u/SkyInJapan

MOSCOW (Kyodo) -- Russia's Pacific Fleet said Thursday it has conducted a missile test off a group of Russian-held, Japanese-claimed islands amid an intensifying row over the disputed territory following President Vladimir Putin's first-ever visit there last week.

While it was unclear exactly when the test was carried out, the announcement comes after the Russian Foreign Ministry summoned Japanese Ambassador to Russia Akira Muto over Japan's protest against Putin's trip to the area.

Putin visited Etorofu Island, the largest of the four islands collectively called the Northern Territories by Japan and the Southern Kurils by Russia, on Aug. 13.

The naval fleet said a unit equipped with the Bastion surface-to-ship missile system conducted the test. The system is deployed to Etorofu.

The guided missile cruiser Varyag, the flagship of the Pacific Fleet, also took part in the missile test along with the Omsk nuclear-powered submarine, the fleet said.

The test simulated an attack on enemy vessels and succeeded in hitting all the intended targets at a range of at least 300 kilometers, according to the fleet.

"We cannot tolerate moves (by Russia) to strengthen military power on the four northern islands because they go against our country's stance (on the territories)," Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told reporters Thursday during his visit to Oman.

A senior ministry official revealed Friday that Japan had lodged a protest with Russia shortly after Moscow notified Tokyo that it would conduct the missile exercise during the week beginning last Sunday.

Japan says the islands, which also include Kunashiri, Shikotan and the Habomai islet group, were illegally seized by the Soviet Union soon after Japan's surrender in World War II on Aug. 15, 1945. Russia claims the action was legitimate, saying the islands became part of its territory as a result of the war.

Ties between Japan and Russia have been strained since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which prompted Japan and its Group of Seven peers to impose sanctions on Moscow.

CHIBA -- A week after record rainfall caused extensive flooding across Chiba Prefecture in eastern Japan, the death toll stands at 13 people including deaths still being investigated for links with the disaster, and more than 2,800 homes have been damaged.

Two people were seriously injured and 42 sustained minor injuries in the disaster. In the city of Chiba, about 2,500 vehicles were abandoned on roads after being disabled by flood waters. However, removal of vehicles from major arteries -- about 70% of the total -- was completed on Aug. 19. The city is moving ahead with removals from residential streets.

The torrential rain on Aug. 13 caused "inland flooding," in which water overflowed above ground as drainage systems in urban areas could not keep up, and the damage spread rapidly. Underground electrical equipment was submerged at multiple apartment buildings in Chiba, and power outages are continuing.

According to a prefectural government tally as of the afternoon of Aug. 19, 2,695 homes had suffered flood damage, with 1,206 flooded above floor level and 1,489 below floor level, an increase of about 400 from the previous day. Three buildings were completely destroyed, 78 were half destroyed and 49 were partially wrecked.

JR Sotobo Line services between Oami Station in Oamishirasato and Honda Station in Midori Ward, Chiba, remained suspended on Aug. 19. East Japan Railway Co. (JR East) is aiming to resume operations on Aug. 24 and will run substitute buses until then. Recovery work is taking time between Toke Station in Midori Ward and Oami, where gravel beneath railroad ties was washed away.

Disaster volunteer activities are also moving into full swing. According to the Chiba Council of Social Welfare, volunteer recruitment and activities have begun in 10 municipalities, including Ichihara and Oamishirasato, with about 1,100 people registered. On Aug. 19, volunteers were seen helping clean flooded homes and carrying out furniture.

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The number of foreign visitors to Japan in July inched up 0.1 percent from a year earlier to 3.44 million, a record for the month, government estimates showed Wednesday, with travel demand remaining strong amid the summer holiday season in the northern hemisphere.

By country and region, South Korea topped the list with 894,700 visitors, up 31.9 percent, followed by Taiwan with 763,800, a 26.4 percent increase and a new monthly record, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization.

The number of visitors from China, meanwhile, plunged 56.1 percent from a year earlier to 428,200, as bilateral ties between the Asian neighbors remain soured.

OSAKA -- Osaka Prefectural Police on Aug. 19 arrested a former manager of Osaka-based construction company Takenaka Corp. on suspicion of breach of trust, after he allegedly caused the firm to lose millions of yen in connection with construction work for the 2025 World Expo in Osaka.

Tatsumi Kawai, 61, allegedly instructed subcontractors to inflate project costs, causing Takenaka Corp. losses of approximately 13.7 million yen (about $86,000).
Kawai had served as the overall site manager at Takenaka Corp.'s Osaka headquarters and oversaw construction related to the "Grand Ring," the signature structure of the exposition.

According to the prefectural police's second investigation division, Kawai is suspected of instructing a subcontractor involved in the work to overbill Takenaka Corp. for construction costs. Police believe Kawai used a portion of the funds to renovate his home. They are working to uncover the full details.

The Grand Ring was one of the world's largest wooden structures, with a circumference of about 2 kilometers. The Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition divided the project into three sections for bidding, and the main construction was completed in August 2024.
A joint venture led by Takenaka Corp. won the contract for the western section of the ring, covering roughly 700 meters. The consortium was responsible for construction of part of the ring itself and related surrounding facilities, with contracts worth approximately 35 billion yen (about $219.5 million) completed to date.

Kawai appeared on television coverage related to the Expo as the person in charge of the joint venture. Following the conclusion of the event, dismantling work has been underway on the Grand Ring and Expo pavilions.

A Takenaka Corp. representative told reporters, "It is truly regrettable that an employee has been arrested. We sincerely apologize for causing great concern and inconvenience to all those involved. We will fully cooperate with the police investigation and, once we confirm the facts, will deal with the matter strictly."

Takenaka Corp., founded in 1610 and headquartered in the city of Osaka's Chuo Ward, is a general construction company. It has worked on numerous landmarks across Japan, including Tokyo Tower and Osaka's Abeno Harukas skyscraper. The company's sales exceeded some 1.61 trillion yen (approx. $10.1 billion) on a consolidated basis for fiscal 2025, and it is referred to as one of Japan's "super general contractors" alongside Kajima Corp., Obayashi Corp., Taisei Corp. and Shimizu Corp.

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Wednesday it is "very unfortunate" that the United States has imposed sanctions on Tomoko Akane, a Japanese national who heads the International Criminal Court, in Washington's latest move against the Hague-based judicial body.

Following the U.S. measure taken on Tuesday, Takaichi told reporters in Tokyo that her government will deal with the situation by "continuing communication with relevant nations including the United States."

Foreign Press Secretary Toshihiro Kitamura also issued a statement, saying that Japan has "consistently supported" the ICC in its efforts to prosecute and punish "the most serious crimes of concern to the international community."

Tokyo will remain committed to "strengthening the rule of law" globally through dialogue with related countries and others, Kitamura, the Foreign Ministry's spokesman, added.

The sanctions came as President Donald Trump's administration has criticized the ICC for opening an investigation into U.S. military personnel over alleged war crimes in Afghanistan and issuing an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his country's military campaign in the Gaza Strip.

In a statement announcing the sanctions on Tuesday, which also targeted Senegal's Abdoulaye Seye, an ICC senior trial lawyer, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the court as a "corrupt and fatally politicized supranational court that has maliciously abused its authority and exceeded its mandate."

Rubio claimed that Akane and Seye have "directly engaged" in the ICC's efforts to "investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute" officials whose governments have not consented to its jurisdiction.

When Rubio announced last month the launch of a "sweeping campaign to dismantle the threat" he said the ICC poses to his nation's sovereignty, Takaichi's government said that Japan, a close U.S. ally, was "watching closely with concern."

Akane, a 70-year-old former prosecutor, began her three-year term in March 2024 as the organization's first president from Japan.

As an ICC judge, Akane was involved in issuing an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2023 over his alleged involvement in the forcible deportation of Ukrainian children amid his country's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In retaliation, Russia has put her on its wanted list.

With the latest imposition, Washington has sanctioned nine of the ICC's 18 judges, including Akane, with punitive measures such as freezing their assets in the United States and effectively shutting their access out of the U.S. financial system.

WASHINGTON (Kyodo) -- The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions on Tomoko Akane, the first Japanese to lead the International Criminal Court, with the administration of President Donald Trump accusing The Hague-based judicial body of encroaching on state sovereignty.

Marking yet another escalation in the administration's campaign to disable the ICC, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that it is a "corrupt and fatally politicized supranational court that has maliciously abused its authority and exceeded its mandate."

Along with Akane, a former prosecutor from Japan who began her three-year term as ICC president in 2024, the Trump administration also sanctioned Senegal's Abdoulaye Seye, a senior trial lawyer at the court.

Rubio claimed the two have been involved in the ICC's efforts to investigate, arrest or prosecute officials whose governments had not consented to its jurisdiction.

Under the sanctions, any assets they possess in the United States will be frozen and their access to the U.S. financial system will be restricted.

The United States is not a member of the Netherlands-based court and does not recognize its jurisdiction over U.S. nationals.

The ICC was founded in 2002 as the first and only permanent international court with the power to prosecute individuals for genocide, war crimes and crimes against peace and humanity. It has 125 member states.

In February 2025, Trump signed an executive order targeting the court, alleging that it had engaged in "illegitimate and baseless actions" against the United States and its close ally Israel, including issuing an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

BANGKOK (Mainichi) -- Soft, springy, squishy to the touch -- and somehow soothing. "Squishies," toys prized for their distinctive sensation when squeezed, are enjoying a worldwide boom, including in Japan. Their popularity was such that they were featured in a July New York Times article. At the same time, a series of accidents involving products that fail to meet safety standards has heightened safety concerns around the globe.

Adults also hooked on squishies for stress relief

At Sampheng Market, a wholesale shopping district in Bangkok's Chinatown, colorful squishies shaped like food items such as bread and various animals fill the displays of toy and variety shops lining the streets. Young people as well as shoppers with children could be seen carefully squeezing the products to test how they felt before deciding what to buy.

According to Gibb, 40, the owner of Chawa, a specialty store that has sold squishies for more than 10 years, their popularity in Thailand began rising early this year and peaked in June and July. At one point, so many customers flocked to the store that they could not all fit inside.

"They sold so well in Thailand that we stopped exporting them this year," she said.

Squishies are made from spongy materials such as polyurethane foam, as well as gels and other substances. People enjoy the sensation of squeezing or crushing them and watching them change shape. Their popularity took off on social media, with videos of friends trading squishies or people making their own versions attracting millions of views. They appeal not only to children but also to adults, many of whom buy them as stress relievers.

Some victims required skin grafts

Safety concerns, however, have emerged in several countries.

Thai authorities announced on Aug. 2 that they had inspected Sampheng Market and seized about 20,000 squishies that failed to meet safety standards. According to the BBC, harmful substances including benzene, a known carcinogen, were also detected in some products in Britain, prompting authorities to demand their recall.

Squishies are seen on display at a specialty store in Sampheng Market in Bangkok, Aug. 4, 2026, in this photo taken by Jatetanut Piriyapradiskul, a Mainichi Shimbun assistant. (Mainichi)

A series of accidents involving heated squishies has also been reported. According to U.S. and European media reports, a 9-year-old boy in the United States suffered serious burns to his face and hands in January after a squishy he had heated in a microwave burst, spraying him with hot gel.

Children's hospitals in Britain treated six patients for similar injuries over an eight-month period. Some reportedly required skin grafts. In the United States, there have also been a number of accidents in which squishies left inside hot vehicles burst, causing burns to children.

The reports have also affected stores selling products that meet safety standards.

"Our products meet the standards, but sales have recently fallen to less than half their peak level, partly because of the negative news coverage," Gibb said.

During the record rainfall across Chiba Prefecture on Aug. 13 to 14, many vehicles were submerged as roads flooded. Fatalities were also reported among people trapped inside their vehicles. What should drivers do if they encounter a flooded road?

According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, once the water rises above the floor of a vehicle, it can enter through the exhaust pipe, causing the engine to stall or the battery to fail. If the water rises more than halfway up the door, water pressure can make the door almost impossible to open.
The ministry advises occupants to escape while the water level is still low. If the doors will not open, they should lower a window. If the windows cannot be opened, they should use an emergency escape hammer to break one and climb out.

If escape through a window is impossible, the door may become easier to open once the water levels inside and outside the vehicle equalize, reducing the difference in water pressure.

"An emergency escape hammer is a 'lifeline.' Every vehicle should have one," a ministry official said.
Caution is also required after the water recedes. A vehicle that has been submerged may pose a risk of electric shock or fire due to short circuits in its electrical system. Drivers should not attempt to start the engine immediately and should first contact an auto repair shop or dealership, the ministry said.

Advance preparations are also important. The latest heavy rain struck during the evening rush hour. In the dark, road conditions are harder to see, making it difficult for drivers to recognize flooded sections along a road.

"When sudden events such as heavy rain occur, advance preparations are crucial," a ministry official said. "People should familiarize themselves with roads that are prone to flooding and avoid them during downpours."

U.K. middle schooler seen on security camera footage after leaving family’s rental property alone.

Carmelita Lakdesha Paul, a 12-year-old middle school student from the U.K., arrived in Japan for sightseeing with her parents and older brother on July 21. She has now been reported missing, and the police are asking for help in finding her.

The Paul family is currently staying at a private rental property in Tokyo’s Kamata neighborhood. The last time the family saw Carmelita was on the night of August 12, when her father spoke with her before going to bed. When the rest of the family woke up at around 8:30 on August 13, she was gone.

Carmelita did not take a phone with her when she left, so the family had no way of contacting her. The family contacted the police shortly before 9:30. In examining surveillance camera recordings the police found images of Carmelita, dressed in a sky-blue sleeveless top, black-and-white checked skirt and black pumps, and carrying a pink handbag, walking in the Nichome section of Kamata, near the family’s rental property. Investigators were able to determine that she passed through Yokohama Station, roughly 20 minutes south by train from Kamata Station, later that same morning, but have been unable to trace her path any farther than that.

Carmelita did not take her passport with her when she left the rental property, and her family estimates she had only a few thousand yen (less than US$100) on her, which would not be enough for an extended stay in reputable lodgings. The Tokyo/Yokohama area has also been experiencing severe rain showers , making proper shelter even more important than it would usually be.

The police describe Carmelita as being roughly 160 centimeters (5 feet, 3 inches) in height, with a medium build and curly black hair. Anyone with information as to her whereabouts is asked to contact the Tokyo Metropolitan Police’s Kamata Station at the phone number 03-3731-0110, but information can also be submitted at any police box or station.

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The war-linked Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo has announced on its official website that it will ban cosplay and the wearing of military-related attire on its premises.

"While visits by people who actually served in the military, wearing the clothing of the time, have largely disappeared as 80 years have passed since the end of the war, people with no relevant affiliation or qualification have increasingly been seen visiting in military uniforms," the statement on the website said.

Visitors to the shrine wearing military uniforms have been observed on the anniversary of the end of the war, which falls this Saturday. The statement said the ban is not targeted at a specific date, but is a policy applied "on the premises all year round."

Military-related attire worn based on a person's "affiliation or qualification," such as uniforms worn by members of the Japan Self-Defense Forces and military personnel from other countries, is exempt from the ban.

The ban is intended to maintain the "serenity and dignity" of the shrine, the statement said.

Yasukuni honors the souls of wartime leaders convicted as war criminals by a post-World War II international tribunal, along with around 2.5 million war dead.

Japan occupied a wide area of China by the end of the war and colonized the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945. Past visits to the shrine by Japanese leaders and ministers have drawn harsh backlash from the neighboring countries.

On Wednesday, Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department announced that it had arrested a 23-year-old Mexican man who allegedly tried to smuggle around 200 lizards, including nine arboreal alligator lizards, into Japan from South Korea. One lizard died. The suspect, Daniel Isaac Velasco Baltazar, reportedly hid the cold-blooded reptiles inside socks in a suitcase. He is accused of violating Japan’s Customs Act by attempting to bring them through Tokyo’s Haneda Airport without government authorization on August 8.

Government permission is required to import the lizards, which are endemic to the highlands of Mexico. International trade in alligator lizards is restricted under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. Tokyo police reportedly received an anonymous tip in late July that a Mexican national had been trying to smuggle lizards. Baltazar, who admitted to the offense, told police he bought the animals in Mexico for about $3 to $5 each.

The incident is not an isolated example of people attempting to smuggle exotic animals into Japan. In 2019, Australian authorities arrested a 27-year-old Japanese woman at Melbourne Airport after finding 17 shingleback lizards and two blue-tongued lizards in her luggage as she prepared to board a flight to Tokyo. The incident followed two similar arrests involving Japanese nationals in Sydney and Perth, who were also accused of attempting to smuggle native Australian reptiles out of the country.

Australian authorities have also intercepted reptiles being sent to Japan by mail. In 2023, officers reportedly found dozens of lizards and a turtle concealed inside socks in postal packages bound for the country. A 2025 WWF Japan report found that the nation ranks among the world’s top five importers for six of nine reptile species examined, suggesting that demand for exotic reptiles extends well beyond the smuggling cases described above.

SYDNEY (Kyodo) -- Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has sparked controversy over an exchange with a podcast host last month about melons gifted to him by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi during her visit to Australia in May, amid suggestions the comments were disrespectful and carried sexual innuendo.

In the video podcast published July 3, Albanese remarked that Takaichi had brought "a couple of melons" while gesturing with his hands. In Japan, premium melons are often sent as luxury gifts.

In return the podcast host quipped that she "came in looking like Pamela Anderson," referencing the actress of Baywatch fame known for her large breasts, to which Albanese replied, "she brought two, and they were beautiful."

The Australian Newspaper reported that the remarks were "widely interpreted as a reference to Ms Takaichi's anatomy," and opposition lawmakers have called on Albanese to formally apologize to Takaichi.

When questioned by an opposition lawmaker in parliament Tuesday about whether he would apologize for the "foul-mouthed, classless comments about women," Albanese said, "I reject the assertion in the question."

Japanese Ambassador to Australia Kazuhiro Suzuki said the Japanese government was "aware of the reporting in the media" about the podcast, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corp. on Wednesday.

"We have been informed by the Australian side that Prime Minister Albanese did not make the comments in the way that has been reported," he said in a statement, according to the ABC.

The ABC report also quoted Suzuki as saying the dinner hosted by Albanese during Takaichi's visit "was held in a very relaxed atmosphere" and that Japan believes "it helped build a personal trust relationship between the two leaders."

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s suggestion of a no-limits approach toward helping Japan rescue the yen risks getting called out by market participants flagging his limited firepower to do the job.

Japan’s currency slid as much as 1% Monday to past ¥159 per dollar, wiping out half the rally triggered by the July 31 U.S.-Japan intervention. The exercise, the first coordinated effort since 1998, had lifted the currency near ¥155 before the retreat resumed.

In the wake of that unusual operation, Bessent said “we will do whatever it takes to support them in a way that helps the American economy, the American taxpayer, stabilizes the global economy.”

Trouble is, as far as currency-intervention ammunition goes, the Treasury chief is seen limited by his main dedicated instrument — the Exchange Stabilization Fund, with holdings of less than $220 billion. As a gauge of comparison, Japan on its own is estimated to have spent $53 billion on yen operations on July 30, the day before the coordinated move.

“The U.S. can influence the narrative by coordinating with Japan on intervention, but can’t rewrite the fundamentals,” said Nathan Thooft, a senior portfolio manager at Manulife Investment Management. With regard to American authorities’ capacity, “the pockets are deep but not limitless,” he said.

In the U.S., the Federal Reserve is the agency with — in principle — unlimited firepower for foreign-exchange intervention to drive down the dollar, as it’s effectively able to manufacture greenbacks. In the case of last month’s operation, however, its role was limited to the actual conduct of the yen purchases, done on behalf of the Treasury.

Historically, the Fed has sometimes joined in with the Treasury with its own funds to show its support for interventions. Back in 1998, the yen intervention at that time was done 50-50 with Fed and Treasury funds. A 2011 joint intervention to sell yen and a 2000 one to buy euros similarly involved even splits.

This time, media reporting on the intervention suggests the Fed “did not stump up” for the U.S. intervention, Derek Tang, an economist at Monetary Policy Analytics wrote in a note Monday. Official data are unlikely to be available to confirm that until later this year.

“Its intervention capacity is theoretically limited only by its willingness,” Tang noted of the U.S. central bank.

The Fed on Monday declined to comment about the U.S. intervention. The Treasury didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Bessent has put a spotlight on a separate way the Fed could prove helpful: via its Foreign and International Monetary Authorities Repo Facility. That program would allow Japan to swap a portion of its $1 trillion-plus stockpile of Treasuries for dollar cash. Two days after the intervention, Bessent recommended the program be “upsized.”

Fed data published Thursday suggested Japan hasn’t used the tool, however. Earlier this month, Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama signaled it could be used at some point.

Pressure for either Japan or the two allies together to step in again could rise should the yen sink past ¥160 per dollar, a level seen earlier this year as a key psychological threshold. Authorities intervened to support the currency when it crossed that level in the summer of 2024.

“If the U.S. and Japan let the yen go back to trading durably above ¥160, markets could interpret the absence of FX intervention” as a sign of U.S. reluctance toward selling dollars, Marco Casiraghi and Gang Lyu at Evercore ISI wrote in a note Monday. “The result could invite additional market pressure that would test the commitment to a stronger yen.”

Bessent’s key likely motivation for propping up the yen, according to economists and market participants, has been to halt any contagion into Treasuries. Japanese government bond selloffs have occasionally spilled over to U.S. securities, and if Tokyo offloads its dollars, that could send American yields higher. Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields recently hit their highest since Bessent took office.

“If Bessent is concerned about the impact of yen trading exerting possible upward pressure on U.S. Treasury and longer-term U.S. yields, the best way to tackle the problem is to counter U.S. fiscal profligacy,” said Mark Sobel, who served at the Treasury for over three decades. “FX intervention and FIMA usage is a Band-Aid.”

“Renewed yen weakness alongside higher Treasury yields could draw Washington back in. If the U.S. eventually sells dollars, rather than euros as it did in July, that would be a much stronger deterrent to still short yen positioning,” said Skylar Montgomery Koning, macro strategist at Bloomberg.

With Japan observing a holiday on Tuesday, traders are wary that thinner liquidity could create conditions for another bout of intervention — as officials could get bigger bang for the buck.

Still, Monday’s currency moves highlight the limits of that mechanism in changing the yen’s broader trajectory when the forces behind its decline remain largely intact.

Those forces include wide interest-rate differentials between Japan and the U.S., concerns over Japan’s fiscal outlook and geopolitical uncertainty. The yen’s retreat on Monday came alongside a rise in the price of oil amid continuing tensions over Iran. Japan imports most of its energy, leaving it vulnerable to higher prices.

As for policy rates, the Bank of Japan’s benchmark is currently 1%, versus the Fed’s 3.5% to 3.75% target range for its own key rate.

A summary of the BOJ’s most recent policy meeting flagged rising risks of inflation heating up, with one board member pointing to the possibility of an acceleration in the pace of rate hikes. Swaps show traders pricing about a 63% chance of an increase by September, with an October move almost fully priced.

“We think the relatively muted response to the intervention reflects the fundamental reasons for the currency’s weakness,” Goldman Sachs Group Inc. strategists including Kamakshya Trivedi wrote in a note. The team expects “depreciation pressures to reemerge over time absent a shift in global conditions or a policy surprise.”

OSAKA (Kyodo) -- Sticker trading that was popular among children decades ago is making a comeback in Japan, but this time with a new range leading the trend.

Plump and with a glass-like transparency, Bonbon Drop stickers, produced by Osaka-based stationery maker Q-Lia Co., have been selling out as children and adults snatch up sheets as soon as they arrive at stores. Their popularity has also led to counterfeits and arrests.

"Those are rare, but I can trade any of them if you want," one woman told another as they spread out albums on a table at a cafe dedicated to sticker trading in Osaka in late March.

The cafe's manager, Mika Kawano, 34, said, "We're packed on some days and have many regulars."

Seiichi Kurakake, Q-Lia's development chief, said the company launched Bonbon Drop stickers in March 2024 after spending about six months on planning, aiming to create "a sticker unlike anything we've seen before."

Q-Lia said the stickers were initially targeted at children in elementary school, but after social media users began posting photos of smartphone cases and cosmetic containers decorated with them around the spring of 2025, the fan base widened to adult women.

"We've been able to broaden the reach of the sticker culture. We're amazed by this unexpected success," said Kurakake.

Yohei Harada, a professor at the Shibaura Institute of Technology who studies youth culture, said past trends are seeing a resurgence.

Women in their late 20s to 30s who grew up trading stickers as children are driving such trends after entering the workforce, as they "can now freely purchase items that bring them a sense of nostalgia," he added.

Cumulative shipments of Bonbon Drop stickers had skyrocketed to 34 million sheets by the end of June, from 4 million sheets as of April 2025.

"We expect production to continue increasing in the current circumstances," Kurakake said, adding, "Our top priority is to ensure sufficient supply to meet demand."

However, as the stickers have grown in popularity, counterfeits have begun to circulate in Japan.

In May, police arrested a male company executive and a male business owner for alleged copyright infringement. They were caught in possession of 1,016 sheets of counterfeit stickers that they intended to sell at a Nagoya shopping center, with a summary court ordering them to pay fines in June.

A woman was also arrested in June for allegedly attempting to sell fake Bonbon Drop stickers at her general merchandise store in Osaka Prefecture. She told investigators she imported them from China.

Q-Lia has posted a statement on its online store since November 2025, noting that official products feature a notice in Japanese on the back of the sticker sheets. It also urged customers to "enjoy the product in a sound manner."

Governments worldwide are moving to keep children off social media amid growing concerns over smartphone addiction, cyberbullying, sexual exploitation and exposure to harmful and radical content.

France’s parliament approved a ban on children under the age of 15 using social media, while the U.K. moved to restrict access for those under 16, adding momentum to a global push for age-based controls. Australia has already barred children under 16 from major platforms, while Indonesia and Malaysia have followed with similar restrictions.

But what about Japan? The country has so far resisted imposing a blanket age ban, with its approach instead focused on stricter age verification, safer platform settings and greater responsibility for technology companies.

Government officials and experts have argued that children should be protected online without being cut off from the benefits of digital access.

A government expert panel concluded in June that a uniform age ban on social media use would be “undesirable,” arguing that social media has become an essential communication tool for young people and that risks differ depending on the platform.

The panel, established by the internal affairs ministry, instead recommended stronger age verification, safer default settings and greater responsibility from technology companies, while continuing to emphasize digital education and parental supervision.

Still, a draft interim report released in July by the Children’s and Families Agency showed that Japan is taking recent overseas developments into account. According to media reports, it recommended stricter age verification and stated that “it is important to continue discussions and build a system for protecting children that is in line with reality.”

This shift over the last month reflects the reality that internet use is already deeply embedded in children’s lives. According to government data, about 99% of Japanese age 10 to 17 use the internet through smartphones or other devices. The government aims to decide by the end of 2026 whether legislation is necessary.

Experts say the approach could better protect children while preserving the benefits of being able to connect with online communities.

“If you impose a blanket ban on use by everyone under 16, you deprive children who use social media appropriately of their rights,” said Masahiro Saito, a professor at Sendai University who has researched children’s internet safety for about two decades.

Some children improve their well-being through online connections, including those who are hospitalized, live in remote areas or cannot easily find communities offline, he said.

Social media can also serve as an important channel for children experiencing abuse, running away from home or feeling unsafe in their families, according to Kensuke Suzuki, a sociology professor at Kwansei Gakuin University who studies young people’s information behavior.

Suzuki warned that a blanket ban could push children toward less visible online spaces or encourage them to lie about their age, making exploitation more difficult to detect.

Japan’s position reflects its longstanding preference for allowing families to manage children’s internet use through digital literacy, parental supervision and filtering tools rather than outright government restrictions, he says.

But as the technological landscape has changed, the government’s current push has been to shift more responsibility to technology companies. Many major platforms already set a minimum self-reported age of 13, but Japan is looking to require companies to better enforce their existing rules.

The internal affairs ministry panel also called for protective features enabled by default. These could include limiting exposure to inappropriate content and restricting design features intended to maximize user engagement, such as infinite scrolling, autoplay and rewards for consecutive daily use.

Some platforms have already introduced additional protections for younger users. TikTok, for example, displays warnings after extended periods of use and introduces, along with Instagram, age-based controls intended to limit contact between teenagers and unrelated adults.

Saito said some of these changes resulted from the European Union’s Digital Services Act, which pushed major platforms to strengthen protections for minors. Because large technology companies often use similar systems worldwide, stricter European standards have also affected users in Japan — a phenomenon known as the “Brussels effect.”

Features that encourage endless scrolling are central to the attention economy, in which platforms seek to keep users engaged for longer periods to increase advertising revenue.

Saito said companies should be required to address designs that encourage excessive or dependency-like use rather than placing the burden entirely on children.

Still, questions remain over how exactly the Japanese government could hold these companies accountable.

Current proposals do not establish strong penalties or fines for companies that fail to adequately verify users’ ages or protect children from harmful content.

“Without penalties, social media companies have little incentive to go that far,” Suzuki said, adding that Japan may eventually need stronger regulations backed by meaningful sanctions.

Age verification also poses technical and privacy challenges.

Possible methods include linking social media access to age information confirmed when a smartphone contract is signed or using Japan’s My Number identification system. But not everyone in Japan has a My Number card, and requiring users to submit identification directly to platforms could create privacy and data-security concerns.

Australia’s experience has also highlighted the difficulty of enforcing a blanket age ban. Despite the country’s new age restrictions, many children reportedly retained access to social media after the rules took effect.

Excessive internet use remains a broader concern in Japan, regardless of whether social media restrictions are introduced.

Data from NTT Docomo’s Mobile Society Research Institute released in June found that 55% of respondents across all age groups said they fiddled with their phones when they had nothing to do, even when another person was in front of them.

That suggests regulating social media alone may not resolve the broader problem of smartphone dependence, Suzuki said. Instead, children need to learn to manage their own screen time, supported by education and technical tools such as reminders, optional time limits and automatic locks, he said.

For Rena Yoshie, a 15-year-old high school student in Aichi Prefecture, smartphones are more than an outlet for boredom. They have become essential to school life.

Yoshie received her first smartphone in fifth grade during the COVID-19 pandemic, when classes and communication became more digital.

“I mainly used it to look up things I was curious about, listen to music and keep in touch with friends. At the time, I saw it as a useful tool,” she said.

“Compared to then, smartphones have completely changed into something that we cannot manage without.”

Yoshie said that Japan should not introduce a blanket age restriction.

“Children need to learn how to use smartphones properly, identify reliable information and recognize misinformation from a young age,” she said.

She instead called for policies focused on support, such as compulsory courses or tests before children begin using smartphones or social media.

Saito said his research found that more than 90% of junior high and high school students in Japan had received some form of digital-literacy education.

Knowledge alone, however, does not always translate into responsible behavior, particularly when users become emotionally absorbed in exciting or upsetting content. Education must, therefore, be supported by parental controls and technological safeguards, he said.

Parents must also model the behavior they expect from their children, Saito said.

“If you tell a child to stop while you yourself are constantly using your phone, your words have no persuasive force,” he said.

Watch the video. I can't imagine how scary that was or how amazing that 2 medial staff was completely focused on protecting the patient through the earthquake!

SENDAI (Kyodo) -- All four Humboldt penguins that were being kept at a zoo in northeastern Japan and died one after the other last month were found to have died from avian malaria, results from an investigation showed Friday.

The mosquito-borne illness is not contagious to humans. In some cases, the disease can progress rapidly from showing no symptoms to death.

Iwate University was commissioned by Yagiyama Zoological Park in Sendai to investigate the cause of the birds' deaths.

Beginning with a male penguin named Aramasa, the four penguins died between July 9 and 19. None had shown any signs of illness until the day before their deaths.

According to the zoo, no concrete plans have been made to bring in new penguins for the time being.

The zoo aims to eventually resume the exhibit after implementing measures to prevent a recurrence, such as redesigning the enclosure to prevent the formation of puddles where mosquitoes breed.

Humboldt penguins are commonly found along the coasts of Peru and Chile in South America. They are considered better adapted to warmer climates than penguins from colder regions like Antarctica, and are commonly kept in zoos throughout Japan.

On July 29, the store announced a “Mom Support Campaign” aimed at easing the burden of feeding children during summer vacation. Mothers accompanied by children 15 or younger could buy its ¥690 pork cutlet set for ¥500, alongside several other discounted meals and takeout options. The company added that a “Dad Support Campaign” was also in the works.

By the next morning, however, concern had shifted elsewhere: to the plight of the ojisan, or middle-aged man, and his full-price tonkatsu.

By July 30, “Mom Support” had become the gender-neutral “Summer Vacation Campaign,” and the discount was opened to everyone. Because Matsunoya had only secured a limited quantity of ingredients at prices that made the promotion possible, it warned that expanding eligibility would probably make the campaign end much earlier than planned.

There is something familiar about the speed with which a promotion for mothers became a discussion about fathers.

Every March 8, for example, Google searches for “International Men’s Day” surge as International Women’s Day prompts people to ask why there is no equivalent celebration for men. International Men’s Day does, of course, exist: it is November 19. Google Trends data has repeatedly shown interest in it spiking around Women’s Day, more sharply than around Men’s Day itself.

TOKYO -- A research team has confirmed ground-surface displacement stretching about 33 kilometers along a fault zone after the Kumamoto earthquake on July 28, according to preliminary findings released Aug. 6.

The joint team including researchers from Tohoku University and Kumamoto University said the surface rupture was confirmed along a roughly straight line extending from the Kumamoto Prefecture town of Mifune to the city of Yatsushiro, along the Hinagu fault zone.

The Kumamoto earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.1, was a strike-slip earthquake, in which geological layers shift horizontally. The largest displacement was found in an area extending from the Ogawa district of the city of Uki to the town of Hikawa in Kumamoto Prefecture, where the fault plane shifted as much as 1.8 meters horizontally. The largest vertical displacement was recorded near the Yatsushiro Junction on the Kyushu Expressway in the city of Yatsushiro, reaching about 1.5 meters.

The surface displacement caused bridge piers to shift at the Yatsushiro Junction. Damage was also reported at Ryuho Elementary School in the city of Yatsushiro, where large cracks opened in the school building and playground. The locations where the ground shifted generally overlapped with the previously mapped active faults.

"Compared with the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake, there were more residential areas along the fault. There were expressways and national routes, and even new buildings suffered some kind of damage from the fault displacement, such as houses tilting," said Shinji Toda, a Tohoku University professor of earthquake geology who conducted the survey.

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan's food self-sufficiency rate on a caloric intake basis reached a record low 37 percent in the fiscal year that ended March, marking a decline for the first time in five years, farm ministry data showed Friday.

The figure, on par with the lowest since comparable data became available in 1965, comes as soaring prices for rice, a staple largely supplied domestically, reduced overall consumption while increasing the share of imports.

The food self-sufficiency rate refers to the ratio of domestically consumed food supplied by producers in the country. The other times it has fallen to 37 percent were in fiscal 1993, due to a historically poor rice crop that year, fiscal 2018 and fiscal 2020.

Despite the government setting a target of reaching 45 percent by fiscal 2030, the rate has instead fallen 1 percentage point after remaining at 38 percent for the past four years.

Japan's food self-sufficiency has remained relatively low in terms of either calorie or production value, with countries such as Australia and Canada exceeding 100 percent, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

By major item on a weight basis, the self-sufficiency rate for rice fell by 2 points from the previous year to 95 percent, its lowest level in 16 years. Wheat and meat remained unchanged at 16 percent and 53 percent, respectively, while seafood rose to 53 percent and vegetables fell to 77 percent.

The overall self-sufficiency rate on a production value basis rose 2 points to 66 percent, lifted by higher prices for rice and other domestically produced foods such as chicken eggs.

The ministry also released the food self-sufficiency rate by prefecture for fiscal 2024. On a calorie basis, Hokkaido took the top spot for the eighth consecutive year at 227 percent, followed by Akita at 221 percent and Yamagata at 147 percent.

The rate stood at 0 percent for Tokyo and 1 percent for Osaka Prefecture.