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July 19, 2025
 

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LIFE

Travel
Digital
Food & Drink
Style & Design
Language
Lifestyle
A man takes part in Tokyo’s Sanja Matsuri by helping to carry a "mikoshi" (portable shrine). Many Japanese festivals are open to foreign residents and tourists to participate in.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Dancers, festivals and one very useful Japanese grammar point
By Yaeko Kabe
From Kyoto’s Gion Matsuri to Tokyo’s Sumida fireworks, Japan’s summer festivals offer history, spectacle — and a chance to learn some vocabulary.
With a salsa-like topping, the "dashi yakko" is a Yamagata-style chilled tofu that makes a refreshing side dish for summer.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Washoku Essentials
Cool to be square: A block of tofu with veggies to chill your summer
By Elizabeth Andoh
Bank on the cold, silky bean curd to help you combat the season's soaring temperatures.
The Palestinian Embroidery Obi Project brings together a traditional Japanese garment and age-old designs from the Middle Eastern region.
LIFE / Style & Design
In Gaza-made obi, Palestinian embroidery meets Japanese kimono
By Anna Sakamoto
Kimono sashes from the Palestinian Embroidery Obi Project combine Japanese materials with Middle Eastern designs.

Travel

Once a way to transport lumber from the mountains to the coast, log rafting is now Kitayama's biggest attraction.
Travel
A tiny mountain hamlet keeps traditional log rafting afloat
By Louise George Kittaka
Log rafting was once a means of transporting timber, but now it’s the tourist draw of a tiny Wakayama village.
Travel
At a mountainside shrine, yuzu candy made by imperial decree
By Lance Henderstein
Travel
In search of untouched Japan? Meet Hokkaido’s newest hiking trail.
By Justin Randall
Travel
Fighting Osaka Expo fatigue? Walk the 21-km Loop Line for a cure.
By Edward J. Taylor
Travel
Celebrating Japan’s defeat at Shimoda’s Black Ship Festival
By Todd Fong
Travel
Want to see the future at the Osaka Expo? Get in line.
By Thu-Huong Ha
Travel
Japan’s first Waldorf Astoria brings art deco luxury to Osaka
By Tan Pin Yen

Digital

Sega's first brick-and-mortar store in Japan is an example of how the country's video game industry is thinking of its digital products as tangible experiences.
Digital
Sega’s first Japan store signals ‘immersive entertainment’ push
By Gendel Gento
Opened on July 18 in the Shibuya Parco building, the video game company’s brick-and-mortar venture hints at a broader trend in Japan’s gaming landscape.
Digital
‘Our ultimate goal is to save every single Japanese video game’
By Gendel Gento
Digital / ON: GAMES
Is Japanese skin really ‘too smooth’ for Hideo Kojima’s games?
By Owen Ziegler
Digital
King of Japan’s arcades, Sega’s UFO Catcher turns 40
By Gendel Gento
Digital
The Hitobito's Megan and Ben uncover the real Japan, one video at a time
By Patrick St. Michel
Digital
In Elden Ring Nightreign, the FromSoftware formula goes awry
By Owen Ziegler
Digital / ON: GAMES
Uh-oh, is the rest of the world making JRPGs better than Japan?
By Owen Ziegler

Food & Drink

With a salsa-like topping, the "dashi yakko" is a Yamagata-style chilled tofu that makes a refreshing side dish for summer.
Food & Drink / Washoku Essentials
Cool to be square: A block of tofu with veggies to chill your summer
By Elizabeth Andoh
Bank on the cold, silky bean curd to help you combat the season's soaring temperatures.
Food & Drink
Tokyo nabs four spots on Asia’s 50 Best Bars list
By Weiwen Lin
Food & Drink
Road-tripping through central Hokkaido? Don't miss these bakeries
By Simon Daly
Food & Drink
With fine dining, Milpa frees Mexican food from the grips of the taco
By Melinda Joe
Food & Drink
Shintaro Awa appointed to head the kitchen of L’Ambroisie in Paris
By Kyoko Nakayama
Food & Drink
Beyond the lavender fields in Furano, a whisky distillery emerges
By Simon Daly
Food & Drink
With farmed fish, RelationFish swims against the tide in fine dining
By Tan Pin Yen

Style & Design

The Palestinian Embroidery Obi Project brings together a traditional Japanese garment and age-old designs from the Middle Eastern region.
Style & Design
In Gaza-made obi, Palestinian embroidery meets Japanese kimono
By Anna Sakamoto
Kimono sashes from the Palestinian Embroidery Obi Project combine Japanese materials with Middle Eastern designs.
Style & Design
Mexican designer blends Chicano and Harajuku styles
By Raquel Cunha and Rafael Escalera Montoto
Style & Design / Longform
Revitalizing the space under Tokyo’s train tracks
By Alex K.T. Martin
Style & Design
Traditional home experts to gather at MinkaMeets event
By Laura Pollacco
Style & Design
Jeremy Strong brings male power-dressing to Cannes
By Adam PLOWRIGHT
Style & Design
Sculpted waves, sleek updos: Showa hairstyles are back in fashion
By Carol R.H. Malasig
Style & Design
Kazuki Nagasawa's sustainable designs are rooted in tradition
By Danielle Demetriou

Language

A man takes part in Tokyo’s Sanja Matsuri by helping to carry a "mikoshi" (portable shrine). Many Japanese festivals are open to foreign residents and tourists to participate in.
Language / BILINGUAL
Dancers, festivals and one very useful Japanese grammar point
By Yaeko Kabe
From Kyoto’s Gion Matsuri to Tokyo’s Sumida fireworks, Japan’s summer festivals offer history, spectacle — and a chance to learn some vocabulary.
Language / BILINGUAL
An emoji used to say it all. Now it might say too much.
By Yuko Tamura
Language
What’s the first thing you think of when you think of a Japanese summer?
By Yuko Tamura
Language / BILINGUAL
Take your first steps into the world of kabuki with these basic terms
By Eric Margolis
Language / BILINGUAL
How to get kicked out of a Kyoto home with a smile
By Yuko Tamura
Language / BILINGUAL
In the forecast for June — a lot of talk about the weather
By Yaeko Kabe
Language / BILINGUAL
What’s in a name? With new guidelines, the Japanese government wants to know.
By Yuko Tamura

Lifestyle

One of the entrances to Pao Compound, a nine-story Silk Road-inspired complex in Tokyo's Higashinakano neighborhood
Lifestyle
Touring the Silk Road — without leaving Tokyo
By Kimberly Hughes
Located near Higashinakano Station, Pao Compound is an eclectic mix of restaurants, event spaces and an affinity for cultural exploration.
Lifestyle
Tokyobike founder believes in taking in sights of dynamic cities slowly
By Elizabeth Beattie
Lifestyle
Cats, dogs, meerkats, goats: Interpets trade fair draws furry hordes
By Shawn B. Swinger
Lifestyle
Why Japanese sunscreen is going viral — and selling out
By Natsuko Fukue and Chayanit ITTHIPONGMAETEE
Lifestyle
The science of shinrin-yoku: Why forest bathing feels good
By Tomoko Otake
Lifestyle
Under shogi’s shadow, Tokyo’s chess lovers make their move
By Shyam Bhardwa
Lifestyle
'Rice swindler,' 'Face thief': Worried citizens invent new monsters
By Thu-Huong Ha
Read more LIFE stories
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.
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.
From stalking to death threats, female candidates still face harassment
Mayu Ushida, a former NHK newscaster running for election in the Tokyo electoral district on the Democratic Party for the People ticket, signs an autograph for a voter after a public rally at Shinjuku Station in Tokyo on Tuesday.
CDP leader criticizes ‘Japanese First’ policy and calls for inclusive society
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Yoshihiko Noda said it is obvious that Japanese society could not function without the help of foreign workers in manufacturing, health care, construction and public transportation.
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.
Japan's rice farmers are confounded by Shinjiro Koizumi’s policies
Kiyoshi Shibata stands in front of one of the rice paddies in Murayama, Yamagata Prefecture, where he produces the prefecture's signature rice brand Tsuyahime.
From stalking to death threats, female candidates still face harassment
Mayu Ushida, a former NHK newscaster running for election in the Tokyo electoral district on the Democratic Party for the People ticket, signs an autograph for a voter after a public rally at Shinjuku Station in Tokyo on Tuesday.
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.

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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