crying sumo contest for babies / 福井の「泣き相撲」再開
A crying sumo contest for babies has returned to a shrine in central Japan after a more than two-year break because of the pandemic. The annual affair at Gokoku Shrine…
Bright meteor seen in Kanagawa/ 神奈川県で火球
An exceptionally bright meteor has been observed in Kanagawa Prefecture, near Tokyo, and elsewhere. Fujii Daichi, a curator at the Hiratsuka City Museum in Kanagawa said cameras installed at his…
New words added to Merriam-Webster Dictionary/米辞書に追加された新語
American dictionary Merriam-Webster announced 370 new words added as of September 2022 which included topical words such as “subvariant”, “metaverse”, and “supply chain”.One Japanese word that made the cut was…
California to legalize jaywalking / カリフォルニア州で横断歩行が自由に
On September 30th, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed The Freedom To Walk Act which will make it legal to jaywalk when safe to do so. Starting January 1st, 2023, Californians…
Lawson to employ avatar clerks / ローソンでアバター店員を導入予定
Convenience store chain Lawson announced that they plan to introduce digital avatars at store registers to assist customers.The anime-like avatars will be operated by real people who can work from…
Bruce Willis face deepfaked
Russian telecom company Megafon created a new commercial starring only the face of Bruce Willis which was deepfaked onto a Russian actor. Willis retired from acting in March but made…
Sony develops machine to measure sense of smell/ソニーが嗅覚測定装置を開発
Japanese electronics giant Sony has developed a device to measure an individual’s sense of smell. The company hopes it will eventually be used at hospitals as olfactory measurement could help…
A snake found in a toilet / 便器に現れた1.6mのヘビ
On October 2, a man in his 40s living in Nagasaki Prefecture, opened the lid of a toilet in his apartment and found a snake approximately 1.6 meters long. The…
Bruce Willis rents face to Deepfake company
Russian telecom company Megafon created a new commercial starring only the face of Bruce Willis which was deepfaked onto a Russian actor. Willis retired from acting in March but made…
Beware of Folding Steps/折りたたみ式踏み台 幼児の指挟みに注意
The National Consumer Affairs Center is calling for attention to accidents in which children pinch their fingers on folding steps (examples shown in the picture) which are often used…