On August 28, 2026, the Japanese YouTube channel wakatte.TV, which has more than 770,000 subscribers and builds its comedy on university rankings, visited Fukushima University. When a student described radiation research as something particular to Fukushima, presenter Fumihiro Takada said he would not want Fukushima University touching it. On September 1 the university issued a statement under its president’s name, the channel apologised and deleted the video, and the mayors of Fukushima City and Iwaki City posted their regret. This video explains hensachi, the standardised score Japan uses as shorthand for university rank, why a format that ran for nine years broke down this time, whether the defence that dangerous research belongs at elite universities holds up, and how Japan reacted.
※Japanese reactions are a summary of widely shared posts, not a measure of public opinion.
※Takada’s appointment as a director of A.ver (April 2022) is per corporate registry information published by Buffett Code.
Full article: https://sekahan0623.com/en/global-reactions-en/wakatte-tv-fukushima-university-deviation-score-research-quality/
X (Twitter): https://x.com/sekahan_0623
This program is produced with synthesized narration (Voice: Google Cloud Text-to-Speech).
