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July 12, 2026
 

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SOCIAL MEDIA

Elon Musk at a federal courthouse for his lawsuit with OpenAI, in Oakland, California, on April 30. In a separate case in Australia, a court upheld a regulator's fine against Musk's social media company X after it failed to supply information to regulators in line with online child protection measures.
BUSINESS
May 21, 2026
Elon Musk’s X loses Australia child protection compliance lawsuit
The ‌eSafety regulator, a frequent target of online attacks by ​Musk, fined the company in October 2023, beginning the nearly three-year dispute.
The Metropolitan Police Department discovered the lower half of a human body on Tuesday, approximately 100 meters off a hiking trail in Nippara, in the town of Okutama, located on the outskirts of western Tokyo.
JAPAN
May 20, 2026
Possible fatal bear attack reported in mountains of western Tokyo
If confirmed, the incident in the mountains of Okutama would mark Tokyo’s first recorded fatal bear attack since at least 2006.
Visitors gather in the rain to catch a glimpse of Punch the monkey at Ichikawa City Zoo in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, in April.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 18, 2026
Japan arrests Americans over stunt at baby monkey Punch’s zoo
Images on social media showed a person scaling the fence in a costume that included a smiley face head with sunglasses, prompting the monkeys to scatter.
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party has presented a draft bill proposing penalties for both public vandalism of the Japanese national flag and the posting of related videos and images on social media, but it withheld approval amid concerns over freedom of expression.
JAPAN / Politics
May 15, 2026
LDP seeks to penalize sharing national flag vandalism online
The outline also calls for penalties of up to two years in prison or fines of up to ¥200,000 for individuals who publicly damage the flag.
Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Ichiro Aisawa (right) addresses a meeting of a cross-party council on election campaigning held in a parliamentary building on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
May 15, 2026
Japan to order social media operators to combat misinformation in elections
Actions expected to be taken by social media operators include halting reward payments to users and improving their capacity to respond to content deletion requests.
Dry-cleaning professional Masakazu Shimura brushes a soft toy at Cleaning Yonmarusan in Fuefuki, Yamanashi Prefecture, on April 27.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 13, 2026
Japan cleaner goes viral with spa-like service for plushies
Videos of the meticulous care that cuddly toys receive at Cleaning Yonmarusan have mesmerized fans on social media, attracting customers from around the world.
Punch, a Japanese macaque known for clinging to a stuffed orangutan, looks on at Ichikawa City Zoo in Chiba Prefecture, in March.
JAPAN / Society
May 9, 2026
Punch, the lonely monkey, is growing up. He’s still a star.
Punch has handled the limelight better than most young stars. Since first hitting the headlines, he has slowly integrated into his troop and made friends.
There are no approved vaccines or known cures for the hantavirus, which is usually spread from infected rodents and can cause respiratory and cardiac distress as well as hemorrhagic fever.
WORLD / Science & Health
May 9, 2026
Hantavirus scare revives COVID-era conspiracy theories
The misinformation resurged even as the World Health Organization insisted there was minimal risk to the general public from passengers of the MV Hondius.
Henna Virkkunen (second from left), executive vice president of the European Commission, and communications minister Yoshimasa Hayashi (third from left) at a news conference in Brussels on Tuesday
JAPAN / Politics
May 6, 2026
Japan and EU to enhance cooperation on regulating social media
A joint statement called for cooperation in areas such as data flow and communications infrastructure, in addition to artificial intelligence and quantum computing.
Hideko Hakamata (right), the elder sister of Iwao Hakamata who was acquitted of a 1966 murder, attends a rally in Tokyo on April 18 to oppose the Justice Ministry's bill to revise the retrial system, which would continue to allow public prosecutors to appeal decisions to start a retrial.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 5, 2026
Growing number of critical views expressed online over proposed retrial reforms
Many social media users took interest in the topic after the draft bill to revise the code drew severe objections — even angry outbursts — from some lawmakers.
The Manus decision comes just weeks before China’s Xi Jinping and the U.S. president are scheduled to meet at a high-profile summit.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 28, 2026
Xi tests China’s reach by blocking already-done Meta deal
The country’s powerful state planner decreed Monday that the deal must be canceled — four months after it was sealed.
Authorities are concerned that the spread of baseless information in the case of Yuki Adachi, whose father was arrested after the boy's body was found this month, could impede police investigations.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 25, 2026
Kyoto police warn of misinformation in case of arrested father and dead boy
Authorities are concerned that such baseless information circulating on social media could impede their investigation.
U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 24, 2026
Trump’s messaging blitz divides advisers as Iran talks waver
The president’s Truth Social posts have been detrimental to ongoing negotiations through mediators such as Pakistan, according to U.S. officials.
Immediately after a magnitude 7.7 quake off the Sanriku coast of northeastern Japan on Monday, many posts on X claimed the temblor was artificial.
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2026
Misinformation spreads on social media after northeastern earthquake
Many posts on X, formerly known as Twitter, claimed that the temblor was artificial.
A logo of Meta AI outside Meta House on the opening day of the 55th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January 2025
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 22, 2026
Meta to capture U.S. employee mouse movements and keystrokes to train AI
The new tracking software will run on work-related apps and websites and will also take occasional snapshots of the content on employees’ screens, according to an internal memo.
Police investigate a public bathroom in Nantan, Kyoto Prefecture, on Saturday where they suspect 11-year-old Yuki Adachi's body might have been temporarily placed.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 20, 2026
Kyoto suspect told others son was missing before school called home, police say
The suspect was arrested last week after admitting to killing his son in the high-profile investigation.
A giant screen broadcasts news showing Chinese President Xi Jinping shaking hands with Cheng Li-wun, chairperson of Kuomintang, Taiwan's largest opposition party, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on April 10.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 17, 2026
China’s information war turns Taiwan’s own voices against it
Taiwan’s defense ministry said it is countering a massive increase in Chinese “cognitive warfare.”
An experiment by a small city in Aichi Prefecture suggests that smartphone restrictions targeting only children are less effective than those targeting the entire family, as children’s screen habits closely mirror their parents.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 17, 2026
The parent problem: When smartphone rules end at the school gate
Children who exceeded two hours of daily screen time tended to have parents with similarly high usage. The relationship held across age groups.
The Nagoya District Court has sentenced Yuji Wada, a 42-year-old former elementary school teacher who started a group chat encouraging the sharing of indecent images of young girls, to two years and six months in prison.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 16, 2026
Ex-teacher who opened group chat for sharing indecent images gets jail
Yuji Wada, one of seven teachers who reportedly victimized more than 75 children, was sentenced to two years and six months in prison by the Nagoya District Court.
Johnny Somali received a prison sentence of six months with 20 days detention after repeated acts of disturbing the public in South Korea.
LIFE / Digital
Apr 15, 2026
‘Nuisance streamer’ Johnny Somali sentenced to six months in prison
The 25-year-old American influencer received a prison sentence from a South Korean court for repeated acts of disturbing the public.
China’s demand for Soviet-style apartments shows limits to revival
Apartments built during a Soviet Union-inspired construction drive in the 1970s and 1980s tend to suffer from poor insulation and outdated plumbing, but they are seeing a revival in interest due to their attractive locations.
Japanese scientists identify neural mechanism that may explain why we dislike people
The aggressive mouse (left) used in the experiment and a mouse defending itself
Japanese payment processor’s collapse hits banks and restaurants
Zentoshin served around 200,000 shops, many of which rely on early payments to maintain cash flow, raising concerns over their financial stability following the disruption.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
Lenders seek $700 million after Japanese payments firm’s collapse
The financial failure of Osaka-based Zentoshin has left 63 creditors with claims totaling ¥115.16 billion, according to Tokyo Shoko Research.
Japan’s largest exhibition of women photographers rights a wrong in cultural history
Miwa Yanagi’s “Elevator Girl House” series skewers the superficiality of gender roles through staged images.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
‘Princess Mononoke’ comes alive in Super Kabuki staging
The “Princess Mononoke” adaptation was created under Shochiku’s Super Kabuki initiative, a modern form of kabuki with more technology in staging and open to pop culture collaborations.
The beating heart inside ‘Human Vapor’
Different forms of love and connection form the emotional backbone of Netflix’s “Human Vapor,” says actor Shun Oguri, who plays troubled detective Kenji Okamoto.
Japan bets on character IP to drive global growth
Born on social media platforms in 2022, Opanchu Usagi has become a major hit, especially among Generation Z.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

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The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
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