School idols will create original songs, hold live performances.
Extracurricular activities at schools in Japan can be broadly divided into two categories. Some of them are the same sort of sports teams or cultural clubs as you’d find in many other countries, like a soccer team or marching band. Other activities, though, are uniquely Japanese, and often tied to centuries-old traditions, like kendo or sado (tea ceremony).
However, one high school is adding a new club that’s very Japanese but also rather modern: an idol club.
Nichidai High School is a private school in Nagano City, and with the new school year scheduled to start in spring, the administration is finalizing what sorts of extracurricular activities its students can choose from. Brand-new for 2026 will be the idol club, whose members will form an official idol unit to represent the school. As with other clubs, the idol club will hold meetings, practice sessions, and activities after class and on weekends. In addition to having specialized dance and vocal lessons, the club will create and distribute original songs, perform concerts, and appear at live events and on local radio and TV broadcasts.
While idol music is characterized by its upbeat sense of fun, the idol club itself is meant as a legitimate extracurricular activity where members can develop their skills as performers. The school hopes for it to become a point of pride on the level of its athletic teams, and similar to such systems for gifted athletes, special entrance-exam waivers may be granted to incoming idol club members with prior musical or dance performance experience. Even those without experience, though, are welcome to join the club.
The idea for the idol club comes from 49-year-old principal Yoshihisa Soeya, and the logic isn’t simply that having an idol club would be neat. Though it’s the prefectural capital, Nagano City sits in the center of some very wide rural zones, and doesn’t have nearly the same level of performing arts opportunities that more urbanized cities can offer. The gap gets even bigger for the Higashi Wada neighborhood where Nichidai High School is located, as it’s not even in the Nagano City center. By establishing an idol club, Soeya wants to provide students who are passionate about dance and music with a way to pursue those interests without having to move away to the big/a bigger city, while also deepening connections within the community.
Nichidai High School appears to be the first high school in Nagano to start a dedicated idol club, and may also be the first in the country to do so, and the news has quickly drawn comparisons from online commenters to the Love Live! anime franchise, in which the protagonists are members of their fictitious schools’ idol clubs. While some might scoff at the idea of idol music being given academic recognition, an argument can be made that it’s not really all that different from a school’s extracurricular activities including a jazz band or keiongaku/light music club, which focuses on pop/rock music. Those were also once seen more as “entertainment” than culture, but have now earned a level of respect and recognition where they’re seen as worthwhile as subjects of study and instruction. The same goes for jazz and hip-hop dance, so accepting idol music/dance as a viable genre for an extracurricular club might not really be so crazy.
Nichidai High School plans to hold an idol club orientation and sample lesson this coming weekend, and will be officially opening the club to first-year female students in the spring.
Source: Shinshu Mainichi Shimbun Digital via Yahoo! Japan News via Hachima Kiko
Top image: Pakutaso
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Military is only there to provide logistic support and not take part in any hunting.
With all the problems facing the world today, it’s easy to overlook the fact that parts of Japan are experiencing bear attacks at unprecedented levels. There have been nine deaths from bear attacks this year as of October, which already makes the total for 2025 an all-time high, and while attacks and sightings are difficult to quantify accurately, it is clear they are both on a sharp rise.
Bear encounters are also getting bolder as the year goes on. Just this week, a bear slammed into the side of a moving patrol car in Fukushima Prefecture, though it’s unclear if that was an attack or just an accidental collision. Also, a young bear walked right into the Town Hall of Nishimeya in Aomori Prefecture during working hours, but luckily ran away without anyone getting injured.
▼ Security footage of the bear in the town hall.
It’s becoming one of the top issues facing Japan, and whenever you read about a top issue facing Japan, know that politician Shinjiro Koizumi won’t be far behind. Having already largely cut the use of plastic bags at stores and tackled the skyrocketing price of rice, he now appears to be taking on the bear problem in his latest position as Minister of Defense.
On 4 November, Koizumi announced that the Ground Self-Defense Force (SDF) would be called in to help support population control of the bears. This is in response to a request for help from Governor Kenta Suzuki of Akita Prefecture in northern Japan. According to Suzuki, the prefecture’s resources are stretched too thin to be able to deal with the bears effectively.
▼ News report showing Koizumi’s announcement and some of the traps to be used. The SDF do have experience with animal capturing after helping to contain deer populations in Hokkaido.
However, the SDF will not use its weapons against the bears. Instead, they will assist local hunters with logistic support and by providing traps. According to the Ministry of Defense, SDF soldiers have no experience in bear hunting, but they are also legally restricted from directly engaging with the bears under the constitution of Japan.
Readers of the news online largely supported the move of bringing in the military to help the underfunded and undermanned parts of Japan, but some felt the SDF was being handicapped too much in handling the situation.
“At this point, it’s practically a natural disaster, so this makes sense.”
“If all they can do is provide logistical support, why not just use the police?”
“It seems like a waste for them to just help with logistics.”
“Hey, look. It’s Shinjiro again.”
“I hope this puts an end to the deaths.”
“It’s frustrating they can only be used for support. I think we should amend the laws.”
“Calling in the military just to do odd jobs?”
“I’m glad they’re being used to help rural areas, but why can’t they carry firearms? Diplomacy doesn’t work on bears. I hope they have a way to protect themselves.”
The SDF are prohibited from “use of force” by the constitution unless three conditions are met, the first being that a military force is attacking Japan or a close ally. Bears are not a military force, and thus the SDF can’t launch an assault on them. However, the soldiers would legally be able to carry firearms for the purpose of protecting themselves and the population, so that last commenter needn’t worry about that.
Luckily, there is a bit of a legal precedent for this kind of situation, albeit a fictional one, in the form of Godzilla. Shortly after the release of Shin Godzilla, the government ran a hypothetical thought exercise in how the military could legally be used against wildlife (in this case, a kaiju) if it posed a significant enough threat. They concluded that it could be done by classifying the weapons as “tools” used to prevent disasters.
This would also theoretically give the SDF the green light to go directly after the bears in the same way, but it would seem the Ministry of Defense feels the current situation doesn’t warrant the risk of doing such a thing.
▼ Most people would consider a tank a weapon, but it could be a tool when, say, using it to open a stubborn jar of pickles.
Constitutional law can be kind of confusing, so let me try to sum it up in layman’s terms: The Self-Defense Forces have the right to bear arms even if the bears aren’t armed aside from their bare bear arms, because the Self-Defense Forces could use armed force in self-defense. Also, unarmed bears could bear the brunt of armed force if the arms the armed forces bear bear the label of “tools”, much like our own bare, unarmed arms do, but bearing in mind the SDF would bear the blame if something went wrong.
So, in the end, this seems like a prudent first step in tackling this pressing issue. While minimizing injuries and deaths from bear attacks is the top priority, doing it in a way to preserve as much of the prefectures’ autonomy as possible while also minimizing bear deaths would be ideal.
Source: 47 News, Hachima Kiko, TUF, ATV
Top image: Pakutaso
Insert image: Pakutaso
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A beautiful blend of modern and traditional Japan.
Studio Ghibli loves to showcase Japanese culture in its movies… and its merchandise. Here to prove that fact is a new duo of lacquered trays that look like they belong in a traditional geisha teahouse, but look closely and you’ll find some beloved characters incorporated in the designs.
▼ The first tray features the three Totoros from the 1988 classic, My Neighbour Totoro.
All three characters look as surprised as we are at their traditional surroundings and the accompanying blossoms.
With the grey “Large Totoro” standing amongst blooms of wisteria and plum, we can see this is a seasonal display, with plum being a harbinger of spring and wisteria being associated with summer.
The Medium and Small Totoro are pictured alongside maple leaves and camellia blossoms, motifs strongly associated with autumn and winter.
▼ The second tray in the lineup features No Face, from the 2001 film Spirited Away.
This design features motifs from the movie that conjure up images of the magical bathhouse where a lot of the action takes place.
Surrounding No Face are the Soot Sprites, carrying their beloved colourful star-shaped komeito candies, just as they do in the film.
Both trays measure 27 × 19.8 × 2 centimetres (10.63 × 7.80 × 0.79 inches), making them perfect for serving tea and light snacks, or simply for holding precious items and small accessories. Made from melanin, the trays are light, easy to use and scratch-resistant, so you won’t have to worry about damaging the character designs.
The only problem is choosing which one to purchase, but at 3,080 yen (US$20.04) each you could purchase both without breaking the bank. If you do have funds to spare, though, your foray into the world of lacquered Ghibli items is just beginning as Donguri Kyowakoku has a wider range of matching goods in its merchandise collection.
▼ The new Totoro tray is a beautiful addition to the existing range of Totoro lacquerware.
▼ The new No Face tray adds an extra dash of red to the Spirited Away collection.
The new trays can be purchased at Donguri Kyowakoku stores online (Totoro here and No Face here), and the wider range of lacquerware including the recently restocked Totoro bento box, can be found here.
Source: Donguri Kyowakoku
Top image: Donguri Kyowakoku
Insert images: Donguri Kyowakoku (1, 2)
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Tomica dreams of sushi now too.
Since 1970, Japanese toymaker Takara Tomy’s Tomica line of diecast cars has been bringing compact but detailed replicas of the world’s coolest cars into fans’ homes. But recently, Tomica’s designers have started dreaming of things beyond the real-life automotive world with their Dream Tomica project.
We’ve seen those dreams materialize in the form of Tomica cars inspired by the films of Studio Ghibli and the Dragon Ball franchise, and now comes something else just as representative of Japan as those beloved anime with the reveal of Sushi Tomica.
Six cars are in the lineup, each an automotive reimagining of a piece of nigiri-style sushi. The car’s body is imagined as a block of pressed rice, but still has ricey representations of head and taillights, plus a rear license plate panel, if you look closely.
Each sushi car has a different “neta,” as sushi toppings are called in Japanese. There’s sushi mainstay maguro (tuna)…
…its upscale variant otoro (extra-fatty tuna)…
…tamago (egg) and ebi (shrimp), friends to sushi neophytes…
…and ika (squid) and anago (conger eel), for those with more adventurous palates.
Adding to the sense of immersion, the Sushi Tomica cars are sized the same as an actual sushi piece…
…and the display stands they’re bundled with are inspired by the plates used at sushi restaurants too.
The lineup goes on sale in late December, priced at 1,100 yen (US$7.35) each. However, in an omakase-order parallel, you don’t get to directly choose what kind of sushi you want, as individual purchases will be done in a blind buy/gacha format. Completionists, though, can opt for a complete box set that guarantees one of each Sushi Tomica car for 6,600 yen, and which can be preordered through the Takara Tomy Mall online store here.
Source: Takara Tomy via Japaaan
Top image: Takara Tomy
Insert images: Takara Tomy (1, 2)
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