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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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,…

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…

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…

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…

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…