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November 01, 2025
 

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Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Aug 31, 2019

'Life for Sale': Yukio Mishima's comically psychedelic take on the adventure novel

'Life for Sale' — first serialized in Weekly Playboy in 1968 — was, for long years, dismissed as mere 'entertainment.' Yet the surprising bestseller is a terrific example of Mishima's fecund imagination at its most free-wheeling and unfettered best.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Sep 4, 2016

JBC marks 100 columns and a million page views

Column has been shining a critical light on issues affecting Japan's foreign residents since 2008.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Feb 19, 2013

Journey to Kenya turns writer's life on its head, spurs Africa fascination

It was a single visit to Kenya in 1972 that completely changed Michio Hiraiwa's philosophy on life. He fell in love with the country, and visited there 150 times over the past 40 years. Once a workaholic, Hiraiwa says he now leads a stress-free and relaxed life, visiting Kenya and Tanzania four times...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Jul 1, 2007

Kotaro Sawaki: Writer on the road of life

Kotaro Sawaki is one of the most popular nonfiction writers in Japan. He made his name with "Shinya Tokkyu (Midnight Express)," a reportage of a yearlong overland trip through Asia and Europe he took when he was in his mid-20s. Those stories — whose title refers to a euphemism for "prison break" used...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jan 14, 2020

Life begins at 60 (or at least it starts anew)

Japan Times writer Daniel Morales celebrates his 60th column with a lesson on turning 60, a special birthday in Japan.
LIFE / WEEK 3
Dec 20, 2009

Real Escape Game brings its creator's wonderment to life

Code-like messages on the walls grabbed my attention first: "g=circle, square, triangle"; "42, 23, 16 . . . " Then I saw the padlocked safe and the six candy dispensers — the latter for sustenance, I guessed, in case we intrepid 18 gamesters locked in this mysterious room should malinger in accomplishing...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Jul 26, 2003

A hundred columns of words on the wall

This is it: the one-hundredth edition of "When East Marries West." At least by my count, and, as my wife says, "You should know -- you're the only one who reads it."
Japan Times
WORLD
Apr 4, 2022

‘This is true barbarity’: Life and death under Russian occupation

The town of Trostyanets was occupied by Russian forces for a month before the Ukrainian military liberated it. Residents described weeks of hunger and horror.
JAPAN / 3/11 STILL BEING FELT
Mar 10, 2015

Survivors speak of grief, guilt and life after the tsunami

Every afternoon, elderly residents at a temporary housing complex in the city of Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, sit around a table for a few hours of lighthearted chitchat. They update each other on how they feel, talk about TV shows they saw the night before and laugh at each other's jokes.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jun 13, 2010

Synthetic life zaps 'the soul'

I remember a couple of years ago the Vatican made a curious announcement about the possibility of extraterrestrial life. Clearly,the Roman Catholic Church was getting worried that any discovery of evidence of life on other planets would undermine its authority on Earth. It wanted to head off the impact...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Dec 6, 2009

Rika Kayama: Finding satisfaction in being ourselves

Psychiatrist Rika Kayama is an outspoken doctor specializing in mental illness, a best-selling writer and a popular social commentator.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 14, 2013

Work: secret to good health

The next time you think your job is killing you, consider recent evidence that suggests the opposite — by sticking with it your job may be saving your life.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Apr 9, 2008

Life and left-handed meteorites

I wonder if Empress Gensho, who ruled Japan for nine years and died in 748, had something against left-handed people.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Jul 25, 2020

Redefining the kimono in modern times

While many associate the kimono with Japanese tradition, renewed interest in the garment at home and abroad is giving it a new lease on life.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Aug 16, 2014

What kind of life could live in the clouds?

Do you remember seeing clouds from an airplane for the first time? Even if that first time was as an adult, you were probably struck by the appearance of solidity. Seen from above, a cloudscape looks like a landscape — it looks like a place where things might live.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History
Dec 23, 2021

Takashi Hara: The commoner who lost his life leading Japan

On the 100th anniversary of the prime minister's assassination in Tokyo, we examine the peace-loving global aspirations of a man who coveted self-determination over succession.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jun 19, 2017

At Aichi pharmacy chain, seniors get to work at their own pace

Starting this fall, Sugi Pharmacy Co., headquartered in Obu, Aichi Prefecture, will offer seniors a new type of job contract in order to help its older employees keep fitter for longer as well as address the company's manpower shortage.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Dec 19, 2015

Cherishing Okinawa's diverse marine life

Diving in Okinawa this summer, I came face to face with my favorite undersea creature: the octopus.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / CHILD'S PLAY
Apr 11, 2015

Take a slow, deep dive into marine life

Island nations have a unique relationship with the sea, and for Japan these connections often manifest themselves through its culture and cuisine. This can make an aquarium visit doubly interesting: Come for the fish, stay to watch the visitors as they admire each tank's inhabitants with a unique mixture...
Japan Times
LIFE
Jun 13, 2010

Beneath the Battle of Okinawa

In 1966, Dave Davenport was a mystery to his fellow U.S. Air Force clerks on Okinawa. Whereas they would dress up in their finest threads and make for the clubs of Koza in their free time, Davenport would don the oldest clothes he owned and jump on a local bus heading into the middle of nowhere.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
May 8, 2011

'Transcendent Man' denies life ends with death

When Ray Kurzweil was a child he tried to invent a homework machine: He didn't accept that he had to waste time doing his dumb school assignments. Half a century on, nothing much has changed, though the authority Kurzweil challenges has got loftier: Now, says the American futurist and inventor, he doesn't...
The classic red brick arches of Tokyo’s first “gādo-shita,” built in 1910, are what most Japanese people think of when they think about commercial spaces under elevated railways.
LIFE / Style & Design / Longform
Jun 16, 2025

Revitalizing the space under Tokyo’s train tracks

Rail underpasses in big cities are being transformed into vibrant spaces for artisans, foodies and travelers — without erasing their past.
The Marugame Genichiro-Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art is just one of many hidden art and architectural gems across the Kagawa coast.
LIFE / Travel
Mar 15, 2025

‘Resorts for the spirit’: Touring Kagawa’s art and architecture

The seaside cities of Takamatsu and Marugame are home to a heritage of beauty, from the monolithic to the modern.
Japan’s public bathhouses have been in decline for decades, with the number of such facilities in Tokyo alone dropping by nearly half in the last 15 years.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 14, 2023

Japan seeks digital detox with return to ‘way of the sauna’

Public bathhouses have been in decline for decades, with the number of sentō baths in Tokyo dropping by nearly half in the last 15 years.
The Materials Provided by Mizuno Baseball Bat Tableware set is made from a recycled, discarded baseball bat and includes two large tumblers, a vase, a small cup, four cutlery rests and a sake cup.
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Sep 30, 2023

Game-changing designs from sporting goods brands

On: Design looks at two major Japanese sporting goods companies that have launched unique SDG-inspired projects.
Plamo Furniture’s Baum series of interior works, designed by Takuro Izumi, is made with vertically layered panels of engineered wood that can be custom-designed to seamlessly fit any space.
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Oct 5, 2024

Japan's flat-packed furniture doesn't skimp on aesthetics

Disappointed by flat-packed aesthetics? Not if you give these Japan-designed pieces a look.
A pop-up advertisement for the newly opened Chiikawa Park in Tokyo's Ikebukuro neighborhood demonstrates how the country is chockful of cute characters — to the detriment of trends like Labubu.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Aug 23, 2025

Character-crazed Japan has little appetite for Labubu

The monster dolls may be driving fans wild elsewhere, but Japan has long had plenty of its own domestically produced characters that know exactly what consumers want.
"Real Japanese Cooking: The Only Japanese Cookbook You Will Ever Need" pays homage to home-cooking favorites, such as classic tempura dishes.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Sep 16, 2025

From tofu to teriyaki: Japanese essentials for the home cook

Packed with more than 600 recipes, Makiko Itoh's “Real Japanese Cooking: The Only Japanese Cookbook You Will Ever Need" is an encyclopedic effort that lives up to its name.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell
Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Trump trims fentanyl-linked China tariffs after 'amazing' Xi meeting
U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping greet each other as they arrive for talks at the Gimhae Air Base, next to the Gimhae International Airport in Busan, South Korea, on Thursday.
Japanese and South Korean leaders agree to boost ties in first meeting
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi shakes hands with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung ahead of their talks at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, on Thursday.
Takaichi and Xi reaffirm pledge in first meet to pursue ‘mutually beneficial’ ties
A screenshot from Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's X account shows Takaichi exchanging greetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping ahead of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit meeting in Gyeongju, South Korea, on Friday.　
Japan’s government ramps up bear control efforts amid rise in attacks
A bear roams around a field in the town of Kuzumaki, Iwate Prefecture, on Oct. 12.
Oasis returns to Japan after 16 years — and fans can still sing every word
Liam Gallagher commanded the stage with effortless charisma during Oasis' Tokyo Dome set on Saturday.
At Japan Mobility Show, BYD gears up to conquer Japan's EV market
BYD Auto Japan President Atsuki Tofukuji unveils the Racco at the Japan Mobility Show in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Oasis returns to Tokyo: Rain, rapture and rock
Fans wait to get into the Oasis show at Tokyo Dome on Saturday. While lining up in the rain, some broke into impromptu versions of the British rock group's hits.
Kyushu banzuke sets the stage to cement 2025’s sumo narratives
Onosato ahead of his bout against Aonishiki at The Grand Sumo Tournament at the Royal Albert Hall in London on Oct. 18
Tokyo Film Festival opens with global stars and a spotlight on Asian storytelling
Director Junji Sakamoto (left) walked the Tokyo International Film Festival red carpet with Sayuri Yoshinaga (center) and Non (right), who both play mountaineer Junko Tabei, the first woman to summit Mount Everest, in the biopic "Climbing for Life."

Podcast

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

Longform

Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell
By Alex K.T. Martin

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