Yurika Tarumi from The Mainichi:
Summer, the season of mountain climbing, is here in Japan, but is that peak you plan to hike an active volcano? There are 111 such peaks across the country, quite a few of which are popular with hikers, and it wouldn't hurt to prepare by thinking about how to improve your chances of survival in the event of an eruption.
Ryoji Fukazawa from The Yomiuri Shimbun:
The Osaka Healthcare Pavilion at the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo is getting a lot of criticism over its English name — “Nest for Reborn” — which some native speakers say is grammatically incorrect.
However, many native English speakers have said the name is a little strange. In English, the preposition “for” should be followed by a noun, but “reborn” is an adjective, making it difficult for readers to understand the meaning of the pavilion’s name.
When officials of participating countries met in Nara City in June, “Nest for Reborn” was discussed in private conversations as “confusing English wording.” An official from Europe said the name is grammatically incorrect and not suitable for the event.
From The Mainichi:
The main mutation of the virus currently spreading is KP.3, a subvariant derived from the omicron strain. KP.3 has strong transmission capabilities and can evade immunity, so even those who have been vaccinated or previously infected need to be cautious.
Of the past 10 waves of COVID-19, four have peaked in August. The virus has been replaced by new variants approximately every six months, and experts believe that the trend of infection spread in summer and winter will continue for the foreseeable future.
From South China Morning Post:
Grilled eel, a popular summer delicacy in Japan, is behind a department store food poisoning incident that has left more than 140 people sick and one dead, the store’s president said.
Shinji Kaneko of Keikyu Department Store in Yokohama – about an hour from Tokyo – apologised after the customers, who last week bought lunchboxes containing eel, suffered vomiting and diarrhoea.
Timothy Hornyak from The Guardian:
“The chief reasons behind the record-low inventory is a decline in production last year due to high temperatures combined with water shortages, and the relative cheapness of rice prices compared to prices of other crops such as wheat,” farm ministry official Hiroshi Itakura told Agence France-Presse.
“The increase in demand by foreign tourists has also contributed,” Itakura said, and added that “we are not in a situation of facing shortages of rice”.
This is the headline that would stoke the most outrage in the country. Never mess with the rice.
Kotaro Ono from The Mainichi:
According to the complaint, in 2023, when the man was still a student, he visited hospitals in Kobe and Chiba Prefecture to look for a job, but his teacher and others pointed out that he was not allowed to do that during his on-the-job training period. He was told, "We have to punish you somehow" and "Will you waste a year?" suggesting that he would have to repeat the year. He was then demanded to apologize in front of all his classmates and submit a letter of reflection.
Preventing students from job hunting seems completely backwards.
From Kyodo:
E-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc. on Tuesday started online prescriptions and medicine delivery services in Japan in cooperation with some 2,500 drug stores across the country, the retailer's Japan unit said.
While people are now able to obtain medicine without visiting pharmacies through the Amazon Pharmacy service, it means small- and medium-sized pharmacies lagging behind in digitalization may face difficulties continuing their businesses.
From South China Morning Post:
The chairman and president of a major Japanese dietary supplement maker announced their resignation on Tuesday, as the company probes dozens of deaths potentially linked to products meant to lower cholesterol.
Kobayashi Pharmaceutical is at the centre of a health scare linked to its over-the-counter tablets containing red yeast rice, which is fermented with a mould culture.
Julian Ryall from South China Morning Post:
Okinawa prefecture has been the hardest hit by the new strain of the virus, with hospitals reporting an average of nearly 30 infections per days. The KP. 3 variant has accounted for more than 90 per cent of Covid-19 cases nationwide, the Fuji News Network reported, leading to renewed concerns about bed shortages at medical facilities.
This thing is far from over and, to dust off a phrase from 2020, turning into the new normal. Mask up.
From The Yomiuri Shimbun:
Fifteen students at a metropolitan high school in Tokyo’s Ota Ward complained of burning lips and other problems after eating a spicy brand of potato chips on Tuesday, according to the Metropolitan Police Department.
National breaking news. Never eat chips from a stranger.