1489
comments piled up under a single news story.
Driverless taxis are to start carrying passengers in Tokyo in 2027. I counted 990 comments: 74 to 26. The top comment came from a man who drives a taxi in central Tokyo for a living, and it said that obeying the road traffic law to the letter is not enough to get through this city, so try the countryside first
74 to 26. The top comment came from a man who drives a Tokyo taxi for a living: he does not oppose the cars, he opposes the place. That one comment took 40 per cent of the vote. Seventy-eight comments said start in the countryside instead, worth 45 per cent of the vote; thirteen defended starting in Tokyo, worth 0.4 per cent. About a hundred presses to one.
Not a subreddit you joined and not a curated feed — just whoever showed up under the article, in public, under a handle.
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Thirty years of regret. What was done to Japan over the Northern Territories, the Senkakus and Takeshima, what Japan said, and what Japan did, counted from the government's own records. Japan acted with something other than words in six cases, twice or more in the same case only three times, and every one ended in a release, a deportation or a refusal. Warning shots: zero
In 30 years: 22 airspace violations, 20 to 40 days a year of intrusions around the Senkakus, six landings by Russian leaders on the Northern Territories. Japan acted with something other than words six times, twice or more in the same case three times, and every one ended in a release, a deportation or a refusal. Warning shots: zero.
What you are looking at, in three lines.
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One comment section per story
Every article on Japan's largest news portal has exactly one comment section under it. Nobody joins it and nobody moderates it into shape - whoever read the article writes there, in the open.
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Three buttons, and that is all
Readers can press "I relate", "good point" or "hmm". Every number in these notes is a count of those presses, and the order of the thread is decided by them too.
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Read to the last comment, then counted
I do not stop at the top ten. One thread, read to the bottom, buttons counted, and the comments quoted word for word - with the Japanese original printed beside my translation so you can check it.
The anger didn't go away. It lost an address.
Every Japanese news story has exactly one comment section attached to it. Not a subreddit you joined — a single thread, ranked by votes. That is why the things algorithmic feeds hide are still sitting there, in the open.
Recent field notes
- Driverless taxis are to start carrying passengers in Tokyo in 2027. I counted 990 comments: 74 to 26. The top comment came from a man who drives a taxi in central Tokyo for a living, and it said that obeying the road traffic law to the letter is not enough to get through this city, so try the countryside first At 09:00 on Tuesday 15 September 2026, Impress Watch published a story on Yahoo! Read →
- Denny Tamaki, who lost the Okinawa governor election, said smears on social media had been left unchecked, and the campaign is preparing a criminal complaint. I counted 4,196 comments: 92 to 8. The top comment did not say don't sue. It said you should have spoken about the smears aimed at your opponent too At 16:23 on Monday 14 September 2026, Kyodo News published a story on Yahoo! Read →
- Okinawa has elected a new governor: Genta Koja, a newcomer, defeated the incumbent Denny Tamaki, who was seeking a third term. I counted 3,645 comments: 90 to 10. An expert note printed above the thread called this Okinawa's first social-media governor election, and 80 comments answered it directly. First place took 35,565 presses. Comments that regretted the result came to 59, one tenth of one percent of the vote, and the highest-placed of them sat at 143rd At 19:59 on Sunday 13 September 2026, RBC Ryukyu Broadcasting published a story on Yahoo! Read →
- Japan's Ministry of Justice plans to start a trial next year in which sex offenders out on parole are given GPS devices to carry. I counted 2,189 comments: 96 to 4, and 305 of them, 47 percent of the vote, said consent should not come into it at all. First place took 7,810 presses, 30 percent of the vote. That a device you carry can simply be left at home was said by 261 comments, 16 percent; implant it in the body was said by 462, one comment in five, but took only 3 percent of the vote On the morning of 12 September 2026, Bengoshi.com News published a story on Yahoo! Read →
- A Tokyo city bus driver, running empty, repeatedly honked and flashed his lights at a car, shouted an insult, and has been referred to prosecutors for road rage. I counted 2,747 comments: 83 to 17, and 79 percent of the vote went to comments asking what the other car had done first. First place took 15,485 presses. Second place, 10,094, is the comment I had shared on X. Comments that simply said road rage is never excusable took 2 percent On the morning of 11 September 2026, FNN Prime Online published a story on Yahoo! Read →
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