Nipponica

According to the Takasaki Municipal Government, the 42-year-old ALT is employed on a one-year contract to teach English at a public junior high school in the city. He was arrested by local police on May 22 for allegedly stealing whiskey and other items from a convenience store in Takasaki on April 29. The man was also accused of stealing items from convenience stores on three other occasions, and was indicted for theft at the Takasaki branch of the Maebashi District Court.

Stealing is a crime and should be punished but one other factor to consider is that wages for English teaching have been stagnant for decades, much like every other profession. You can make the argument that a lot of these teachers are not actually trained in teaching, but at some point you have to accept that they are human beings that deserve a living wage for a job that their governments decide is important.

The Japanese game arcade industry, which took a significant hit due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has seen nearly 8,000 stores disappear over the past decade, with a 30 percent reduction in the last five years alone, a recent survey from credit research firm Teikoku Databank Ltd showed.

But claw machines have bucked the digital and console trend, with demand for prize games remaining high even during the pandemic. The Japan Amusement Industry Association says revenue from the games hit 306.2 billion yen ($1.9 billion) in fiscal 2021 and the genre now makes up nearly 70 percent of an amusement facility's overall sales.

UFO Catcher is my arch nemesis...