November 30, 2023

Today's print edition

Subscribe for more access

LIFE

Travel

Former firefighter Yoshifumi Usui now guides tourists in search of active pursuits in and around the Aso caldera.

LIFE / Travel

Oct 21, 2023

In volcanic Aso, the land gives much more than it takes

By Owen Ziegler

Locals in Aso have a saying: “The land takes away, but it gives us something, too.”

Hiruzen Kougei employee Moeko Hirao, craft brewer “Sugichan” and furry friend Tsubu help out with the tomato harvest at 6:37 a.m.

LIFE / Travel / Longform

Oct 16, 2023

The farmer's intern: A month in the Japanese countryside

By Ansel Swindells

Escaping the chaos of Tokyo for a month, our writer heads to rural Okayama Prefecture and discovers the delights of natural farming.

A performer going by the name “Tanefukube” leads shishi-odori dancers during Tono Meguritoroge’s grand finale at Rokko-shi shrine.

LIFE / Travel

Sep 30, 2023

Dancing with ghosts at Tono’s rural folk festival

By Lance Henderstein

The Tono region is Japan’s go-to setting of scary stories to tell in the dark.

Fukuoka, known for its outdoor food stalls, is a popular destination for Japanese tourists, but now it's starting to draw more international travelers, too.

LIFE / Travel

Sep 9, 2023

Beyond its yatai, Fukuoka hosts travel pleasures aplenty

By Erik Augustin Palm

Tourists come for the city’s lauded cuisine, its casual atmosphere, vibrant arts and nightlife scenes and temperate climate.tk

Japan railways are rapidly approaching a future of unmanned stations from one side of the country to the other.

LIFE / Travel

Sep 3, 2023

Trouble sometimes pulls into Japan’s unmanned train stations

Nearly 60% of the 4,368 stations operated by the six Japan Railways Group passenger companies now run without staff.

Aoi Suzuki’s son runs past a home in Taketomi on Iriomote Island (not to be confused with Taketomi Island, which lies to the east of Iriomote). The Suzukis run the Takemori Inn, one of the few hotels on Iriomote.

LIFE / Travel / Longform

Aug 14, 2023

My annual pilgrimage to Okinawa

By Lance Henderstein

Navigating between different ferries can open up whole new worlds in Japan's southernmost islands.

In total, the Yoshinogari Historical Park holds 98 buildings, including dwellings, storehouses and watchtowers.

LIFE / Travel

Jul 31, 2023

Think you could survive in prehistoric Japan? This Kyushu park lets you try

By Rie Inumaki

The Yoshinogari Historical Park, which preserves ruins across the sprawling site in Saga Prefecture, lets visitors get a feel for local history from 500 B.C. to 300 A.D.

An official shot for this year’s lineup for NHK’s annual “Kohaku Uta Gassen.”

Things get warmer with Xi; Johnny’s get the cold shoulder

Yoshiko Koide sits in a classroom at Nagoya College where she teaches a Japanese-language observation seminar.

How a dictionary came to spark outrage among the web’s otaku

By Thu-Huong Ha and Yukana Inoue

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Ajinomoto helps people, planet with amino acids

Ajinomoto helps people, planet with amino acids

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER

international-reports