Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on June 2014

EFF YOU VERY MUCH!

• The cheapest World Cup package being offered by leading travel agency JTB is a ¥685,000 plan that includes a three-night stay in Brazil and tickets to only one game.
• According to a survey by the US-based charity Save the Children, Japan is the worst of all G7 nations in which to be a mother.
• It was revealed that parents in Setagaya-ku have to wait the longest of anyone in the country to get their kids into daycare.
• Sentence of the Week: “A travel agency employee here [in Gifu] is under arrest for allegedly attempting to cover up his failure to properly plan a school trip by faking a letter from a local high school student insinuating suicide if the trip went ahead, police said.” (via Mainichi Japan)

HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN

• A team of researchers at Kyoto University says it has discovered the cause of diaper rash.
• Zookeepers at an animal park in Tochigi are offering visitors the chance to kick around a soccer ball with “a squad of 11 lambs… wear[ing] blue shirts similar to Japan’s national team uniform.”
• It was reported that Japanese women pay ¥50 billion a year on “multi-purpose cosmetics.”
• Lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow municipalities to charge admission fees to “national asset zones,” which include scenic areas and places of historical interest.

WHERE HAVE ALL THE CHILDREN GONE?

• According to the internal affairs ministry, there are 16.33 million children in Japan—an all-time low.
• In 1950, children aged 14 or under represented 35.4 percent of the population; today, the figure is 13 percent.
• The ministry says Japan has the lowest ratio of children among all 40 countries in the world with a population of at least 40 million.
• Tokyo and Okinawa were the only prefectures where the number of kids rose compared to a year earlier.

NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT

• In response to a report on “sleep guidance” issued by the health ministry, Osaka-based IT consulting firm Hugo Co. has asked employees to get some shuteye between 1pm and 4pm.
• Officials at the Consumer Affairs Agency are warning people to be on the lookout for “investment scams capitalizing on the hoopla surrounding the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.”
• A Cabinet Office survey of people aged between 13 and 29 in Britain, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Sweden and the U.S. has found that Japanese youth rank last in terms of “being confident in themselves” and “possessing positive characteristics.”
• Headline of the Week: “Man on Bike Throws Cup of Urine at Woman in 5th Such Incident Since April” (via Japan Today)

LOCAL FLAVORS

• It was reported that 12 prefectures have released guidebooks for male residents offering tips on how to deal with newborns.
• The handbook in Kagawa includes info on “recipes for baby food made of udon noodles.”
• Police in Fukuoka arrested a local man for attempting to smuggle stimulant drugs from Mexico that he had paid for with bitcoins.
• According to a survey by an LGBT support group, 69 percent of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students in the Kanto area have been bullied by their classmates.

Compiled from reports by AP, Japan Today, The Japan Times, Jiji, The Tokyo Reporter, The Mainichi, The Japan News, AFP, Reuters and Kyodo