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October 25, 2025
 

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CULTURE

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"Menheim” is a dark fantasy manga with a story that centers on a girl’s quest to find a cure for her ill brother.
CULTURE / Books
Spanish artists and Japanese writers duos diversify the manga talent pool in Japan
As manga and anime’s global popularity grows, international artists are getting new opportunities to enter the booming industry.
CULTURE / Books
New book scrutinizes sustainability of traditional Japanese textiles
In “Dyeing with the Earth,” an Oxford research fellow examines how Japan’s age-old textile traditions sometimes run counter to modern ideas of eco-friendly processes.
CULTURE / Books
'Ghost Nation' puts Taiwan’s history in present context
Horton, a veteran correspondent who has lived in Taiwan for more than a decade, devotes substantial space in the book to the transformative years of Japanese rule over Taiwan.
Laszlo Krasznahorkai, a Hungarian novelist, in 2014. Krasznahorkai was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature on Thursday.
CULTURE / Books
Oct 10, 2025
Hungarian 'master of the apocalypse' Laszlo Krasznahorkai wins Nobel Prize in literature
The prize was awarded "for his compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art."
“Archipelago of the Sun” by Yoko Tawada is part of a trilogy billed as a dystopian future under threat of climate crisis.
CULTURE / Books
Sep 24, 2025
Yoko Tawada’s wandering trilogy concludes search for the 'land of sushi'
By Thu-Huong Ha
In “Archipelago of the Sun,” the merry band of polyglot friends board a boat crossing the Baltic Sea, still vaguely in search of a disappeared Japan.
Osamu Dazai struggled with depression and addiction, themes that were also central to his writing.
CULTURE / Books
Sep 22, 2025
Why Japan’s most melancholic writer speaks to today’s youth
By Kris Kosaka
Osamu Dazai's works are enjoying a new boom of retranslations and readers 80 years after they were first published.
“Swallows” examines the intersections of class and reproductive issues with a focus on its protagonist who is talked into becoming a surrogate for a wealthy couple.
CULTURE / Books
Sep 5, 2025
‘Swallows' untangles the murky ethics of selling motherhood
By Kris Kosaka
“Swallows” examines the intersections of class and reproductive issues with a focus on its protagonist who is talked into becoming a surrogate for a wealthy couple.
"Animator Skill Test Textbook” was written in concert with a test created and administered by the Nippon Anime & Film Culture Association since 2024. The test was designed to help set a baseline for those studying animation, and so that animation studios can get a better idea of applicants' current skill level.
CULTURE / Books
Sep 4, 2025
English textbook targets a skills gap in Japan’s growing anime industry
By Matt Schley
From "dōga" to “lip flap,” the Nippon Anime & Film Culture Association’s "Animator Skill Test Textbook" teaches aspiring animators how to talk like the pros.
“Sympathy Tower Tokyo” is centered around Sara Machina, a star architect designing a new experimental prison in central Tokyo.
CULTURE / Books
Aug 30, 2025
ChatGPT controversy is the least interesting part of 'Sympathy Tower Tokyo'
By Thu-Huong Ha
In Rie Qudan’s futuristic Tokyo, AI and architects take on the prison system.
A board announces that no works were awarded the Akutagawa and Naoki literary prizes on Wednesday evening in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward.
CULTURE / Books
Jul 17, 2025
Akutagawa and Naoki award decision marks rare absence of literary prizewinners
By Alyssa I. Smith
Selection committee members were disappointed by the lack of a majority vote in the second round, insisting that the nominated works moved many readers and were worth reading.

New ‘immigration minister’ post signals Takaichi Cabinet’s priorities
Kimi Onoda, economic security minister and minister for harmonious coexistence with foreign nationals, arrives at the prime minister's office in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Rare female yakuza walks path to redemption in Japan
Retired yakuza Mako Nishimura sorts fallen leaves during a clean-up activity at the Gifu Gokoku shrine in Gifu Prefecture on Sept. 28.
Takaichi to put defense push in spotlight in bid to satiate Trump demands
Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force personnel march during the joint multinational exercise Garuda Shield 2025 at the Baturaja combat training center in Lampung, Indonesia, last month.
Takaichi focuses on economic and security concerns in first policy speech
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi delivers her first policy speech in the Lower House in Tokyo on Friday.
Driving in Japan isn’t hard. Getting the license is.
The byzantine process for converting a foreign driver’s license into a Japanese one entails mountains of paperwork and significant stamina — unless you're a lucky license holder from a country or region where these requirements are waived.
New ‘immigration minister’ post signals Takaichi Cabinet’s priorities
Kimi Onoda, economic security minister and minister for harmonious coexistence with foreign nationals, arrives at the prime minister's office in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Number of suicide cases among students in Japan hits record high in 2024
The health ministry's Suicide White Paper for 2024 has found that numbers for both men and women peak at age 21, with “concerns over future career paths” being identified as the most likely cause.
The newly formed LDP-JIP coalition may not be as solid as it seems
Ruling Liberal Democratic Party President Sanae Takaichi and Japan Innovation Party leader Hirofumi Yoshimura sign a policy agreement between the two parties at the Diet in Tokyo on Monday.
AI-optimized cybercrime increasingly targeting Japan
A recent cyberattack on brewer Asahi Group Holdings resulted in the company suspending shipments.
K-pop idol Chanyeol does J-pop his own way on ‘Hibi’
South Korean singer Chanyeol made his Japanese-language solo debut with the EP “Hibi,” which features six tracks inspired by his love of Japanese music.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

The byzantine process for converting a foreign driver’s license into a Japanese one entails mountains of paperwork and significant stamina — unless you're a lucky license holder from a country or region where these requirements are waived.
Driving in Japan isn’t hard. Getting the license is.
By Thu-Huong Ha and Mike Fu

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

We are pleased to announce the winners of the 6th annual Sustainable Japan Award.
We are pleased to announce the winners of the 6th annual Sustainable Japan Award.

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