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  • Tsubaki Factory’s Nishimura Otsuki Reveals Birthday Goods — 5ch: ‘The Retro, Classy Outfit Is Adorable’

    Original goods for the “Birthday Event 2026” featuring Tsubaki Factory’s Nishimura Otsuki have been unveiled, with mail-order sales starting at the Fan Club Shop from 18:00 on October 9. Orders will be accepted until 23:59 on October 30, with items expected to arrive in early December. On 5ch’s Hello! Project board, comments poured in about the goods’ designs, including a T-shirt featuring illustrations of members past and present and a pouch shaped like a camellia (tsubaki) flower. The discussion ranged widely, from praise for the outfit’s retro feel to comparisons with past costume designs.

    1AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:00
    2026.10.08 Goods
    Tsubaki Factory Nishimura Otsuki Birthday Event 2026 Original Goods Revealed!
    3AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:02
    "Tsubaki Factory Nishimura Otsuki Birthday Event 2026" Original Goods Revealed!
    Mail-order sales will begin at 18:00 on Friday, October 9, via the "Fan Club Shop" on the Hello! Project official fan club site.

    Sales Start Date: Friday, October 9, 2026, 18:00
    Order Deadline: Friday, October 30, 2026, 23:59
    Expected Delivery: Early December 2026
    6AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:06
    Honestly, this is so cute
    7AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:06
    So cute! I'm pumped (lit. "bin-bin," slang for being super fired up)
    8AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:08
    Can't wait for tomorrow
    9AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:11
    Yukarin's back (idol nickname)
    11AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:11
    The T-shirt has every generation's Tsubaki member on it…
    that's gonna make me cry
    12AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:14
    Is that camellia pouch a ready-made product?
    13AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:17
    Looks like she's about to sing "Tanpopo" (lit. "dandelion")
    14AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:26
    The retro, classy outfit is adorable
    not going overboard with frills shows she really knows how to present herself
    15AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:31
    Whoa, what is this.
    It's actually really well put together.
    17AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:34
    Give her a mini skirt like Moritaka's (Moritaka Chisato, '90s singer famous for her song "Mini Skirt")
    18AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:35
    It's good precisely because it's not a mini skirt
    19AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:36
    The mouth on that emoji looks just like Sayashi's (Sayashi Riho, former Morning Musume member) — cute
    23AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:42
    Re: #19
    Isn't that Maihaman? (member nickname)
    20AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:36
    So mini skirts and swimsuits are off the table for a while, huh
    21AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:40
    My lead — built on getting noticed at the first solo meet-and-greets — is unshakable
    24AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:46
    Impressive how close it is to the illustration's vibe
    25AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:46
    Maihaman's gotta be lol
    26AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:46
    Guess that's about right for a first round
    27AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:47
    Having every generation of Tsubaki member gathered on the T-shirt illustration is such a nice touch
    32AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:51
    Tsubaki Factory @tsubakifac_uf
    This is #NishimuraOtsuki!
    The goods for the birthday event are out~
    Go check them out, please 🙋‍♀

    The outfit's cute, right~

    To everyone coming to tomorrow's birthday event

    Knowing the "Adrenaline Dame" call might make tomorrow more fun!
    Especially if you're coming to the 2nd show — it's a must!

    If you're coming to the 2nd show,
    get ready to shout out Tsubaki's name too
    so please be prepared 👍

    Let's have fun together

    #TsubakiFactory
    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HUFSKLaawAAK2qr?format=jpg&name=large
    36AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:56
    Knowing King (member nickname), there's probably some Hello! Project reference hidden in the outfit
    38AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:58
    King is the one carrying on the entire history of Tsubaki
    40AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:01
    Even her self-portrait went from no bangs to having bangs — such attention to detail
    41AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:02
    The pouch shaped like a camellia flower on the outfit is great
    42AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:03
    She's an otaku herself, so she knows exactly what makes you guys tick
    43AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:06
    Her face is small and her whole silhouette is sharp,
    so even in just a hat and a simple oversized dress, that pretty-girl aura is incredible
    50AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:20
    The outfit from the BP event had great taste too
    51AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:21
    Might just go ahead and order the acrylic stand.
    52AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:23
    Can't tell it apart from mustard, so they should've just made it lemon yellow.
    Or better yet, let's just get orange or red
    54AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:26
    Wasn't Lesser (member nickname) supposed to be the MC?
    55AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:26
    Re: #54
    ★Fan Club Members-Only Event★ Notice of Second-Round FC Ticket Acceptance for "Tsubaki Factory Nishimura Otsuki Birthday Event 2026"
    https://www.upfc.jp/helloproject/news_detail.php?@uid=BeaMQDU3mjRjHKhr

    The second round of ticket acceptance for "Tsubaki Factory Nishimura Otsuki Birthday Event 2026" has been decided.
    Hayashi Nina has been confirmed to appear as MC!

    Tsubaki Factory Nishimura Otsuki Birthday Event 2026
    ●Performer: Nishimura Otsuki (Tsubaki Factory)
    ●MC: Hayashi Nina (Juice=Juice)
    *Performers are subject to partial change. Please note in advance that no ticket refunds will be given due to performer changes.
    ●Venue: Starlight Theater (Tokyo) *Formerly: Hikosen (Airship) Theater
    ●Date: Friday, October 9, 2026
    [Performance No. 01] Doors 16:35 / Start 17:10
    *There is no ticket acceptance for the 19:30 performance.
    ●Seat Type: General seating (all reserved)
    ●Ticket Price: ¥4,700 (tax included)
    ●Order Limit: 1 ticket per person
    59AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:39
    King's birthday event MC is Nina,
    and Lesser's birthday event MC is King
    62AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:44
    Small face, charming, loves Hello! Project, great at both singing and dancing, and cute as a button
    she's basically the ace
    63AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:48
    Pretty Girl Factory
    https://imgur.com/URKxHtX.gif
    64AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:48
    A greedy combo of small-faced Sayashi and Yukarin
    https://youtube.com/watch?v=0l3p8WnpU0k
    65AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:56
    I want her to sing "Uruwashi no Camellia" ("Beautiful Camellia") in this outfit
    66AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:02
    Making the flowers bigger for the past leaders is such a nice touch

    Background and Talking Points

    It’s become customary for Hello! Project’s flagship events to hold a “Birthday Event” timed to each member’s birthday, selling original goods by mail order exclusively to fan club members. The ordering window is typically short, around three weeks, and shipping often doesn’t happen until a few months later — this time too, orders close on October 30 with delivery expected in early December. On the thread, comments centered mainly on positive impressions of the costume and the T-shirt’s illustration design, though some also compared it to past costumes, such as skirt length, showing just how much interest there is in each member’s costume trends. The venue is Starlight Theater, formerly known as “Hikosen (Airship) Theater,” and the second round of ticket acceptance also announced that Hayashi Nina (Juice=Juice) would appear as MC, drawing attention to this cross-group collaboration.

    *This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Hello! Project) thread “Tsubaki Factory Nishimura Otsuki Birthday Event 2026 Original Goods Revealed!.”

  • TV Asahi’s Tsumugi Mitani Rattled After Sidewalk Cyclist Rings Bell at Her — 5ch Erupts Over ‘Wrong-Way Riding’ Debate

    TV Asahi announcer Tsumugi Mitani (32) revealed on her Threads account that she was left unsettled after a food-delivery cyclist riding on the sidewalk rang a bell at her and called out “Oi!” moments after she stepped off a bus. The post was picked up on 5ch’s Geisports速報+ (entertainment/sports news) board, where discussion focused less on whether the “Oi!” remark was appropriate and more on whether the concept of “riding the wrong way” even applies to bicycles on sidewalks in the first place — sparking a broader debate over how to interpret Japan’s Road Traffic Act. Many commenters pointed out that bicycles are often permitted on sidewalks, and that ringing a bell to make a pedestrian move aside is itself the real violation.

    Thu, Oct 8, 12:21 PM

    TV Asahi announcer Tsumugi Mitani (32) updated her Threads account by the 8th, writing about bicycle road manners.

    She described the situation: “Right after I got off the bus, a food-delivery bike with a backpack, riding on the sidewalk, rang its bell at me and then said, ‘Oi!’”

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

    2AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:26
    Because watching historical food-reenactment videos is way more fun than watching the 'Peace-kun' livestream from Omiya Park on YouTube (a mascot webcam feed some 5ch users follow as a running joke).
    3AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:26
    Quit whining about it and just talk back on the spot, you spineless wuss lol
    7AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:28
    Re: #3
    Can't talk back since it's a bike — the guy's already gone, so now it's just delayed rage.
    8AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:28
    Re: #3
    Talking back to a bike that's already riding away is actually a pretty tall order.
    4AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:27
    So is this person actually a baseball fan?
    Or a soccer fan?
    18AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:31
    Re: #4
    Pro wrestling fan.
    5AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:27
    Japanese people really have lost that give-and-take spirit, haven't they.
    6AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:28
    Stuff like this — you can't react in the moment, and it just gnaws at you afterward.
    Guys who can fire back on the spot must just be used to it.
    They're walking a real warpath lol
    33AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:39
    Re: #6
    What bugged me was this:

    I was on my motorbike, first in line waiting at a red light at a signaled intersection, when a bicycle squeezed past me, cut in front right at the stop line, and then the second it turned green, threw up a right-turn hand signal and boldly turned right.

    Right turns were banned there, so I should've laid on the horn.
    9AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:28
    There are cases where a bike going the 'wrong way' or riding the sidewalk is actually fine too, as long as it's at walking-pace speed.
    62AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:52
    Re: #9
    The moment a pedestrian walking on the sidewalk has to dodge out of the way of an oncoming bike, that's already a violation on the bike's part.
    16AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:31
    But aren't delivery riders basically the main characters of this world?
    20AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:31
    Figures — typical of someone from Asahi-affiliated media.
    22AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:33
    This is just a case of her arbitrarily assuming bikes aren't allowed there.
    31AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:38
    She should put together a nationwide TV special and expose it.
    32AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:38
    If you can tell which company the delivery rider works for, file a complaint.
    34AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:39
    'Oi' comes in a lot of flavors though.
    A sharp 'Oi!' would piss you off, but an 'Oi… (oi oi?)' just means the guy was startled by the sudden situation too.
    36AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:39
    I've barely ever seen this person on regular broadcast TV — is she a Tokyo-local-only announcer?
    37AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:40
    First off, it seems a bike riding on the sidewalk isn't 'going the wrong way' to begin with.
    That said, under current law bikes are supposed to stick to the road — if you want to use the sidewalk, you're supposed to get off and push it.
    After all, bicycles are classified as light vehicles.
    Though from a car's point of view, they're still a nuisance.
    93AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:12
    Re: #37
    The second half is wrong.
    You're right that 'with traffic' or 'against traffic' doesn't apply to bikes on the sidewalk.
    But riding on the sidewalk isn't a violation either.
    If riding on the road feels dangerous, you're allowed to proceed on the sidewalk at a crawl.
    The only actual violation in this whole story is ringing the bell to try to make a pedestrian move.
    39AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:41
    People who get off the bus without even checking left and right are annoying too.
    41AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:42
    There's no such thing as 'wrong-way riding' on a sidewalk — though the bell thing is out of line.
    But first, you need to learn the rules yourself.
    42AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:42
    There's no concept of 'wrong-way riding' on a sidewalk in the first place.
    44AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:43
    The bike's in the right here!
    Pedestrians are seriously a pain.
    It pisses me off when they strut around like they own the place.
    49AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:45
    Re: #44
    Well, good luck with that.
    58AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:51
    With stuff like this, people sometimes leave out the parts that make them look bad when they complain.
    For instance, there's a chance she got off the bus, didn't look around at all, and was standing in the middle of the sidewalk staring at her phone.
    65AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:54
    The bus had literally just pulled up right then, and besides, there's no 'with traffic' or 'against traffic' on a sidewalk anyway.
    99AnonymousOct 8, 2026 15:13
    Re: #65
    Fair point.
    But riding right past the doors while a bus is stopped at a bus stop makes you a dangerous idiot, blue ticket or not (a 'blue ticket' is a minor traffic citation, as opposed to the more serious red one).

    Background and Key Issues in This Thread

    Under Japan’s Road Traffic Act, bicycles are classified as “light vehicles” and are, in principle, required to ride on the road. However, there are exceptions that let bikes proceed slowly on sidewalks — for instance, when a “bicycles permitted” sign is posted, when the rider is under 13 or over 70, or when riding on the road is judged too dangerous. Because of this, the concept of “riding the wrong way” simply doesn’t apply to bikes on sidewalks, and the many comments in the thread pointing out “there’s no wrong-way riding on a sidewalk” are legally accurate. On the other hand, a cyclist on a sidewalk ringing a bell to make a pedestrian move aside is explicitly prohibited under the Road Traffic Act, and the thread largely converged on the view that “the only real violation here was ringing the bell.” Rather than dwelling on the emotional question of whether shouting “Oi!” was appropriate, this thread notably shifted toward the more objective question of legal interpretation.

    *This article is an excerpt and summary based on the 5ch (Geisports速報+) thread “TV Asahi’s popular female announcer Tsumugi Mitani ‘frustrated’ after food-delivery bike riding the ‘wrong way’ on the sidewalk rings its bell and says ‘Oi!’.”

  • PS5 Games Go Effectively Free on a Piracy Store — 5ch: ‘This Is Just Straight-Up Crime’

    On X (formerly Twitter), a post claiming that a “pirate store” offering every PS5 and PS4 game for free had been created went viral, sparking a thread on 5ch’s Hardware/Industry (“Geha”) board. Posters brought up past precedents — PSP’s modchips and custom firmware (CFW), and the PS3 hack that stemmed from a leaked encryption key — and suggested this latest exploit works the same way, abusing a vulnerability in the console’s built-in firmware browser. Opinions split between optimists who think bans and legal action can contain the damage, and pessimists who argue that once a console’s hardware is cracked, there’s no putting the genie back in the bottle.

    >The developers have built stores for PS5 and PS4 where every single game is free.

    This is seriously way too messed up

    Something’s gotta be done or PlayStation is going to be finished way sooner than expected

    Source: x.com / Original post here

    3AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:23
    At this point it's basically just a crime lol
    109AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:27
    Re: #3
    Yeah, but
    realistically there's nothing to be done about it
    When someone with nothing left to lose (a "muteki no hito," slang for people who have nothing left to lose and thus nothing holding them back) who actually has the skills snaps,
    PS5, which was supposedly rock-solid on security, got totally cracked in just two months.

    If they're going to ditch discs, fine — but only if it's for a legit reason like "profitability has tanked and we can't keep this up."
    4AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:23
    They'll just shut the store down and call it done
    9AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:26
    Re: #4
    They'll probably just mass-produce stores with AI lol
    11AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:26
    Re: #4
    Crush it and pirates just throw up another one right after — that's the usual playbook
    7AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:26
    They'll get banned instantly and it'll be useless
    57AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:02
    Re: #7
    Even if you get banned officially, you can just go play on the pirate store instead 😜
    15AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:29
    Sony might bail on the gaming hardware business sooner than expected
    27AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:40
    Re: #15
    Honestly this would be the perfect excuse
    It'd be one thing if it only hurt their own games,
    but this is causing trouble for software publishers, and ultimately Nintendo and Microsoft too
    31AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:43
    "As long as consoles keep selling, that's fine!"
    and they'll just… leave it alone, right? lol
    33AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:44
    Re: #31
    They probably will
    That's exactly what happened with the PSP
    37AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:46
    But it's offline-only and can't be updated, right?
    Unless it's as easy as PSP modchips were, the numbers won't get that big — anyway it's a crime, so they should hurry up and get caught
    39AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:48
    Re: #37
    Just hook it up to the pirate PS Store instead (´・ω・`)
    118AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:30
    Re: #37
    Hard to believe PSN, which has already leaked multiple times, hasn't had its data pulled too
    The fact there's zero countermeasure this time is genuinely game over
    Apparently it's a crack via the browser built into the firmware
    51AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:00
    Even if they kill it with an update, does it turn into a fully offline all-games package?
    63AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:04
    Re: #51
    Updated, patched ROMs will just circulate
    64AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:04
    You can download every game from the pirate store and there are even emulator servers — so what's the actual problem with getting banned? 🤔
    65AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:05
    Re: #64
    Except your whole life gets "banned" by a massive damages claim
    66AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:08
    There's no way they can actually bill the people who downloaded it for damages lol
    72AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:12
    Re: #66
    Realistically there are just too many people, it's not feasible
    69AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:10
    Some hardware mods like this are genuinely hard, but
    this PS5 all-games-free trick
    isn't something only a handful of skilled people can pull off —
    it's apparently easy enough that basically anyone can do it

    It's that same thing elementary, middle, and high schoolers used to do with the PSP

    Which is apparently why the PS5 Pro, with its huge storage, is selling like crazy
    74AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:12
    Re: #69
    Unlike emulators, once a console hardware mod like this gets out, it's seriously brutal to stamp out
    80AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:13
    Ever since the PS4 days SIE kept bragging that their security was so good no hacker could crack it, which is why there were no cheaters —
    so how did it get this wide open in such a short time?
    81AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:15
    Re: #80
    ttps://fpsjp.net/archives/540459

    It all started here
    They leaked the key, so there's nothing that can be done about it now
    82AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:15
    I checked out some overseas sites, and
    there are a ton of them where you can freely download PS1 through PS5 game data

    The fact these sites never get shut down probably means suing them doesn't actually work

    So the only real countermeasure left is locking down the console hardware itself

    Switch 2 and Xbox seem to have that part nailed down perfectly,
    but PS5 turned out to be shockingly full of holes
    98AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:21
    Re: #82
    Sony, who left PSP's custom firmware alone
    Nintendo, who sued modchip sellers left and right

    The pirates have been watching that history closely
    93AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:19
    Wait, the encryption key actually leaked??
    Since when???
    Isn't it getting hacked way too fast?
    Seriously, what are you doing, "Crapsony" (a derogatory pun combining "kuso"/crap with Sony)
    If everyone can just play everything free on PS5,
    multiplatform titles on every other console stop selling entirely
    132AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:34
    Re: #93
    It's an issue that comes before encryption even enters the picture —
    apparently it uses a vulnerability in the browser built into the firmware
    Connect to the net, update to the latest firmware, fully factory-reset the console,
    then disconnect from the net? And you can reliably crack it from the browser vulnerability — sounds like there's genuinely zero protection

    If it needed some special firmware or elaborate ritual, fine, but since it's just a browser vulnerability, it's completely wide open
    99AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:23
    PS4 was probably being pirated too, just not out in the open — it was happening on the dark web
    Otherwise there's no way those crypto mining farms in Ukraine could have existed
    103AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:24
    Re: #99
    They probably just swapped out the entire OS
    There's no real reason to keep using PlayStation's own gaming OS anyway
    104AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:24
    Could something like this happen to the Steam Machine too?
    108AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:26
    Re: #104
    Steam started out as a service built on internet-distributed software in the first place — if the same thing could happen to it, I'd think today's Steam would've already been cracked wide open by now
    111AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:28
    Re: #108
    But the fact this hasn't blown up publicly before probably just means there's this attitude of "it's fine to do whatever to Sony" — nobody's taking it seriously
    113AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:29
    Re: #108
    Steam really was built by geniuses
    Unlimited cloud save storage is impressive too
    117AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:30
    Even PS3 and PS4 couldn't be jailbroken this easily
    Guess they learned absolutely nothing from that
    125AnonymousOct 8, 2026 14:33
    Re: #117
    PS3 caused the biggest data breach in the company's history and PSN was down for months over it
    Even if you add up all the personal info leaks people are making noise about now, it'd be a close match

    Background and Key Points of This Topic

    This isn’t the first time PS5 has faced unauthorized modding (piracy). Back in the PS3 era, a leaked encryption key escalated into a massive hack, and the PSP had modchips and custom firmware left unchecked for years. Drawing on that history, the thread pointed out that the ease of this latest method — “update the firmware, disconnect, then crack it via a browser vulnerability” — has spread to roughly the same accessibility as the old PSP mods. That said, the source here is a single post on X (formerly Twitter), with no official confirmation from Sony or any third party. The fact that both an encryption-key-leak theory and a browser-vulnerability theory are circulating at once shows this is still speculation for now. One point readers could easily misread is the idea that “every user automatically gets everything for free” — but as commenters noted, it requires manual firmware steps and disconnecting from the network, and online-only titles or updates likely need separate workarounds.

    *This article excerpts and summarizes the 5ch (Hardware/Industry “Geha”) thread “The piracy scene finally gets its own pirate store, reaching its final form.”

  • Tamagawa Toru Breaks Down the Beer Price-Fixing Scandal — 5ch: “Did He Just Learn the Word ‘Evidently’?”

    On October 7, Japan’s Fair Trade Commission launched a forced investigation into four major beer makers — Asahi, Kirin, Suntory, and Sapporo — on suspicion of violating the Antimonopoly Act (unjust restraint of trade) by colluding to raise the prices of beer-type beverages. The next day, October 8, former TV Asahi employee Tamagawa Toru addressed the issue on TV Asahi’s “Hanetori Shinichi Morning Show,” explaining the alleged motive behind the cartel as “because they clearly know the cheaper one sells better.” On 5ch, while some users voiced suspicion about networks’ reporting stance given that beer makers are major TV sponsors, others called Tamagawa’s remark “just stating the obvious,” and the thread spread into debate over the taste and pricing differences between brands.

    Tamagawa Toru breaks down price-fixing suspicions among the four major beer makers: “Because they clearly know the cheaper one sells better”

    Former TV Asahi employee Tamagawa Toru, who serves as a commentator, appeared on the network’s “Hanetori Shinichi Morning Show” (weekdays, 8:00 AM) on the 8th and addressed the alleged price-fixing cartel among the four major beer makers.

    The Fair Trade Commission conducted a forced investigation on the 7th into Asahi Beer, Kirin Beer, Suntory, and Sapporo Beer on suspicion of violating the Antimonopoly Act (unjust restraint of trade), alleging the four companies formed a cartel aimed at raising the prices of beer-type beverages (including low-malt “happoshu” and third-category beer substitutes).

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

    7AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:21
    This program is brought to you by Asahi Soft Drinks (mock sponsor-announcement joke)
    8AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:21
    Delivering the obvious with a smug grin
    10AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:23
    Re: #8
    He's just breaking it down simply for the old folks watching TV
    9AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:23
    If they weren't sponsors, competing on taste would be the obvious move!! They can only compete on price, so they run off to cartels instead — I'd say companies like that deserve to go under
    64AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:28
    Re: #9
    If anything, a price cartel is actually good news for the companies that *can* compete on taste
    11AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:24
    A TV station that wants beer commercials goes soft on the commentary lol. Come on, do your usual "Outrageous!" routine lol
    13AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:26
    Aren't the TV stations airing commercials for these "Cartel Four" basically accomplices too?
    16AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:28
    Re: #13
    Running that many commercials just shows how much they're raking in — though maybe TV ad rates have dropped and gotten cheaper
    14AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:27
    Guess from now on every household just has to brew its own beer!
    15AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:28
    Can TV stations that are after beer companies' sponsorship money even press them hard? Tamagawa, be more critical!

    You sure tear into LDP lawmakers' gaffes hard enough!
    17AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:31
    What a childish take…
    21AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:36
    Re: #17
    The ones nitpicking everything here are the childish ones…
    18AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:32
    Is it even fair that Ichiban Shibori and Kirin Lager cost the same? Watching the commercials, Ichiban Shibori feels like it costs more to make
    19AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:33
    Did he just learn the word "evidently" recently and want to use it?
    20AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:35
    Re: #16
    And on top of that they splash out on big-name celebrities for the ads — guess it's boycott everything except Orion Beer at this rate
    30AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:49
    The biggest waste is that beer companies use the profits they lock up this way to hire top science and engineering talent.

    Beer doesn't taste all that different between brands and hasn't really progressed much over the years, so they're hoarding talented people with high salaries who'd be better off thriving in some other industry.

    Japan's probably the only country with this many beer commercials on TV, right?
    70AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:37
    Re: #30
    You're seriously saying beer doesn't taste that different?
    33AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:56
    They raised prices even though the beer tax rate went down — that's what set the government off
    35AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:58
    Re: #33
    Apparently they'd been warned about it in advance
    34AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:57
    Suntory, being the latecomer, should just put out a cheap one — might surprisingly be a hit lol
    38AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:00
    Right after the liquor tax cut they played it straight and lowered prices, but they were probably planning to jack them back up via "new products" or "renewals" all along
    48AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:09
    Re: #38
    They've already raised beer prices. Former happoshu went up, but the ones that were beer from the start were supposed to go down — yet Super Dry and Ichiban Shibori both went up too. No wonder the government's furious. This is basically a warning shot: "pull this stunt right after a consumption tax cut and you'll end up with a record, so be ready" (slang nod to getting a criminal record)
    39AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:00
    Is Super Dry really the best-selling beer?
    43AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:03
    Re: #39
    Yep. People have stayed satisfied with it forever, so as a product it's basically perfected.

    That's exactly why they can pour insane money into advertising.
    42AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:01
    There are only 3 love hotels in my town, and all 3 charge the exact same rates
    52AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:13
    Re: #42
    Near my workplace there are almost 10 and the prices are all over the map — naturally the cheap ones fill up fast
    50AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:11
    I get being annoyed that they went to the trouble of developing third-category beer only for the liquor tax to get tinkered with — but pulling a cartel this blatant, this easy to catch? Of course the government's gonna blow up
    56AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:18
    Re: #50
    If anything, the real problem is that they created a weird, Japan-only product like "third-category beer" in the first place, and the market actually went along with it. If you're going to drink some engineered "functional" alcohol drink, you're better off not drinking at all.
    58AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:19
    Speaking of a beer "cartel," doesn't that make you think of a shandy gaff or a red eye instead? (playing on cartel/カルテル sounding like cocktail/カクテル)
    61AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:25
    Re: #58
    That's a cocktail. You're thinking of the tube they use in hospitals — a catheter (カクテル/cocktail vs カテーテル/catheter mix-up)
    59AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:19
    But Suntory Nama is cheap, isn't it? Wonder why
    60AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:21
    Re: #59
    Because it's a blended beer. Malt's shifted over to being a premium beer anyway. These days, when I'm drinking at home, it's Ichiban Shibori, no question.
    87AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:06
    Honestly my reaction was just "uh… sure, I guess" — why does that even need a TV comment, let alone turn into online news?
    91AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:10
    Re: #87
    Well, it's a crime committed by major corporations, so of course it's news? Though admittedly it's not exactly entertainment/sports material lol

    Background and Key Points of This Topic

    Beer-type beverages have been subject to a phased liquor tax reform rolling out since 2023, under which the tax-rate gap between beer, low-malt happoshu, and third-category beer substitutes has been narrowing, with rates expected to be largely unified by October 2026. The focus of this case is whether the Fair Trade Commission views the price adjustments the companies made in step with this tax change as having been coordinated among themselves. The thread split between those praising Tamagawa’s explanation and those questioning the sharpness of TV reporting on this, given that networks themselves receive substantial ad revenue from beer makers. It’s worth noting this is still only at the “forced investigation” stage — a confirmed Antimonopoly Act violation has not been established. The exact scale of each company’s price hikes and which products were affected were not spelled out in the thread, so individual comments reflect general consumer reaction rather than confirmed fact.

    *This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Entertainment & Sports News+) thread “[TV] Tamagawa Toru breaks down price-fixing suspicions among the four major beer makers: “Because they clearly know the cheaper one sells better”.”

  • Hulu Exclusively Streams Juice=Juice’s Korean Training Camp Show as They Finalize New Single’s Choreography

    Episode 1 of “Juice=Juice Summer Camp in Korea,” a Hulu-exclusive series following popular Hello! Project group Juice=Juice’s training camp in Korea, began streaming on October 8, 2026 at 18:00. The show follows the members as they travel to Korea to finish choreography for their new single “Karei naru Revenger” (“Glorious Revenger”), mixing dance lessons with variety-style location segments. On the Hello! Project board of 5ch, the thread buzzed with two main topics: finally getting to check their guesses against the earlier “guess the member from the back-view silhouette” teaser posts, and the practical question of when to subscribe, since the November 25 Pia Arena concert is also set to stream on Hulu.

    1AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:01
    Juice=Juice Summer Camp in Korea
    #Hulu Exclusive Streaming Confirmed!
    2AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:02
    【Hulu】Streaming Hello! Project content one after another💫

    @hulu_hello
    /
    Juice=Juice Summer Camp in Korea
    #Hulu Exclusive Streaming Confirmed!

    Episode 1 streaming starts today at 18:00✈
    \

    Off to Korea to complete the choreography for new single "Karei naru Revenger"🇰🇷

    Bringing you a packed summer camp full of dance lessons and variety-style location shoots☀

    @JuiceJuice_uf

    @hulu_japan


    #JuicesSummerCamp
    1:00 PM · Oct 8, 2026
    https://x.com/hulu_hello/status/2108044721092485211
    tps://pbs.twimg.com/media/HT6XXFcagAEKvK4.jpg:orig
    6AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:03
    Turns out I forgot to cancel my subscription, so I can actually watch this.
    7AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:03
    tps://pbs.twimg.com/media/HT6XL5XbUAEbLpJ.jpg:orig#.jpg
    tps://pbs.twimg.com/media/HT6XXFcagAEKvK4.jpg:orig#.jpg
    13AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:06
    Risachi's got long legs.
    14AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:06
    Someone posted that they could only tell who 'Mesa' was — but isn't that actually Risachi?
    15AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:06
    Time to check our guesses.
    16AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:07
    Arisawa Chichika-chan is way too gorgeous.
    20AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:08
    Ishiyama is insane (in a good way).
    28AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:11
    Dude's reacting on pure reflex lol ("spinal reflex" = knee-jerk reaction).
    31AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:11
    I wonder if a live-watch thread will pop up today or over the weekend.
    If one goes up, I'll time my viewing to join in.
    40AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:13
    Re: #31
    ■ Juice=Juice ■ Hulu Unlimited Streaming 『Juice=Juice Summer Camp in Korea Episode1』 ■ Starts 18:00 ■ 1
    https://kizuna.5ch.io/test/read.cgi/morningcoffee/1791432398/
    33AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:12
    Koeda is the best.
    34AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:12
    These guys are really selling, huh.
    35AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:12
    Went to Caribbean Bay, then went to eat samgyeopsal in Euljiro, and there was this idol group called Juice=Juice there — I thought they were Equal Love (=LOVE) and even told the staff that, but it turned out to actually be Juice=Juice lol
    10:45 PM · Aug 25, 2026
    36AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:13
    【Hulu】Streaming Hello! Project content one after another💫

    @hulu_hello
    🍹✈☀
    Coming soon………..
    7:00 PM · Oct 7, 2026
    https://x.com/hulu_hello/status/2107772931132789165
    tps://pbs.twimg.com/media/HT6XL5XbUAEbLpJ.jpg:orig

    【Hulu】Streaming Hello! Project content one after another💫

    @hulu_hello
    Thank you so much for all your guesses🫶

    From left to right:
    Hayashi Nina, Ishiyama Sakura, Ebata Kisaki, Kudo Yua, Arisawa Ichika, Inoue Rion, Matsunaga Ria, Endo Sakari, Kawashima Mifu, Danbara Ruru, and Irie Risa!
    1:09 PM · Oct 8, 2026
    https://x.com/hulu_hello/status/2108046983378452926
    44AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:15
    Guess I'll just subscribe to Hulu for one month.
    49AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:17
    Re: #44
    If they're putting it on Hulu now, that means the Nov 25 Pia Arena livestream will also be on Hulu — so if you're subscribing starting today, you should probably plan on sticking it out for two months.
    47AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:16
    Is this the one where Risachi woke up and it was already meeting time?
    48AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:16
    Wish they'd give us more notice on the streaming schedule — announcing it today and starting to stream the same day?
    53AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:18
    Kawashima
    8/25 Today I got to eat something really delicious, so it was a happy day ♩
    8/26 Woke up with terrible muscle soreness, it was rough
    8/27 I was so happy that Inoue-san wore the outfit Mifu gave her as a present

    Irie
    8/25 I woke up really early today. Mom packed me some apple slices she'd cut up, and Dad drove me
    8/27 Massive oversleep ( ; ; ) I was supposed to show up already in hair and makeup, but I woke up right at meeting time
    54AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:19
    Guess I'll subscribe anyway since there's the big-venue show too.
    55AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:19
    Back when they posted just the back-view silhouettes,

    someone reposted saying "I could instantly tell Haru, Mei, and Homare apart"

    …but doesn't that person look kind of silly now?
    56AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:19
    Apparently it runs through Episode 5, streaming every Thursday.
    63AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:20
    Re: #56
    10/08
    10/15
    10/22
    10/29
    11/05
    I see
    There's a bit of a gap between the finale and the Nov 25 (Wed) Pia Arena show.
    60AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:19
    Guess that means a two-month subscription to cover through the big-venue stream.
    66AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:21
    Re: #60
    The Year-End Party show (Hello! Project's annual year-end concert) is on Hulu too.
    61AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:20
    Juice is really selling, huh.
    64AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:20
    Grateful for the special program.
    Wish they'd broadcast Budokan too, not just Pia Arena.
    72AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:22
    Re: #64
    Yeah, I'd love for them to do Budokan too.
    Even a pay-per-ticket system would be fine.
    65AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:20
    So does that mean the choreography for 'Karei naru' is by a Korean choreographer?
    70AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:21
    Re: #63
    So 'Karei naru Revenger' gets its first-ever performance at Budokan on 11/6?
    71AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:22
    The exact moment the cymbals went off in my head, notebook and all (a riff on the cymbal-banging toy monkey meme for your brain completely blanking out).

    Background and Key Points

    The series updates every Thursday, running from Episode 1 on October 8 through Episode 5 on November 5, after which there’s roughly a three-week gap before the November 25 Pia Arena concert. Since a live stream of that concert is also planned to run through Hulu, the thread’s main focus became the practical calculation of exactly when to subscribe and when to cancel. On the new single “Karei naru Revenger,” some posters wondered who choreographed it, while others hoped for its first live performance at a Budokan show — though it’s worth noting that, as of now, only the Pia Arena concert has been officially announced, and a Budokan show is not confirmed. The “guess who’s who from the back-view silhouettes” game that got the thread going early on is a recurring pastime among Hello! Project fans, often seen around new-member announcements — and this time, it turned out right after the stream dropped that a number of the earlier guesses were wrong.

    *This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project board) thread “Juice=Juice Summer Camp in Korea #Hulu Exclusive Streaming Confirmed!“

  • Gaming Forum Calls Out News Report for Labeling the PS5 a ‘Popular Game Console’ in Theft Story

    A 27-year-old man was arrested for stealing a PlayStation 5 from a retail store in Kiyota Ward, Sapporo, and the news article’s phrasing — calling it a “popular game console” and “a game console known as the PlayStation 5” — set off a stir on 5ch’s Hardware/Industry (Geha) board. While many in the thread pointed out that the console’s name recognition among the general public has slipped, attention also focused on just how sloppy the method was, allegedly hiding it among groceries to slip it past a self-checkout.

    The PS5 just wasn’t recognized by society anymore…

    In July, a 27-year-old man was arrested for stealing two game consoles from a retail store in Kiyota Ward, Sapporo.

    The suspect arrested on suspicion of theft is Norihiro Sakurada (27), a delivery worker from Asahikawa.

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

    3AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:23
    Is it actually true that this is a "popular game console"?
    4AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:24
    It's rare for an article like this to actually name it
    normally it's just "popular game console" or "game console"
    6AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:24
    Elementary schooler: "What's a 'Pwaystation'?" (babytalk mispronunciation of PlayStation)
    8AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:25
    Re: #6
    Shh, you're not supposed to say that out loud
    11AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:26
    "A popular game console known as the 'PlayStation 5'"

    Doubt. (as in calling out a bluff, like the card game)
    12AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:26
    The way they word it, like they've genuinely never heard of it, lol
    13AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:26
    Sorry for having a popular game console, Nishi-kun (derisive nickname for Nintendo fanboys)
    14AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:27
    If they're writing it assuming readers have no idea what a PS5 is, then it's actually accurate
    15AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:28
    If it needs to be explained like that, doesn't that mean it's NOT popular?
    16AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:28
    No wonder State of Play's viewership numbers are so rough…
    19AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:30
    The guy who wrote this article is just clueless about games, that's all
    20AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:30
    [Bad News for Nishi-kun] It's been confirmed all over again that the PS5 is actually popular
    https://krsw.5ch.io/test/read.cgi/ghard/1791407183/
    83AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:31
    Re: #78
    Looks like they're salty that the thread they made (Re: #20) flopped while this one took off
    22AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:33
    W-well, the headline does say "popular"…

    "Popular game console 'PS5' x2 slipped past checkout hidden among groceries, discovered after being brought to a secondhand shop"


    But seriously,
    can you actually get through checkout with a method that sloppy?
    29AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:38
    Re: #22
    There was a time when Sony made sure even TV news properly called it "PS"…
    33AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:41
    Re: #22
    Probably the old trick of stashing it on the bottom rack of the cart to slip past the register
    27AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:37
    Same as "a crowbar-like object" — they probably just can't officially confirm it was a PlayStation 5 (famous vague phrasing Japanese news uses for unconfirmed items)
    31AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:39
    Re: #27
    Guess it was an air purifier, then
    28AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:37
    Well, it IS a popular game console — among scalpers, anyway
    30AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:38
    "The popular XX, as it's called"
    guess this person's never even heard of it
    32AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:39
    A store that rings it up together with groceries, displays the real unit instead of a dummy, AND has self-checkout? The store's security is way too lax, but it's a bold crime — or maybe this "thing called the PS5" sells so poorly they just got careless
    34AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:42
    A store where you can buy groceries and a PS5 in the same place… sounds like Don Quijote (Japanese discount chain)
    35AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:42
    Apparently some people try to sneak 10kg bags of rice through self-checkout
    so a PS5 should be doable too
    though they get caught eventually anyway
    38AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:44
    Re: #31
    But you know, I heard it apparently sucks in dust and blows it back out
    39AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:45
    Well, even the games section is tiny these days
    it's natural to just read this as the console's declining name recognition showing through
    40AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:45
    Checked Google Maps and there's a Don Quijote Hiraoka store in Kiyota Ward — is this the place?
    41AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:46
    Whoever wrote this isn't Japanese, right?
    no native speaker would phrase a proper noun like that
    45AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:49
    Re: #41
    Try swapping in "Xbox" or "3DO" or "LaserActive" instead
    you'd have no choice but to write it this way too
    61AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:07
    If something that costs tens of thousands of yen were really that popular, why was it just sitting around somewhere so easy to shoplift from…
    71AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:16
    Re: #61
    Normally it'd be in a locked case or behind the counter, lol
    64AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:10
    "As it's called" — that's not a phrase you usually hear in this kind of news story, lol
    75AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:19
    Re: #64
    When they clearly know exactly what was stolen,
    phrasing it this way only happens when the stolen item's name recognition is really, really low
    78AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:24
    There's a flood of duplicate threads right now trying to bury this one, lol
    80AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:27
    Maybe the "popular" part was just them assuming "well, it got stolen, so it's probably popular"
    85AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:32
    Re: #80
    No progress since Sony's radio-making days, huh
    90AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:37
    I guess it just means the official name is something different
    though what that actually is, no idea…
    91AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:38
    Re: #90
    Probably an air purifier
    92AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:39
    It's also funny that it got rung up as groceries
    93AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:41
    Re: #92
    The PlayStation is a perishable good — it goes bad within a week of release

    Background and Key Points of This Topic

    This topic blew up on 5ch’s Hardware/Industry (Geha) board after a news article covering a game console theft used the phrase “popular game console, the PlayStation 5.” Several years after its release, the PS5 is well-regarded among gaming enthusiasts for its performance, but since the name itself still hasn’t fully penetrated the general news-reading public, the article is thought to have opted for this explanatory phrasing. In the thread, many users pointed to the laxness of the store’s security — despite being a product highly prone to resale scalping, it apparently could be carried out of the store just by hiding it in a self-checkout grocery cart. Note that the suspect’s real name and the details of the charges are already public information from news reports; this article limits itself to covering the thread’s reaction to the reporting’s wording.

    ※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry (Geha)) thread “Mainstream media 📺 apparently there’s a game console called the “PlayStation 5”“.

  • Former Nintendo President Iwata: ‘You Need 10x the CPU, 100x the GPU’ — 5ch: ‘It’s Unfair the Switch 2 Is in the Same Generation as the PS5’

    A thread on 5ch’s hardware-wars (Geha) board blew up after quoting a remark from former Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, made back during GameCube development: “For users to feel a game is ‘clearly different,’ you need 10 times the CPU and 100 times the GPU processing speed.” The thread covered how, despite the GameCube actually outperforming the PS2 at the time, it looked worse on paper because of how polygon counts were reported publicly, and how today’s Switch 2 and PS5 only differ by a few times in raw performance. Opinions were split on whether the spec race still means anything now.

    [Interviewer] And the result of that was the GameCube’s specifications, is that right?

    [Iwata] That’s right. The GameCube was built to be a console where graphics come out easily, where you get near-peak performance without even tuning for it, and where software is simple to make.

    And the very first priority in developing the GameCube was “breaking away from numbers-ism and spec-ism.”

    Source: ascii.jp / Original article here

    2AnonymousOct 8, 2026 09:11
    Just make a proper home console already, like the old days when they put out the DS and GameCube side by side.
    12AnonymousOct 8, 2026 09:18
    Re: #2
    And the result was that dev resources got stretched thin, customers gravitated to the cheaper option, and it squeezed the Wii U out as a home console.

    The answer they landed on was the Switch — decent performance, works as a home console, and portable too.
    61AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:14
    Re: #2
    Just go buy a PS6 already.
    9AnonymousOct 8, 2026 09:17
    So Iwata ("Iwacchi," his nickname) was already around back in the GameCube days?
    11AnonymousOct 8, 2026 09:18
    Re: #9
    He was one of the developers.
    10AnonymousOct 8, 2026 09:17
    Among the people I know, more talk about load times than image quality when comparing PS4 and PS5. Honestly, it's almost all load-time talk.
    13AnonymousOct 8, 2026 09:19
    Re: #10
    From an average consumer's point of view, you can't tell the difference in CPU power, so just boosting SSD performance alone is enough to trick people into thinking it's way better.
    14AnonymousOct 8, 2026 09:24
    But some outlet ended up framing it as something like 'PS2: 66 million polygons, GameCube: the equivalent of only 12 million.'
    38AnonymousOct 8, 2026 10:07
    Re: #14
    For reference, they should've said 'by Sony's own metric, we can push 90 million too.' That part was a clear marketing failure.
    15AnonymousOct 8, 2026 09:26
    The PS6 is expected to only improve rasterization performance by about 2-3x over the PS5, so it's no wonder people say it won't look any different.
    73AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:59
    Re: #15
    The PS6 is a machine that uses AI to render cleverly.
    17AnonymousOct 8, 2026 09:30
    Back in the Wii U days, people were saying pushing PS/Xbox performance any further was pointless.
    22AnonymousOct 8, 2026 09:35
    Re: #17
    They scaled the numbers way down going from PS4 to PS5, so that take was right. At the very least, the cost-effectiveness is low.
    76AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:04
    Re: #17
    So does that mean the Wii U was pointless too?
    24AnonymousOct 8, 2026 09:38
    GameCube's Rogue Squadron II was insane — it even outclassed the original Xbox in graphics and polygon count back then.
    27AnonymousOct 8, 2026 09:49
    Re: #24
    That's just nostalgia goggles talking.
    28AnonymousOct 8, 2026 09:49
    Wilds broke PCs and PS5s left and right, so it's kind of wild that a Switch 2 version is even happening.
    81AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:15
    Re: #28
    Even if it breaks after release, Capcom will probably just do what they did with the PC/PS version and say 'not our problem.'
    32AnonymousOct 8, 2026 09:55
    Re: #22
    Only Xbox scaled their numbers down drastically. The PS5 is doing great — on track to break 100 million units sold this fiscal year.
    72AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:51
    Re: #32
    If you make it more powerful than the PS4, lowering the numbers from the PS4 defeats the whole point.
    34AnonymousOct 8, 2026 09:58
    Thinking about it, isn't it kind of unfair that the Switch 2 is the same generation as the PS5? Something like Wilds should only be achievable at PS5-level quality — why can I play it on a Nintendo handheld?
    42AnonymousOct 8, 2026 10:10
    Re: #34
    It's the magic power of AI!
    40AnonymousOct 8, 2026 10:09
    The GameCube really was far more powerful than the PS2. How did we end up here…
    43AnonymousOct 8, 2026 10:10
    Re: #40
    Even 'far more powerful' only amounted to about 1.5x, so of course differentiating was hard.
    49AnonymousOct 8, 2026 10:23
    Re: #40
    Launching nearly two years later and still only being 'far more powerful' isn't much to brag about. And even with that edge, it couldn't beat the PS2's fill rate, so in titles that leaned heavily on effects and raw polygon counts, it sometimes actually ran at a lower frame rate than the PS2.
    50AnonymousOct 8, 2026 10:26
    Should we talk about how Tales of Symphonia ran at 60fps on GameCube but got downgraded to 30fps on PS5?
    63AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:16
    Re: #50
    Wasn't Symphonia's downgrade because the PS2 lacked multi-texturing, so it had to burn extra polygons just to fake shadows?
    65AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:18
    Re: #50
    Should we talk about how, in a later interview, they said another six months would've let them hit 60fps there too, but they prioritized the release deadline instead?
    51AnonymousOct 8, 2026 10:26
    Re: #49
    > in titles that leaned heavily on effects and raw polygon counts, it sometimes actually ran at a lower frame rate than the PS2

    Did that really happen? Can you name a specific title?
    64AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:17
    Re: #51
    Finding Nemo is a famous one, right? It got roasted constantly on the hardware-wars board back then too.
    71AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:26
    Honestly, this still holds up today. It's just that semiconductor progress has slowed down, so you can't squeeze a 100x GPU jump out of a few years anymore. Flip it around, though — since the Switch 2 and PS5 only differ by a few times in performance, you can't really differentiate on graphics, which actually works in the Switch 2's favor since it's portable and has Nintendo's own lineup.

    Background and Key Points of This Discussion

    Iwata’s remark comes from an interview given during GameCube development (ascii.jp), reflecting Nintendo’s design philosophy of “breaking away from numbers-ism and spec-ism.” At the time, the GameCube actually outspecced the PS2, but because the method used to calculate polygon counts differed, it looked worse in official materials — commenters in the thread point out this was a marketing failure. Today’s Switch 2 and PS5 are different hardware generations, yet the performance gap between them is only a few times over, a fact rooted in the broader slowdown of semiconductor progress. Some in the thread argued that a gap this small can be closed with software-side tricks like AI-assisted rendering, raising the question of whether Iwata’s “feel over specs” argument still holds up today. That said, issues the thread didn’t touch on remain, such as how accurate AI rendering really is and its effect on power consumption.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry (Geha)) thread “Nintendo’s Iwata: ‘To make software where you can perceive it as clearly different, you need 10x the CPU and 100x the GPU processing speed’.”

  • Rate Hikes Push 60% of Landlords to Raise Rent — 5ch: “It’ll Keep Climbing Till It Can’t”

    Following a survey by Rakumachi showing that 77.8% of landlords who finance their properties with loans have felt interest rates rising over the past year, 5ch erupted into debate over where rent hikes are headed. Alongside talk of rising repair costs and insurance premiums, the discussion escalated into a legal argument: can tenants refuse a rent-increase notice justified by “rising interest rates”? What exactly counts as “just cause” under the Act on Land and Building Leases? Opinions split along predictable lines — does a rise in the surrounding market rate count as grounds, or does a landlord’s own cash-flow trouble never qualify as a reason to begin with?

    78% of Real-Estate Investors Using Loans Say “Interest Rates Rose Over the Past Year”

    <Key Points of This Release>

    ・77.8% of people using loans for real estate investment said “interest rates rose over the past year.” Among those whose repayments increased, the median monthly increase was 15,000 yen.

    Source: mainichi.jp / Original article here

    4AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:07
    Repair costs just keep going up too.
    87AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:25
    Re: #4
    Shared-area repair costs are rising too, plus you've got in-unit breakdowns and renovations to deal with.
    175AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:48
    Re: #4
    Insurance is going up too.
    8AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:08
    Why would the person renting have to shoulder that? Are you an idiot?
    275AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:13
    Re: #8
    If you don't like it, move out lol
    18AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:11
    If you don't mind your relationship with the landlord going sour, you can refuse the rent increase.
    181AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:49
    Re: #18
    Same goes for the landlord's side.

    If they don't mind the relationship with the tenant going sour, they can propose a rent hike.
    But under a standard (indefinite-term) lease, the landlord is at a massive legal disadvantage anyway.

    If they still want to push for a hike knowing that, be my guest.
    19AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:11
    Rate hikes actually push rents down. Raising rent out of desperation is pointless if it just means fewer tenants.
    24AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:12
    Re: #19
    Nah, rent will keep climbing till it can't climb anymore lol
    39AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:17
    Re: #19
    Good properties can just push it onto tenants — there's always someone else willing to take it.
    40AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:17
    If you're a genuinely wealthy landowner-landlord, none of this matters. But for the landlords running it as a leveraged business, this really hurts. Tough luck for any tenant who ends up with one of those.
    72AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:24
    Re: #40
    Well, I guess you could just use that oft-cited perk of renting and move out. But the real question is whether "interest payments are tough" actually counts as valid grounds for a rent hike or not.
    98AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:27
    Re: #40
    That's on the landlord for jumping on a variable-rate loan just because it was cheap at the time, instead of locking in a fixed rate.
    There's no reason the tenant should have to go along with the landlord's bad call.

    If a rent hike is proposed, the tenant should calmly demand justification, and when "rising interest rates" gets cited, just flatly refuse on the grounds above.

    It's a legitimate right granted to tenants under the Act on Land and Building Leases, so there's zero obligation to do the landlord any favors.
    70AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:23
    A new elderly tenant of mine did nothing but complain and call me every single day, so I sold the property. I'd planned to just repaint the exterior like normal for the next 20 years, never raise the rent, and be happy profiting off land appreciation alone — I even took in elderly tenants basically as charity. Then recently I ran into a tenant I know at the supermarket, and they told me the new landlord raised their rent by 6,000 yen. I told them the whole story — that I gave up the property because of that complainer old man.
    85AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:25
    Re: #70
    That kind of goodwill only worked before social media took off. In an era where seemingly all of Japan has turned into complainers, showing that kind of kindness just gets you taken advantage of until you burn out.
    106AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:30
    Re: #70
    You're the conscience of Japan.
    88AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:26
    Re: #72
    Landlords can cite any reason they want for a rent hike, that part's free.
    But even if costs went up, it's pointless unless someone actually agrees to live there.

    Just look at the rice market — farmers and distributors can scream about cost-push all they want, but once demand disappears, prices either collapse mercilessly or the stuff just doesn't sell, period.
    118AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:33
    Re: #88
    Mid-lease changes can't even happen in the first place unless the stated reason has legitimate grounds.
    198AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:53
    Re: #88
    Rent is set by the market, so if it's rising because of interest rates, it'll rise roughly in lockstep everywhere — doesn't matter where you flee to, it's the same. In that sense, renters don't really have a choice.
    89AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:26
    If every landlord raises rent at once, would renters actually move somewhere cheaper? It's not like "rent's too high, guess I'll buy a condo" is a realistic option.
    94AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:27
    Re: #89
    People gradually drain out of the pricier places, then landlords start cutting rent to fill the vacancies, and the cycle repeats.
    105AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:30
    Re: #89
    Because of security deposits (shikikin) and key money (reikin), tenants can't easily just leave even over a modest rent hike.
    123AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:34
    Re: #89
    Renters tend to be the nimble, quick-to-move type to begin with, so yeah, that'll happen. The real problem is poor elderly tenants — like the one mentioned earlier in this thread. Rent to them out of the kindness of your heart, and evicting them later becomes way more than just "a bit of a hassle."
    110AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:31
    Even if the landlord sends you a rent-increase notice, you can just ignore it and keep paying the same rent as before, and you won't get evicted. That's how strong tenant protections are under Japanese law.
    125AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:34
    Re: #110
    With a fixed-term lease, the landlord can simply refuse to renew.
    If your payments fall short of what's billed, hiding behind the Act on Land and Building Leases won't help.
    Your rights just evaporate once the contract term ends.
    168AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:46
    Re: #139
    You can refuse a unilateral rent hike, you know. Make them produce documentation justifying the increase, push back, negotiate it down — that sort of thing. It'll end up in court eventually, but only if you're prepared to go that far.
    182AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:49
    Re: #168
    With "rising interest rates, rising upkeep costs" as the stated grounds, that's probably legitimate enough that the landlord would win.
    187AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:50
    Re: #182
    Rising interest rates isn't actually valid grounds, though… "Valid grounds" means things like the rent being markedly below the surrounding market rate.
    191AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:51
    Re: #187
    The surrounding market rate is exactly what's rising though lol
    202AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:54
    Re: #187
    Cost increases from inflation and rising interest rates are valid grounds.
    242AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:02
    Are fewer people building houses these days? My neighbors are a doctor couple paying 250,000 yen a month in rent. Apparently they're moving again, but if you're paying that much rent, wouldn't it make more sense to just build a house?
    243AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:03
    Re: #242
    Can't be helped if they're a salaried hospital doctor.
    252AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:07
    Re: #242
    Fine if you're a doctor, but apparently Daiwa House's "Daiwa Man" condos won't take you below 50 million yen for the building alone — and that's new construction.
    245AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:04
    After spending all that time and money to get a ruling, you'll probably just end up back at the original contract rent lol

    If it were easy to win, articles about struggling landlords wouldn't exist in the first place.
    267AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:11
    Re: #245
    It's just that hardly anyone did this before, because hiring a lawyer for every case meant you couldn't recoup the cost.
    Actually, doing it yourself isn't even that complicated a procedure — once you get the hang of it, you can do it over and over…
    Feel free to gloat right now based on the old deflation-era mindset, but we're in an inflationary era now, so the number of landlords pursuing mediation or lawsuits is only going to increase.

    Background and Key Points of This Debate

    Even when a landlord tries to unilaterally raise the rent, tenants are protected under the Act on Land and Building Leases, and a rent hike isn’t automatically approved at every lease renewal. The core legal point in the thread was that courts weigh objective benchmarks — comparisons with surrounding market rates, changes in fixed-asset tax, and the like — as “just cause” for a rent increase, while a landlord’s own rising interest burden does not, by itself, count as direct grounds. On the other hand, if inflation has pushed up the surrounding market rate itself, there’s room for a hike to ultimately be approved — and that’s exactly where opinions in the thread diverged. It’s also easy to overlook that with a fixed-term lease, the landlord can refuse to renew at the end of the term, which weakens the tenant’s negotiating position compared to a standard (indefinite-term) lease. Choosing a variable-rate loan was the landlord’s own business decision, and whether that risk can be passed on to the tenant is ultimately decided by contract and law — not sentiment.

    ※This article is compiled as excerpts and a summary from the 5ch (News Express+) thread “Landlords Squeezed by Rising Interest Rates — Over 60% Move to Raise Rent, Rakumachi Survey Finds.”

  • Former PlayStation Exec Questions PS5 Disc Discontinuation: ‘What Are Players Actually Buying?’

    Sony Interactive Entertainment has announced it will end disc production for new PlayStation console games as of January 2028. In response, former PlayStation Worldwide Studios chairman Shawn Layden raised the question on a podcast: “If you truly don’t own it, what are players even buying?” On 5ch’s gaming hardware board, posters clashed between frustration that digital copies are effectively just licenses—carrying the risk that ownership could simply vanish—and voices accepting it as an inevitable sign of the times. Some suggested Nintendo’s game-key-card system as an alternative, while others cited past examples like the Vita’s discontinuation.

    Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (SIE) recently announced that it will end disc production for new PlayStation console games as of January 2028. The announcement has sparked backlash from many players over concerns about game preservation and ownership. Amid this, former PlayStation Worldwide Studios chairman Shawn Layden has openly questioned whether this decision shows disregard for the platform’s most loyal core gamers.

    Layden recently appeared on the podcast “The Expansion Pass,” where he acknowledged that digital downloads have genuinely made buying and playing games more convenient.

    “Players really do… yeah, we love downloads. Everyone says, ‘Downloading is more convenient than going to the store to buy a game!’ But that’s not quite right. Downloading is only really more convenient because it’s easier than walking across the living room and putting a disc into the console.”

    Source: toy-people.com / Original article here

    2AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:16
    Shawn Layden sure started complaining a lot after he left, huh
    13AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:34
    Re: #2
    It's like a politician who left office becoming a TV pundit and just saying whatever they want.
    85AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:47
    Re: #2
    Maybe he just couldn't say it publicly before?

    Even if he was thinking "PlayStation's gone crazy! I don't want to do this! Is SONY's upper management even okay?" — his position meant he couldn't say that outside the company.
    8AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:29
    The fact that Sony won't even officially let you transfer ownership from a physical disc to a digital copy already shows how dumb it is for people to start saying "you don't really need physical anyway."
    9AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:30
    Re: #8
    Don't get why you'd complain when it still works lol
    12AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:34
    Re: #9
    Once things move to the PS6 and there's no disc drive, PS5 physical-disc owners will lose even their backward-compatibility rights once the hardware changes.

    You should actually look at reality before firing off a reply on autopilot, or all you're conveying is how cringe you sound.
    21AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:46
    Re: #12
    Wii U discs don't even work on the Switch though
    24AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:51
    >The article points out that given the possibility digital content could disappear due to licensing or platform policy changes, it's only natural for players to start imagining the worst-case scenario.

    This, exactly.
    If you had a physical copy, you'd never have to worry about that.
    It's all PlayStation's fault for killing discs.
    30AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:01
    Re: #24
    Even with a physical copy, if the servers shut down you can't apply patches anyway
    25AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:54
    Thinking about it that way, Nintendo is actually scarier since they end online services unusually fast.
    Shutting down the 3DS and Wii that quickly was way too soon.
    27AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:56
    Re: #25
    Nintendo still puts out a full lineup of its own branded software, so owner satisfaction is on a completely different level.
    The really scary one is Sony — with the Vita, first-party support dried up in barely two years and they acted like the hardware never existed.
    32AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:03
    Re: #25
    Do you know how many years SIE's first-party mobile games lasted before getting shut down?
    36AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:05
    Re: #25
    You can still re-download both of those even now
    28AnonymousOct 8, 2026 11:56
    Discs aren't going to stick around.
    They don't fit the times anymore and they add unnecessary cost.
    There's no way they're still including a BD drive at this point.
    52AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:17
    Re: #28
    I wish they'd switch to a key-card system so it works on both handheld and home consoles.
    46AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:15
    You won't even be able to buy a PS3 next year either — guess that makes it trash too?
    58AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:24
    Re: #46
    Impressive that it lasted 21 years
    54AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:21
    Well, friend, that's because SIE went and earned itself some anger
    57AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:22
    Re: #54
    So if you say something clever you get handed a disc?
    55AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:21
    If it weren't for the storage issue, key cards would be the perfect solution.

    Oh
    So Nintendo's the one trying to standardize the whole key-card concept too, huh.
    Figures — Nintendo really is the ruler of the gaming industry.
    60AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:25
    Re: #55
    For anyone who doesn't resell their games, it's nothing but downsides
    63AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:29
    Normal person: physical and digital both have pros and cons, right?
    Weird person: physical is evil! It should be abolished!

    There you go.
    66AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:31
    Re: #63
    Nobody's actually saying the latter — they're just saying physical going away is simply the way the times are moving
    65AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:31
    Sony only ever said they're ending discs, yet people are dumb enough to start treating physical media itself as the enemy lol
    69AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:33
    Re: #65
    It's a religion after all.
    Whatever Lord Sony does must be correct, right?
    75AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:37
    Why do codes have expiration dates anyway?
    That doesn't benefit anybody
    81AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:43
    Re: #75
    Because it comes bundled with in-game currency.
    When you sell something like that for real money, the maker is obligated to hold funds in reserve to prevent fraud.
    But if you set an expiration of around six months, buyers knowingly accept it'll stop working soon, so no reserve is needed.
    Knowledge I picked up from the "Tomato" incident with the BanG Dream DS game (a prepaid in-game currency controversy).
    76AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:38
    Re: #69
    Sony's literally saying they'll keep working to maintain their relationship with retailers, yet here you are attacking physical media — you can't even understand what your master is saying
    78AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:41
    Re: #76
    That's a classic cult thing too — regardless of what the guru actually intends, the followers just keep radicalizing and spiraling out of control on their own
    82AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:43
    Digital is the mainstream now! Physical only appeals to a niche!
    ↓
    Capcom's new release: physical and digital sales split about 50/50


    There you go.
    87AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:47
    Re: #82
    Applying the "90% digital" stat — which lumps new and old releases together — directly to a brand-new title is just dumb.
    If launch momentum is that sluggish, word of mouth drops too, which affects the online population as well.
    89AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:50
    No physical manufacturing, no physical product, no retail distribution cut, no ownership either.

    So why are they trying to sell this for the same price?

    That's exactly the point people should be pushing back on 😡
    91AnonymousOct 8, 2026 12:51
    Re: #89
    That's really just a story about physical having a smaller profit margin though
    99AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:02
    Re: #89
    If they want to steer people toward the more profitable digital option, they need to put in the effort — things like a returns policy, or a lending system.

    Speaking of which, Nintendo does seem to be showing signs of exploring a lending system.
    Figures, from the ruler of the gaming industry.
    Oh right, Microsoft was trying something like that too.

    There was one more company doing that too, wasn't there — wonder what happened to them.
    101AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:05
    It's a rental, that's why expiration terms come up at all lol
    102AnonymousOct 8, 2026 13:06
    Re: #101
    That's exactly why there's no expiration

    Background and Key Points of This Topic

    What SIE announced was the “end of disc production for new games,” not the abolition of packaged (physical) versions themselves — a distinction that was repeatedly conflated throughout the thread. The core of former PlayStation executive Shawn Layden’s point is that digital versions aren’t truly a “purchase” but effectively a license to use, meaning consumers bear the risk of losing access if a service shuts down or licensing policy changes. In the thread, Nintendo’s game-key-card system (a card that carries only the license data) came up as a possible alternative, though posters also pointed out the separate challenge of storage capacity limits. Comments conflating “ending discs” with “abolishing physical packaging entirely” muddled the discussion, and in some cases the clash between digital and physical camps escalated into personal attacks.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry (Gaming)) thread “Former PS Exec Questions PS5 Disc Discontinuation: “If You Truly Can’t Own It, What Are Players Even Buying?”“.

  • 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”.”