Latest from Japan

Japan’s Consumer Affairs Agency issued an administrative order on October 20 against the futon dryer ‘FLEURISTE,’ which had advertised mite removal and antibacterial effects, for violating the Act against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations (misleading representation regarding superiority). Ad claims like “rapidly heats to 50°C, the temperature that kills mites, and dries” had no reasonable basis, and since its December 2021 launch the product reportedly earned hundreds of millions of yen in some years. The agency also found the company had engaged in stealth marketing — paying influencers to post favorable content without disclosing it was sponsored. On 5ch, a thread debated the product’s real-world effectiveness, with comments like “does 50°C really kill mites?” and “models that just insert a nozzle can’t heat the whole thing,” alongside personal accounts of alternatives like laundromats and sun-drying.

The Consumer Affairs Agency announced on the 20th that it had found cosmetics retailer “giobai” (Shibuya Ward, Tokyo) in violation of the Act against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations (misleading representation regarding superiority), over advertising for a household futon dryer that claimed mite-removal and antibacterial effects without any basis, and issued an order requiring the company to prevent recurrence.

According to the announcement, between July and September 2024 the company advertised the futon dryer “FLEURISTE,” sold on its own website and elsewhere, with claims such as “rapidly heats to 50°C, the temperature that kills mites, and dries” and “3D warm air that reaches every corner.” When the agency examined the materials the company submitted, it found no reasonable basis backing up the ads. The product had been on sale since December 2021, and reportedly earned hundreds of millions of yen in some years.

The company’s website also featured images of paid influencers’ favorable posts on social media. Because the company didn’t disclose that it had commissioned these posts, the agency also found it in violation of the same law for engaging in stealth marketing.

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

*This article is composed of excerpts and a summary from the 5ch (News Flash+) thread “Futon Dryer ‘FLEURISTE’ Advertised as ‘Rapidly Heating to the Mite-Killing 50°C’ — Consumer Affairs Agency Orders Correction Over Baseless Claims, Product Earned Hundreds of Millions of Yen Some Years.”

A global ranking of average annual incomes placed Japan’s ¥5.19 million (about $34,660) at 24th place. The fact that Japan, once known as an economic powerhouse, has sunk to levels close to South Korea and Lithuania became a hot topic on 5ch. In the thread, the claim that “productivity is low, yet wages still aren’t rising” collided with the counterargument that “the drop in ranking is simply the weak yen at work,” and the discussion spread further into the gap between regular and non-regular employment, and the pros and cons of Japan’s lifetime employment system.

(Omitted)

Which country has the highest “average annual income” in the world?

Out of nowhere, here’s a simple question.

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

118AnonymousOct 21, 2026 19:17

No wonder the ranking keeps dropping.

*This article is compiled as an excerpt and summary from the 5ch (News Flash+) thread “[Global Average Income] Japan’s Average Annual Income of “¥5.19 Million” Ranks 24th in the World!? The Real State of Pay Around the Globe.”

The PHP development team announced on October 21, 2026 that it will release a patch fixing two critical vulnerabilities at 11:00 PM Japan time. Japan’s National Cyber Unit responded on its official X (formerly Twitter) account with a warning of its own, urging operators of public-facing websites to check whether they’re running PHP and to be ready to apply the patch the moment it drops. Around the time of the announcement, a string of web services began going into maintenance one after another, and 5ch threads buzzed with comments like “once the patch is out, attack code will get auto-generated from the diff,” along with debate over how everyone would cope once 11pm hit.

National Cyber Unit (Alerts & Warnings) @cyber_forecast

1:01 PM · October 21, 2026

PHP’s security team has issued a warning about two critical vulnerabilities. Please check whether your public-facing website uses PHP, and be ready to apply the fix patch — set for release at 11:00 PM Japan time on October 21 — as quickly as possible.

Source: x.com / original post here

*This article is compiled as an excerpt/summary of the 5ch (News Flash+) thread “National Cyber Unit: ‘Critical PHP vulnerability found — please prepare to apply the fix patch releasing at 11:00 PM on October 21 as soon as possible’.”