Tag: money

Ninja News   Japan! I   was gonna   be like,   coming back   at you!   I should   have an   opening phrase. 

Maybe that’s  the next  step to  make Ninja  News Japan  the greatest  podcast   it’s ever   podcasted,

is to   come up   with an   opening phrase  that I  use every  week.   It’s not   going to   be like   and

subscribe. I  know   that. You   don’t care  about   that. You   care about  the news  from Japan, 

which is   why you’re  here   talking or   listening to  me and  I’m talking  to you.  So let’s  get to  it.

The Japan   Fair Trade  Commission   wanted to   announce guidelines  for ensuring  fair   transactions between 

anime and   manga creators.  And so  they did  what every  company   does. They   made a   pamphlet.

The pamphlet’s  gonna be  explaining   like here’s  how   contracts should  be laid  out. We  don’t   want the

artist getting  ripped   off. We   don’t want  the   company getting   ripped off.   Manga is   a traditionally 

very abusive   industry. Like  the hours  are long.  The pay  is very  low. It  seems   very unfair.   It seems

like the   kind of   thing you   might not   want to   actually do.  What   they’re focusing  on is  fair compensation, 

working conditions,  contracts.   And they’re   saying like,  the problem  is we’re  finance   people.

We’re lawyers  and that  kind of  stuff. We  have to  make this  appeal to  the   artistic types  because

that’s who   we’re talking  to. This  needs to  go   towards manga  people.   So we   should have  some   maybe

manga characters  explaining   the issues   we’re talking   about. That’s  a really  good   idea.

So they   found a   company and   they went   to this   company like,  hey, can  you make  the art  for this 

pamphlet? And  that company’s  like, yes,  we can.  And then  they   were like,  we   don’t want  to   do that. 

Let’s sublet  it   out, subcontract  it   out to  another   company. And  that   other company  getting   way less 

money. They’re  like,   well, we’re  going   to use  AI   to create  the   manga for  the   pamphlet and  sell   it

back to  these   people. The  secondary   company is  like,   we don’t  care.   We just  want   to get  paid.

So they  pass it  on   without checking  it.   The people  at   the finance  ministry,   they’re in  this   situation.

We’re like,  we   can’t tell  the   difference. We’re  all   lawyers and  stuff.   We don’t  read   manga or  we’re   not

going to  look   at it  that   closely because  we’re   not artistic  enough   to be  able   to tell  the   difference

between something  that   was hand  -drawn   and AI  generated.   And then  they   put it  out   and everyone’s 

like, hey,  douchebags,   this is  an   AI generated  pamphlet.   You’re talking  about   treating artists 

fairly. And  one   of the  first   things you  do   to treat  artists   fairly is   use an  artist   and don’t  use   AI.

So the  Japan   Fair Trade  Commission   claimed that  they   reviewed the  pamphlet,   but didn’t  have   the

knowledge to  recognize   AR. And   I actually,  to be  honest,   I kind  of   believe that,  but   they should  be

very angry  at   that company  they   contracted to  because   that company  subcontracted   out and   they

probably didn’t  tell   them they  were   going to  do   that. So  they,   it’s already  getting   shady. Like  the

more levels  of   subcontracting they  are,   the worse  the   product is.  And   if you’re  paying   a company  to   do

it, my  expectation   would be  that   company does  it.   They don’t  like   shunt it  off to  someone   else. So  the   Fair

Trade Commission  in   Japan actually  got   kind of  scammed,   which makes  me   wonder if  they’re   actually

very good  at   their job.  The   Japan Finance  Ministry,   we’re getting  very   big into  the   Japan finance 

areas, is  considering   minting commemorative  coins   with anime  and   manga characters.  So   this very  much

relates to  our   last thing.  Like   here you  have   financial   institutions saying  like   manga and  anime,   they are 

the money  makers   for Japan  right   now. We  got   tourism, we  got   anime and  manga.   That’s where  this   country is 

making our  money   more than  anything   else. We   have to  encourage   it. We   have to  like   bring it  up.   But

there are  actually   laws in  Japan   about what  you   can put  on   bills and  coins,   which I  didn’t   know about. 

That was  the   interesting part  of   this. Them  wanting   to make  a   commemorative coin  for   one piece  or

Naruto or  something.   Okay, that  actually   makes perfect  sense   and it   doesn’t surprise  me.   It actually 

is weird   that it  hasn’t   happened already.  This   is why  it   hasn’t happened  already.   Currently, the  law   only

permits the  use   of images  pertaining   to national  interest,   like imperial  events   or the  Olympics.

But I   don’t see  how   the Olympics  are   more valuable  to   Japan than  manga   or anime.  I   think it’s  because

again, manga  anime   is seen  as   entertainment. The  Olympics   is seen  as   national pride  kind   of thing. 

Do I  have   any money?  That’s   a good  question.   They have  the   thousand yen  bill   at the  moment   and the 

10 ,000  yen   bill and  they   are both  just   old Japanese  dudes   on them.  And then  if   you on   the back  of   the

1000 yen  has   that big  famous   wave. That’s  pretty   cool. On  the   back of  10  ,000, it’s  some   sort of 

building or  structure   that I’m  assuming   is relatively  important   to someone,  not   me.

I don’t  see   how that’s  better   than anime  characters.   And these  aren’t   coins that  are   going into  circulation

forever or  like   the standard  coin.   These are  just   commemorative things  that   people will  collect.

So I   don’t see  why   that law  would   apply to  that,   but they’re  going   to mint  it.   It’s an   official

piece of  currency.   I guess  you   could then  use   it at  stores   and stuff.  But   I think  the   thing is, 

if they  do   a limited  run,   that makes  it   valuable and  anything   that becomes  valuable,   that’s when  you

get into  scalpers   and scammers  and   stuff. And  that’s   going to  end   up causing  trouble.

Six major   ice cream  makers   have been  accused   of price  fixing.   Meiji, Morinaga,  Lotte,   Ezaki, and  Agaki

are all  big,   big ice  cream   companies. Like  if   you come  to   Japan and  you   buy ice  cream,   you’re buying 

ice cream  probably   from one  of   these companies.  That’s   fine. They  have   apparently gotten  together

and they’re  in   violation of  the   anti -monopoly  law,   colluding to  raise   retail prices.  Their   offices

were rated.  So   imagine you  work   in ice  cream.   Like, I  mean,   what more  innocent   job could  you   get?

Like, I  want   to make  ice   cream. I  want   to make  people   happy. I  want   to, I   want to   jump into  the

world and  try   to, you  know,   in those  hot   summer days,  create   great memories  of   people who  just

have a  sweet,   sweet ice  cream,   the chocolate  ice   cream, the  vanilla   ice cream,  the   others. It  makes

you just  like,   you’d think  that   people who  make   ice cream  just   sort of  are   weirdly good  people,

but that’s  of   course not  true.   These aren’t  people.   These are  corporations   and corporations 

are all  about   screwing over  the   consumer in  some   one way  or   another. You’re  working   for an  ice

cream company.  You’re   at your  desk.   You’re trying  to   think of  a   new ice  cream,   maybe a   new flavor. 

You’re trying  to   think of  a   new brand  or   a new   packaging or  something   with all  the   naphtha

stuff we  had   two weeks  ago,   with all  the   packages losing  all   the ink  because   they couldn’t  get   enough of 

the ink  product   because of  the   straighter Hormuz  and   all these  other   issues. Then  a   whole bunch  of   cops run 

in and  start   taking all  your   files. That  has   to be  a   rough day  for   an ice  cream   maker.

Last year  in   2025 in  sales,   they made  over   $4 billion,  not   yen, $4  billion.   So these  guys   are

making more  than   enough money  and   they’re just  sitting   around being  awful   businessmen saying 

like, how  can   we screw  people   over another  couple   of yen  and   make even  more   money? Because  that’s   what

the world’s  about.   It’s not   about making  people   happy. It’s  not   about making  a good  product.

It’s not  about,   you know,  providing   those memories.  It’s   about screwing  the   consumer as  much   as

possible to  the   point that  the   police actually  get   called up  to   our ice  cream   factory.

Mehanada. Now  this   Mehanada is  famous   if you’re  into   girl bands,  idol   bands. I’m  not.   AKB.

So I  came   to Japan  in   2001. It  was   Morning Musume  was   the big  girl   band. I  think   it was  seven.

And then  they   just kept  adding   members, adding  members,   adding members.  Then   their popularity  kind   of

went into  decline   a little  bit   and AKB  started   coming up.  And   so for  the   last decade,  maybe   15

years, AKB,  but   they keep  rotating   out members.  So   a member  will   join, they’ll  stay   for X  amount   of

years and  then   they’ll move  on.   Maybe they  move   on to   solo projects.  Maybe   they just  disappear   from

the entertainment  industry.   Who knows?  I   don’t pay  attention   to them.  It’s   not generally  my   kind

of music.  So   I don’t  really   care. But  I   was fascinated  always   about sort  of   the rules  and

the contracts  of   the idol  lifestyle.   Because when  you   join a  company   that creates  these   like idol 

groups, they  have   full control  over   your life  from the  time you’re  like   sometimes 12,  13,   14 years  old,

like some  of   the really  young   ones are  like in  their   early, early  teens. And  then   they’ll live  in   this

path into  their   twenties and  thirties.   But a  lot   of times  you’re not  allowed   to date.  Now   they’re

claiming that  was   never a  rule,   but it’s  clearly   been a  rule.   So May  Hanada   shaved her  head   and

apologized on  X   after having  her   contract terminated.  She is  the   first member  to   be fully 

terminated from  the   company. So  they’ve   had people  and   they’re like,  we’re going  to   reduce your 

contract type.  We’re   going to  change   you to  another   subgroup or  we’re   going to  do   something

else. They’ve  been   moved around.  That   kind of  thing   has happened  before,   but no  one’s   ever been 

outright fired.  This   is the  first   outright firing  of   a member  of   AKB 48.  The   company says  the   reasons

were multiple  rule   violations, including  unauthorized   private contact  with   a fan. 

Now, if  they’re   saying there  is   no rule  about,   you know,  dating   or falling  in   love with  someone,

they call  it   the love  band,   which is  why   I keep  thinking   about that  in   the back  of   my head. 

Then the  fact   that she  had   contact with  a   fan shouldn’t  be   unauthorized. If  that   was a  dating

scenario, unless  the   scenario they’re  talking   about is  something   else, but  they   didn’t explain  it   any

other way.  They   just said  unauthorized   contact. So  was   she supposed  to   get permission  to   hang out 

with this  fan?   Maybe they  were   just friends.  We   don’t know.  We   don’t actually  know   what happened. 

She went  online   and made  a   nine minute  apology   video similar  to   2013 when  another   member had  been

photographed leaving  her   boyfriend’s apartment.  So   this became  really   famous because  I   don’t know  if

she was   told to   do it  or   not, but  she   had long  hair.   A lot   of these  girls   have long  hair   and that 

this hair  is very  valued   to them.  It’s   something they’ve  spent a  lot   of time  on.   So it’s  something   really

important to  them.   So that’s  why   shaving it  off   is a  show of  contrition.   In 2013,  this   girl had  a

boyfriend. She  was   photographed leaving  the   guy’s apartment  in   the morning,  which   would imply  that

there had  been   some nighttime  activities.   And so  she   shaved her  head   and apologized.  She   kept her  job.

I don’t  know.   I think  it   actually increased  her   popularity overall  later,   but there  was   this like 

big scandal  that   she had  done   this. And  that   was the  first   time I  was   introduced to  the   concept of 

idols are  not   allowed to  date because  they   have to  keep   the image  of   availability.

availability. So  there   is the  fantasy   of the  fan   actually dating  the   idol. That  availability   is

part of   the fantasy  they’re   trying to  create   by creating  these   idol groups.  She says,  May   Hamada,

so the  recent   one says,  I   was told  if   you want  to   continue with  AKB,   shave your  head   and show  your

sincerity. So  she   thought if  she   shaved her  head,   she might  actually   keep her  job.   So she  shaved   her head,

went on  X   and made  a   nine minute  apology   video, still  got fired.  The   company, to  the

public is  saying   since December,  2025,   she has  been   late and  has   had poor  health.   We suspended  her

activity so  she   could get   treatment. And  then   we discovered  a   connection with  a   specific fan.  And

again, not  saying   what that  connection   is being  very   vague. So  like   if they  were   saying she  was

meeting this  fan   and buying  drugs,   if she  was   meeting this  fan and  there   was like  something   more

nefarious going   on, I  might   actually be  able   to accept  that.   But they’re  not   actually saying  that

they’re just  saying   she’s had  contact   with a  fan.   That’s unacceptable.  So   she’s getting  fired.

We tried  to   discuss, but  she   refused. We  would   absolutely never  issue   an instruction  to   shave her 

head. So  they’re   saying that  we   didn’t say  shave   your head.  Although   I could  see   it being  an   offhanded

comment because  a   throwback to  2013,   when this  other   person did  shave   their head  and   did keep  their   job,

they might  just   throw that   out in  part   of a  conversation.   They might  not   mean it.   They might  not.   I don’t  know

if they  represent   the company.  I’m   assuming these  are   managers. So  technically   they represent  the

company all  the   time. The  love   ban rule  is   not a   rule and  is   being discussed  again   online. It’s 

become a  big   issue online.   Should these  17,   18, 19,  20   year old  women   be allowed  to   have boyfriends? 

Because you’re  talking   about controlling  their   life in  a   way where  I   would say  like   most people 

sort of  start   dating in  their   teens. And  that’s   when they  find   out, you  know,   what do  I   want? What  do I 

like? What  do I  don’t   like? This  is   where you  kind   of learn  who   you are  and   who you  want   your partner 

to be.  And   maybe you  don’t   get married  until   later, whatever.  I   don’t know.  But   without that 

experimental phase,  it’s   much more  difficult   to find  someone   you’re actually  going   to be  satisfied

with. So  this   has brought  up   the discussion  again.   So back  in   2010, Tomomi  Itano   said she  wasn’t   allowed

to pursue  a   relationship. So  she   had someone  she   wanted to  date,   probably spoke  to   management properly, 

and they  said,   you’re not  allowed   to date  anyone,   which would  imply   that you’re  being   banned from  dating.

In 2013,  Minegishi   shaved her  head.   So that  was   the one  we   actually just  mentioned.   She was  caught

coming out  of   a boyfriend’s  apartment   by a  magazine.   They published  the   pictures. She  had to  shave   her

head. She  apologized.   She got  to   keep her  job.   In 2022,  Nana   Okada, who  was   pro -rule.  So   this is  the

problem. She  said,   I agree  with   the idea  of   idols not  being   allowed to  date.   And then  she   was found  out

to have  a   relationship with  an   actor. She  then   had to  apologize   and graduated.  But   everyone was 

calling her  a   hypocrite. Now  graduated   means you’ve  gotten   to this  point   where you’re  going   to quit 

the group.  So   they have  like   a, it’s  very   weird. I  don’t   know why  they   call it  graduated.   I guess 

because idols  tend   to be  younger.   They’re thinking  like,   you get  to a  certain   age and  you’re   not an  idol

anymore. And  then   you want  to   graduate this  and   then move  on   to the   next part  of   life, which  again,

would be  maybe   individual activities,  things   like that.  She   was like,  I’m pro  these   people not  dating,

but she  was   dating secretly.  And   then she  got   called out.  And   so then  she   had to  quit

in the  official   way, I  guess.   One of  the   managers, Mukaiichi  Mion,   tweeted that  he   was reconsidering  the

rule, but  then   came back  and   said, no  such   rule exists.  So   you can  see   that in  their   day -to  -day   lives,

everyone knows  maybe   this is  an   unwritten rule  or   maybe it’s  an   unspoken rule.  And   he’s like  tweeting

like, Oh,  Hey,   yeah, we’re  going   to reconsider  whether   or not  this   is acceptable.  This   rule

that we  have,   the people  aren’t   allowed to  date   when they’re  in   their teens  and   stuff.

And then  had to  turn   around and  go   like, Oh  shit,   there’s not  supposed   to be  a   rule like  that.

So now  I   have to   go back  and   go, Oh,  there   is no  actual   rule. So  then   what is  she   getting in 

trouble for?  Why   does she,  why   does she  get   terminated? If  she   got terminated  for   dating a 

fan, is  it,   you’re not  allowed   to date   fans? Like  maybe   dating an  actor   is okay.  Someone   else in   the

entertainment   industry, dating  someone   else is  okay.   But then  there’s   still a   ban on  dating   fans.

And maybe  she   meets a  fan   and the  fan   is the  kind   of person  she   wants to  spend   her life  with   or spend 

her time  with   that should  be   allowed. But  then   if she’s  not   allowed to  do   that, that  is   a ban  on

dating fans.  So   the love  ban   is clearly  a   very real  thing,   but no  one   wants to  admit   it because  once

they admit  it, then  it   has to  be   like a  human’s   rights issue.  Because   are you  allowed   to tell  people

they’re not  allowed   to date  or fall  in   love or  have   relationships? And  we’re   in a   country that  is

having like  a   massive decline  in   population. Is  it   really appropriate  to   have these  people   who

aren’t allowed  to   pursue relationships  and   maybe have  babies   and stuff?  Because   one of  the   idols,

a long  time   ago, again,  I   don’t remember  what   group or  anything.   She had   like five  kids   with an 

actor. I  mean,   she did   her part.   So the  love   ban is  clearly   actually a  real   thing, but  it’s   just not 

written down  because   that would  probably   be illegal.  So   these companies  are   trying to  get

around it.  But   if you  actually   try to   date, you  could   lose your  job,   which is  even   if it’s  not

written down,  that   is clearly  just   as much  punishment.   And man,  these   are just  people

being like  people   and the  fans,   they get  upset,   but it’s  like,   I’m sorry,  you’re   not going  to get 

to date  them   if the  love   ban is  in place.  Like,   let’s say  that   is your  fantasy.   Like this  one   fan,

he achieved  the   dream. He  started   dating his  favorite   idol. How  is it  you’re   going to  support

the love  ban?   Because that  actually   makes it  impossible   for you  to   end up  achieving   your dream. 

But I  guess   the idea  is   they shouldn’t  be   allowed to  date   anyone else,  only   me. And  of   course,

that is  a   kind of  weird,   pathetic thing  idol   fans do.  Yokohama   City was  terrorized   by its  own

supervillain. This  is   actually weirdly  true.   You don’t  get   to talk  about   this. They  called   him the 

black masked  bumping   grandpa. In  Japanese,   it was  the   Kuro Masuku  no   Butsukari Oji  -san.

And so  this   is a  real   guy who  did   real awful  things.   So he  was   targeting elementary  students

who were  walking   to school.  So   kids in  Japan,   they meet  sort   of on  the   corner of  roads,   and then  they

will walk  together   to school  in   little groups.  But   sometimes you  have   to walk   on your   own to  get   to

the corner.   Part of  my   job when  my   kids were  in   elementary school  is   like once   a month   or

once every  two   or three  months,   I would  have   to be  sort   of an  escort.   I wasn’t  guiding   the kids. 

I just  had   to be  there   in case  something   happened. If  something   happened, I  was   supposed to  step   in

as the   responsible adult.  This   was shared  among   all the  parents.   I don’t  think   anyone minded  because

it was  like   a five,  10   minute walk  to   the school  and   you just  be   like, hey  kids,   all right,  bye  -bye,

when you  actually   have the  school   in sight.  May   26th at  724   a .m.,  a   seven -year  -old   girl

was walking  to   school. He  ran   up and  body   slammed the  child.   Now, I  really   want to  know   if he  really

body slammed  the   child. Like  did   he jump  in   the air  and   land on  a   child? Because  in   my image, 

he’s an  adult   male. He’s  supposed   to be  in   his 50s  or   60s. I  actually   don’t remember  what   it was. 

But he’s,  you   know, in  that   weird zone,  weirdo   zone that  we   have on  Injuni   News of  Japan.

You could  kill   a child.  Like   if I  body   slammed a  seven  -year -old,  I   absolutely   could kill  them.

Did he  pick   the child  up   and then  like   slammed him  to   the ground?  That   could kill  a   child. Like 

kids are  springy   and bouncy  and   stuff. But  when   you apply  a   certain amount  of   weight to  them,

they are  crushed.   It is  one   of the  scary   things about  children   is how  easily   they could  be   crushed.

So if  he’s   body slamming  them,   I actually  kind   of want  to   know like  without   any sort  of   flavor

to the  writing.   What did  he   actually do?  Did   he pick  the   child up  and   throw them?  Did   he jump  on

them? Did  he   hit them?  Did   he slam  them?   On June  12th,   a girl  was   waiting at  a   traffic light  and   it

says she   was tackled.  Now,   again, what  does   that mean?  He   just ran  up   and like  slammed   his body  into

hers? Because  that   seems like  what   he’s doing.  If   I’m taking  this   as accurate  reporting,   he like  ran

full speed  into   a child  on   the road.  So   this is  on   the road.  It’s   on the  sidewalk.   So that’s  on   concrete.

That is  doing   real damage  to   a child.  And   as a  parent,   I can  tell   you he  would   not have  the

opportunity to  do   it twice  if   I was  involved.   Now, when  he   tackled the  kid   on June  12th,

teachers saw  it   and they  called   the police.  Now,   the fact  that   the teachers  did   not chase  this   dude

down, did  not   follow him,  did   not get  him   really upsets  me.   Because as  an   adult in  that   situation,

if I  saw   someone attack  a   child, I  would   step in.  Now,   I know  it’s   really dangerous  for   a foreign 

person to  step   into a  Japanese   situation, but  I   could at  least   stop them.  I   could stand  in   between

them. And  if   he tried  to   take off,  I   could follow  him   while speaking  to   the police.  But   the fact  that

they just  like   kind of  saw   this and  called   the cops  and   just let  it   go, that  bothers   me because  it

seems like  those   teachers didn’t  actually   do anything.  Police   increased   patrols around  the   area.

They saw  a   man loitering  in   the area  and   then they  went   up and  spoke   to him  and   that led  to   his arrest. 

He admitted  it.   He said,  there   is no  doubt   about what  I   did and  I   have no  objections.   Now,

I don’t  know   if he  means   he has  no   objections to  the   way he  behaved   or if  he   has no  objections   to

being arrested  or   denying the  charges   or whatnot.  But   looking at  bengoshi  .com, this  came   up and  it   was

talking about  like,   what is  the   crime? So  it’s   assault. There’s  two   kinds of  assault   because

there’s assault  where   you just  like   push someone  and   they don’t  get   hurt. And  then   there’s   grievous

assault   basically where  if   someone gets  hurt.   So that  first   kid who  was   body slammed  said   he hurt  her

knees. But  again,   I don’t  know   what that  means.   I don’t  know   if it’s  like   you had  to   spend time 

at home  in   bed because  you   couldn’t walk.  You   had scrapes  because   you just  kind   of fell  down

because again,  body   slammed is  actually   really vague  as   a descriptor  of   what the  person   was doing. 

But all  I   know is  that   an adult  man   attacking, and  it   seemed   primarily   little girls.  I   think there 

should be  like   a new  thing.   I think  someone   is assault,  but   attacking   children has  to   be a  new

worst crime  because   dude, I  would   wreck that  guy.   Toritetsu is  another.   So we’re  learning   some

Japanese today.  We   learned Kuro  Mask   no Butsukari  Ojisan,   the black  masked   bumping grandpa. 

And Toritetsu.  Toritetsu   are the  people   who are  super   into trains.  They   love trains.  They’re   super

train nerds.  And   they take  pictures   of them.  So   their main  hobby   would actually  be   taking pictures  of

trains. I’m  sure   they ride  them   and try  to   find all  the   special ones.  There   have been  stories   in

the past  about   these guys  just   like going  way   too far  is   the only  way   you can  say   it. They 

kind of  fight   with each  other   when they’re  trying   to get  the   right picture.  They   want to  like,   I’m in 

the right  spot.   And then  someone   else wants  to   move into  the   same spot  because   they want  the   same

picture from  the   same angle.  So   they fight  amongst   themselves. An  innocent   bystander will  walk   by

and they’ll  all   get really  angry   at him  because   he’s ruining  their   picture. There  is   a fairly  famous   meme of  a

guy on  a   bicycle. So  there   was a  train   and it  came   around this  one   specific corner  and   all the  train

nerds were  out   taking their  pictures.   And this  guy   just rode  past   on a  bicycle   and they  were   all

shouting at  him.   He didn’t  speak   Japanese. We  started   waving. And  so   that’s actually  a   meme. I  don’t

think I’d  be   like more  than   five, eight  years   ago. So  this   is it.  They   get violent  in   a way.  The   thing is 

these are  all   train nerds.  So   they’re not  like   guys who  are   physical. So  they’ll   shout and  they’ll   say

like, I  will   kill you.  But   then they  don’t   actually like  do   anything. This  seems   to be  a   case of  they

decided to  get a  little   more bold.  This   was the  final   run of  the   Cassiopeia   connecting Ueno  and

Sapporo. So  this   is a  very   special train.  It’s   like a  sleeper   train. You’ll  be   on it  for   like a  night.

You sleep  on   the train.  You   get a  nice   bed. All  this   other stuff.  And   there is  one   place where  there

is a  very   scenic photo  spot.   And the  Toritetsu   value it  a   lot because  I   guess I  would   assume it’s 

coming around  an   angle or  something.   And you  get   to see  it   come around  a   mountain and  there’s   like maybe 

some ocean  behind   you. Like  I’m   just guessing.  But   it’s something  like   that. Maybe  it   comes out 

of a  forest.   It comes  out   of a  tunnel.   It goes  into   a tunnel.  Something   like that  that’s   really

important to  the   train nerds.  So   a lot  of   them turned  up   for this  very   special day  because   it’s

the last  run   of this  train.   So if  you   can get  a   picture of  the   last run  of   this train  in   this

very scenic  spot,   that best  picture,   it’s going  to   be a  dream   come true  for   these guys. 

One of  the   guys came  back   to find  his   rental car  had   been   vandalized. The  windshield   had been 

shattered and  the   body of  the   car had  been   kicked. I  mean,   they must  have   known it  was   this guy’s 

rental because  they   didn’t know  it   was his  car   unless he  rents   the exact  same   car every  time.

But that  is   absolutely   crazy. They  found   that this  guy   was in  the   same place  taking   pictures. They 

must have  hated   him for  some   reason   previously. And  while   he was  out   taking   pictures, they  went   back

and started  booting   the crap  out   of his  car.   And one  23  -year -old  was   arrested, but  police   suspect it 

might’ve been  like   a party  or   a group  that   was involved  and   they are  still   investigating.

So they  have   crossed the  sort   of Rubicon,  the   border, the  line,   the event  horizon   of violence, 

where they’ve  gone   from, we’re  going   to shout  stuff   at people  to   we’re actually  going   to do  stuff,

which is  a   little scary  because   these guys  do   travel in  packs   and they  are   incredibly   passionate.

There is  a   temple in  Asakusa   and a  man   saw another  man   and he  went   up and  accused   him of  trying   to

to tori  tetsu,   which is  no,   no, that’s  not   right. He  saw   another man.  He   went up  and   said, Hey, 

I saw  you   were trying  to   take illicit  pictures.   So maybe  he   was trying  to   put his  smartphone   under

someone’s   skirt. He  had   a weird  angles.   He was  trying   to take  pictures   of to  get   pictures of  ladies,

but he  was   taking illicit  pictures.   And he  said,   you were  filming,   weren’t you?  The   money,

1 million  yen.   So basically  he’s   saying, give  me   a million  yen,   or I’m  going   to report  you   to the 

police. This  last   couple of  weeks,   there were  a   lot of  people   trying to  blackmail   other people. 

There was  a   guy who  had   had sex  with   a 19  year   old and  then   posted it  online.   And then  two   friends

of the  19   year old  came   up and  said,   like, you  have   to give  us   4 million  yen,   or we’re  going   to

like expose  you   to everybody  or   something. It  was   weird. That  was   interesting   because it  was   like,

who was  wrong?   The guy  who   did essentially  revenge   porn by  posting   stuff online  or   the guys  who   then

turned it  into   a blackmail  opportunity.   The internet  was   discussing who  was   right and  who

was wrong  in   that, which  was   very   interesting.   But this  one,   it’s the  same   problem. So  you   have

one guy  who’s   taking illicit  photos,   like upskirt  photos   and stuff  like   that. And  then   you have 

another guy  who   comes, tries  to   blackmail him.  They’re   both bad  in   their own  way.   Well, the  guy   who

was trying  to   do the   blackmailing   was also  extra   bad because  he   was able  to   recognize the  first   man

is taking  the   illicit photos,  I   guess,   technique wise,  because   he was  the   same kind  of   dude.

He had  actually   been arrested  for   something similar.  So   our hero  was   arrested for  something   else. And 

then when  they   got on  his   phone, because  they   always search  his   phone, there  were   a bunch  of

pictures of  women   bathing. So  I’m   assuming in  a   hot spring,  he   had got  his   camera over  the   top of  the

fence or  found   some crack  or   something. And  he   was taking  pictures   of the  women   bathing, which  he   was

not supposed  to   be taking.  So   police suspect  he   was also  doing,   oh, to  Satsu.   I had  just   gotten my 

Japanese mixed  up   from the  previous   story. So  Satsu   at the  shrine   and recognized  one   of his  own.   So

he’s like,  oh,   I recognize  what   that guy’s  doing.   That guy’s  doing   what I’m  doing.   His technique’s 

not as  good   as mine  because   I recognize  what   he’s doing.  So   here’s an  opportunity   for me  to   be

extra bad.  Not   only am  I   trying to  take   upskirt photos,  maybe   I can  get   a million  out   of this  guy

to blackmail  him.   So he  claims   he made  the   accusation.   Like I  walked   up to  him   and said,  you’re   taking

illicit photos.  But   then he  claims   he did  not   ask for  money,   which is  absolutely   not true.  100%.   If you 

were going  to   make the  accusation   and you’re  the   guy who  does   this kind  of   thing, like  he   didn’t go, 

hey, brother,  you   and me  should   team up  and   take extra  dirty   pictures. That  just   made me  immediately

think like  of   each other,  which   would be  safer.   It’s consensual.  But   no, you  and   I team  up   and we’ll  like

take dirty  pictures   together. No,  he   saw an  opportunity   to try  to   extort someone  because

he knew  what   he was  doing   and messed  it   up because  these   kind of  people   are losers.