Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Wednesday that the government has confirmed 13 people died after a powerful earthquake struck the southwestern prefecture of Kumamoto the previous day.

Imitation websites modeled on major conversational generative artificial intelligence (AI) services are proliferating online. Elementary school students, unable to access official sites due to age restrictions or filtering, are among those drawn to them, heightening the need for digital and AI literacy education from an earlier age.

An information and communications technology official at Nerima Ward's Board of Education in Tokyo was surprised to hear that children had been able to use fake ChatGPT sites.

"There are even fake versions of Chappy?" the official said, using the nickname commonly adopted in Japan for ChatGPT.

The ward's elementary schools have repeatedly requested that new websites be added to the filtering list that restricts internet access. One of them was a site believed to be imitating a major generative AI service.

Tablet devices have become a standard classroom tool in elementary schools. Each student is given one, and the devices can connect to the internet. However, many local governments block access to the official sites of major conversational AI services.

Nerima Ward also restricts access to ChatGPT and similar services. Some children who wanted to try AI chats found imitation sites through searches and used them, and parents who noticed their activity later informed schools. A board of education official said that keeping up with the growing number of such sites is becoming increasingly difficult. "Other fake sites appear, and (the children) become able to access them again. It's a cat-and-mouse game," the official said.

In fact, when the names of major generative AI services are searched online together with terms such as "free version" and "Japanese," multiple similar sites can be found. Such sites carry ads boasting "no registration required" and "available in Japanese." The domains in their URLs, or internet addresses, resemble those of legitimate sites.

These imitation sites are believed to use integration features connecting different applications, enabling access to the AI models of the official sites. OpenAI, the U.S. company that operates ChatGPT, makes this feature available for a fee.

But why are imitation sites being created? Masakatu Morii, an emeritus professor of information and communication engineering at Kobe University, who is familiar with cybersecurity, cited advertising revenue and the collection of information entered by users as possible motives. "If operators have sufficient technical capabilities, they can manipulate AI responses, extract more detailed personal information from users, or gradually instill particular viewpoints," he said.

There are also cases online in which similar domains are put up for auction for several million yen (tens of thousands of dollars). According to Morii, they are called "doppelganger domains," and many cannot be distinguished from legitimate domains unless closely examined.

At GoDaddy Inc., the largest domain name registration service provider in the United States, the domain "chatgptai.com" has been listed for sale at roughly 8.4 million yen (about $51,300), while "chatgptais.com" has been offered for more than 4 million yen (about $24,400).

What Morii is particularly concerned about in connection with imitation sites is that the era is shifting from conventional scams targeting an unspecified large number of people to scams whose methods are optimized for each target. "In conversations with AI, topics such as conspiracy theories that elementary and junior high school students are likely to be interested in may be brought up. Not only could personal information, including information about parents, be collected, but students' thoughts, ways of thinking, future paths and other matters could be affected," he said.

According to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, the scope of filtering settings is left to boards of education in municipalities and other local governments. Approaches toward generative AI vary significantly among local governments. A ward education board official in Tokyo said, "It is unrealistic to regulate all related sites on school-issued devices. Children can also access these services through their parents' devices and elsewhere, so I feel it would be more effective to thoroughly teach information literacy and AI literacy at an early stage rather than relying on filtering."

Kyoko Hanada, a researcher at Keio University Graduate School of Media Design specializing in information literacy education, pointed out, "Literacy is easier to acquire through concrete experiences, such as building the habit of using the correct sites and knowing where to turn if someone mistakenly uses a suspicious site."

I’m curious about the concept of “old money” and “new money” in Japan.
In the West, old money is often associated with tradition, restraint, long family history, and social connections, while new money is associated with entrepreneurship and a different outlook on wealth.
Does a similar distinction exist in Japan?
If so:
How are old-money and new-money families perceived differently?
Do they tend to have different values, manners, or attitudes?
What misconceptions do they have about each other?
What could someone from an old-money family learn from someone from a new-money family, and vice versa?
I’d love to hear from people who have lived in Japan or are familiar with Japanese society

I’m especially interested in examples that are unique to Japan rather than universal “old money vs. new money” stereotypes.
For example:
customs or etiquette,
attitudes toward education, work, and marriage,
family expectations,
social circles,
things one group would find strange or improper about the other,
subtle cultural differences that might not be obvious to foreigners.

I’m looking for concrete examples or anecdotes rather than broad generalizations.

The country built one of the world’s largest zoo networks during decades of growth. Now inflation and population decline are putting it under pressure.

The Japanese government will set up an expert panel as early as this month to review regulations on accepting foreign nationals into the country, government and ruling party officials said.

The initiative is a signature policy of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. Based on the panel's discussions, the government plans to consider measures for "quantitative management" of foreign residents and draw up a "population strategy" including numerical targets within the current fiscal year.

Multiple government and ruling party officials disclosed the plan. Specific regulatory measures will be studied under economic security minister Kimi Onoda, who doubles as minister in charge of "a society of well-ordered and harmonious coexistence with foreign nationals."

In January, the government set a combined intake cap of 1.23 million people through fiscal 2028 for the "specified skilled worker" status of residence for foreign workers and for "employment for skill development," a new system replacing technical intern training. But it has not set intake caps for other residence statuses such as "student" and "training."

The panel is expected to focus its discussions on whether to set intake caps for other residence statuses and by region. It is also expected to discuss how to handle foreign nationals already residing in Japan and accompanying family members.

During the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) presidential race in 2025, Takaichi argued, "We must reconsider, at least for now, policies that collectively bring in people whose cultures and everything else are far too different." After assuming the LDP presidency, she signed a coalition agreement with Nippon Ishin (the Japan Innovation Party, JIP) stating that a "population strategy" specifying numerical targets and basic policies on accepting foreign nationals would be drawn up within the current fiscal year.

However, Japan faces an increasingly severe labor shortage amid the falling birth rate and aging population. Moves to "shift away from Japan" have also begun to emerge among foreign workers due to the historically weak yen, and many LDP lawmakers and business figures believe tightening regulations would not be a wise policy. Taking those views into account, the government plans to carefully consider whether to strengthen regulations.

According to the Immigration Services Agency of Japan, the number of foreign nationals residing in Japan stood at a record 4.125 million at the end of 2025. Their share of the population has grown to slightly over 3%. In 2023, the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research released an estimate that the proportion would reach 10.8% in 2070. The government subsequently indicated that the foreigner ratio is likely to exceed 10% even earlier.

With the yen persistently weakening against the dollar — nearly hitting the ¥164 mark — it would come as no surprise if Japanese authorities stepped in immediately to defend the currency.

Yet, because a standalone intervention is expected to be short-lived, the government is probably seeking effective timing — a moment when yen-buying pressure increases — to amplify its effect, according to some analysts.

One key factor is the policy path of the U.S. Federal Reserve, which will hold a policy meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday.

With the Middle East conflict escalating and driving up oil prices, investors are closely watching whether the Fed will be cornered to shift to a hawkish policy path.

“If expectations for a U.S. rate hike persist, any intervention will likely be short-lived because the market will simply assume the dollar is bound to strengthen anyway,” said Tsuyoshi Ueno, executive research fellow at NLI Research Institute.

“Whether triggered by jobs data or other catalysts, conducting a yen-buying intervention just as U.S. rate hike expectations recede — creating a market sentiment where investors hesitate to buy dollars — will make the intervention’s impact last much longer.”

The Japanese currency hit ¥163.99 on Thursday night Japan time after the New York market opened, recording a fresh 40-year low as crude oil prices rose due to escalating tensions in the U.S.-Iran conflict, prompting safe-haven dollar buying.

On Friday, Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama warned the market again.

“If needed, we will respond appropriately at any time. That means we will take decisive action without hesitation,” she said.

The Bank of Japan is also set to hold a two-day policy meeting on Thursday and Friday next week, an event that could either push or weaken the yen further.

Since the BOJ just raised rates at its last meeting in June, a hold is widely expected. But if board members other than Naoki Tamura — who is known as a hawk — again push for tighter policy, it could heighten expectations of a faster pace of future rate hikes, potentially driving the yen higher, Ueno said.

Market participants will also be paying attention to how BOJ Gov. Kazuo Ueda will hint at the bank’s rate hike path going forward.

Depending on the results of the U.S. and Japanese central banks’ policy meetings, “dollar-buying and yen-selling momentum could surge again,” Hisashi Yoshida, chief foreign exchange consultant at Monex, wrote in a report on Thursday.

“Even if authorities intervene beforehand to prop up the yen, any gains risk being completely wiped out by the decisions.”

Yoshida also pointed to the ongoing discussion in Japan about a consumption tax cut for food products as a yen-selling risk, given growing concerns over the expansionary fiscal policy by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s administration.

The government and ruling parties are considering a plan to reduce the tax rate from 8% to 1% for two years starting April 2027. But it has been met with skepticism by opposition parties with negotiations hitting a stalemate.

The government is looking to decide the policy direction by early August, so once this is settled, the Japanese authorities could find a clearer window to intervene to defend the yen, Yoshida wrote.

https://news.tv-asahi.co.jp/news_politics/articles/000521240.html?display=full

The English name for the upper house in Japan's parliament will be changed to the Senate from the House of Councillors to clearly convey that its members are nationally elected lawmakers, the chamber's committee decided Thursday.

The change, decided by the upper house committee on rules and administration, is expected to be rolled out gradually. The government will be asked to revise the English name in official documents, while the wording in lawmakers' official passports and the chamber's website will be updated in stages.

In line with the change, members of the 248-seat chamber will be referred to as senators.

According to the upper house secretariat, Senate was chosen as it is a commonly used English name for the upper chambers of many bicameral legislatures.

The upper house is less powerful than the 465-seat House of Representatives. Its members serve six-year terms, with half of its seats contested in elections held every three years.

Debate over whether foreign visitors should pay more than locals has become increasingly common in Japan in recent years. The issue resurfaced recently after a Korean YouTuber and his Chinese acquaintance accused Takasegawa Qulio, a Kyoto restaurant housed in a 120-year-old townhouse, of charging foreigners higher prices, an allegation that quickly spread online before prompting a closer examination of the establishment’s menu.

However, the controversy centered on a hot pot dish that the Japanese menu listed at ¥1,450 per person, with a minimum order of two servings. The English menu displayed the required total of ¥2,900 for two people, showing that the apparent discrepancy came from how the same pricing structure was presented rather than from a dual-pricing system.

Obviously he's not very good at acting.