Nipponica

Residents of the Noto Peninsula in central Japan have been witnessing a curious surge in tourists, a mere five months after the region was severely damaged by a major earthquake.

While some see the boost in tourism as a positive -- a way for people to grasp the reality of the situation in the region amid growing concerns of a drop in visitors following the New Year's Day temblor -- others argue the trend of people traveling to the remote peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture is a form of "dark tourism."

There are people that are bringing supplies or other aid, as cited in the article. But the “dark tourism” is very real and a similar phenomenon to the proliferation of true crime stories and podcasts that flooded the market since the Serialification of the medium.

A memorial service, attended by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, was held at the Peace Memorial Park in Itoman, the site of the final stage of the battle, where the names of 181 people were added to the list of the war dead inscribed on monuments, bringing the total to 242,225.

Attended by PM Kishida who stated that he was working on easing the burden of the presence of US military for the Okinawa people.

For generations, “nommunication” – or drinking with colleagues after work – has been credited with fostering corporate spirit in Japanese firms, releasing office tensions and building close professional relationships.

Now, a new study suggests that despite the well-documented risks to health, smoking performs a similar function in the Japanese workplace.

Having lived in Japan before and after the 2020 indoor smoking ban, izakayas are much much MUCH more tolerable to be in for long periods of time. Smoking will go out of style as the older generations leave the workplace. So, let's say, by the year 2100?

As I am sitting in the ANA Lounge in Haneda, let’s look back over the past week. Nipponica started publishing last weekend so let’s debrief on how the first seven days has gone for my new baby.

Set in pandemic-era Tokyo, the film focuses on a young woman (Yukino Takahashi) whose boyfriend has absconded, leaving her broke and feeling broken. She drifts into sex work, taking the professional name Kotone.

She quickly transforms from a lost-looking waif wandering down Kabukicho streets to a wised-up sex worker who takes nothing and no one at face value. She works at a “cafe” where masked women sit staring at their smartphones while men on the other side of a large window make their selection, which a male employer conveys to the chosen woman. The newly formed couple then retires to a private room.

Currently, the Justice Ministry only allows online birth registration when submitted with a digitally signed birth certificate. Due to the additional complexity of processing documents with digital signatures, no municipalities have accepted digitally signed birth certificates, effectively requiring all birth registration papers to be submitted or mailed to local government offices.

Under the new system, local governments will be able to receive birth certificates in a digital form directly from medical institutions starting as early as fiscal 2026.

While I hope that this system will launch without issue, a rush of fake births registered to this system could be the solution to the population crisis.

The minor "NHK Party" allowed anyone who donated to the party to use their space on the campaign boards for the July 7 election. The group's leader Takashi Tachibana stated in a regular press conference on June 21, "We were able to raise a very big issue. I consider it a great success."

I do find the large poster boards that go up at every election to be a bit archaic, but in their defense, it does give equal footing to all candidates in a contest. Perhaps it could be done better using a different medium while still maintaining the uniform presentation for each contender.

Flight JL2154 bound for Osaka was carrying 47 people — including five crew members — when it was forced to return to Aomori because of the message in the cockpit that suggested the left engine had caught fire, the carrier said. No injuries were reported in the incident.

Safety record maintained. Great job JAL.

Gen. Eric Smith, commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, told Nikkei on Friday that a new unit established in November on the Japanese island of Okinawa is designed to "counter PRC [the People's Republic of China] aggression" in order to protect Japan and others in geopolitically sensitive areas.

"It's designed to provide long-range sensing and long-range fire, using mobile missile batteries that are capable of striking adversaries' ships in the strategic sea lines of communication," Smith said in an interview in Washington, adding the unit's purpose is "to protect the Japanese home islands, in order to protect the Philippines, in order to protect [South] Korea."

So, assuming this new unit (stated in the article to be comprised of 2,000 troops) is new deployments to Okinawa, the planned relocation of other US military stated for December will be quickly replaced in this new initiative. The circle of life continues.

It might have felt counterintuitive to shun the bright lights of the capital in favor of a quiet, provincial city better known for its love of gyōza potsticker dumplings. But four decades down the line, Otowa is now the founder-patriarch of one of the best-regarded French restaurants in the country.

Housed in a striking modern, free-standing property a short drive from the city center, Restaurant Otowa is sophisticated and elegant, yet calm and relaxed. Its light-filled dining room is large enough to hold 80 people for special functions, though it usually seats about 50.

Time for a field trip up north.

“Japanese users have long preferred platforms like Twitter that allow you to be anonymous over something like Facebook that makes it mandatory to use your real name,” Moreno says. “Virtual reality experiences like VRChat are an extension of anonymity. Some users even use voice changers. They are able to create a representation of themselves that they want to show to the world.”

A source close to the matter said the cyberattacks are believed to have been perpetrated by Chinese-affiliated hackers, adding a huge number of files may have been viewed, including information on external companies and organizations under nondisclosure agreements with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

Friendly reminder to change your passwords regularly.

Moves are underway to introduce a lodging tax on hotel and inn guests in Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost main island and home to many spots popular with international tourists, including renowned ski resorts and hot springs.

Unlike the temple tax that I wrote about the other day in Himeji, I think this is a more appropriate way to profit off of tourism, especially for the smaller towns like Kutchan and Niseko.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Friday that the government will compile fresh inflation relief steps around this fall, providing cash handouts to low-income households struggling to weather the cost-of-living crisis.

I know Japan isn’t known for being speedy when its bureaucracy is involved, but saying we will get around to helping you out in 3 to 4 months is just another nail in the coffin of the Kishida administration.

Japan's top court on Friday recognized a transgender woman as the "father" of her 3-year-old daughter conceived using her frozen sperm and born to her female partner after legally transitioning, in the first such ruling.

One step closer.

The Nippon Foundation and the University of Tokyo together found deposits of some 230 million tonnes of manganese nodules on the seabed around Minami-Torishima, located roughly 1,900 km southeast of Tokyo, in a survey conducted between April and June.

European countries are sending more air and sea forces to Asia for defense exercises with Japan, bringing them closer to what remains a distant security challenge: China.

A destroyer from Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force held an exercise with a Turkish navy corvette on Sunday. Earlier this month, a Dutch frigate participated in the Netherlands' first joint exercise with an MSDF destroyer before heading to the upcoming U.S.-led international Rim of the Pacific exercise off Hawaii.

Regardless if anyone will say it out loud, but Japan is clearly a hub for a greater Pacific alliance of western nations against China, Russia, and North Korea. The real question is if Abe's dream of expanding the SDF into a military will become reality within this framework.

Argentina has decided to withdraw its participation in the 2025 World Exposition in Osaka, the third country to do so among those who were set to build their own pavilions, Japan's minister in charge of the global event said Friday.

This is following Estonia and Mexico’s withdrawal to build pavilions previously. As a fan of World Expos, it is disappointing to see countries pull out, but things like this are huge investments with no guarantee of return. Still though, the soft power gains could have been worth it. Osaka EPCOT will still live on.

A Tokyo gubernatorial candidate has been warned by police over his election posters displaying an almost naked woman, the Mainichi Shimbun has learned from sources close to the investigation.

Stay classy.

It is the first time since June last year for Japan to be on the "monitoring" list. In its biannual report to Congress, the department also placed six other economies on the list -- China, Germany, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Vietnam.

Back on the naughty step.