Hitachi Global Life Solutions has unveiled a Y-series of EcoCute CO2 heat pump water heaters for Japan, with sales beginning progressively from November 2026. The flagship BHP-FV37YD and BHP-FV46YD models offer mains-pressure hot water in 370-liter and 460-liter capacities for three-to-five and four-to-six person households respectively, though full efficiency specs remain undisclosed. The key update is broader compatibility with electricity tariffs that reward daytime water heating, selectable directly via the unit's remote controller.
pv-magazine.com
· 2026-09-09
Sony Japan published a policy on September 1 defining customer harassment and warning it will restrict or suspend support for customers who cross the line, including abusive language, excessive demands, or intimidating behavior toward staff. The move comes after intense customer anger over Sony's plan to stop producing physical PlayStation discs by January 2028, a decision already facing several lawsuits.
tomshardware.com
· 2026-09-08
Japan's Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics Agency has approved mass production of the Terra B1, a 3D-printed rocket-powered interceptor drone built on Terra Drone's battle-tested A1 platform already used in Ukraine. The B1 beat out proposals from 37 other companies after demonstrating strong performance in range, speed, guidance and simultaneous-control capability during trials for Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Forces. Domestic production lines are expected to deliver the first units this month.
tomshardware.com
· 2026-09-05
The fire department in Kanazawa, Japan has released an Instagram video asking people to leave paramedics' removed shoes exactly where they were placed, rather than tidying them as is customary. Officials explained that crews position their footwear deliberately so three stretcher bearers can step in quickly without jostling a patient or dislodging an oxygen mask, and rearranging them can cost about 30 seconds during an emergency.
theguardian.com
· 2026-09-03
Filmmaker Dave Boyle, fresh off his horror breakout 'Never After Dark' set in Japan, has signed on to helm a new adaptation of Kiyoshi Kurosawa's 2001 supernatural thriller 'Pulse.' The original film centers on ghostly figures spreading through the internet, and Boyle's version will offer a fresh interpretation of that unsettling premise.
gizmodo.com
· 2026-09-02
Capcom's long-dormant Onimusha franchise returns after nearly two decades with Way of the Sword, casting players as a young, brash version of swordsman Miyamoto Musashi who is killed and resurrected by the series' signature Oni gauntlet to fight a demon invasion. The game blends its classic mythic samurai setting with precision-timed, parry-based combat reminiscent of modern Soulslike titles like Elden Ring.
cnet.com
· 2026-08-31
An essay examines how Japanese woodblock printmakers since the 1880s have depicted telegraph and power lines as symbols of modernity rather than eyesores, contrasting this with Western social media users who frequently mock utility wires as ugly. It highlights a 2021 Nerima Art Museum exhibition, curated by Yosuke Kato, that gathered roughly 130 works from the 1850s to today under the title 'Densen Kaiga' (Electric Wire Paintings), showing wires as a recurring visual motif in Japanese art and anime.
governance.fyi
· 2026-08-30
Bandai revealed a functional Tamagotchi shrunk down into a finger ring, complete with a color display and over 30 raisable characters, controlled via two side buttons rather than its decorative front buttons. Priced at roughly $48, it launched pre-orders in Japan on August 27 that quickly sold out through international resellers, with a release slated for February 2027 and no confirmed plans outside Japan.
engadget.com
· 2026-08-29
The creator of the posuto package describes how Japan Post's official postal code CSV file breaks basic data conventions, embedding human-readable parenthetical notes that reference row order and splitting overly long fields across multiple duplicated lines. These quirks stem from the file's origins as a printed reference rather than a machine-readable dataset, forcing developers to write extensive workaround logic just to extract clean address data.
dampfkraft.com
· 2026-08-29
Suica, Japan's IC transit card developed in the 1990s, stores a card ID and balance directly on its chip rather than relying on a central server. Each tap triggers a local read-write transaction with mutual authentication and a fresh encryption key, completed in under 200 milliseconds, all without a battery, powered instead by the electromagnetic field from the station reader.
tokyodev.com
· 2026-08-27
Yayoi Kusama, the Japanese artist celebrated for her polka-dot motifs and immersive infinity mirror rooms, has died at age 97. Curators and admirers have described her installations as evoking a profound sense of wonder, transporting viewers into contemplative, almost cosmic spaces.
bbc.com
· 2026-08-27
ZDNET's guide clarifies that despite USB unifying device charging, wall outlets worldwide still differ wildly in plug shape and voltage output, from 100V in Japan to 230V in Paraguay. It distinguishes universal travel adapters, which only change plug shape, from voltage converters, which actually change electrical output—two very different tools travelers often confuse.
zdnet.com
· 2026-08-25
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