Minoru Kanazawa from The Mainichi:
The annex, once busy as a public bathhouse, was closed in 1973 due to ageing and a decline in visitors caused by the closure of the Kishima Coal Mine and the spread of home baths. It was restored to its original state in 2003, housing bathrooms with colorful decorative majolica tiles and a bath said to have been built for Emperor Taisho (1879-1926).
Some beautiful architecture at this onsen in Saga.
Julian Ryall from South China Morning Post:
The local government in Japan’s Yamagata prefecture has just passed an ordinance calling on residents to laugh at least once every day to promote better physical and mental health, although the new law has gone down like a bad joke in some quarters.
Put forward by members of the normally strait-laced Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and passed on Friday, the ordinance encourages local residents to snigger, chortle or guffaw daily and asks business operators to “develop a workplace environment that is filled with laughter,” the Yomiuri newspaper reported.
Justin McCurry from The Guardian:
The former professional boxer, now aged 88 and battling physical and mental illness, will learn his fate in late September when the Shizuoka district court rules in his retrial, which started in March 2023. He has not appeared in court, having been declared mentally unfit to give credible evidence. His long incarceration has exposed what campaigners call inhumane treatment of death row inmates in Japan.
Regardless of his guilt or not, the death penalty is an echo of an uncivilized past and Japan could easily gain a few rungs on the human rights ladder by abolishing it.
From The Yomiuri Shimbun:
Molestation cases that occurred in a railway-related setting accounted for 70.0% of the total, including 62.8% that happened on trains. Cases on the streets made up 13%.
Absolutely disgraceful.
Yusuke Kato from The Mainichi:
This city's board of education issued a notice to a junior high school that students should stay properly hydrated, after the school established a rule stating that "in principle, it is considered good manners not to drink (water or tea from a water bottle) during classes or tests," the Mainichi Shimbun has learned from the board and other sources.
This is the second story I have posted about insane school rules in Okegawa. Absolute madness to force students to dehydrate themselves because of 'good manners'.
Kelly Ng from BBC News:
Japan's top court has ruled as unconstitutional a defunct eugenics law which saw 16,500 disabled people forcibly sterilised between the 1950s and 1990s.
The Supreme Court also ordered the government to pay damages to 11 victims, who were involved in five cases that were heard on appeal.
Wednesday's landmark ruling brings to an end a decades-long fight for justice by victims who have been demanding compensation and an apology.
It took almost 30 years from when this horrendous law was repealed for the victims of this tragedy to get some kind of reparation for what was taken away from them. One of the worst crimes of post war Japan.
Kana Takagi from The Mainichi:
The man told the Mainichi, "In the workplace, there was always an unwelcoming atmosphere toward marriage and having children. I was very sad."
We don’t live in a world where the employer owns the employee anymore. Black companies like this should not be allowed to operate like this.
From Kyodo:
The number of mental disorder cases recognized as work-induced in fiscal 2023 hit a record high for the fifth consecutive year at 883, up 173 from the previous year, the government said Friday.
Rikka Teramachi from The Mainichi:
A facial robot covered with "living skin" made from human cells has been developed by a team of researchers from the University of Tokyo and other institutions. The device will apparently help elucidate the process of wrinkle formation and reduce animal testing in cosmetics and drug development.
I'm sure this will have no negative consequences down the road.
Julian Ryall from South China Morning Post:
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?