The chook, a male African gray parrot named Olivia, took half in a prediction occasion on the zoo, the place it was tasked with forecasting the outcomes of Japan’s three first-round matches.

After making its alternatives, Olivia predicted victories in all three video games, forecasting an ideal document for Japan within the group stage. The occasion drew consideration from guests wanting to see whether or not the chook’s predictions may show correct when the match will get underway.

The JD League, Japan’s premier ladies’s softball league, options 16 groups divided into japanese and western divisions. During the Okinawa Round held in Yomitan Village, 4 groups, together with the Toyota Red Terriers, which captured their third consecutive league title final season and options members of the Japan nationwide crew, battled in a sequence of aggressive matchups.

Among the gamers attracting native consideration was Minae Shimanaka, a local of Kadena Town who led the Western Division in batting final season.

“I was able to play while drawing strength from everyone on the island, and I was happy to show the game to people who don’t usually get the chance to watch it,” Shimanaka mentioned.

Fans responded enthusiastically to the depth and ability displayed by a few of Japan’s high softball gamers.

“It was really cool,” one spectator mentioned.

“Watching them made me want to become a player like them and work harder in practice,” one other fan mentioned.

Softball is ready to return as a further sport on the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, and curiosity within the recreation is anticipated to proceed rising. A pleasant match between the Japan and U.S. nationwide groups can also be scheduled to be held in Naha in November.

Source: 沖縄ニュースOTV

Junglia Okinawa, a theme park positioned in northern Okinawa’s essential island, opened in July 2025. The park’s operator, Japan Entertainment, stated roughly 650,000 individuals visited the attraction in the course of the six-month interval via January 2026.

According to a joint research performed by Ryugin Research Institute and Okinawa Cellular Telephone, the park generated an financial ripple impact of 32.2 billion yen in its first six months. Of that complete, 19.8 billion yen got here from tourism-related spending, together with lodge lodging, eating, and different customer expenditures within the surrounding space.

The report additionally famous that additional tourism growth in northern Okinawa would require enhancements to transportation infrastructure and stronger promotion of the area each inside and outdoors the prefecture.

It added that nearer cooperation between Junglia Okinawa and native communities, mixed with sustainable regional growth, is anticipated to strengthen Okinawa’s tourism trade as a complete.

Menstrual poverty refers to conditions by which persons are unable to acquire menstrual merchandise when wanted resulting from monetary hardship or a lack of understanding. According to a survey performed 5 years in the past, one in three girls aged 15 to 24 mentioned that they had both been unable to buy menstrual merchandise or had hesitated to take action. Many cited low earnings and the excessive price of sanitary merchandise as the principle causes.

To assist tackle the difficulty, college students from Okinawa Christian University fashioned a workforce referred to as Ladybird. The group is working to eradicate menstrual poverty by way of each monetary assist and academic outreach. Their initiatives embrace offering free menstrual merchandise in college restrooms and conducting courses and lectures at colleges all through the prefecture.

In May, Ladybird members served as instructors at a particular outreach class for lecturers and oldsters. The purpose was to assist adults who usually work together with youngsters achieve correct data about menstruation to allow them to higher assist younger individuals.

During the periods, individuals of each sexes examined various kinds of menstrual merchandise and realized how and when they’re used. Students inspired attendees to deal with sanitary pads straight, believing that hands-on expertise helps individuals higher perceive the topic.

The group argues that menstrual poverty isn’t solely a monetary concern. Members consider social attitudes that painting menstruation as one thing embarrassing or one thing that must be hidden additionally contribute to the issue.

“Menstruation is still treated as something difficult to talk about in society,” one scholar mentioned. “People may think it is only their personal problem and end up struggling alone.”

According to a survey by The Nippon Foundation, about 30% of ladies mentioned that they had felt embarrassed when buying menstrual merchandise. Nearly 40% mentioned they have been reluctant to hunt medical consideration even when experiencing menstrual-related issues.

To scale back misunderstandings and encourage early training, Ladybird has continued to carry outreach courses and lectures at elementary and junior excessive colleges. The session for lecturers and oldsters was designed to create an surroundings by which youngsters can study precisely about menstruation by first bettering understanding amongst adults.

During the category, instructors defined that menstruation sometimes happens as soon as a month and usually lasts between three and 7 days, though experiences differ from individual to individual. Participants additionally realized in regards to the organic course of behind menstruation and noticed demonstrations utilizing liquids designed to simulate menstrual blood, permitting them to see how sanitary merchandise soak up fluid.

Male individuals mentioned the expertise supplied a deeper understanding of a topic that they had beforehand recognized solely normally phrases.

One attendee mentioned it was the primary time he had ever dealt with a sanitary pad and that having women and men study collectively helped foster mutual understanding and made it simpler to know methods to supply assist. Another participant mentioned the lesson would assist him develop into extra thoughtful of bodily and health-related adjustments skilled by others.

Some mother and father and educators additionally emphasised the significance of educating boys about menstruation from an early age, saying it might assist foster empathy and understanding towards girls as they develop up.

Ladybird members stress that studying in regards to the human physique shouldn’t be restricted by gender and that everybody ought to deepen their understanding of each girls’s and males’s well being.

The concern could develop into extra urgent within the months forward. Manufacturers of menstrual merchandise have introduced worth will increase from July, citing components together with the affect of tensions within the Middle East. There are issues that increased costs might worsen menstrual poverty for these already struggling to afford important merchandise.

Health specialists additionally observe that failing to interchange menstrual merchandise appropriately can enhance the danger of an infection. They argue that menstruation shouldn’t be handled as a private concern to be endured in silence and that bettering public understanding is step one towards fixing the issue.

As efforts proceed throughout Okinawa, younger persons are working to broaden consciousness and construct a society the place individuals of all genders can perceive and assist each other.

Source: 沖縄ニュースOTV

The decline was attributed to rising expectations that rates of interest within the United States will rise, decreasing demand for gold, which doesn’t generate curiosity earnings.

The newest value motion displays shifting investor sentiment as greater rate of interest expectations make interest-bearing belongings extra engaging relative to gold.

Japan’s home gold market has skilled a dramatic reversal in 2026, falling to its lowest degree of the 12 months after reaching file highs simply months earlier.

Gold costs surged firstly of the 12 months as traders sought safe-haven belongings in opposition to a backdrop of geopolitical uncertainty and considerations over the worldwide financial system. The rally culminated on January 29, when Tanaka Precious Metal Technologies’ benchmark retail promoting value surpassed 30,000 yen per gram for the primary time, reaching a file 30,248 yen.

The upward momentum continued into early March, with gold reaching its highest degree of the 12 months as sturdy funding demand and a weaker U.S. dollar supported costs. At the time, many traders seen gold as a hedge in opposition to financial and political dangers.

However, sentiment started to shift through the spring. As expectations grew that the U.S. Federal Reserve would preserve a tighter financial coverage and probably elevate rates of interest, demand for gold weakened. Because gold doesn’t pay curiosity, greater charges are likely to make bonds and different interest-bearing belongings extra engaging.

Prices progressively retreated by April and May earlier than falling sharply in June. On June 11, Tanaka Precious Metal Technologies introduced that its benchmark retail gold value had dropped 906 yen from the day gone by to 23,262 yen per gram as of 9:30 a.m., marking the bottom degree of 2026.

The decline represents a fall of practically 7,000 yen per gram from the file degree reached in January, underscoring the size of the correction within the home gold market. Despite the current downturn, gold costs stay nicely above ranges seen just a few years in the past, reflecting the dear metallic’s sturdy long-term good points.

Market individuals are carefully watching U.S. financial coverage, as additional indicators of rate of interest will increase may proceed to weigh on gold costs, whereas renewed financial uncertainty or geopolitical tensions may revive demand for the normal safe-haven asset.

Source: テレ東BIZ