Here's an English version of the news. mainichi.jp/english/arti...

The government estimate for a magnitude 8-9 Nankai Trough earthquake within the next 30 years, has been revised from an 80% chance, to a 60-90% chance or more (６０～９０％程度以上). Hope that helps. www.yomiuri.co.jp/science/2025...

Subway in Omotesando closes this weekend. The first Japanese Subway opened in Akasaka Mitsuke in 1992, with Omotesando following later that year, so it's one of the oldest locations. www.shibukei.com/headline/194...

@gaijinmommy.bsky.social That big Daiso next to Kinshicho Station is "renewal open" today. www.ryutsuu.biz/report/r0926...

Loungewear brand Gelato Pique has a Myaku-Myaku collaboration. You can get Osaka Expo mascot merch in pastel colours. travel.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/20...

Upset it has the image of an expensive town, where ramen costs 3,000 yen, Niseko totted up the retail price of ingredients to make curry rice. The calculated a cost of 360 yen a plate, which is 78 yen less than the national average. www.yomiuri.co.jp/economy/2025...

This weekend sees the Shibuya French Festival, sponsored by the French ministry of Agriculture and Food. www.shibufre.info

A new Labubu x Myaku-Myaku figure will go on sale at the Osaka Expo Daimaru store. You have to apply through a lottery on the Line app. dmdepart.jp/news/167.html

The number collected reached 2,600 at the end of July but has probably stalled at less than 20% of the total nationwide. As they were crane game prizes, there are no records of who took them home. www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/202...

AI confidently asserts the late Claudia Cardinale never visited Japan. The same search terms serve up a photograph of her standing in Hibiya in 1964, while on a press tour for "The Pink Panther".

Looks like social media going to be filled with takes on this for the next few days. www.instagram.com/keltonlives/...

You may have heard of old-fashioned donuts but did you know Kyushu snack firm Shinko has a range of fashion donuts?

Developers in Fukuoka sparked a backlash after saying 290 apartments in 2 blocks would be for "40% Chinese, 40% Taiwanese/HK and 20% Japanese). The prefecture went out of its way to say no planning permission will be granted. www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/202...

The presence of Taiwanese chip maker TSMC in Kyushu has created a shortage of skilled labour. Kumamoto University will set up a semiconductor faculty to educate around 60 students a year. www.yomiuri.co.jp/economy/2025...

No idea whether this is a good book or not but the subtitle makes me wince.

LDP candidates plan to address "problems caused by the constant increase in tourists". Meanwhile, economic commentator Tomio Shida says foreigners are the main factor pushing rice prices higher. Over to you, LDP candidates. jbpress.ismedia.jp/articles/-/9...

If you are looking forward to Osaka Expo souvenirs disappearing from the shelves, unfortunately Yokohama Expo 2027 merchandise is starting to appear. This is the Horticultural Expo edition.

Yanome Dam in Tochigi was the venue for the first national championship featuring stand-up paddleboarding with dogs. www.shimotsuke.co.jp/articles/-/1...

Brazil's Caio Bonfim took gold in the 20km walk at the World Athletics Championships but lost his wedding ring along the route in Tokyo. Yomiurii says it was picked up, and news reports led the finder to contact the Brazilian team to arrange a return. www.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/2...

They really went the extra mile with jackets and coloured t-shirts at the press conference. mainichi.jp/english/arti...

If you haven't been bothered much by mosquitoes this summer, experts say the extreme heat has kept them at bay. The bad news is that cooler temperatures will likely see them peak in activity in October. www.sankei.com/article/2025...

Veteran music critic, 89 year old Reiko Yukawa, brought down the wrath of BABYMETAL fans when she compared the band set-up to 水商売 (mizu shobai) activities. She has countered critics by saying the term means something different to them. than to her generation. smart-flash.jp/entame/366974/

Mainichi report on the Governor of Miyagi backtracking on a commitment to more burial sites (i.e. for foreigners, owing to religious requirements) in the prefecture. There is often local resistance to such plans. mainichi.jp/english/arti...

生保レディー ("life insurance lady") is the nickname given to people in life insurance sales, since they are almost all women. The Life Insurance Association is now asking for alternatives, to reflect the fact more men now do the job. www.yomiuri.co.jp/economy/2025...

JR East, JR Tokai, JR West, and JR Kyushu run separate online ticketing. They have now announced you'll soon be able to follow a booking across different services with one log-in. By default, this will include routes run by JR Hokkaido, and JR Shikoku. www.yomiuri.co.jp/economy/2025...

Agriculture Minister releases agricultural land purchases by foreigners, and entities linked to foreigners. 2024 data also breaks down by nationality. Entities are predominantly Chinese and Korean, with New Zealand making a small appearance. www.agrinews.co.jp/news/index/3...

Japan Medical Association says 40% of clinics (一般診療所) are operating in the red owing to rising costs. They are calling for an increase in medical fees and subsidies. mainichi.jp/articles/202...

Kanro Mt. Fuji gums on sale now at my local 7-11, have an expiry date of January 2026, so they qualify as Christmas stocking fillers. Not just soda flavour, they are ニッポンのソーダ味. Might have to hoover a few up for cheap presents.

Toridoll Holdings made headlines today with a new compensation plan which will see 10 top store managers at udon chain Marugame Seimen earning an annual salary of 20 million yen by 2028. The current maximum is 5.2 million yen. www.yomiuri.co.jp/economy/2025...

Robert Redford has died at 89. variety.com/2025/film/ne...

Tokyo Disneyland was due to run a Halloween Parade press preview this morning. It was cancelled, because the temperature had already hit 28 degrees by 10:00am, triggering heatstroke precautions. hochi.news/articles/202...

This year's national giant pumpkin competition has been won by a 494.2kg specimen. www.sankei.com/article/2025...

A redditor who says they are a hotel worker in Japan, has written advice for tourists on using luggage forwarding services. One surprise is the statement that such services are mainly used by foreign visitors, because that never used to be the case. www.reddit.com/r/JapanTrave...

AI dubbing has a number of limitations but it especially struggles with dialogue. www.youtube.com/watch?v=lo9l...

As of March 2025, there are 96,126 public telephones in Japan, down from 735,812 in 2000. As such phones become indispensable during natural disasters, there are calls to set a minimum number. news.yahoo.co.jp/expert/artic...

While I was wondering whether to buy a Hardcore Chocolate "Black Rain" t-shirt, featuring Yūsaku Matsuda, everyone else was placing orders, and they are now sold out. core-choco.shop-pro.jp?pid=188460814

World Kanpai Beer will mainly be sold at the Expo but some stock has made it to shops nationwide, like this one near me. Suntory apparently surveyed people from 93 countries, which sounds a bit like a beer created by committee.

Local supermarket has packets of Tiny Toblerone, which are usually only stocked by the likes of Kaldi and Seijo Ishii. The same wholesaler handles those Biscoff biscuits below, so maybe this bog standard store is going to have more imported products.

The Japan Kushikatsu Association has a song. www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSgN...

Disappointed to learn "Suga, Ride or Die", a new Amazon series, is about a Dutch motorcycle gang leader. I assumed it would be about former PM Yoshihide Suga, and his backroom dealings in the LDP leadership campaign. Maybe he makes a guest appearance.

Future Train, a new diner inside a decommissioned ”Thunderbird” express, set on a stretch of abandoned elevated track near Umekoji-Kyotonishi Station in Kyoto. It's the brainchild of Sebastian Masuda, who came up with 6% DOKIDOKI in Harajuku. www.futuretrain.jp/en

I'm not the only one in this household buying gimmicky magazine 付録. My wife ordered this Snow Brand Hokkaido butter pouch. It is apparently 100 years since this butter first went on sale.

Gendai has a series of articles on the end of the 海鮮居酒屋 (seafood izakaya) boom. If you hadn't particularly noticed, about 15 years ago, a lot of shack-like joints, filled with fish tanks, started popping up everywhere. gendai.media/articles/-/1...

Meiko Kaji appeared at a programme of her films, marking 60 years since her debut. She said she played killers so often, she couldn't count the number of dead bodies. She added it seems to scare men away, which she is why she's still single. www.nikkansports.com/entertainmen...

Plans to build housing for 1,200 in Kutchan, Hokkaido has promoted local opposition, with a petition gathering over 4,000 names. Concerns are this will primarily be for foreign guest workers in Niseko. www.youtube.com/watch?v=m325...

Osaka Metro has announced plans to deal with such issues in future. They will try and post updates faster, and the number of liaison staff will be increased from one to two. That should do it. www.yomiuri.co.jp/expo2025/202...

"After it was confirmed that he had secured second place, Kojima told reporters that, 'It’s the will of the people, reflecting their recognition of my efforts.'" www.asahi.com/ajw/articles...

Found out today that Johnny Rockets is a US burger chain. I only knew the name through the store which used to be on the corner of Roppongi Crossing in the 90s. You can just about make it out at the end of this old clip, panning across from Almond and Cafe Miami. www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLWM...

These days, a lot of 号外 (newspaper extra editions) mainly appear online. Ishiba's resignation prompted firms to get them out in print.

The Kyodo news website just presented me with an advert selling supplements for back pain sufferers. It featured this gif, which was a little distracting.