Menu
Search
 
November 20, 2025
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

LIFE

Digital

Travel
Digital
Food & Drink
Style & Design
Language
Lifestyle
Among the long list of Japanese video game innovators, Tetsuya Mizuguchi stands alone for his unique approach to music, rhythm and puzzle-solving gameplay.
LIFE / Digital
Hearing colors and seeing sounds with Tetsuya Mizuguchi
The creator of Japan’s answer to Tetris has long been obsessed with the concept of synesthesia in games.
LIFE / Digital
Ninja Gaiden 4 revives series with kinetic carnage, clumsy platforming
Known for high-speed and occasionally punishingly difficult combat, the Ninja Gaiden series gets an update in mechanics thanks to a new developer.
LIFE / Digital
How Japan’s greatest psychological horror game came home
Since 1999, the Silent Hill franchise of psychological horror games has always leaned into American settings. But with the new Silent Hill f, the series comes to Japan.
The age of sonic AI slop? No studio, no humans at the microphone, not even a recording — yet out comes a lively podcast, banter and all.
LIFE / Digital
Oct 17, 2025
Mass-produced AI podcasts disrupt a fragile industry
By Thomas URBAIN
Virtual hosts are taking over podcasting, as AI-driven shows multiply and challenge what it means to create — or listen.
Gamers play the Pokemon Legends: Z-A video game at the Ninentdo booth during the Gamescom video games trade fair in Cologne, Germany, in August.
LIFE / Digital
Oct 17, 2025
Pokemon brushes up decades-old formula with Legends: Z-A
Pokemon’s latest title, Legends: Z-A, trades turn-based fights for real-time clashes in a Paris-inspired cityscape.
Ghost of Yotei, the follow-up to 2020's smash hit Ghost of Tsushima, is a violent, vengeful and engaging romp through 17th-century Hokkaido that fails to stick the landing on its most sensitive cultural material.
LIFE / Digital
Oct 11, 2025
Ghost of Yotei’s bloodstained fun sidesteps Ainu identity
By Owen Ziegler
Set in Ezo (modern-day Hokkaido), the highly anticipated samurai action-adventure game contains familiar thrills but subpar substance.
Professional models cosplay characters from Persona 5: The Phantom X, one of many titles on display at Tokyo Game Show, Japan's largest gaming industry event.
LIFE / Digital
Sep 26, 2025
Tokyo Game Show 2025 leans into renewal and rebirth
By Gendel Gento
Japan’s largest games industry show returns with its largest spread of exhibitors yet.
Super Mario soft toys in various sizes at collector Kikai's residence in Mishima, Shizuoka Prefecture, on Aug. 19
LIFE / Digital
Sep 12, 2025
'He's a regular man, not unlike us': Marking 40 years of Mario games
By Kilian Fichou and Mathias Cena
Super Mario Bros., released for Nintendo's home consoles in Japan on Sept. 13, 1985, was a landmark of early video gaming.
Umamusume: Pretty Derby is the latest overnight success to come from the world of Japanese video games — never mind it was originally released in 2021.
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Sep 6, 2025
Racehorses, anime girls and gambling: Umamusume’s recipe for success
By Owen Ziegler
The latest overnight hit from Japan’s gaming world relies on a quirky mix of elements from the worlds of pop culture and sports.
Shinobi: Art of Vengeance makes excellent use of stages dripping with atmosphere to punch up the feel of its tight combat mechanics.
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Aug 25, 2025
Sega's ninja-themed Shinobi series is back from the dead
By Owen Ziegler
The long-running series hasn’t had a console release since 2003, but the new title is nearly enjoyable enough to make the wait worth it.

Beware of China’s strategic distortion of reality
China holds a military parade to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, in Beijing on Sept. 3. 
Economic security minister stresses crackdown on rule-breaking foreign nationals
Economic security minister Kimi Onoda speaks during a group interview in Tokyo on Monday.
Japan seeks to placate China as strained relations move beyond political realm
Director-General of the Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau Masaaki Kanai (left) and Chinese Director-General of the Department of Asian Affairs Liu Jinsong depart after a meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Beijing on Tuesday.
China to reimpose ban on Japanese seafood imports amid row over Taiwan, reports say
A sign reading, "Suspend the sales of all fish products imported from Japan" is displayed in an area home to Japanese restaurants in Beijing in August 2023. China will reimpose a ban on imports of Japanese seafood, media reports in Tokyo said Wednesday, as a diplomatic spat between the two countries deepens.
Japanese court orders Cloudflare to pay $3.2 million over manga piracy
Cloudflare has been ordered to pay $3.2 million after four major publishing firms accused the firm of copyright infringement for its role in hosting sites that distribute pirated copies of manga titles.
Why we can’t get enough of the sham of the rental family
“Rental Family,” directed and co-written by the single-named Hikari, follows out-of-work actor Phillip (Brendan Fraser), who is hired as the “token white guy” at a Tokyo agency called Rental Family.
Economic security minister stresses crackdown on rule-breaking foreign nationals
Economic security minister Kimi Onoda speaks during a group interview in Tokyo on Monday.
How Band-Maid brought anime energy into the hard-rock sound of ‘Scooooop’
Members of Band-Maid combine heavy riffs and maid-inspired visuals in their latest project, "Rock Is a Lady’s Modesty."
Japan uses series against South Korea to prep for World Baseball Classic title defense
Japan's Ryuhei Sotani pitches against South Korea at Tokyo Dome on Saturday night.
Who is cricket’s Shohei Ohtani?
South African cricket legend Jacques Kallis plays a shot during the final day of a cricket test match against India in Johannesburg in December 2013.

Podcast

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

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo
By Kathryn Wortley

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Maruhachi never sleeps in quest for better futons
Maruhachi never sleeps in quest for better futons

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER

Latest News

Nvidia’s upbeat forecast soothes fears of AI spending bubble
17 mins ago
Israeli military steps up strikes in Lebanon, saying it is targeting Hezbollah
48 mins ago
Saudi crown prince hosted at friendlier U.S. Congress
1 hour ago
Trump's White House tried to slow-walk a vote on the Epstein files. It failed.
1 hour ago
Russian spy ship points lasers at British pilots for first time
2 hours ago