The 2026 Lasker Basic Medical Research Award went to Masashi Yanagisawa and Emmanuel Mignot for orexin. It explained narcolepsy, but the industry built sleeping pills first. The narcolepsy drug arrived 28 years later.

An experiment at Japan's SPring-8 finds davemaoite holds 0.08 wt% water at most, a tenth of past estimates, and points Earth's deep water to subducted crust instead.

Sony cancelled Physint in June and Xbox picked it up in September. English-language forums blamed Sony. Japanese forums argued about deadlines, budgets, and where they would even be able to play it.

JR East opened public voting on three successors to the Suica penguin, and about 58% of Japanese posts turned negative. What they object to, why the 2018 Takanawa Gateway vote poisoned the well, and why it may not last.

Japan lost about 1.9 million dogs in twelve years, yet its pet market grew to 12.7 billion dollars in fiscal 2025. Shipment tables show dog food going from 397 to 811 yen per kilogram.

A new Ghost in the Shell manga launched on Yanmaga Web on September 9, and Kodansha credits Masamune Shirow with the script and character design, not just the concept. No English version has been announced.

Japan culled 1,381,700 deer and wild boar in fiscal 2024, and 5.6 percent of that mass became meat. The rest goes to a hole in the ground or an incinerator, and the capacity is not there. Scotland does it differently.

KADOKAWA is merging five anime studios, ENGI among them, into Studio One Base in November 2026. What the deal changes for overseas viewers, and what it does not.

KADOKAWA CEO Takeshi Natsuno kept his board seat on June 24 with 59.68% support, down 30.58 points, while Oasis Management's removal bid drew 26.79%. What the split vote meant, and what the next quarter showed.