New Bunshun report says Education Minister Yohei Matsumoto has been cheating on his wife with a married woman. The article thumbnail picture puts him next to Sanae Takaichi. She's not the woman in questtion, in case you are wondering... bunshun.jp/articles/-/8...
The Osaka city government was conducting sewage work in the area where the accident occurred. The pipe had been filled with water, but that was removed on March 10, making the pipe lighter and might have contributed to it floating above the road.
There is a water-related theory. www.asahi.com/ajw/articles...
At around the 1:05 mark in this Fuji TV report, you can see the pipe being eased back into the ground. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Li8x...
A metal cylinder sticking 10m out of the ground, in the middle of a road in Osaka.
This large metal cylinder in Osaka is not connected to the road overhead. It's new sewerage, and the top is supposed to be at road level. For reasons no-one can yet explain, the pipe rose 10m overnight. www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/202...
A new local restaurant I always meant to try has closed down. Sign on the window thanks patrons for the last ten years, which sounded like they opened elsewhere first, and relocated here recently. Checking further, they've only ever been here, and my sense of time needs urgent recalibration.
Five photos showing the reconstruction process from a handful of bones (mainly skull, rear legs, the base of the spine, and some ribs). These were replicated, and other bones were created, to form a basic skeleton for clay modelling.
The full reconstruction
The Makimuku ruins in Nara are thought by some to be the site of Yamatai, the Yayoi era seat of power of Queen Himiko. Bones of a dog found there have been reconstructed, and are on display as a possible candidate for Himiko's pet. www.sankei.com/article/2026...
When our daughter was that age, I often wanted to buy her some cute dinosaur t-shirts. My wife liked them too but advised against them, as "they are for boys". She's currently sporting a subtle "I told you so" face.
Local mum's daughter (5) wears her brothers' hand-me-down vests. Stripped to underwear for a kindergarten healthcheck today, she was the only girl with a dinosaur print instead of flowers and unicorns. Tears have forced her mum on an emergency run for girly wear.
English report on how rugby player Amanaki Lotoahea, who has represented Japan, was arrested after allegedly assaulting bar staff in Shibuya. www.rugbyjp.com/post/green-r...
Tokyo has brightened up now. Meanwhile, the news is reporting Utsunomiya got 10cm of snow. The first time in 21 years to see that level of snowfall in March. www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DMu...
Because there should be records.
Koenji. March 10th. A Tuesday.
At one point queues at the gift shop were a thousand people strong. The purses and wallets have were actually on sale for a long time, gathering no particular attention. Once featured on a few TV shows, however, supply could not keep up with demand.
Imperial palace coin purses and wallets
Screenshot showing the same items going for 6,000 to 29,000 yen.
Discussion are underway to restart sales of Imperial Palace purses and wallets, which saw a boom in demand last year. Priced from 1,000-5,000 yen, they started going for multiples on flea market sites. mainichi.jp/english/arti...
Took me a long time to find out "Hanging on the Telephone" was a cover version.
Country Joe McDonald on stage
Joe McDonald, the sailor.
Country Joe McDonald has died at 84. Before his music career, McDonald was in the navy, and spent three years posted in Japan. He wanted to marry a girl called Toshie but the Navy refused permission, which was standard practice at the time. www.countryjoe.com/cabral.htm#2
A Burger King sign that says “BIG MOUTH WHITE”
Burger King in Kyoto put a sign up about ya mans
Three out of four winners of the Nikkei Shin'ichi Hoshi Prize for science fiction used AI. www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZ...
Painted mask with Elon Musk in katakana on the forehead.
Pupils at a local junior high school painted some masks for an art event. One kid wrote イーロン マスク (Elon Mask/Musk) on his.
Space constraints mean it may be difficult for some facilities to simply add toilets. Also, most toilets are still free to use, so increasing toilets brings extra costs, with no offsetting gain in revenue.
A contributing factor is that modern toilets are warm, generally clean, and use western, sitting models. A motorway service station survey found the average time spent in a toilet rose 20% from 2007 to 2021. On average, men spent more than twice the time as women.
Graphic shows how many women's toilets there are for one men's toilet at different venues Stations - 0.63 Airports - 0.66 Bus terminals - 0.71 Passenger ship terminals - 0.77 Galleries & museums - 1.02 Commercial complexes - 1.19
The government will issued guidelines to encourage facility operators to reduce queues at women's toilets. A number still have fewer women's than men's toilets, a legacy of when the working population leaned more heavily male. www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/202...
But Bourbon Street will allow users who bring their own streaming devices, such as a Fire TV Stick, to plug them into a TV at the bar, log in using their personal accounts and watch the games. Karaoke venues are offering similar services. Karaoke Pasela chain, for one, is taking reservations for those who want to watch the WBC games in a small group at its closed karaoke rooms, provided they log into their own Netflix accounts.
One workaround some bars are considering, according to the Japan Times. www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/03...
World Baseball Classic Viewing The Main Bar, from 7pm, March 6, 2026 No WBC tickets? No problem, as the FCCJ will host a World Baseball Classic viewing party on Friday, March 6, when Samurai Japan and Shohei Ohtani will play Chinese Taipei from 19:00. Get a front row seat in the Main Bar to root on the home team, as they play a regional rival. We'll see you there! FCCJ Management ワールド・ベースボール・クラシック パブリックビューイング 2026年3月6日金曜日午後7時より メイン・バーにて WBCのチケットがない？大丈夫です。FCCJでは3月6日（金）19:00より、ワールド・ベースボール・クラッシック 1次ラウンド、大谷翔平選手率いる侍ジャパンと台湾との試合のパブリックビューイングを開催いたします。 メイン・バーの最前列で、各国のライバルと戦うホームチームである日本を応援しましょう。 お待ちしております。 FCCJマネージメント
The Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan is advertising a viewing party. While they aren't charging an entrance fee, this probably doesn't fall under the "personal use" part of Netflix terms & conditions. www.mlb.com/world-baseba...
Unfortnately, no. Information seems a bit sporadic. Two Tokyo fan zones are in Miyashita Park, and Skytree Town. www.mlb.com/world-baseba...
It does seem as if some izakaya and bars will decide not to take the risk of unsanctioned broadcasts. Netflix has made some limited arrangements for public viewing at 150 spots round the country, including Aeon shopping malls.
Showing live terrestrial broadcasts is not illegal under the Copyright Act. However, the Netflix broadcasts of the WBC are covered by Netflix contract Terms & Conditions, which only allow personal, non-commercial use.
Netflix has exclusive rights to the World Baseball Classic, which is new legal territory for izakaya and bars which show live sports broadcasts. www.bengo4.com/c_18/n_20074/
Dydo has a network of 270,000 vending machines nationwide, and has just recorded its largest ever loss. The firm will remove 20,000 loss-making machines, and look for ways to control costs. www.yomiuri.co.jp/economy/2026...
Don't know of any formal pushback but there are plenty of critics. One example on Bluesky bsky.app/profile/mall...
