GoKawiil
Tech News
A long-term resident recounts his personal journey naturalizing as a Japanese citizen, beginning with an initial consultation at the Legal Affairs Bureau in 2012. He describes the process as intentionally opaque, requiring extensive documentation, taking over a year, and involving subjective judgment from officials. The account blends his own experiences, opinions and selected facts about dealing with the Ministry of Justice.
Burger King Japan disclosed that unauthorized third parties accessed a server managing its official app's member data between October 2 and 7, 2026, exposing 11.18 million records including names, birth dates, gender, emails, phone numbers and order history. The company said it blocked the intrusion upon discovery, completed a follow-up investigation on October 13, and reported the incident to Japan's Personal Information Protection Commission.
Microsoft and Japan's National Police Agency disrupted a cybercrime operation centered on a marketplace called YAM Store and two phishing kits, CoGUI and Iron Man. Since January 2026, the network had reportedly sent over one billion malicious messages to more than 75,000 organizations in 150+ countries, including 750 million aimed at Microsoft customers, generating tens of millions of dollars for operators.
Since 2010, Google Japan has released a new novelty keyboard concept each year under its Gboard team banner, ranging from a single-key Morse code keyboard to a robotic joystick-controlled finger, a party-blower keyboard, a bubble-wrap keyboard, a bendable spoon keyboard, a teacup keyboard, and a single-row alphabetical bar keyboard. One of these gag concepts, Morse code input, was later actually added to Android's Gboard in 2018.
Japanese authorities confirmed that a Russian national wanted by Germany on an arrest warrant tied to a ransomware incident was detained upon entering Japan as a tourist and has now been extradited to Germany. The suspect is alleged to be a core member of the Qilin ransomware-as-a-service group, which has hit more than 2,350 organizations in 62 countries since emerging in 2022, including Nissan, Asahi, Lee Enterprises and Court Services Victoria.
IDC Frontier, a SoftBank Group subsidiary, reported that its IDCF Cloud service suffered a ransomware attack beginning October 7 at 3:40 AM local time, disrupting its East Japan Region 1 data center cluster. The company said 495 businesses and local government bodies using the cloud platform were affected, and it has disabled management console access across all regions while checking security.
Apple announced a new Apple Watch Activity Challenge available exclusively to users in Japan. Completing any workout of at least 30 minutes on October 10, logged through an app connected to Apple's Fitness app or through Apple Fitness+, unlocks a virtual achievement badge and exclusive Messages stickers.
Google Japan has revealed the Gboard Conveyor Belt Version, a novelty keyboard with four conveyor belts of 29 keys each that move toward the typist's fingers to reduce hand and arm movement. The design is part of Google Japan's annual October 1 tradition of releasing joke keyboard concepts, and the team says it may explore color variants, faster models, and a compact mobile version. Build plans, including 3D-printable STL files and KiCad schematics, have been published on GitHub.
A visit to the Shimano Bicycle Museum in Japan's Kansai region finds a modern glass-and-steel building housing an extensive, bilingual collection of bicycles spanning from early hobby horses to modern machines. The museum emphasizes the broader history of cycling and bicycle technology rather than Shimano's own corporate story, with exhibits including Freddy Maertens' steel Flandria bike displayed without barriers for close viewing.
Vertex Ventures Japan, a fund backed by Singapore's Temasek, has made an investment in Heartbeats, a Tokyo-based company building digital trading cards. The deal adds to a string of recent bets the fund has placed on Japanese startups.
Google Japan has revealed a DIY keyboard design called the 'rotating Gboard keyboard,' which places 29 keys on a moving conveyor belt instead of a fixed layout. Users type by waiting for the desired key to roll past rather than moving their fingers to reach it. The design isn't for sale, but Google has released open-source blueprints so people can build their own.
Sony Japan will only let PlayStation owners apply to buy a PS5 Pro if they hold a Japan-registered Sony account and have logged at least 60 hours on a PS5 or PS4 between September 2024 and September 2026. Applications open October 7, approved buyers can purchase between October 26 and November 2, and Sony will run a lottery if applications exceed available stock. The move comes as PS5 Pro units remain hard to find in the US amid ongoing component supply shortages Sony expects to last into early 2027.