Visitors to a UFO festival in the town of Iino in the city of Fukushima turn up dressed as aliens and other characters in November last year.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 4, 2025
UFO fans increasingly active in Japan
The trend may be a sign of social anxiety amid geopolitical tension and conflicts across the globe, an expert says.
Construction workers near a sinkhole in Yashio, Saitama Prefecture, on Monday
JAPAN / Society / EXPLAINER
Feb 3, 2025
Why it's taking so long to reach the driver trapped in a Saitama sinkhole
The biggest challenge for the operation, now in its seventh day, is that the sinkhole continues to expand, complicating the rescue efforts.
The day care room for younger children at a multipurpose facility on Tonaki Island, Okinawa Prefecture, has never been used since its establishment in 2019.
The harsh reality of migration outflow on Okinawa’s least populated island
Since Tonaki Island established its only day care center in 2019, not a single child has set foot inside.
Eme-Ima Kitchen is one of over 10,000 kodomo shokudō in Japan. A term first used in 2012 to describe makeshift eateries offering free or cheap meals to disadvantaged kids, it now refers to a diverse range of individuals, groups and organizations working to provide not only food but a sense of belonging to both children and adults.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Feb 3, 2025
Japan’s ‘children’s cafeterias’ are booming — but is that a good thing?
They're no substitute for policy, but by providing food and belonging, these safe spaces are filling in the cracks of the nation's fraying communities.
Nihon Hidankyo co-chair Terumi Tanaka, 92, delivers a speech in Tokyo on Saturday.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 2, 2025
Nihon Hidankyo urges nuclear weapon ban as it reports on Nobel Prize ceremony
Nihon Hidankyo held a meeting in Tokyo on Saturday to report on its reception of the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize at the award ceremony in Norway in December.
According to the land ministry, damaged wastewater pipes caused 2,600 sinkholes in the year from April 2022, though most of them were less than 50 centimeters deep.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 31, 2025
Aging sewer systems could create sinkholes anywhere in Japan, experts warn
Damaged wastewater pipes caused 2,600 sinkholes in the nation in fiscal 2022.
Transparent Display installed at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building
JAPAN / Society
Jan 31, 2025
Smoother communication breaking barriers in Tokyo with Transparent Display
The Transparent Display can translate and project the text in 32 different languages.

Longform

Eme-Ima Kitchen is one of over 10,000 kodomo shokudō in Japan. A term first used in 2012 to describe makeshift eateries offering free or cheap meals to disadvantaged kids, it now refers to a diverse range of individuals, groups and organizations working to provide not only food but a sense of belonging to both children and adults.
Japan’s ‘children’s cafeterias’ are booming — but is that a good thing?