A lump of iron from a Toyama riverbed turned out to be a meteorite. Enomoto Takeaki had five swords forged from it in 1898, and the same rock later served as a reference for researchers analysing Tutankhamun's dagger.

Chiikawa the Movie took 8.07 billion yen in 20 days. A random figurine, then a Bonbon Drop sticker: how Japan's moviegoer-gift system built the repeat viewing behind that number, and where the film opens next.

Kagawa University Hospital treated a three-year-old girl's recurrent C. diff colitis with her father's gut bacteria. A year on, no relapse. US-approved products exclude children, and the EU sets shared rules in 2027.

Japan's Environment Ministry dropped a plan in August 2026 to list every cat as invasive. On Amami Oshima, 727 forest cats were caught over seven years, 723 were rehomed, and no euthanasia was recorded.

Navitas sued Renesas on August 10, 2026 over four US patents covering SuperGaN. The CEO who filed it once ran that business inside Renesas, which sued first over trade secrets and holds 39.9 percent of Wolfspeed.

Japan's Neko Kentei cat exam has drawn roughly 40,000 takers since 2017. Three levels of 100 questions each, part of every fee funds stray-cat neutering, and your cat is officially allowed on camera.

Metaplanet moved 5,014 BTC between its own custody addresses for about $8 in fees, and the market assumed a sale. Why nobody believed the denial, and what the balance sheet says.

Sony and TSMC signed a binding deal on August 11 to build smartphone image sensors in Kumamoto, contributing about 747 billion yen ($4.7 billion) toward production in 2029. TSMC takes only 38% and lets Sony lead.

A Czech team pooled five studies on what competitive gaming does to the body. Energy use barely moves, 1.3 to 2.5 kcal a minute, while heart rate can jump from 85 to 137 bpm. In Japan, the argument is about the word.