Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on June 2014

BIG IN JAPAN

• An apparently serious newspaper report claimed that traditional fundoshi loincloths are enjoying a comeback thanks to their “superior airflow” and “reputation for energizing [the] wearer when the strings are tightened.”
• The education ministry has commissioned a panel of nutrition experts to develop school textbooks that stress “the importance of food and table manners.”
• For the first time ever, ANA has topped JAL in a metric called “monthly international passenger transportation capacities,” whatever the heck that is.
• The owner of a frame store in Shimane has found what experts believe to be the oldest existing photograph of the Takeshima islets.

WHY SO GLUM, CHUM?

• A government survey has found that about 85 percent of youngsters in the U.S., France, Germany, South Korea, Sweden and the U.K. feel “hopeful about the future.”
• In Japan, the figure is 62 percent.
• The survey also found that Japanese youth rank dead last in terms of “expecting to feel happy when they’re 40 years old.”
• Japan also has the lowest percentage of young people who agree with these statements: “I am happy with myself” and “I have my good points.”

FEELING THE HEAT

• Authorities at the environment ministry say the number of days in which temperatures reach 30 degrees Celsius or higher could “more than triple by the end of the century.”
• That means Tokyoites will get an extra two months of August-type weather.
• Officials at the health ministry say the number of babies born in Japan last year—1,029,800—was the lowest since they began keeping records in 1899.
• At the same time, the fertility rate—the average number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime—inched up from 1.41 to 1.43.

GETTING LOOPY

• Executives at JR East announced that they’re planning to build a new train station on the Yamanote line. It will be completed by the start of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
• The new stop will be between Shinagawa and Tamachi stations, which are separated by 2.2km—the longest distance between two stops on the line.
• The as-yet-unnamed station will be the first new stop added to the line since Nishi-Nippori debuted way back in 1971.
• After the station opens, the number of stops on the Yamanote line will be a nice round 30.

A CLOSER LOOK

• Among the features of Tokyo’s new National Stadium, which will serve as the main venue for the 2020 Olympics, are “15,000 seats that can be moved toward the field to give spectators a greater sense of immediacy.”
• The stadium will also feature an air conditioning system that shoots out cold air from the backs of seats.
• An explosion on the 998-ton oil tanker Shoko Maru off Himeji killed the ship’s captain and critically injured four crew members.
• Bottom Story of the Week: “Goats Clear Weeds at Tokyo Housing Complex” (via The Japan News)