The suit-clad television presenter makes breathless promises about the qualities of the Hitachi rice cooker he is pitching, describing how the induction heating steam pressure system allows the aluminum pot to produce the perfect batch of Japan’s staple food with a fluffy yet firm ...

From dispatching Buddhist monks to connecting grieving families with affordable funeral homes, Osaka-based end-of-life startup Uniquest Inc. is among the many firms that have been capitalizing on the growing preference toward simple, cheaper funerals and greater efficiency and personalization of services. That trend is likely ...

Blossoms are beginning to open in Tokyo, but will this year's celebrations wither due to concern over the new coronavirus?

Utaki (sacred sites) are scattered throughout the islands of Okinawa. Historically the purview of priestesses and kings, these sites have recently seen an uptick in visitors interested in exploring their own history.

This isn't your modest highway truck stop with parking, public toilets, a few vending machines and a kiosk. Occupying 5 hectares of land by Route 64, a road that makes its way through the scenic hills and pastures gracing the mountains of northern Gunma Prefecture, ...

Barbecue pulled pork might not have taken off in Japan just yet, but thanks to restaurants like Fatz's The San Franciscan, which aserve up the real slow-smoked deal, that might be about to change.

Sitting silently among the rolling pastures, rice paddies and lush forests of the idyllic village of Otama are rows upon rows of photovoltaic solar panels — vast swaths of dark gray injecting dissonance into the postcard-like landscape local residents pride themselves on. These solar farms ...

No ordinary pastor, Kazuhiro Sekino wields a bass guitar like a rock star to bring his congregation together.

When the capital hosted the Olympic Games over half a century ago, it was heralded as a symbol of Japan's postwar recovery. This time around, Tokyo appears keen on trading brick and mortar for hearts and minds. One-hundred kilometers of highways were freshly laid during ...

From his hilltop studio in the suburbs of Tokyo, Taku Oshima is reviving an ancient form of body art tradition he believes was practiced by the indigenous hunter-gatherers that inhabited Japan thousands of years ago. Lines, circles, dots, spirals, and other geometric shapes and patterns ...