And then there were none: the very last classic Lupin III main cast member has passed away. Nikaido Yukiko, the voice of femme fatal Fujiko in the original 1971 Lupin series, had spent the last 11 years in an elder care facility; her son has announced she passed on the 3rd of this month.

No Game No Life creator Yuu Kamiya made one of the strongest criticisms of X's auto-translation feature. As a Japanese-Brazilian who speaks both Japanese and Brazilian Portuguese, he deemed the translations "truly garbage" and warned people "not to fall for it." buff.ly/c3qw40d

Fuji TV has apologized a 2nd time in the Satō Jirō harassment case, now admitting its own handling was a failure. The network admits it knew of actress Hashimoto Ai's safety conditions on the set of the drama Fūfu Bessei Keiji and chose to hide them from her co-star.

"I ordered an onsen egg as a topping, peeled it, & out came a rock-hard boiled egg, so I cheerfully reported 'a boiled egg came out.' The flustered staffer...brought a new one. When I cracked that one open, out came a raw egg, so I yelled, 'A-a raw egg came out!'"

"By the way, 棺 and 柩 are both read 'hitsugi,' but 棺 is for an empty coffin (i.e., the container itself), and 柩 is for one with a body in it. So it's a wooden container used to keep a body hidden away for a long time huh" [a play on 柩 and 久, "long time", boxed inside the kanji]

"My kid suddenly asked, 'What historical era do you like?' This old history nerd's blood kicked in & I shot off, 'I ahh used to like the Bakumatsu [end of Shogunate] and the Warring States Period...' He replied, 'I like the Reiwa Era bc it's when my little brother was born."

Is Kyushu really the most sexist part of Japan? That and other Japan deep dives from the past week, plus a roundup of Japan stories we're tracking and what's happening on JP social media in the latest Unseen Japan Newsletter. buff.ly/a8uqS7k

There are rats - a lot of rats - in Tokyo’s Kabukicho. And we don’t just mean the hosts (rimshot). This user says one got bold enough to come up and bite them on the ankle.

Did you actually read the article? Specifically the parts defending sex workers' rights?

An immigrant combini clerk does good in Japan, an update on a horrifying case out of Hokkaido, the stories we're tracking for next week, and the week's best Japanese social media posts - read now in the latest issue of the Unseen Japan Newsletter: buff.ly/8pD1R3F

"I gave a 5th grade Japanese class a composition assignment w/ four words: Starbucks, collapsed, nurse, ambulance. 34 of the 35 students wrote the nurse as a woman. The one kid who wrote the nurse as a man had a father who's a nurse....Feels a bit like a lesson in gender theory."

Will women in Japan finally get the public restrooms they deserve? Japan's land and transport ministry (MLIT) finalized its first ever guidelines to ensure bathroom equity, saying facilities should include more women's than men's toilets to reduce long lines & waits.

ICYMI: Happening bars are one of the most "unseen" parts of Japanese nightlife. What are they, how do they work, and whether foreigners can even get in in our comprehensive guide.

Japanese announcer/pinup model Mori Kasumi was asked on the program CLOCKWORK MARRIAGE what constituted an affair. Her response: "Spending the night together." Flirting on LINE & a trip to Hakone that wasn't consummated would be "barely safe, if I didn't know about it."

"Came to get a smoothie and the combini had burned down..."

OP says it's "good" Japan cracked down on "kira-kira names" - names whose reading wildly departs from their kanji. Case in point: a kid whose name was written 初恋 ("first love") but pronounced "tokimeki" (a romantic flutter of the heart).

"Woke up to this and my blood ran cold but he was alive as usual lol wtf are you even"

"My subordinate hit me w/ a hyper-Reiwa dating story: 'I was watching YouTube on the phone of a guy I met on a dating app. A diaper ad popped mid-vid. I realized he was married. I hopped on a LUUP [e-scooter] from that alien location & somehow fled home.' Totally electric. A lethal dose of Reiwa."

"I saw someone write 'hiiki' (贔屓) instead of 'oshi' [the person you stan] and it clicked - yes, that's the good ol' Japanese word, and I'm relieved bc it made the source of the nagging discomfort I've felt these past few years click into place"

Tokyo's aging population is straining its crematoriums. Within the 23 central wards, the nine crematoriums face long waits and soaring fees, and a panel was told that without action, some people may be unable to be cremated at all within 15 years.

"It hit me that they're using his nipple as the little 丶 stroke in the kanji 獣 [kemono, beast] and I laughed hard enough to wake up my entire family"

For Pride Month, the Japanese site Fujinkoron ran a book excerpt, co-authored by the father and their child (now 23), about their experiences navigating the child's gender identity. They recount, e.g., how the child, Hikaru, begged out of going on a school trip.

Japan's Diet leadership will present a proposal on June 8 to revise the Imperial House Law, keeping succession limited to men of the male line (which PM Takaichi Sanae supports). However, polls show support for an "Empress Aiko" is more durable than support for Takaichi herself.

Introducing the tanuki ball sack bag you never knew you needed until today ("his balls get bigger as you shop"). You're welcome.

In South Korea, around 4,800 people wear GPS ankle monitors. Since the system launched in 2008, recidivism among sex offenders has fallen to one-eighth its previous level.

Get more UJ for free - our newsletter tracks upcoming stories in Japan we're watching, what's hot or funny on JP social media, and our best content for the week across platforms. Check out the latest issue below: buff.ly/edlnc7t

OP at 2pm: "Ads on trains these days are trying too hard to go viral" OP at 7pm: "Oh come on now" Ice cream ad: "THERE ARE NO HOLIDAYS IN JUNE. Why not take your mouth on a trip?"

Sad news for Detective Conan (Case Closed) fans: voice actress Yamazaki Wakana, who played lead female character Mōri Ran, passed away at the age of 61. Yamazaki stepped down from the role in February after recording her part in this year's movie, Highway of the Fallen Angel.

She stabbed her groper. Japan called her a hero. Read about this, Japan's new Communist-sympathizing mayor (complimentary), Kabukicho's crime crackdown, and stories we're tracking in the latest issue of our newsletter: buff.ly/d0Nf6Qw

Farewell to one of the most influential anime composers of all time: Ohno Yuji, the jazz pianist whose music for the Lupin III franchise is amongst the most iconic in Japan, has passed. Ohno was 84 years old, and had continued performing with his band, Yuji Ohno & Lupintic Six, until quite recently.