What a strange place a school is — a world within a world, a society within a society. Kids grow up in it asking themselves, "Is the real world like this?" Yes and no. It is and it isn't. In December, the weekly Aera published the ...

Yusaku Maezawa has accomplished an awful lot in his life. He has founded a number of successful companies, including online fashion retailer Zozotown. He’s worth billions of dollars. He’s secured a trip to space to address one of humanity’s biggest problems — a lack of ...

Before the Olympic Games come to Tokyo in the summer of 2020, Japan will get a chance to prove its mettle as an international sporting events host with the Rugby World Cup this fall. The games will be spread out among 12 stadiums nationwide, ...

Rising labor costs and shortages of skilled labor are the largest downside risk to Japanese firms operating in Asia, with 76 percent of respondents to an NNA survey calling them their top concerns. Among the 630 respondents at Japanese companies in East Asia, Southeast Asia, ...

A 59-year-old man believed to be one of the main suspects in an illicit land deal that swindled billions of yen from the country’s leading house builder has been arrested in Tokyo after returning from the Philippines.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he plans changes to the H-1B program that grants temporary visas for specialty occupations such as technology or medicine, but his administration said later he was referring to changes that were proposed last year. "H1-B (sic) holders in ...

The U.S. Navy's top officer will meet with his Chinese counterpart in China next week as the two powers seek to tamp down rising military and trade tensions. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson will travel to Beijing and Nanjing from Jan. 13 to ...

Russia has urged Japan anew to recognize the results of World War II, including Moscow's sovereignty over three islands and a group of islets claimed by Tokyo, ahead of a closely watched meeting between the two countries' foreign ministers. The most important condition for seeking ...

Nissan broadens its investigation of former Chairman Carlos Ghosn and probes dealings in other countries including India, the U.S. and Latin America.

Cigarette smoke wafts across rows of whisky and shōchū bottles with dedicated name tags draped around the necks as an elderly man, microphone in hand, belts out a Showa Era enka tune playing on the karaoke machine. Another local steps through the heavy door, saluting ...

From dancing in clubs to stand-up comedy, Aiko Tanaka's experience in the U.S. has helped realize her dream of making it in the entertainment industry.

In the countryside of Katsunuma, Yamanashi Prefecture, just north of Mount Fuji, a family-run operation has been making wine the old-fashioned way for almost 100 years: squeezing grapes by hand inside wooden presses. Every year in mid-October, Hitoshi Mitsumori, 54, along with his wife Kaori, ...

35Coffee is using the profits from its coffee sales to plant new coral across Okinawa Prefecture

With the start of a new year comes a new set of resolutions. An increasingly popular choice is Dry January, a campaign led by the British charity Alcohol Change UK, in which participants vow to abstain from drinking for 31 days. Millions of people ...

Starbucks Japan's "Japan Wonder Project" offers a nice snapshot of the nation's soft-power campaigns in general. This campaign, which has been going on for over a year now, celebrates Japanese flavors. The range is mostly consumed, though, by Japanese people, already familiar with the ...

Rock photographer Aki Fujita Taguchi reveals how to snap the essence of a band in just three songs.

Utagawa Kuniyoshi was a true son of Edo. Born near Nihonbashi in 1797, his father a dyer, he grew up among the hoi polloi in the crowded streets of the low city, where popular stories of tattooed otokodate, the revered "street knights" of the ...

Keshiki is a chapbook series published by Strangers Press designed to showcase some of the most exciting writers working in Japan today. "Friendship for Grown-Ups" by Nao-Cola Yamazaki is the second book in the series. The recipient of five Akutagawa Prize nominations, Yamazaki's ...

When it comes to photography books about Kyoto, the genre is usually limited to three areas: geishas, gardens and temples — in the English language at least. Small Buildings of Kyoto: Volume Ⅱ, by John Einarsen.108 pages KYOTO JOURNAL, Photography. In "Small Buildings of Kyoto," John Einarsen, ...

Daisuke Takahashi, who came out of retirement to finish second in last year's Japan national championships, said Saturday he wants to compete again next season. "I haven't decided on my targets for 2019 yet, but barring something unforeseen I want to continue competing and skate ...

The Chiba Jets Funabashi are returning to the Emperor's Cup final. To get there, it took an improbable chain of events ,but Chiba now has a shot at winning its third consecutive tournament crown. Michael Parker nailed a game-winning shot with 0.5 seconds remaining against the ...

The Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles want you to leave your cash at home. The Pacific League club late last week unveiled a plan to make its home stadium, Rakuten Seimei Park Miyagi, completely cashless in 2019. The Eagles say it will be the world's first ...

Sakuragaoka Gakuen High School earned its first medal in the Winter Cup boys competition late last month. The Aichi Prefecture school used a simple offensive strategy to accomplish that goal: Give the ball to scoring machine Keisei Tominaga. It proved to be the proper plan. The ...

China and South Korea reached the Asian Cup last 16 knockout round on Friday with wins over the Philippines and Kyrgyzstan, respectively, as defending champion Australia bounced back to claim its first win of the tournament. Marcello Lippi's China side negotiated a potentially tricky clash ...