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July 18, 2025
 

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CULTURE

Film
Books
Art
Music
TV & Streaming
Stage
Entertainment news
Misa Kimura is the main producer for Kawaii Lab, a project by entertainment agency Asobisystem whose groups have found success by pairing a social media-first strategy with a fresh perspective on traditional idol-pop tropes.
CULTURE
Kawaii Lab redefines idol pop for the TikTok generation
By Patrick St. Michel
The idol-pop project's main producer, Misa Kimura — a former idol herself — is giving her performers more control over their image and sound.
Two university students (Sara Minami, left, and Fumika Baba) with grim family lives find camaraderie and warmth in each other in “Love Doesn't Matter to Me.”
CULTURE / Film
‘Love Doesn't Matter to Me’: Romance takes a backseat to female friendship
By Mark Schilling
In Aya Igashi’s unconventional coming-of-age drama, not all people deserve forgiveness and not all women need love to thrive.
A call girl (Kaho Seto) traumatized by the death of her young daughter becomes entangled with a strange client in “New Religion.”
CULTURE / Film
‘New Religion’: Chic debut is low on shivers
By James Hadfield
Keishi Kondo’s horror film dives deep into dream logic and dread, but its emotional detachment leaves a chill that’s more cold than scary.

Film

A call girl (Kaho Seto) traumatized by the death of her young daughter becomes entangled with a strange client in “New Religion.”
Film
‘New Religion’: Chic debut is low on shivers
By James Hadfield
Keishi Kondo’s horror film dives deep into dream logic and dread, but its emotional detachment leaves a chill that’s more cold than scary.
Film
‘Young & Fine’: Teenage horndog tale balances heart and hormones
By James Hadfield
Film
‘Harbin’: Somber historical drama sees act of mercy lead to bloodshed
By Mark Schilling
Film
‘Virgin Punk: Clockwork Girl’: Beautiful, brutal and bringing back ’90s anime energy
By Matt Schley
Film
‘I Am Kirishima’ peels back the mystery of a fugitive radical
By Mark Schilling
Film
Ghibli’s Isao Takahata exhibit shows how beloved anime is made
By Thu-Huong Ha
Film
From stage to screen, a story of quiet connection in the still heat of Nagasaki
By Matt Schley

Books

A board announces that no works were awarded the Akutagawa and Naoki literary prizes on Wednesday evening in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward.
Books
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.
Books
Craig Mod's life in motion in a disappearing Japan
By James Hadfield
Books / Perspectives
Between reality and fiction: A summer’s day in Karuizawa with Minae Mizumura
By Hanako Lowry
Books
A buzzing zine scene across Japan packs passion in multiple formats
By Kim Kahan
Books
Pride and prose: Novels that illuminate queer lives in Japan
By Mike Fu
Books
Truth is slippery in ‘Suspicion,’ a detective story based on a true crime
By Kris Kosaka
Books
AI fiction is already here. Are humans ready?
By Thu-Huong Ha

Music

Misa Kimura is the main producer for Kawaii Lab, a project by entertainment agency Asobisystem whose groups have found success by pairing a social media-first strategy with a fresh perspective on traditional idol-pop tropes.
Kawaii Lab redefines idol pop for the TikTok generation
By Patrick St. Michel
The idol-pop project's main producer, Misa Kimura — a former idol herself — is giving her performers more control over their image and sound.
Music
‘Try first, figure it out later’: Kom_I and Foodman’s beautiful mess
By Patrick St. Michel
Music
Mei Semones is the rookie to remember at Fuji Rock
By James Hadfield
Music / Sound Off
Why are idol fans throwing hands at the racetrack?
By Patrick St. Michel
Music
Stage dive into summer: Japan’s best music festivals, month by month
By Alyssa I. Smith
Music
Sober clubbing brews fresh beat for Singapore's Gen Z
By Satish Cheney
Music
Six months into 2025, J-pop is having a full-on identity crisis (and a great time)
By Patrick St. Michel

TV & Streaming

Though Haruki Murakami's trademark whiff of offbeat existentialism is threaded throughout NHK's "After the Quake," the final episode — conceived as a sequel to the story "Super-Frog Saves Tokyo" — is the most stylized, featuring an anthropomorphic talking frog (voiced by Non) and his erstwhile associate Katagiri (Koichi Sato).
TV & Streaming
Haruki Murakami TV adaptation revisits 30 years of watershed moments
By Mike Fu
NHK's new four-episode miniseries, “After the Quake,” probes the ripple effects of past major disasters across Japanese society.
TV & Streaming
Rise and shine with ‘The Wakey Show’
By Patrick St. Michel
TV & Streaming
Can a meal make you besties? ‘K-foodie meets J-foodie’ says yes.
By Patrick St. Michel
TV & Streaming
‘Offline Love’ ditches digital dating and puts old-school romance to the test
By Patrick St. Michel
TV & Streaming
The different faces of ‘Asura’ through the generations
By James Hadfield
TV & Streaming / Wide Angle
‘The Hot Spot’: Close encounters of the mundane kind
By Patrick St. Michel
TV & Streaming
Taiwan's 'Meteor Garden' star Barbie Hsu dies at 48

Art

Nakagin Capsule Tower architect Kisho Kurokawa in front of the structure two years after its completion in 1972.
Art
The many lives of Nakagin Capsule Tower on display at New York’s MoMA
By Zoria Petkoska
“The Many Lives of the Nakagin Capsule Tower” showcases the 50-year history of the building through nearly 45 pieces of contextual material and one of the capsules on display.
Art
Rare vintage shots and first-time shows at TOP’s 30th anniversary
By John L. Tran
Art
The future is bright inside the visionary mind of architect Sou Fujimoto
By Zoria Petkoska
Art
A multisensory exhibition of washi paper unfolds at London Design Biennale
By Yuki Sumner
Art
Osaka wants to show off its artistic talents
By Zoria Petkoska
Art
At Tokyo Pride’s first queer art exhibition, intimacy and resistance share the wall
By Erik Augustin Palm
Art
What can Kenji Yanobe’s cosmic cats teach us about humanity?
By Jennifer Pastore

Stage

“Giselle” lead Yuriko Kajiya (center), performing with Connor Walsh as Albrecht, is one of six Japanese dancers at Houston Ballet.
Stage
Japanese dancers find a home abroad at Houston Ballet
By Alyssa I. Smith
Returning to Japan for the American ballet company's first international tour since 2022, several dancers speak about why they moved overseas.
Stage
Diva of dualities: Maria Seiren sings opera and noh in both a female and male voice
By Kat Joplin
Stage
Atsuko Okatsuka brings big 'dad' energy to new special
By Zoria Petkoska
Stage
Traditional performing arts are plugging into modern audiences
By Phoebe Amoroso
Stage
Japan’s slam poetry scene is all about raw vulnerability
By Eric Margolis
Stage
National Ballet of Japan takes its 'Giselle' to Royal Opera House in London
By Kris Kosaka
Stage
K-Ballet Tokyo marks 25 years of passion and perseverance
By Kris Kosaka

Entertainment news

Businesses who cater to fandoms gathered at Tokyo Lifestyle Week for the second annual Oshikatsu — Merch Collection Expo, a trade show devoted to fandom goods.
Music / Sound Off
Music idol and anime fandom merch is big business
By Patrick St. Michel
Over 100 booths showed off the latest in acrylic stands, binoculars and cheering items such as glow sticks and flags at the second Oshikatsu — Merch Expo.
Entertainment news
Queer-coded yakuza story wins prestigious U.K. crime writing award
By Thu-Huong Ha
Entertainment news
Japanese pop-rock band Tokio announces disbandment after 31 years
By Jessica Speed
Entertainment news
Japanese director Yasuhiro Aoki wins French animation award for 'ChaO'
Entertainment news
Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson dies at age 82
By Mary Milliken and Bill Trott
Entertainment news
Two BTS megastars released from South Korea military
By Sue Han Kim and Hieun SHIN
Entertainment news
South Korean musical 'Maybe Happy Ending' tops Broadway's Tony Awards
By Maggy Donaldson
Read more CULTURE stories
Tokyo emerges as a top market for global tech talent
Tokyo ranks among the world's top tech talent hubs alongside Beijing, the San Francisco Bay Area, Bengaluru, Paris, New York and Dublin, according to Colliers' newly released global tech markets report.
JSA’s 100th anniversary event is a once-in-a-lifetime chance for sumo fans
Egyptian wrestler Osunaarashi has some fun with children during a special Japan Sumo Association event in 2017.
Tens of millions of yen found at home of Aum Shinrikyo founder's wife
The house of the wife of the late Chizuo Matsumoto, the now-defunct Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult's founder, in Koshigaya, Saitama Prefecture, in July
Japan researchers identify gut bacteria strain that boosts anticancer drugs
Researchers at the National Cancer Center Japan say a new type of gut bacteria named YB328 could help unlock the potential of cancer immunotherapy.
Living conditions index hits lowest level in 15 years in Japan
The share of respondents to a Bank of Japan quarterly survey in June who said they have become worse off came to 61.0%, up 5.1 percentage points from the previous survey.
Kawaii Lab redefines idol pop for the TikTok generation
Misa Kimura is the main producer for Kawaii Lab, a project by entertainment agency Asobisystem whose groups have found success by pairing a social media-first strategy with a fresh perspective on traditional idol-pop tropes.
Craig Mod's life in motion in a disappearing Japan
Mod's memoir “Things Become Other Things” chronicles his walking trips across the Kii Peninsula, surveying “a graceful end to a certain life cycle.”
With China and Trump, Japan defense report says world entering ‘new era of crisis’
A senior member of a Self-Defense Forces honor guard inspects a formation before the arrival of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba for a visit to the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on June 30.
Tokyo stocks hit by a perfect storm of tariffs, politics and budget worries
Tokyo stocks are underperforming shares in other large markets globally.
Japan researchers identify gut bacteria strain that boosts anticancer drugs
Researchers at the National Cancer Center Japan say a new type of gut bacteria named YB328 could help unlock the potential of cancer immunotherapy.

Podcast

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

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan
By Megha Wadhwa

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