Category: Japan

Just think how much crap must have been mixed into this school lunch meal if the principal was able to smell it enough to cancel lunch:

On June 13, a 20-year-old employee of a public school in Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture, was charged with mixing human feces into the lunch there. More specifically it was found in the okazu of the lunch, which loosely translates to “side dish” and refers to the non-rice component of a meal. It’s a pretty wide-ranging term that can refer to pretty much any food from fried chicken to a brick of tofu.

The incident occurred on Oct 8, 2021, when the principal of the school taste-tested the okazu of the day’s meal in advance in the staff room and noticed that it had a peculiar odor and discoloration. He immediately canceled the meal for everyone else and submitted the food to the public health center for examination. The results confirmed that it contained E. coli bacteria, and even though the okazu was made in a separate central facility, no other schools had any trace of fecal matter in their food.

Thanks to the keen senses and quick action of the principal, none of his students or staff members were exposed to the contaminated food and did not suffer any illness as a result. A subsequent investigation led back to the staff member, though it is unclear what her motive was or how she managed to mix the excrement into the food.

Japan Today

You can read more at the link.

I don’t think this guy will ever be stepping foot back into the village he once lived at after this:

A Japanese man reportedly gambled away millions of Japanese yen’s worth of COVID relief funds that he received by mistake.

Last month, the Japanese government inadvertently sent a COVID relief fund meant for 463 people worth 46.3 million yen ($360,890) to a 24-year-old man.

After receiving the amount, the man initially said he would cooperate with local authorities but eventually went into hiding. His sudden disappearance prompted the southern town of Abu in Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture to file a civil lawsuit while also considering criminal action. (….)

According to his lawyer, the man lost the entire amount via online casino sites on his mobile phone.

“I don’t currently have the money and I don’t have anything with property value at hand. It’s actually difficult to return it,” the lawyer quoted his client as saying.

Yahoo News

You can read more at the link.

Just when you thought things couldn’t get any weirder around sexuality they do:

A Japanese man who married a hologram singer back in 2018 now hopes to raise awareness for “fictosexuals” – someone who is sexually attracted to fictional characters. 

According to New York Times, Akihiko Kondo is married to fictional character Hatsune Miku – a computer-synthesised pop singer who has toured with Lady Gaga and starred in video games. Now, four years into his marriage with Miku, Mr Kondo has opened up about his relationship with his anime wife. The 38-year-old revealed that he found love, inspiration and solace in Miku. 

Mr Kondo was dating Hatsune Miku for a decade before they had an unofficial wedding ceremony in Tokyo. According to the 38-year-old, his relationship with the fictional character helped him get out of deep depression. Speaking to NYT, Mr Kondo said that his assortment of Miku dolls ate, slept and watched movies together, and sometimes even went on romantic getaways. 

NDTV

You can read more at the link.

Here is some interesting survey results out of Okinawa that increasingly shows younger people significantly support the U.S. military presence on the island than older generations:

Fifty years after Okinawa’s return to Japanese control, 70% of U.S. military facilities in Japan remain concentrated in the island prefecture. But local attitudes toward the presence of the bases appear to be changing.

The prefecture announced in March the results of a survey taken last year that showed the percentage of people under 40 who regarded the current situation as “unfair” was less than half that of those in their 60s or older.

This suggests a trend that the younger someone is, the more likely they are to accept the situation. People who grew up thinking it normal to see a base in their neighborhood are searching for ways to come to terms with the facilities.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

This was likely quite a site for the personnel at Yokota Airbase outside of Tokyo to see:

The world’s largest production transport airplane, painted in Ukrainian blue and yellow, touched down at the home of U.S. Forces Japan in western Tokyo early Wednesday.

The chartered AN-124 Antonov, also called a Ruslan, carried oversized equipment for a new heat and power plant at Yokota from Dallas, according to an email April 7 from 374th Airlift Wing spokesman 1st Lt. Danny Rangel. The statement was embargoed until the plane touched down.

The Antonov dwarfed Air Force C-130J Super Hercules cargo planes and CV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft as it taxied onto a ramp beside Yokota’s cargo terminal. It was the same spot where airmen on March 16 loaded a 38-ton shipment of Ukraine-bound nonlethal military supplies onto a C-17 Globemaster III.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

I have always felt countries in the Pacific need to arm themselves with a robust ballistic missile capability to counter the ballistic missile threats posed by China and North Korea:

A capability to strike enemy bases would let potential adversaries know they’d “pay a price” for attacking Japan, according to the country’s defense minister.

The Japanese government, in closed-door hearings the past few months, has heard from security experts about possibly acquiring the means to conduct counterstrikes, Kyodo News reported Monday.

The Defense Ministry plans discussions over acquiring this capability, Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said in another Kyodo report Tuesday.

Chinese Communist Party channels screened a video last summer that threatened a nuclear strike if Japan intervenes in war over Taiwan, Australia’s Sky News reported July 19.

North Korea test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile March 24 for the first time since November 2017. The missile splashed down in waters within Japan’s exclusive economic zone, prompting Vice Defense Minister Makoto Oniki to call it “a serious threat to our country’s security.”

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Adulthood may start at age 18 now in Japan, but they can’t smoke or drink until age 20:

Starting April 1, some teenagers in Japan may sign contracts and rent apartments on their own, but they still can’t legally smoke, drink or gamble, according to a change in Japanese law.

Japan is lowering the age of majority, or adulthood, to 18, to stay in step with other countries, including the United States, France and Turkey, according to a Ministry of Justice pamphlet explaining the move.

The change in Japan’s Civil Code lowers the age of adulthood from 20, with one exception: the age at which women may marry is raised to 18 from age 16. Men were already permitted to marry at 18.

The change means that 18- and 19-year-olds may sign contracts, such as those for cellphones, credit cards and apartments, without their parents’ consent. It also ends the legal responsibility of parents to keep custody of their children, care for and educate them, according to the ministry pamphlet. 

In Japan, students graduate from high school at age 17 or 18, and many start working.

The age at which young Japanese may drink, smoke and wager at government-controlled activities such as horse racing, remains 20.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

This would be an interesting legal opinion to get on whether the Japanese pacifist constitution would allow them to conduct an offensive operation to reclaim land that was originally Japanese which is the case of the Kuril Islands. I doubt the Japanese would ever do such a thing though considering Russia’s nuclear arsenal:

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Thursday during a House of Councillors committee session that the northern territories are being “occupied illegally by Russia.”

The government had avoided using such an expression to promote negotiations for a peace treaty that would address the northern territories issue, but has now changed its stance in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

According to the Foreign Ministry, this is the first time a Japanese prime minister in the Diet has referred to an “illegal occupation” regarding the northern territories since 2009, when then Prime Minister Taro Aso used the expression. At that time, Russia criticized its use, saying it was an attempt to challenge Russia’s sovereignty.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.