Just Because It's Trending Doesn't Mean It's True — Fact checking at the speed of likes since 2015

Fact Check: The Children And Families Agency Is NOT Affiliated With Religious Organization Soka Gakkai To Kidnap Children

Fact Check

Is it true that The Children and Families Agency was created by the Japanese government in cahoots with Soka Gakkai, a religious organization, to kidnap children? No, that's not true: The Agency does not offer any adoption or in-house services for children with troubled family backgrounds. Its goal is to support families with difficulty raising children, financially or otherwise. Though…

Fact Check: PM Kishida Did NOT Leave Japan To Escape From The Nankai Trough Megaquake Threat

Fact Check

Is it true that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida left Japan following a major earthquake advisory issued on August 8, 2024? No, that's not true: Kishida was scheduled to be in Eurasia from August 9 to 12, 2024, but he decided to cancel his visit after an advisory on the potential threat of a severe upcoming earthquake in the Nankai Trough…

Fact Check: Americans Did NOT 'Steal' The Kuril And Sakhalin Islands From Japan

Fact Check

Did Americans "steal" the Kuril and Sakhalin Islands from Japan instead of the Soviet Union taking over those territories at the end of World War II? No, that's not true: The decision to take Imperial Japan's Northern Territories had already been agreed on at the Yalta Conference in 1945, as a condition for the Soviet Union to join the offensive…

Fact Check: Pfizer Does NOT Deliberately Sell Medicine With Severe Side Effects In Japan

Fact Check

Is Pfizer selling medicine that cannot be sold in the United States to Japan, such as Lyrica (pregabalin)? No, that's not true: Lyrica has been FDA-approved since 2004 to treat neuropathic pain, and the prescription use for pregabalin by Pfizer was conducted in Japan in collaboration with renowned Japanese pharmaceutical company Eisai in June 2010 to treat postherpetic neuralgia, meaning…

Fact Check: Japanese People Are Not Forced To Eat Crickets

Fact Check

Do Japanese eat crickets without knowing it? No, that's not true: Japan has a food labeling law. The Food Labeling Act does not provide any special provisions such as the fact that cricket foods do not need to be labeled as food. Also, crickets can not be used as an amino acid food additive because the Food Safety Association has…

Fact Check: Japanese Citizens Born In The 1960s And Later Will NOT Lose Money With Their Pension

Fact Check

Do people born in the 1960s and later lose money paying for their pension? No, that's not true: The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare states that if you live an average long life, the total amount of money you will receive through your pension during your lifetime will be greater than the total amount of insurance premiums you paid,…

Fact Check: Natto Does NOT Increase Risk Of Developing Cancer

Fact Check

Does natto (fermented soybeans) increase the risk of cancer, depending on how it is consumed? No, that's not true: Contrary to a claim circulating on social media, high intakes of fermented soybean foods have been associated with a lower risk of death. Also, no evidence suggests that eating natto in specific ways causes cancer. The claim appeared in a video…

Fact Check: Korean Passports And Biometric Passport Chips Are NOT Made In Japan

Fact Check

Is it true that Japan is responsible for manufacturing Korea's passports and creating the IC chips embedded inside them? No, that's not true: Passports are tightly controlled by the country of issue, which manufactures and prints them in either public or private firms headquartered in the country where the passport is issued, and IC technology has been commonly used in…

Fact Check: Japanese Underground Tunnel Facility Is NOT A Nuclear Fallout Shelter

Fact Check

Did Japanese telecommunication corporation Nippon Telegraph and Telephone East (NTT East) build the largest nuclear fallout shelter in the world and conceal it by claiming it is an underground telecommunication facility? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that the NTT East underground tunnel systems were created to provide a nuclear fallout shelter. The NTT East underground tunnels are…

Fact Check: Empire of Japan DID NOT Own Quarter Of World During WWII

Fact Check

Is it true that the Empire of Japan was the strongest maritime empire in the world and owned a quarter of the world at its peak? No, that's not true: At its peak, the British Empire controlled a quarter of the globe, dwarfing the territorial extent of the Empire of Japan during World War II, which comprised only 5 percent…

Fact Check: Japanese Children And Families Agency Does NOT Pay 6.34 Million Yen Per Baby

Fact Check

Does the Japanese Children and Families Agency receive an exaggerated budget to pay 6.34 million yen (42,534 USD) per baby? No, that's not true: The allocation of budget funds is clearly defined in the 2024 draft budget of the Children and Families Agency. According to the definition of the Children and Families Agency, the category of children includes every person…

Fact Check: UN Did NOT Recognize Japan As Poor Country

Fact Check

Did the United Nations (UN) recognize Japan as a poor country? No, that's not true: The UN's Prevalence of Undernourishment (PoU) survey, which provides data used to produce the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Hunger Map, does not show that Japan is undernourished. A social media post, which featured this map, falsely translates "hunger map" to mean "poor country." The…

Fact Check: Actor Hiroshi Tachi DID NOT Have A Hand In Idol Yukiko Okada's Suicide

Fact Check

Was Japanese actor Hiroshi Tachi involved in idol/singer Yukiko Okada's suicide? No, that's not true: The alleged relationship between Tachi and Okada, along with various aspects surrounding her suicide, were fabricated by Japanese tabloids during the late 1980s. Testimony from her former manager, Tokio Fukuda, alongside a salvaged diary entry that outlines her suicide note, confirmed that one of the…

Fact Check: Neonicotinoids Are NOT Main Cause Of Autism In Children

Fact Check

Is it true that neonicotinoid pesticides cause autism in children? No, that's not true: While one study shows that pesticide exposure may be associated with adverse neurodevelopmental effects in children, this is not true for neonicotinoids. While neonicotinoids can be neurologically toxic and can cause respiratory failure in humans, there is no evidence that neonicotinoids can cause autism in humans…

Fact Check: Mammograms Do NOT Cause Breast Cancer

Fact Check

Is it true that the number of breast cancer patients is rapidly rising in Japan because the radiation in mammograms causes cancer? No, that's not true: Though there are risk factors involved with radiation injuries and radiation-induced breast cancer post-screening, the amount of radiation absorbed by the body in annual mammogram screenings poses minimal risk of developing into breast cancer.…

Fact Check: Japanese Citizenship Granted During Japan's Occupation Of Korea Did NOT Change Korea's Colonial Status

Fact Check

Is it true that Korea was not considered a colony by Imperial Japan because Koreans were granted Japanese citizenship? No, that's not true: Although Koreans were issued Japanese citizenship following Japan's annexation of Korea in 1910, Japanese Imperial rule of Korea starting with the forceful removal of a Korean emperor, a military-supported occupation of the country, a practice of land…

Fact Check: NHK Does NOT Charge Reception Fees To All Smartphone Owners

Fact Check

Do people accessing any NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) content through their smartphones have to pay NHK's reception fees? No, that's not true: Simply owning a smartphone and having access to NHK's online content does not mean you have to pay for NHK's reception fees. The fees are only required if you have a television or a device directly connected to…

Fact Check: Osaka's Governor Did NOT Sell Permanent Residency Visas To Foreign Investors Involved In Osaka Expo

Fact Check

Is it true that Osaka's governor sold permanent residency in Japan to foreign investors in advance of the 2025 Osaka Expo? No, that's not true: Although some foreign investors wishing to invest in Osaka's economy in advance of the Expo may gain permanent residency status by meeting requirements on the amount and the period of their investments in Japan, this…

Fact Check: Color Of Japanese Health Insurance Card Does NOT Reflect Income Bracket

Fact Check

Do the different colors of the Japanese health insurance card depend on one's income level? No, that's not true: The purpose of having different colors for the health insurance card is not to classify people based on income, but rather to show the type of health insurance that people have. The claim first appeared on TikTok (archived here) by @user1840881173401…

Fact Check: Japan Did NOT Send North Korean Mercenaries To Fight In The Vietnam War

Fact Check

Did a Japanese organization send North Korean mercenaries to Vietnam during the Vietnam War? No, that's not true: Japanese citizens could not participate in the Vietnam War because of the country's constitutional "No War Clause" adopted after WWII, and diplomatically, Japan was allied with South Vietnam and the United States during the conflict. The claim appeared in a TikTok post…