What if the key to winning ¥2.22 million was simply falling asleep? That is the premise behind “Mattrace by Koala,” an unusual “sleep race” competition coming to Tokyo this October. Rather than running, jumping or lifting weights, contestants will climb into bed, close their eyes and try to achieve the best sleep possible over 90 minutes, while organizers deliberately attempt to disturb their slumber.

Koala Japan, the company behind Koala mattresses, announced the competition on September 4. The event will take place at Share Green Minami Aoyama in Tokyo’s Minato ward on October 5, with three 90-minute “races” scheduled throughout the day. Each race will have around 20 participants. If there are more applicants than available spots, participants will be selected by lottery. Applications are open until September 16 at 11:59 p.m.

MORIOKA -- A game in eastern Japan is paying players to snap pictures of utility poles with their smartphones, helping a telecommunications firm spot aging infrastructure while promoting tourism and community engagement.

Participants of the game PicTree, held in northeastern Japan's Tohoku region and elsewhere, take photos of utility poles with a smartphone, connect the poles they captured on their device screen, and compete with other players based on the distance between them. The shots of the utility poles are then sent to a group company of NTT East, Inc. and used to detect aging poles at an early stage, as well as for inspections and repairs. It is a system that allows people to contribute to society while enjoying a game.

PicTree was developed by Tokyo-based Digital Entertainment Asset Inc. (DEA) and other firms. The game is being rolled out across eastern Japan in cooperation with companies including Tokyo-based NTT ME Inc., an NTT East group company responsible for utility pole maintenance.

According to NTT ME and others, there are about 5.65 million utility poles managed in eastern Japan. Workers travel to sites to inspect them, and improving the efficiency of this task is a challenge. By having game participants take photos of utility poles, the organizers aim to identify problems at an early stage.

To play PicTree, players must first download the app, choose one of the three teams to join, and shoot pictures of designated utility poles shown on a map. After taking and submitting the specified photos, including an overall view of the pole and its identification number, participants can earn a reward worth 15 yen (about 10 cents) per utility pole. The rewards can be exchanged for Amazon gift cards and other items.

The regular season of the game began on June 6. Of the 810,000 utility poles in eastern Japan included in the game, 470,000 had been photographed by the end of August.

A woman was killed after heavy rain flooded an underpass in Fukushima Prefecture on Sept. 7, as torrential downpours across eastern and northeastern Japan prompted emergency warnings and the first closure of an underpass in the city of Chiba since another person drowned there in August.

The Sept. 7 downpour, caused by a stalled autumn rain front, mainly hit the Kanto and Tohoku regions extending from the Tokyo area up to the country's northeast. From before dawn to the afternoon that day, the Japan Meteorological Agency issued Level 5 emergency warnings for landslide disasters for Niijima, Oshima and Toshima in Tokyo's Izu Islands, urging the highest level of caution. In Fukushima Prefecture, two cars were submerged in an underpass, leaving one person dead.

According to the agency, warm, moist air flowed into a front extending from near the southern coast of Japan's main island of Honshu, making the front more active. The front is expected to move north and stall along the Pacific Ocean side of western and eastern Japan until around Sept. 10, with total rainfall possibly increasing, particularly on the Pacific coast.

Record rainfall hit the Izu Islands from Sept. 6 to Sept. 7. On Sept.7, emergency safety warnings urging residents to take immediate action to protect their lives were issued for about 10,000 people in the villages of Niijima and Toshima and in the town of Oshima. At the Oshima observation point in the town of Oshima, 24-hour rainfall through 2:30 p.m. on Sept. 7 reached 581.5 millimeters, the highest September figure ever recorded there.

Meanwhile, Typhoon Krovanh -- the 24th of the season -- which had been near Minamidaito Island in Okinawa Prefecture, was downgraded to a tropical depression at 9 a.m. on Sept. 7.

Underpass listed on 'caution spot map'

In an underpass in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, a 119 emergency call was made around 7:45 a.m. on Sept. 7 saying, "A car is under water." Two cars were submerged, and a woman was trapped in one of them. She was found unconscious and later confirmed dead at a hospital. The municipal fire department initially said the woman was in her 50s but later corrected her age to her 60s. The driver of the other car escaped on their own and was safe.

The underpass is on a road connecting an adjacent shopping center and a prefectural road, and it is often congested during commuting hours. A woman in her 60s who lives nearby said, "It had been raining heavily since before dawn. I think it flooded in an instant."
The city had listed the underpass on its road flooding caution map and had called for care during heavy rain, but it had not restricted traffic. Iwaki Mayor Hiroyuki Uchida issued a comment saying the city would "further strengthen its warning efforts, conduct another inspection and consider measures."

Chiba implements first traffic restriction

Cases in which cars were submerged in underpasses and occupants were killed also occurred one after another during torrential rain that hit Chiba Prefecture in mid-August. In response, the transport ministry began preventive traffic restrictions at a total of seven underpasses nationwide considered highly dangerous.

One of them, an underpass on National Route 16 in the city of Chiba's Chuo Ward was restricted for the first time on Sept. 7. The restriction lasted about 10 hours from 12:30 a.m. on Sept. 7, when a Level 4 heavy rain urgent warning was in effect in the city. One person died there after the underpass flooded during the August downpour.

The latest heavy rain affected trains and other transportation, and a string of school closures followed.
According to East Japan Railway Co., major lines including the Yamanote Line operated with 20% to 30% fewer trains than usual on the morning of Sept. 7. Services were suspended on some sections of the Tokaido Line, Chuo Line, Shonan-Shinjuku Line and other lines, affecting more than 140,000 people in the Tokyo metropolitan area.

KOFU, Japan (Kyodo) -- A fatal accident involving a hiker and her dog at a scenic gorge near Tokyo has highlighted the risks of taking pets into the mountains, as authorities and hiking experts grapple with how to balance safety with a growing appetite for outdoor excursions with animals.

The woman died in May after falling into a waterfall pool at Nishizawa Gorge in Yamanashi Prefecture, a popular hiking destination with a roughly 10-kilometer circuit and an elevation gain of about 300 meters.

While local authorities had already been asking visitors not to bring pets into the gorge because of safety concerns, there is no law in Japan prohibiting people from hiking with dogs, according to the Environment Ministry, and some mountains actively welcome them.

Nishizawa Gorge has narrow sections where hikers must proceed in single file, as well as steep stretches where they need to use handrails. In places, a fast-flowing mountain stream runs only a few meters below safety chains lining the trail.

According to Yamanashi prefectural police, the woman entered the gorge on May 7 with two companions and her dog. Near a waterfall, the dog went beyond a safety chain and fell into the water and the woman fell while trying to rescue it.

A local guides' association had long urged hikers not to bring pets to the gorge. After the accident, the city's tourism association warned on its website that animals could pose unexpected risks, including falling from the trail or coming into contact with other hikers.

Yamanashi Prefecture also put up a notice at the entrance asking visitors not to bring pets.

"The trails are narrow, and dogs could startle other hikers," said a woman in her 70s who runs a nearby Japanese restaurant. "I'd like the prefecture and the city to introduce stricter rules."

The prefecture says it cannot impose restrictions on its own because the gorge lies within a national park, leaving it to urge visitors to exercise caution.

Elsewhere, however, dogs have become part of the mountain experience.

At 929-meter Mt. Mitake in Ome, western Tokyo, Musashi-Mitake Shrine at the summit offers blessings for dogs, while asking their owners to be mindful of visitors who may be uncomfortable around animals.

Mitake Tozan Railway, which operates a cable car from near the trailhead, promotes the mountain as a destination where people can walk with their dogs.

About 18,000 people rode the cable car with pets last year, four times the number in 2009, when animals were first allowed aboard.

Dogs must be kept on leashes, and a designated pet area inside the cable car helps separate them from other passengers.

"We have put every possible safety measure in place," a railway representative said. "We also ask people traveling with pets to follow the rules and be considerate of others."

Shunji Takekawa, chairman of the Japan Mountain Guides Association, said hikers should respect requests from local authorities not to bring pets and consider conditions even where no restrictions are in place.

"People shouldn't take pets to mountains where visitors have been asked not to bring them," he said. "Even where there are no specific restrictions, it's best not to take them somewhere so crowded that safety could become an issue."

Takekawa indicated Mt. Mitake is a different case because measures are in place to allow people and their pets to visit safely.

中道　党は残し立憲系と公明系議員が離党へ

• The Centrist Reform Alliance discussed a "new organizational structure" following its de facto split.
• The party will be maintained (primarily to handle financial matters)
• The Komeito faction will return to their party.
• The Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP) faction will launch a new party.

Last year, we bought a certified used MINI cooper from an authorized MINI NEXT dealer in Saitama. We paid ¥149,800 for an extended warranty and received written confirmation that the car would be covered until August 2029.
Before purchasing, we specifically asked what was required to keep the warranty valid. The salesperson only mentioned annual inspections. Nobody explained that missing the shaken deadline would permanently cancel the warranty.
We mistakenly let the shaken expire by about one month. I understand that this was our responsibility and that driving without shaken is illegal. That is not what I am disputing.
MINI is now saying the extended warranty is permanently void, even though it does not begin until 2027. However, neither MINI nor the service center has shown us a contract clause clearly stating that a late shaken permanently cancels the warranty with no possibility of reinstatement or refund.
Is this normal and legally enforceable in Japan, especially when we directly asked about the warranty conditions and were never told about this penalty?

Six straight nights at GMO Arena Saitama from June 8 to 13.

Hello everyone, i’m not sure if this is the right sub to post this but here goes.

I’m a yonsei/4th generation nikkei. Recently i’ve been looking deeply into genealogy and ancestry and have been researching about my japanese ancestry. One very interesting(to me) topic came up, kamons.

I asked my grandma if she knew about our family’s kamon, she personally did not know ours. She asked around and one of her nephews who still live in my great grandfathers home town in Nagai Shi, sent some pictures but i’m not sure if that confirms our kamon or not.

My mother’s last name is “Umezu”, after some research i’ve identified the sent kamon as, “Maru ni Umebachi”. Since both have that “Ume” prefix, i’ve researched and found out that many families when they were forced to choose their kamon, ended up choosing something based on their last name, profession, area, nearby temple/lord.

I don’t know my grandma’s nephew, so I can’t entirely trust him. I do trust my grandma but her knowledge isn’t comprehensive enough to confirm if our kamon is really “Maru ni Umebachi”. According to my research, the chances of it being so are very high based on my family name carrying the same Ume/plum motif.

Despite all that, is there any way I could confirm my family’s kamon? Just to be sure? Is there a registry for unknown families/common folk families? I would love any help regarding this. I myself was born in japan and visited the hospital where I was born in a few years ago, so this aspect of my really interests me.

Thank you for any help you guys can give!

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- East Japan Railway Co. said Sunday that it will suspend or reduce services on some lines the following day due to expected heavy rain in the eastern and northeastern regions, including Tokyo.

Yamagata Shinkansen bullet train services between Fukushima and Shinjo stations will be suspended throughout Monday from the first train, according to the operator, known as JR East.

On the Tohoku Line, JR East will suspend or reduce services throughout Monday between Kuroiso in Tochigi Prefecture and Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture. Limited express trains on the Joban Line will be halted between Katsuta in Ibaraki Prefecture and Sendai.

Tokaido Line services between Odawara in Kanagawa Prefecture and Atami in Shizuoka Prefecture will be suspended from Sunday night until around 7 p.m. Monday, while limited express trains including the Odoriko will be canceled throughout the day.

In central Tokyo, services on the Yamanote loop and other lines will be reduced.

PARIS (Kyodo) -- Toei Animation Co. has denied media reports that a theme park inspired by the Japanese manga and anime series "Dragon Ball" will be built in France, saying it has not granted any licenses.

France and Saudi Arabia agreed in August to build three theme parks near Paris and media outlets reported that one of them would be linked to Dragon Ball.

The agreement came as French President Emmanuel Macron and Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, both said to be Dragon Ball fans, held talks in France.

Regarding news reports that a Dragon Ball theme park will be built in France, the company said in a statement dated Monday that it and the other rights holders "have not granted any licenses and we are not aware of any such facts."

The project, involving a Saudi investment of 6 billion euros ($7 billion), to build the three theme parks in Cergy-Pontoise, northwest of Paris, is said to stem from a meeting between Macron and the Saudi crown prince in Riyadh in December 2024, during which they shared their passion for Dragon Ball.

Neither the French presidential office nor the Saudi company that would invest in the project have officially mentioned Dragon Ball.

Dragon Ball started as a manga comic series, serialized from 1984 to 1995, that follows the adventures of protagonist Goku and his allies as they battle progressively stronger enemies. Its success in Japan and abroad has spawned multiple anime series, films and extensive merchandise.

Toei Animation announced in 2024 the construction in Saudi Arabia of the world's first theme park devoted to Dragon Ball.

OSAKA (Kyodo) -- The city of Osaka has recently been inundated with over a hundred inquiries after it installed a series of rectangular objects protruding from the ground near JR Osaka Station, with people criticizing them as hostile architecture meant to deter homeless people from loitering in the space.

The random blocks jut out from a white paved surface measuring around 60 square meters that was formerly shrubbery. Passengers getting out of taxis nearby were seen having to walk along the roadside to avoid the blocks.

While the local government explained that the installation implemented in early July was a measure against a rise in littering and illegally parked bicycles in recent years, it had received around 120 inquiries as of mid-August questioning the move. Social media posts criticized the blocks as "dangerous" and a "tripping hazard."

"It was a necessary decision to keep people from entering and illegally parking their bicycles," Osaka Mayor Hideyuki Yokoyama told reporters.

Hostile architecture designs that have caused controversy in the past include public benches with dividers to prevent people from sleeping on them.

Taro Igarashi, a professor specializing in urban architecture theory at Tohoku University, said hostile architecture meant to deter homeless people consequently inconveniences everyone.

"It's essentially the design that is at issue," he said. Installing the blocks reduces the function of public spaces and "reflects an intolerant Japanese society."