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August 21, 2025
 

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JAPAN / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Jul 23, 2017

Osaka's bid to outshine Paris for 2025 Expo still on shaky ground

With only four months to go until it must unveil detailed plans for its 2025 World Expo bid, Osaka's leaders plan to use the rest of the summer and early autumn to ramp up domestic and international efforts to raise the region's profile and tout its advantages over arch-rival Paris .
JAPAN / History
Mar 14, 2020

The 1970 Osaka Expo: Looking back at the past to gauge where Japan sits in the present

The 1970 Osaka Expo laid down a bold statement about Japan's future. Fifty years later, has the country been able to live up to its promises?
Japan Times
JAPAN / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Aug 21, 2016

Osaka urged to spend more on arts ahead of Olympic extravaganza

A call by an influential Kansai business group for the Osaka prefectural and municipal governments to increase their budgets for art and culture has sparked debate between the governor and business circles over how to best do that.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / MLB
Jun 25, 2023

MLB games in Paris in 2025 in 'planning' stage

Commissioner Rob Manfred said MLB will continue to take baseball to locations worldwide.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 3, 2019

Through Keidanren role, Hiroaki Nakanishi looks to ditch dated aspects of Japan's corporate culture

At the same time, the 72-year-old organization reflects the most traditional — and at times outdated — aspects of corporate Japan.
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2023

Kishida aims for half of new fathers to take child care leave in 2025

The prime minister also said he will aim to raise the rate to 85% by fiscal 2030, adding that the bold goals are necessary to reverse the declining birthrate.
Japan Times
SOCCER
Dec 19, 2022

Australian soccer does not have culture of crowd trouble, says CEO

Melbourne City goalkeeper Tom Glover was concussed after being struck in the face by a metal bucket full of sand during the weekend's abandoned Melbourne derby.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 21, 2016

Tokyo governor vows to use 2020 Games to tackle demands of graying society

Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike vowed Friday to use the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics to create a city that can cope with the demands of a rapidly aging population.
JAPAN
Feb 5, 2023

Kyoto calling: Ancient capital prepares to be center of Japanese culture again

The relocation of the Cultural Affairs Agency has raised strong hopes in Kyoto that the move will give the city a higher profile and status.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / Longform
May 22, 2023

Luxury hotels are on the rise as Japan woos the wealthy

From plush city hotels to beach resorts, establishments costing over ¥100,000 a night are becoming a common sight.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 11, 2022

Can flashy music festivals go green?

Deep Tropics organizers said that all the carbon consumed for the two-day event (including the fuel used by all the festivalgoers) will be offset by the planting of some 23,000 trees.
Japan Times
PODCAST / deep dive
Feb 8, 2023

I can't believe it's not meat! Is lab-grown beef on Japanese menus?

This week, Oscar Boyd gives us a review of his cultured chicken meal and runs down the environmental implications of such an endeavor, while Tomoko Otake gets us caught up on where Japan stands in the great race to replicate beef.
After last year’s controversy over using AI to write about 5% of her novel, Rie Qudan was asked by an advertising magazine to write a short story where she uses AI for 95% of it. The resulting short story, “Kage no ame” (“Rain Shadow”), was published March 25.  
CULTURE / Books
May 24, 2025

AI fiction is already here. Are humans ready?

Last year, Rie Qudan faced controversy after admitting that chatGPT wrote 5% of her novel. Now she’s published a story she only wrote 5% herself, leaving 95% to AI.
The year so far is only proving that Mrs. Green Apple is the biggest band in Japan. Their success also seems to be hinting at a change in the musical landscape more broadly.
CULTURE / Music
Jun 5, 2025

Six months into 2025, J-pop is having a full-on identity crisis (and a great time)

Halfway through 2025, J-pop is in flux — swinging between AI absurdity, idol nostalgia and viral sugar highs.
Tech in 2025 will face growing resistance to AI, social media and streaming saturation alongside political and cultural shifts driven by Elon Musk, Trump and controversies like a potential U.S. TikTok ban.
COMMENTARY
Jan 5, 2025

AI, Musk and Trump add up to a turbulent 2025 for tech

If the steady stream of tech CEOs visiting Mar-a-Lago is any indication, we can expect Silicon Valley to be more willing to do Trump’s bidding in 2025.
Samsung has won the long-awaited approval from artificial-intelligence giant Nvidia for a version of its high-bandwidth HBM3 memory chips.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 30, 2024

Samsung begins closing gap in making AI memory chips for Nvidia

The advances that include winning approval from artificial-intelligence giant Nvidia come after months of stumbles for Samsung.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba receives a gift from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang at the start of their meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Monday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 22, 2025

Nvidia CEO urges LDP to build up Japan’s AI infrastructure

Japan has pledged to increase government and corporate funding in AI to over ¥50 trillion ($350 billion) in the next 10 years.
The rapid advance of artificial intelligence and technology threatens traditional human life and values, but finding a balance between innovation and preserving human connection may offer a path forward for humanity's future.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 19, 2025

Does humanity have a future in the virtual and AI age?

The virtual age and artificial intelligence are making traditional ways of life seem increasingly obsolete, and this will only grow with AI's spread.
A Japan day ceremony at the Osaka Expo featuring Myaku-myaku on Thursday in the city of Osaka
JAPAN
Jul 3, 2025

Best-selling singer Misia and Hello Kitty celebrate Japanese culture at Osaka Expo

The expo’s national day celebrating its host country spanned culture from contemporary to ancient, in a ceremony featuring calligraphy and gagaku and more.
Noriko Shakti has been living in Goa, India, since 2020 and specializes in the tabla, a traditional hand drum from the Indian subcontinent.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Apr 12, 2025

Noriko Shakti: ‘Music reflects my journey and learnings’

The India-based DJ and producer talks about bridging Indian and Japanese traditions in electronic music and advocating for women’s representation in the industry.
China is not merely moving more goods; it is exporting a new, ruthlessly efficient production model powered by automation, AI and state-guided industrial optimization.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 4, 2025

China’s unbeatable new production model export

The more pressing concern, however, is not what China exports, but how. Global cost structures are indeed being reshaped.
Akutagawa Prize winners (from left) Jose Ando, author of "Dtopia" and Yui Suzuki, author of "Goethe wa Subete o Itta," and Naoki Prize winner Shin Iyohara, author of "Ai o Tsugu Umi."
CULTURE / Books
Jan 15, 2025

Japan's most prestigious literary awards go to a trio of contemporary voices

Jose Ando and Yui Suzuki take home Akutagawa honors, while Shin Iyohara nabs the Naoki Prize.
Recently, Japan designated Hokkaido Prefecture (including its capital, Sapporo), Fukuoka, Tokyo and Osaka as special zones for financial and asset management businesses. Kumamoto Prefecture was also named a national strategic zone for semiconductors.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 14, 2024

International social infrastructure key to Japan’s high-tech future

Across the globe there is an ongoing search for talent, especially in high-tech sectors, and Japan is no different.
2025 Osaka Expo mascot Myaku-Myaku dances on the stage during the event's official opening ceremony on April 12.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Apr 28, 2025

Expo '25 gives the world a masterclass in mascots

At Expo 2025 in Osaka, mascots from around the world borrow from Japan’s character culture — but none can match Myaku-Myaku’s gloopy charm.
Anime director Shunsuke Nakashige accepts the anime of the year award for “Solo Leveling” at the Crunchyroll Anime Awards.
CULTURE / Film
May 30, 2025

Anime's big night out is getting bigger — and more surreal

The soft-power spectacle at Crunchyroll's awards ceremony in Tokyo underscores anime's expanding global influence.
“ChaO” is a romantic comedy centered on a mild-mannered human and a mermaid princess. A spin on Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid,” the animated film takes place in a near-future Shanghai.
CULTURE / Film
Aug 8, 2025

Futuristic mermaid tale ‘ChaO’ makes a splash

Yasuhiro Aoki’s feature film debut reimagines “The Little Mermaid” in vibrant detail.
Apple CEO Tim Cook unveils the iPhone 16 at the Steve Jobs Theater on the company's campus in Cupertino, California, on Monday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 10, 2024

iPhone 16 to land in Japan without Apple Intelligence 

The new feature, which uses generative artificial intelligence to analyze text and photos, will only be activated in 2025 in several markets, including Japan.
The museum's curators selected a wide array of works from the archives for the milestone exhibitions. Among other photos, Nobuyoshi Araki's work from the series "Winter Journey" (1990) was included in the "Continuity and Change" exhibition that concluded in June.
CULTURE / Art
Jul 11, 2025

Rare vintage shots and first-time shows at TOP’s 30th anniversary

The 2025 schedule includes two exhibitions showcasing the museum’s permanent collection and three solo shows that focus on the work of Takano Ryudai, Luigi Ghirri and Pedro Costa.
Though Haruki Murakami's trademark whiff of offbeat existentialism is threaded throughout NHK's "After the Quake," the final episode — conceived as a sequel to the story "Super-Frog Saves Tokyo" — is the most stylized, featuring an anthropomorphic talking frog (voiced by Non) and his erstwhile associate Katagiri (Koichi Sato).
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Apr 3, 2025

Haruki Murakami TV adaptation revisits 30 years of watershed moments

NHK's new four-episode miniseries, “After the Quake,” probes the ripple effects of past major disasters across Japanese society.
Agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi visits a rice farm in Ibaraki Prefecture on July 9. Inflation is eating into household budgets, and higher prices are causing much concern among the Japanese public.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 18, 2025

In Japanese politics, rice is the 'third rail'

If inexperienced politicians inadvertently damage Japan’s food security, voters will send them packing.
JICA to designate four Japanese cities as 'hometowns' for African nations
The Japanese flag (left) with the flag of the African Union
103-year-old remembers Soviet attack right after WWII
Shoichi Takahashi holds a photo of himself when he was younger, in Otaru, Hokkaido, on May 17.
Schools get students involved in revision of unreasonable ‘black rules’
At Yawata Junior High School in Nagoya, there are no more rules on clothing and hairstyles. Students are free to wear either the school's uniform or clothes of their own choosing.
Tokyo crowned No.1 'workation' spot
Workations were a burgeoning trend in the corporate world for years before the COVID-19 pandemic turbocharged it.
Japanese man suspected of ordering double murder in Manila
Two suspects arrested over the killing of two Japanese last week are held in restraints in Manila on Tuesday.
Tokyo crowned No.1 'workation' spot
Workations were a burgeoning trend in the corporate world for years before the COVID-19 pandemic turbocharged it.
Candidates preparing to make final pitches for Sawamura Award
Hawks pitcher Livan Moinelo has a 1.13 ERA in 19 starts this season.
Winning warship bid gives Japan confidence boost as Tokyo eyes more exports
Australia’s decision to select Japan's upgraded Mogami-class warship, seen in this computer-generated image, has been “well received across Japanese industry," a Defense Ministry official said.
In Paris, chefs Chizuko Kimura and Kei Kobayashi make their mark
Chef Kei Kobayashi is France's only Japanese chef with three Michelin stars.
In preserving Japanese hospitality, ‘details are everything’
Beniya Mukayu, a traditional "ryokan" inn located in Ishikawa Prefecture, considers itself at "the heart of onsen towns, local residents, farmers, fishermen, sake brewers and artisans" — all of which need new, sustainable methods of serving visitors to survive into the future.

Podcast

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

Longform

Members of the nonprofit group Japan Youth Memorial Association search for the remains of dead soldiers in a cave in Okinawa Prefecture in February.
The long search for Japan’s lost soldiers
By Tomoko Otake

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