#fan-culture

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Jul 16, 2026

'Who's Shohei?', a World Cup Vacation and a BTS Court No-Show Draw Cold Japanese Reactions

Mike Tyson presented Shohei Ohtani's award at a New York ceremony and then asked 'Who's Shohei?', leaving the venue baffled. Meanwhile Vinicius Jr drew criticism in Brazil for holidaying in Ibiza right after World Cup elimination, and the Japanese woman in her 50s indicted for forcibly kissing BTS's Jin skipped her Seoul trial after mailing an unintelligible document. Japanese netizens met all three stories with irony and exasperation.

A BTS Kiss Trial and a 'World History' Viral Post Reopen Japan–Korea Friction

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Jul 14, 2026

A BTS Kiss Trial and a 'World History' Viral Post Reopen Japan–Korea Friction

Two Korea-related stories flared in Japan the same day. A 50-something Japanese woman indicted for forcibly kissing BTS's Jin skipped her first hearing, and a Korean X post claiming 'studying world history makes you dislike Japan' racked up nine million impressions. Reactions blended self-critical 'disgrace to Japan' takes on the fan incident, a slide into a men-versus-women fight, and a mix of pushback and relativizing over the history claim. The kiss case is broadly reported, but the July 14 no-show and the 'nine million' figure could not be independently confirmed.