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October 05, 2025
 

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COMMUNITY

Our Lives

Our Lives
How-tos
Issues
Voices
Kashata will most likely settle in well in a home with another cat companion.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / ADOPT ME!
Scaredy-cat Kashata is searching for a friend
Believed to be around 3 years old, Kashata is a shy fellow in need of some love and attention.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Linda Joyce: ‘We hope people recognize the benefits of exploring rural areas’
Former teacher Linda Joyce shifted careers to the tourism industry in 2024 and now works at a historic property in rural Tochigi Prefecture.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / ADOPT ME!
A friendly Kai ken dog with a big heart
Three-year-old Bronte has remained a happy-go-lucky fellow despite the adverse conditions of his upbringing.
"Shake hands with Lima-chan," a statue that shares the name of the Peruvian capital looks in the direction of Peru, where a sister statue, "Sakura-chan," is located. Erected in Yokohama's Rinko Park in 1999, it commemorates Peruvian-Japanese friendship.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / Longform
Sep 22, 2025
The journey of Peru’s Nikkei: Finding identity in Japan
By Christoph Sponsel
From sugar plantations in Peru to factory floors in Japan, the Nikkei story is one of migration, resilience and identity.
Melos Han-Tani is a game designer of eclectic interests whose upcoming releases, Angeline Era and Danchi Days, are set in alternate-history Ireland and a public housing complex in Japan, respectively.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Sep 12, 2025
Melos Han-Tani: ‘Figuring out what you value is valuable for any artist’
By Gendel Gento
A designer, programmer and composer, Han-Tani draws inspiration from a wide range of sources and channels his creativity through games, music and writing.
Cymbal is a shy but sweet cat with distinctive markings and a gentle demeanor.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Sep 9, 2025
Gentle care is the key to Cymbal’s heart
A little patience will go a long way with 5-year-old Cymbal, a shy cat with distinctive markings that was rescued earlier this year.
A native of Saskatchewan, Canada, Jon Heese naturalized as a Japanese citizen in 2007 and embarked upon a career in local politics the following year.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Sep 8, 2025
Canadian-born politician tackles Ibaraki’s issues big and small
By Gendel Gento
After being elected to four terms in the Tsukuba Municipal Assembly, Jon Heese now serves as a prefectural assemblyman — and one of Ibaraki Prefecture’s biggest cheerleaders.
Hampen hails from Tokushima, Shikoku, and is named after the fish paste specialty that the region is known for.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / ADOPT ME!
Sep 3, 2025
Smiley, spirited Hampen will run into your arms
This 7-year-old dog from Tokushima is eager for human companionship and loves to go on walks.
Jesse Kirkwood is part of a vibrant field of translators who have nurtured what might be called a “post-Murakami era of Japanese literature and translation,” one book at a time.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Aug 29, 2025
Jesse Kirkwood: ‘Languages are entire cultural universes with all sorts of baggage’
By Kris Kosaka
The Japanese-English literary translator reflects on catching the recent wave of “post-Murakami” fiction and how he balances reading for work versus pleasure.
Despite coming from a difficult background that resulted in behavioral issues, Tosca has turned a new leaf with his new owners in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / ADOPT ME!
Aug 28, 2025
Tosca turns a new leaf in a new home
A dog with a troubled past has finally found his way to a loving family.

Takaichi poised to become Japan's first female PM after winning LDP poll
Sanae Takaichi, the newly elected leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, holds a news conference after the LDP presidential election in Tokyo on Saturday.
Tokyo's newest stationery store sells 'a slower, more human rhythm'
Plotter's signature customizable leather binder is just one of many products contributing to the ongoing boom in the popularity of Japanese stationery.
The party that ruled Japan for decades is in danger of crumbling
Haruo Tsukamoto, a rank-and-file member of the Liberal Democratic Party and a rice farmer in Ibaraki Prefecture, questions if the party still stands for people like him.
8,432 foreign children in Japan seen not attending school
The total number of foreign children registered in Japan as residents eligible for education at elementary or junior high schools stood at 163,358, up by 12,663.
U.S. federal shutdown affects Americans in Japan and diplomatic talks
The U.S. government shut down on Wednesday, though essential services are still being offered.
The summer kabuki came roaring back
Kabuki has been trying for years to attract a new generation of fans. One way to do this has been to adapt manga and anime franchises, such as “Naruto,” for the stage. 
Tea ceremony experts see matcha boom as a big opportunity
Atsuko Mori, founder and director of Kyoto-based tea salon Camellia Tea Ceremony, prepares matcha during a tea ceremony in Kyoto.
Japan's far-right party courts Trump allies and vows not to get 'wacky'
Sanseito party leader Sohei Kamiya speaks during an interview in Tokyo on Sept. 25.
How Ohtani has boosted Japan's soft power and made LA even more baseball-obsessed
Fans at Dodger Stadium pose in front of a mural highlighting the Dodgers' Japanese stars from past and present during a game earlier this year.
Japan faces fresh energy challenge as it seeks to expand power-hungry data centers
Data storage tapes at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center facility in Berkeley, California. Data centers consume massive amounts of electricity and water, and that will only rise as generative artificial intelligence takes off in earnest.

Podcast

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

Longform

Growing families are being priced out of Tokyo’s condo market, forced to choose between downtown convenience and suburban space.
Is living in central Tokyo still affordable?
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

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

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