Technology

Japanese Gamer Skips Middle School to Work on Fortnite Skills

It's a rare move in a country with no legal structure for homeschooling - but the gamer and his parents stand by the family's decision.

More Restaurants in Japan Move to Smartphone Menus. Here’s Why Some Customers Hate It

It's not just old people who are grousing. Even young Japanese say they resent restaurants sucking up their battery life and bandwidth.

Dangerous – or Dated? Japan Debates Use of Smartphones Near Train Priority Seats

A recent social media post has sparked debate over a longstanding rule of smartphone use that has no basis in fact.

Japan Cancels Billion-Yen AI Child Abuse Detection System After Failed Tests

The Children & Families Agency says it's giving up on the system after experts determined the agency didn't have enough data.

How Video Games Trapped a Japanese Teenager in Myanmar

At least one of two Japanese kids rescued recently was kidnapped by scammers via a growing recruitment avenue: online games such as Fortnite.

Near Riot in Akihabara Over Store Raffle of New NVIDIA GPUs

Resellers appear to have struck again in Japan - this time, causing chaos in a rush to buy up the new NVIDIA RTX 5080/5090 GPUs.

Japan Will Eliminate Credit Card Signatures Soon. Will That Impact Travel?

As of March 2025, Japan will eliminate the "PIN bypass" procedure that's allowed customers to get away without entering their secret code.

Japanese Combini Uses Overseas-Operated Avatars for Night Shifts

How do you keep combini in Japan operating 24 hours a day during a labor shortage? Lawson thinks it has the answer.

Self-Driving Taxis Will Hit Tokyo Streets on a Test Run in 2025

Waymo is partnering with two companies in Japan to pilot self-driving "robotaxis" in seven cities in Tokyo next year. The experiment could provide more taxi capacity in the face of a chronic labor shortage. But is it safe?

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