint
    38AnonymousOct 6, 2026 09:28
    Probably ends up as "obstruction of business by force" with a ¥500,000 fine or so…

    There's probably a reason he was in Japan of all places…
    164AnonymousOct 6, 2026 10:33
    Re: #38
    Because he got sent to Germany
    49AnonymousOct 6, 2026 09:32
    But why would the group name itself after a legendary creature from Chinese mythology?
    55AnonymousOct 6, 2026 09:34
    Re: #49
    And it's supposed to be a symbol of peace — a gentle creature that wouldn't hurt a bug or even step on a blade of grass
    81AnonymousOct 6, 2026 09:47
    Russia, China, North Korea — the communist-bloc countries really go all-in on being evil, huh
    86AnonymousOct 6, 2026 09:48
    Re: #81
    Guess it's just a national culture where stealing gets you praised 🤔
    82AnonymousOct 6, 2026 09:47
    Cybercrime: Russia, China, North Korea
    Scam/fraud rings: Cambodia, China

    Those are the big players, I guess?
    90AnonymousOct 6, 2026 09:50
    Re: #1
    He's not getting prosecuted anyway, so what's even the point of arresting him
    91AnonymousOct 6, 2026 09:51
    Re: #90
    At least read the article
    93AnonymousOct 6, 2026 09:52
    Might as well just fake his execution and put him to use
    95AnonymousOct 6, 2026 09:52
    Re: #93
    He's already been handed over to Germany
    101AnonymousOct 6, 2026 09:55
    Re: #95
    Seriously? This country really is useless
    113AnonymousOct 6, 2026 10:05
    Re: #101
    Japan hadn't even identified him as the culprit on its own — they couldn't even get an arrest warrant.

    So technically it wasn't an "arrest" by Japan — just a detention and handover based entirely on Germany's request
    106AnonymousOct 6, 2026 09:57
    Some other country probably just said "hey, he's in Japan right now, go grab him," and Japan went "sure thing" — arrested him exactly as told and handed him over exactly as told
    128AnonymousOct 6, 2026 10:14
    Re: #106
    Same as with the US requests — if they can arrest someone just by being asked, doesn't that mean Public Security already had his location tracked from the moment he entered the country?
    126AnonymousOct 6, 2026 10:12
    Not even realizing he was being hunted, just casually sightseeing in Japan……
    Specialized in PC skills, but deep down he must be an idiot
    201AnonymousOct 6, 2026 11:17
    Re: #126
    Japan has no anti-espionage law, so it's seen as a criminal-friendly country — even the "watch thief" (a foreign repeat offender notorious for publicly calling Japan easy pickings) said as much. There are probably a ton of others like him too
    136AnonymousOct 6, 2026 10:20
    What was he even doing coming to Japan?
    Detaining him was a good job, but does that mean he got handed over before Japan's own investigation was even finished?
    172AnonymousOct 6, 2026 10:41
    Re: #136
    Germany requested the detention of a Russian national, and Japanese police just did exactly that — they probably didn't fully grasp the situation themselves.

    Once Germany's interrogation progresses, they'll likely share information back with Japan
    187AnonymousOct 6, 2026 10:56
    Re: #172
    It says here they were investigating jointly, though

    Background and key points of this story

    Qilin is a ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) hacker group active since around 2022, known for its “double extortion” method of encrypting corporate systems and stealing data before demanding payment. Overseas, its attacks on healthcare organizations have caused serious disruption, and domestically it’s been linked to the system outage at major brewer Asahi Group. What split opinion in the thread was why Japan didn’t arrest him itself and instead handed him to Germany. According to the article and later replies, Japan had no independent arrest warrant in this case — this was a “detention” and “handover” carried out at Germany’s request. Many were also struck by the fact that the group shares its name with the qilin, the auspicious creature from Chinese mythology, though the article doesn’t explain the reasoning behind the name, and the thread’s discussion of it never gets past speculation.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (News Speed+) thread “Core member of ransomware group Qilin detained in Japan — Asahi also among the “attacked”“.

  • Times Car Leaks 1.6 Million Records: Driver’s License Photos Kept for 7 Years Even After Members Cancel

    Times Car, the car-sharing service run by Park24, has leaked roughly 1.6 million pieces of personal data belonging to members, including images of their driver’s licenses. One contributing factor: the company kept license photos and other data on file for up to seven years even after a member canceled. Park24 says the retention is required under Japan’s Corporate Tax Act, but some rival rental car companies reportedly delete such images as soon as identity verification is complete. On 5ch, former members shared stories of asking the company to delete their photos after canceling only to be refused, while others questioned why a scanned ID image needs to be kept for so long in the first place.

    Park24’s car-sharing service Times Car kept driver’s license images on file for more than seven years, a practice that led to the leak. Rival companies reportedly delete such images immediately after identity verification. This lax data management resulted in a leak of roughly 1.6 million records.

    License data retained for 7 years under company policy

    According to Park24, personal information such as names, addresses, and dates of birth was kept not only while customers were active members but for seven years after they canceled, in line with the Corporate Tax Act. Regarding this…(continues in the paid edition, 1,140 characters remaining)

    Source: nikkei.com / Original article here

    9AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:31
    Even if they have to keep it on file, why store it on a server that's connected to the outside internet at all?
    53AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:48
    Re: #9
    Gotta be internet-accessible for remote work, right.
    11AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:31
    It's probably already circulating on the dark web by now lol. That stuff never truly disappears.
    15AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:33
    I canceled my car-share membership back in 2015, but I stayed on as a rental-car member, so my license info was never removed. Now I'm worried mine got leaked too.
    19AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:34
    Re: #15
    Times: "We have not confirmed that your information was leaked" (note: they didn't say it WASN'T leaked).
    114AnonymousOct 6, 2026 08:10
    Re: #15
    "To check whether you were affected by the leak, please enter your ID, password, address, name, email address, credit card number, and security code at the URL below."
    30AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:41
    Apparently when former members contacted the company after this leak blew up and asked them to delete their photos, they got told flat out, "The law requires us to keep it for 7 years, so we won't delete it." But other companies delete it just fine — what gives?
    206AnonymousOct 6, 2026 08:36
    Re: #30
    It's a digital-record thing. Some documents are legally required to be kept for 7 years. That rule used to assume paper, but now digital data is allowed too. So the normal move is to digitize the paper and shred it — but painfully slow-moving companies just keep hoarding the paper instead.
    31AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:41
    Isn't My Number (Japan's national ID number) data already leaked too? The government just can't admit it, so they're not announcing it.
    152AnonymousOct 6, 2026 08:21
    Re: #31
    I don't remember clearly, but I feel like I wrote my My Number when I signed up. The email I got said everything except my My Number leaked. It is weird that only the My Number would come out unscathed.
    32AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:41
    Guess the only real fix is building a system around My Number — just let people request disclosure when they need it. Right now every service provider under the sun gets handed your personal info, supposedly for crime-prevention reasons, but it's not actually necessary. If anything it just fuels more crime. Ideally you'd never even see the other party's face — just pay and be done with it.
    44AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:45
    Re: #32
    New My Number card: currently in the works.
    35AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:42
    I wonder if the 7-year retention is based on the Commercial Code.
    46AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:46
    Re: #35
    It literally says right there it's based on the Corporate Tax Act.
    38AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:44
    Went to a Docomo store just to buy a battery for my flip phone and they photocopied my license — I have no idea why that was even necessary.
    159AnonymousOct 6, 2026 08:23
    Re: #38
    Management tells them to always keep it on file because personal info is worth money.
    56AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:49
    Honestly companies just hoard way too much data for no reason. Personal info should be deleted the moment it's no longer needed for processing.
    165AnonymousOct 6, 2026 08:25
    Re: #56
    They probably think it'd be a waste to delete it — the "might come in handy someday" mindset.
    65AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:51
    "Rival companies delete it right away" — yeah right, liars.
    73AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:54
    Re: #65
    Police often trace suspects' movements through rental car records — if companies really deleted it immediately, that wouldn't even be possible.
    86AnonymousOct 6, 2026 08:00
    Re: #65
    They probably keep a paper copy on file separately.
    90AnonymousOct 6, 2026 08:01
    They'll probably just hand out a 500-yen coupon and call it settled. That's about all an ordinary person's personal info is worth to them.
    94AnonymousOct 6, 2026 08:03
    Re: #90
    If your license photo gets used for ID verification to buy a phone online, that's genuinely dangerous — you could end up arrested as the front man for a scam ring.
    112AnonymousOct 6, 2026 08:10
    Re: #94
    "Your license photo has been leaked" — and that just becomes the setup for the next scam, lol.
    155AnonymousOct 6, 2026 08:22
    Re: #94
    Whoever misuses it is the one at fault — you can't really pin that much liability on the company's negligence.
    99AnonymousOct 6, 2026 08:05
    What are they even using 7 years of stored data for, I wonder. Anyway, way too many leaks — big names and small — have surfaced this week. Is everyone just picking this moment to announce them, or have Japanese companies started getting systematically targeted?
    107AnonymousOct 6, 2026 08:08
    Re: #99
    AI has torn down the Japanese-language barrier (that used to shield Japanese firms from foreign attackers).
    198AnonymousOct 6, 2026 08:33
    The best defense against data leaks is… simply never registering your info in the first place.
    210AnonymousOct 6, 2026 08:38
    Re: #198
    Is that really something individuals should have to watch out for? If registering is mandatory, the company should be the one managing it properly. With Japan courting all these inbound tourists, a rental car company leaking personal info like this is a failure the government bears some responsibility for too.
    216AnonymousOct 6, 2026 08:39
    Re: #210
    Think whatever you want, but you're the one who ends up the victim.
    224AnonymousOct 6, 2026 08:40
    A license barely has anything on it besides your name and address, and even 500 yen feels like overpaying for that.
    229AnonymousOct 6, 2026 08:42
    Re: #224
    What about someone taking out a loan shark loan in your name? Where's the compensation for that fear?
    230AnonymousOct 6, 2026 08:42
    Re: #224
    Criminals combine it with other personal data already circulating in the underground market, which makes the fraud more precise.

    Background and key points of this discussion

    Identity documents like driver’s license copies can be subject to a retention requirement of up to seven years under the Corporate Tax Act, since they count as accounting records. This rule originally assumed paper documents, but amendments to the Electronic Books Preservation Act later made it acceptable to keep scanned data instead. The real issue isn’t that a retention period exists, but whether it’s necessary to keep license image data for that same length of time even for members who have already canceled — a question of how the policy is applied in practice. That’s exactly where opinions split in the thread: some saw retention for legal-compliance reasons as unavoidable, while others argued that holding onto the image itself is a risk, and it should be destroyed promptly once identity verification is complete. Some posts also tied this and other recent leaks at Japanese companies to a coordinated attack by a specific nation-state, but that is speculation from the 5ch thread, and no supporting facts about this particular case have been reported.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Breaking News Plus) thread “Times Car license photo leak: kept for 7 years even after cancellation — rivals delete immediately.”

  • Suzuki’s ‘e Sky’ EV Priced From ¥2.12M, Japan’s Cheapest — Range Beats BYD

    Nikkei reports that Suzuki’s kei-class EV “e Sky,” launching in November, will start at ¥2.12 million. That makes it the cheapest kei EV sold in Japan, undercutting the same grade of BYD’s “Racco,” which launched in July, by about ¥20,000. On the thread, the view that it looks “cheap” drew repeated pushback that “being cheap is the point,” and the discussion spread to practical matters beyond price — use in snowy regions, whether buyers have home charging, and the risk of battery degradation and resale value decline.

    Suzuki’s kei-class electric vehicle “e Sky,” set to launch in November, is expected to be priced from ¥2.12 million. That makes it the cheapest kei EV sold in Japan, undercutting the “Racco,” launched in July by China’s BYD. The move aims to stimulate demand in Japan’s EV market, which has lagged behind other countries in adoption.

    The e Sky is Suzuki’s first kei-class passenger EV. Three grades will be offered, differing in equipment. The entry-level grade will be priced at ¥2.12 million, about ¥20,000 less than the equivalent Racco grade. The mid-tier grade…(continues in the paid edition — 541 characters remaining)

    Nikkei, October 6, 2026, 5:00 AM

    Source: nikkei.com / Original article here

    3AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:26
    Because Suzuki cars look cheap
    23AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:32
    Re: #3
    That's exactly the point — since when does a kei car need to look luxurious? lol
    35AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:35
    Re: #3
    What a pain in the ass.
    "It's not cheap-looking, it's just cheap."
    36AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:36
    Re: #3
    Guess you want me to say "it's not cheap-looking, it's just cheap"?
    Apparently the president actually said that though…
    15AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:30
    Funny how the people who've been hyping up BYD/EVs all along
    are the ones trashing this Suzuki.
    41AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:37
    Looks good to me.
    Wonder if next year will finally be "Year One of EVs."

    Re: #15
    Makes me wonder — will the people who've been bashing EVs purely out of hatred for China
    now turn around and bash this one too?
    51AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:41
    Re: #41
    People in snow country are too scared to drive an EV.
    61AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:43
    Re: #51
    A lot of people in snow country drive Subarus.
    If I lived in snow country I'd want a 4WD Subaru too.
    68AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:45
    Re: #51
    For snow country, just drive an Outlander PHEV with S-AWC.
    Though a decent grade starts at ¥6 million.
    16AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:30
    The Racco's sales are mostly the top-end model anyway —
    it's not selling because it's cheap.
    21AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:31
    Re: #16
    Small and mid-size companies buy them.
    44AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:38
    Re: #16
    But it's not selling in big numbers.
    Not many people appreciate a car that doesn't look expensive just because it's well-equipped for the price.
    19AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:31
    I want to ask someone who actually knows — is this made in India????
    48AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:40
    Re: #41
    People were saying the exact same thing 10 years ago lol, "Year One of EVs."
    60AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:43
    Re: #48
    EVs have started to beat gas cars on cost, so now
    they're becoming an option for ordinary people too.
    157AnonymousOct 6, 2026 08:05
    Re: #19
    Re: #48

    https://carview.yahoo.co.jp/news/detail/dc69791d8939982063a732545f59ae9883928ca1/
    > In that it's a passenger EV Suzuki itself produces domestically (planned for the Kosai plant), this is set to be an epoch-making model.
    20AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:31
    Would the kind of people who buy EVs even pick Suzuki?
    46AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:39
    Re: #20
    Maybe there's a "buy-Japanese" (jp) crowd for it.
    77AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:47
    Re: #20
    If anything, Suzuki — which can build things cheaply — might be perfect for EVs.
    25AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:33
    Sounds like BYD can't keep up with battery supply and
    isn't delivering cars.

    Maybe it's because the Japan-spec version has low production volume.
    32AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:34
    Re: #25
    I don't think the Japan-spec version has anything to do with it.
    49AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:40
    If you're gonna drive a Suzuki it's an Alto or a Swift, a Jimny if you're trying to look cool, or a kei truck if you're a farmer
    — why a kei-class EV?
    62AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:43
    Re: #49
    Because out in the countryside it'll be a second car moms drive around for everyday errands.
    63AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:43
    Re: #49
    Gas stations are disappearing in dying rural villages, so a cheap kei EV might actually sell pretty well there.
    65AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:44
    Re: #49
    The Solio is a good car too, you know.
    50AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:40


    Kind of want this.
    118AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:57
    Re: #50
    The fire truck in the second pic is cute.
    It's charming how the fire department emblem is just reused from a full-size fire truck, so it ends up looking way oversized.
    128AnonymousOct 6, 2026 08:00
    Re: #50
    I'd cry if this showed up to rescue me from a fire.
    158AnonymousOct 6, 2026 08:06
    Re: #50
    Oh, a Toyota COMS. I've been looking into getting something that light myself, but
    it's pretty overpriced for what it is. I already have a minivan and a kei van, so driving is a hassle,
    but when I need to pop out somewhere that's inconvenient to reach by train or bus, I feel like I want one of those
    tiny four-wheelers.
    67AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:45
    Re: #41
    Yeah, true, that angle bothers me too.

    Personally I dislike the Chinese Communist Party, but separate from that, I'm still in the "EVs aren't viable yet" camp.
    The big reason is how hard it is to build out the infrastructure.

    As a city commuter car, I think the Racco and this one are just barely acceptable, but
    even so, compared to a gas-powered kei car, the only advantage is how it makes you feel, so I think it's a tough sell.
    78AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:47
    Re: #67
    As a guy who rides a 125cc scooter,
    rainy days, winter, and midsummer are brutal.
    88AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:48
    Re: #78
    Sounds like you'd go bald from the heat and sweat under your helmet (´;ω;`)
    112AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:55
    Re: #78
    Yeah, it'd be good as a replacement for that, but
    I don't think it's worth twice the price of a gas-powered kei car.
    94AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:50
    Isn't this basically unbuyable unless you live in a house where you can charge at home?
    100AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:52
    Re: #94
    Feels like it'd really pay off for a house with solar panels.
    103AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:52
    Re: #94
    People living in condos or apartments basically can't buy one in the first place.
    Makes you wonder how they handle it in China, where it's nothing but apartment complexes.
    108AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:54
    Re: #94
    It's no different from a gas car.
    If the charge runs low, you just go to a charging station.
    117AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:56
    Isn't the resale value of an EV going to tank if you try to sell it five years from now anyway?
    Factoring that in, gas cars still seem like the better deal.
    If I were buying an EV, I'd wait until around 2030.
    125AnonymousOct 6, 2026 07:59
    Re: #117
    I don't think EVs with lithium iron phosphate batteries like the Racco or e Sky will lose that much value.
    The battery should easily last more than 10 years.

    Honda's and Nissan's nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) batteries degrade more, though.
    135AnonymousOct 6, 2026 08:01
    Re: #117
    When you consider the whole cycle from buying to trading in,
    EVs still just aren't worth it yet.
    141AnonymousOct 6, 2026 08:02
    Re: #117
    As a basic rule of thumb, Japanese cars
    lose more than half their value the instant they're sold.

    Context and Key Debates on This Topic

    The e Sky is Suzuki’s first passenger kei EV, putting it in direct price competition with BYD’s “Racco,” launched in July 2026. A point raised on the thread — that lithium iron phosphate batteries degrade less and hold their value better on resale than the nickel-manganese-cobalt batteries used by Honda and Nissan — fills in an often-overlooked technical detail: resale value varies depending on battery chemistry. Meanwhile, the pushback against the “it looks cheap” criticism stems from a difference in premise: kei cars have always prioritized a low price over lavish equipment. Concerns about home-charging access and practicality in snowy regions also run deep, so whether the low price alone is enough to drive demand will come down to actual sales results.

    *This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (News Flash+) thread “[Kei EV] Suzuki’s “e Sky,” Japan’s Cheapest at ¥2.12 Million — Range Beats BYD.”