Notices by Minoru Saba (minorusaba@toad.social), page 11

"...if there is sufficient interaction with foreign residents, exclusionism tends to decline"
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20251107/p2a/00m/0na/043000c
🔸Fear of the "unknown" with "unknown" probably encompassing anyone beyond nodding acquaintances would fit the murahachibu (村八分), frog-in-well mentality.

@Aviation_Librarian Thanks for posting this.
Brought back memories as a kid of the long haul flight from Tokyo Haneda to London Heathrow via Anchorage and Copenhagen in the early '60s.
Can remember the boiled sweets being handed out before take off and making sure where the sick-bag was. Not sure about the cruising altitude, but flights could get bumpy at times.

Debussy: Suite bergamasque, CD 82:
III. Clair de lune
Performed by Nobuyuki Tsujii
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pT65oAHyN68

Infection status
Released Nov 7, 2025.
- As of period from Oct 27 - Nov 2, 2025 -

No. of patients per medical facility (nationwide) 2.28
Change from prev. week +0.03
[Source: Health-Labor-Welfare Ministry weekly report]
https://www.mhlw.go.jp/content/001591873.pdf
🔸End of 13th wave?
Saga at 1.25, Tokyo at 1.33, Akita at 3.36, Hokkaido at 3.89, Okinawa at 1.31, #Niigata at 4.55

#Influenza (nationwide) at 14.9
Change from prev. week +11.64
#Miyagi at 28.58
https://www.mhlw.go.jp/content/001591812.pdf
🔸Sharp rise
#CovidIsNotOver #Japan

holy shit i just paid almost $20 for 1lb of non-fancy coffee

If you want to satiate AI’s hunger for power, Google suggests going to space
Google engineers think they already have all the pieces needed to build a data center in orbit.
https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/11/if-you-want-to-satiate-ais-hunger-for-power-google-suggests-going-to-space/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

Oh, and by the way, this is an excellent book

#PrideAndPudding by #RegulaYsewijn

https://tales-from-topographic-kitchens.ghost.io/a-timeless-book-on-the-history-of-british-puddings/

#Cookbooks #CookbookBrowsing #Food #link

@me_valentijn @ai6yr @exador23
JGSDF will "provide support such as setting up and transporting box traps" and "will not be shooting bears themselves or even carrying firearms"
They will be "transporting hunters and digging burial sites for bear carcasses"
https://english.kyodonews.net/articles/-/64282

Seems there were too many bear sightings/attacks and overwhelmed local authorities asked JGSDF for logistical support. (Also the JGSDF hasn't been trained to take on bears...)

@ai6yr And if it *is* loaded with a nuke, you'll get plenty of additional opportunities to see ICBMs within about 30 minutes.

Enjoyed reading The Atlantic's take on the highly incestuous and circular investments that are powering AI companies as they scrape and scrounge for more data centers. Or, why all this AI investment promises to be a lose/lose for everyone but the super rich. Tranches. Packaging and repackaging risky data center debt into financial instruments that people can buy or sell. Does any of this sound remotely familiar?

"Boom and bust can feel like two sides of the same coin: Consider also that if AI companies deliver on their massive investments, it would likely mean producing a technology so capable and revolutionary that it wipes out countless jobs and sends an unprecedented shock wave through the global economy before humans have time to adapt. (Perhaps we will be unable to adapt at all.) If they fail, there will likely be unprecedented financial turmoil as well."

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2025/10/data-centers-ai-crash/684765/

@McWabbit @DavidBHimself
Mariah started her Japan tour in Kobe just before Halloween😱
https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2416294/full/

"Horii, 71, was chosen as a recipient of the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette, becoming the first game designer to receive this honor. Another recipient of the same decoration is manga creator Go Nagai, 80"
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/11/03/japan/society/dragon-quest-creator-autumn-honors/

With bear sightings & attacks increasing in Japan, was wondering if using skunks would be effective.
From a bear's POV, apparently not...

https://www.backpacker.com/skills/ask-a-bear-skunk-spray-as-deterrent
"The main threat a skunk offers is the irritation and intensity of a full-on blast"
"And sometimes, a skunk blast doesn’t keep me from launching an attack. How many times has a family dog returned reeking of mustelid, happily wagging its tail? If Fido can face down a skunk, so can I"

So, don't swear by anti-bear sprays?😨

"Toho has officially revealed the title of its next “Godzilla” feature: “Godzilla -0.0” (Godzilla Minus Zero)"
"...Toho appears to be signaling a continuation of Yamazaki’s “Minus” saga while teasing a thematic reset implied by the “Zero” in its title. No plot or release date has yet been announced"
https://variety.com/2025/film/news/godzilla-minus-zero-toho-1236568163/

It's Culture Day (3 Nov) today in Japan.
Finally becoming autumnal outside, so perhaps a spot of tree-watching later on.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_Day
In the cultural honours list, it seems Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii will receive the 旭日小綬章(The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette), a first for a game creator.
https://www.jiji.com/jc/p?id=20251103092001-0087948671

So I'd like to discuss something that I've been noticing on the Fedi, (Mastodon in particular), and I'm not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing?

Boosting.

When Mastodon was smaller, boosting was seen as the life blood of the place. Having no algorithm meant that if you saw something fun or interesting, you boosted it so that others could see it as well.

And then Twitter became a dumpster fire and Mastodon had a growth spurt.

(P1)

So boosting dropped significantly. At it's peak I remember when favorites and boosts were almost equal. There were always more favorites, but boosts were maybe 5 or 10% less.

Now it's around 50%.

If there's a post with 100 favorites, chances are high that it only has around 45 to 55 boosts.

And it's dropping. Because people have become more concerned with the assumption of the repetitiveness of boost, less people are boosting.

(p3)

Infection status
Released Oct 31, 2025.
- As of period from Oct 20 - Oct 26, 2025 -

No. of patients per medical facility (nationwide) 2.25
Change from prev. week -0.32
[Source: Health-Labor-Welfare Ministry weekly report]
https://www.mhlw.go.jp/content/001589490.pdf
🔸Week 19 of 13th wave
Saga at 2.38, Tokyo at 1.37, Akita at 3.32, Hokkaido at 3.09, Okinawa at 1.69

#Influenza (nationwide) at 6.29
Change from prev. week +3.03
Okinawa at 19.4, Kanagawa at 11.88
https://www.mhlw.go.jp/content/001589611.pdf

#CovidIsNotOver #Japan

"Japan's Super Sentai superhero franchise is coming to an end after 50 years [due in part to] inadequate revenues from related events, tie-in goods and movie adaptations"
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20251031/p2g/00m/0et/002000c
🔸TV news show added that the dwindling number of children in Japan had affected ratings. Apart from which, people seem to be moving away from traditional TV channels to video content on the web.

As with Xmas revellers in Japan probably see Halloween just as another good excuse for a knees-up without being particularly bothered about its origins.
https://blog.gaijinpot.com/halloween-in-japan/
Shops and bars probably viewed it as yet another event where purse strings would be loosened, until it wasn't.
https://www.tokyoweekender.com/japan-life/shibuya-halloween-2025-rules-and-restrictions/
(Thinks... do people still have purses with strings?😓)