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A 24-year-old man who had gone hiking with acquaintances at Kurakake Pass in Inabe City, Mie Prefecture, has been reported missing. According to reports, the man complained of fatigue and quit the hike just 15 minutes after starting, telling the group he would head back down alone — but he was never heard from again. The search has continued since the previous day and resumed on the morning of September 3rd. On the forum thread, many reacted with surprise (“You can get lost in a distance of just 15 minutes?”), while others pointed out that the scenery looks different on the way down than on the way up, making it easy to lose the trail, and some noted a discrepancy in the article between “3 people” and “4 people” regarding the number of companions.

Quit hiking just 15 minutes in… 24-year-old man, one of a group of 4, went missing after descending alone — search resumes at dawn

Thu, Sep 3, 6:31 AM JST

Tokai TV

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

300AnonymousSep 3, 2026 11:45

Doesn't look like the kind of place you'd get lost in at a glance

*This article was compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (News Speed+) thread “[Mie] Quit hiking just 15 minutes in… 24-year-old man, one of a group of 4, went missing after descending alone — search resumes at dawn, Kurakake Pass.”

Osaka City is moving to tighten its own regulations on “minpaku” (private home-stay vacation rentals), which have been plagued by a string of noise complaints and other trouble. The city plans to add a requirement for buildings with high sound insulation to the licensing conditions for minpaku operated under the Hotel Business Act, effectively barring wood-frame and steel-frame apartments from opening as a general rule. The city had previously promoted “special zone minpaku” under the National Strategic Special Zones Act, but that scheme has already stopped accepting new business applications. On 5ch, the thread saw a mix of basic questions about the details of the new rules and a divided debate over the responsibility of the politicians who pushed special zone minpaku, as well as the surge in foreign tourists.

Published 9/3 (Thu) 5:00 AM

The Asahi Shimbun

In response to a string of noise-related and other troubles involving “minpaku” vacation rentals, Osaka City is moving to introduce its own regulations, including adding a requirement for buildings with high sound insulation to the conditions for obtaining a business license. The city had previously promoted “special zone minpaku,” a scheme under the National Strategic Special Zones Act with relaxed licensing rules, in order to prepare for the rapid increase in inbound foreign tourists, but it has already stopped accepting new business applications for that program. This time, the city will tighten licensing regulations for minpaku operated under the Hotel Business Act instead.

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

81AnonymousSep 3, 2026 09:40

The "Minpaku New Law," which made it possible to operate minpaku even in residential-only zones where hotels and inns generally can't operate,

and the massive deregulation of special zone minpaku rules that let minpaku operate almost like full hotels —

both of those are thanks to the LDP and the Abe administration.

■ Minpaku New Law


■ The minimum stay requirement for special zone minpaku was deregulated down to 2 nights/3 days
https://minpakubusiness.com/kiseikanwasochi/

128AnonymousSep 3, 2026 10:14

Re: #123
So the ultimate responsibility lies with Abe, doesn't it? He was the head of government at the time and held the final decision-making power.

129AnonymousSep 3, 2026 10:15

Re: #128
The reason the numbers are so abnormally high only in Osaka is because Ishin pushed for it.

144AnonymousSep 3, 2026 10:20

Re: #129
With the Expo and the casino, Ishin's economic policy is all-in on inbound tourism.

146AnonymousSep 3, 2026 10:21

The turning point of Japan's decline


The economic scale of inbound tourism amounts to only a few trillion yen at most. Meanwhile, tens of millions of foreign tourists also generate social costs — dealing with noise, garbage, and even public defecation.

※This article is compiled as an excerpt and summary from the 5ch (Breaking News+) thread “Osaka City to Tighten Regulations on Opening “Minpaku” — Wood and Steel-Frame Apartments to Generally Be Barred“.

The yen surged in New York foreign exchange trading on the morning of the 2nd, briefly touching the upper-158 range against the dollar. The previous day it had fallen to the upper-160 range — its weakest level since the yen-buying, dollar-selling intervention at the end of July — making for an unusually volatile stretch. Behind the swings: wariness about further currency intervention and growing expectations that the Bank of Japan will accelerate its pace of rate hikes. Details of a meeting between BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda and US Treasury Secretary Bessent also fed into market sentiment. On 5ch, a thread on the topic sparked a back-and-forth over unrealized gains on Japan’s US Treasury holdings — “we’re making money” versus “it’s meaningless if you can’t sell it” — while opinions split over whether the yen is headed weaker or stronger from here.

[New York — Yoshikazu Imahori] The yen surged against the dollar in New York foreign exchange trading on the morning of the 2nd, briefly touching the upper-158 range. The previous day the yen had hit the upper-160 range, its weakest level since the yen-buying, dollar-selling intervention that began at the end of July.

Wariness over the chance of further intervention continues to simmer, keeping trading on edge.

Expectations of a faster BOJ rate-hike pace are also weighing on the market. According to details released by the US Treasury Department on the 1st, regarding BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda and Treasury Secretary Bessent’s 8…(continued in the paid edition, 458 characters remaining)

Source: nikkei.com / Original article here

*This article is compiled as an excerpt and summary of the 5ch (Breaking News Plus) thread “[Forex] Yen Surges, Briefly Hits Upper-158 Range — Wariness Over Intervention, Faster BOJ Rate Hikes.”

ABEMA TIMES reported that management at taxi company Tokyo MK subjected drivers to power harassment, including throwing chairs at them and shouting at them in English, prompting the company to hold a press conference. At the center of the controversy is a 62-year-old owner from the founding family who is also a shareholder in the company. The representative director’s sister, who appeared at the press conference, reportedly said, ‘If the owner comes in and causes another scene, even though he’s my own brother, I’ll have no choice but to call the police.’ Opinions on 5ch were split, with some arguing the drivers themselves were partly to blame for failing to keep up with English training for inbound tourists, and others saying that throwing objects as a form of guidance can never be justified.

Chair-Throwing and English-Language Verbal Abuse Harassment Report: Taxi Company Tokyo MK Holds Press Conference — “62-Year-Old Younger Brother in Major Row With Sister,” “If the Owner Comes in and Causes Another Scene, I’ll Have No Choice but to Call the Police, Even Though He’s My Brother”

Published 9/2 (Wed) 18:48

ABEMA TIMES

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

*This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (News Express+) thread “[MK] Chair-Throwing and English-Language Verbal Abuse Harassment Report: Taxi Company Tokyo MK Holds Press Conference — “62-Year-Old Younger Brother in Major Row With Sister”.”

Kazuhiko Yano (60), who became Vice-Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) on August 6, is reportedly the first Aoyama Gakuin University graduate to reach the top career-bureaucrat post at any central government ministry. Of the 2,021 people who passed this year’s National Public Employee General Exam (Japan’s elite fast-track civil service exam), the largest group — 291 — came from the University of Tokyo, but the number of Todai graduates aspiring to become bureaucrats is said to have declined compared to the past, with private-university graduates increasingly filling the gap. Reacting to an article about this trend, users on 5channel debated the reasons behind it. Many pointed to poor working conditions — low pay and grueling hours that include late-night call-ins — and the discussion split between those who saw the bureaucracy’s declining appeal as “a rational individual choice” and those who saw it as “a loss of sense of mission among the elite.”

Published 9/3 (Wed), 5:58 AM

Daily Shincho

This spring, 2,021 people passed the National Public Employee General Exam, the gateway to becoming a career-track bureaucrat. The largest group, naturally, came from the University of Tokyo (291 people), but the number of Todai graduates aspiring to become bureaucrats has declined compared to the past. Taking their place is a growing share of private-university graduates. Against this backdrop, this year’s ministry personnel reshuffle saw an Aoyama Gakuin University graduate rise to the top administrative post at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. That person is Kazuhiko Yano (60), who became the ministry’s Vice-Minister on August 6 — the first Aoyama Gakuin alum ever to become a Vice-Minister at a central government ministry. What kind of person is he?

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

※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5channel (Breaking News Plus) thread “‘New Education Ministry Vice Minister Is an Aoyama Gakuin Grad’ — Why Are Fewer Todai Grads Becoming Bureaucrats? Too ‘Black’ a Workplace to Appeal to Old Imperial University Grads.”