The Japanese have a knack for putting hard-to-describe feelings into words. A good example is the word “mottainai,” used when expressing regret over wasting a resource or opportunity. It’s an expression that’s getting good use recently, as society makes a push to be more ...

Students are counting down the days till school lets out, while urban commuters are starting to sweat the impending heat. Summer is coming, and a sure sign of that is that music festivals are starting to kick up around the country. The month starts ...

In the shadow of a giant kanji for tea written in living cypress trees, enthusiasts gather every three years in Japan to talk about one of the world’s favorite drinks. The World Tea Festival this month celebrated the beverage in all its forms, from ...

New Yorkers experienced a taste of Japanese culture Sunday by taking part in traditional “Awa odori” and “Bon odori” dance performances and putting on kabuki makeup at an annual Japan Day event in Central Park. Performers from the Home Island Project, a group from ...

An annual sand art festival opened Thursday on a beach in Kagoshima Prefecture, featuring an array of animal-shaped creations. An elephant, a whale and a unicorn are among around 100 sculptures produced by artists from Japan and abroad for the 11-day event on Fukiagehama ...

The timing of this year’s Golden Week holidays doesn’t allow many people to travel far. You can, however, get a taste of Latin America if you head down to Yoyogi Park. The park will host a large-scale festival for this year’s Cinco de Mayo ...

There aren’t many people as important in the history of Japan as Tokugawa Ieyasu. He was the man who, in 1603, seized power over the whole country as he launched the Tokugawa Shogunate, which lasted until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Since he is ...

The cherry-blossom parties may be winding down, but revelers in Nagoya don’t have to give up on the fun quite yet. On April 6 and 7, the annual Kakuozan Spring Festival takes place in Chikusa Ward. While hanami (cherry-blossom viewing) parties are essentially Japanese, ...

A contemporary art show featuring works of more than 200 artists from 23 countries and regions opened Wednesday on a cluster of 12 small islands in the Seto Inland Sea. Setouchi Triennale 2013, the second of an event that happens every three years, is ...

Washington’s annual National Cherry Blossom Festival will run from March 20 to April 14, with blossoms forecast to reach their peak blooming period from March 26-30, event organizers said Monday. This year’s event, which will mark the 101st anniversary of the planting of cherry ...