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Jul 20, 2021

Suntory Partners with Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup to Join a Global Movement to Tackle Ocean Plastic Pollution

TOKYO (July 20th, 2021) — Suntory Holdings, a global leader in the beverage industry, today announced that it has signed a partnership agreement with Ocean Conservancy in July to join their International Coastal Cleanup, a global movement to keep beaches and ocean free of trash and raise awareness...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 23, 2021

Becoming Isamu Noguchi: The making of a sculptor

Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum's exhibition showcases the ways in which Japanese culture influenced Isamu Noguchi's career as an artist who created works to be “lived,” not merely “seen.”
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 30, 2020

Schools lauded for COVID-19 response and support

The number of international students enrolled in Japanese universities and vocational schools is on the rise. In May 2019, this number stood at 312,214, up from 164,000 in 2011, and the number of students who chose to work in Japan after graduating has more than doubled since 2013.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Nov 2, 2020

TELL takes its fundraisers online ahead of holiday rush

Nonprofit counseling service TELL holds an auction to help fund its Lifeline as the holidays approach.
Jun 30, 2020

Suntory Launches New Joint Venture Company to Develop Innovative Anellotech Plas-TCat Plastics Recycling Technology

TOKYO, JAPAN (June 30, 2020) — Suntory MONOZUKURI Expert Ltd. (SME), a subsidiary of Suntory Holdings Ltd., is proud to announce the establishment of R Plus Japan Ltd., a new joint venture company that will invest in the development of cutting-edge recycling technology for used plastics. R Plus Japan...
Jun 29, 2020

Suntory Targets Net Zero Greenhouse Gas Emissions Across Entire Value Chain

- Company Raises Ambition of its 2050 Environmental Vision -
Donald Trump believes the U.S. should prioritize its own national interests like other countries rather than maintaining its traditional role as a global leader, signaling a dramatic shift in how the United States may engage with the world.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 12, 2024

Who will step up if Trump steps back?

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is indifferent to the global order and may adopt a foreign policy approach that reshapes the global balance of power.
Taiwanese writer Yang Shuang-zi’s novel “Taiwan Travelogue” provides a portal to the past and allows the reader to explore a bygone world with their eyes, ears and stomach.
CULTURE / Books
Nov 15, 2024

The sentimental gastronomies of ‘Taiwan Travelogue’

Yang Shuang-zi’s layered tale of female companionship takes readers on an epicurean frolic through Taiwan's colonial era.
Shiho Hanadate is part of a small yet growing number of young tappers pivotal in securing the future of domestic sap collection used in Japanese lacquerware.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Nov 30, 2024

The young sap collectors underpinning Japanese lacquerware

“You can’t cut into the core, so you have to judge the thickness of the bark,” says tapper Shiho Hanadate. “You have to develop a sense for it.”
While FromSoftware's Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is a strong contender for game of the year, Black Myth: Wukong, the first AAA game made by a Chinese developer, offers some stiff competition.
LIFE / Digital / 2024 in Review
Dec 6, 2024

It’s Japan versus China for 2024’s game of the year

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree and Black Myth: Wukong both have a claim to the best game of 2024, a year marked by cultural scandals and lawsuits.
Every Tokyo transplant has their favorite comfort food spot, and it seems Kanye West has found his at Good Wood Terrace.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Dec 8, 2024

Did Kanye West really discover Tokyo’s best jerk chicken spot?

Social media in Japan has become fascinated with Good Wood Terrace after Ye’s visit, with many visiting to try it out themselves.
Tokyo Union Church volunteers prepare food for unhoused individuals. The church helps people regardless of religion, race or sexuality.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Dec 16, 2024

From the stage to the streets, make a difference this holiday season

Discover the joy of giving back through a variety of charitable efforts. Helping others helps you, too.
Japan's traditional New Year cuisine has a long history, though modern developments have led to slight changes in the way things work.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Dec 22, 2024

A brief history of ‘osechi ryōri,' Japan's edible tradition for the new year

In addition to wordplay, color and shape often determine the reason why certain foods are part of Japan’s New Year holiday menu.
Lawyers estimate that personal bankruptcies in Japan are on track to reach the highest since 2012 this year.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Dec 22, 2024

Bankruptcies and suicides rise as Japanese struggle with mounting debt

Personal debt is overwhelming an increasing number of Japanese as higher interest rates and the rising cost of living bite.
At each shrine and temple, priests create festive, decorative go-shuin stamps, and you can collect the marks of all seven of the lucky gods on one piece of paper (called a shikishi) to serve as a good-luck talisman.
LIFE / Travel
Dec 27, 2024

Start the new year not with one temple visit, but seven

The seven lucky gods pilgrimage is a less hurried alternative to the often-crowded first temple or shrine visit of the year.
In season two of "Squid Game," protagonist Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) returns to put an end to the deadly competition.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / Wide Angle
Jan 12, 2025

The unnervingly timed return of ‘Squid Game’

The show’s themes of wealth disparity and exploitation of power resonate far beyond South Korea, tapping into a universal vein of unease about the unstable systems we live under.
The mural that artist Jonas Never painted during Kobe Bryant's last NBA season is seen on Jan. 19.
BASKETBALL / NBA
Jan 27, 2025

Kobe Bryant still reigns over Los Angeles on hundreds of murals

Artists behind some of the murals say that they illustrate how Bryant captivated everyday people.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba receives fruit from tangerine farmers of Shizuoka Prefecture in Tokyo on Jan. 22. The government's new regional revitalization plan focuses on convincing younger workers to choose a career and life somewhere other than a major urban center such as Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 18, 2025

Can Ishiba's 'joyful Japan' policy revitalize the nation's rural regions?

The prime minister may be taking cues from the mistakes of past efforts, but ultimately, even the best rural revitalization plan is tough to realize in practice.
The Marugame Genichiro-Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art is just one of many hidden art and architectural gems across the Kagawa coast.
LIFE / Travel
Mar 15, 2025

‘Resorts for the spirit’: Touring Kagawa’s art and architecture

The seaside cities of Takamatsu and Marugame are home to a heritage of beauty, from the monolithic to the modern.
Japan's ancient capital is now home to 16 two-Michelin-starred restaurants, while nearby Osaka claims 11.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 28, 2025

Michelin awards stars to 172 restaurants in Kyoto and Osaka

Ten restaurants join the two-starred rank, while Milpa earns Japan’s first-ever star for Mexican cuisine.
Margot Magniere and Theo Poyer returned to Japan after pandemic-era restrictions were lifted and decided to stay for a while.
CULTURE / Music
Apr 11, 2025

The band that turned a pandemic lockdown into a Tokyo dream

On “Grand Voyage,” French pop act Tapeworms tap into Japanese cultural nostalgia and picopop.
The Google logo is seen at the company's Bay View campus in Mountain View, California. Japanese authorities on Tuesday issued a cease-and-desist order to Google over an alleged violation of the country's anti-monopoly law.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 16, 2025

In a first, Japan issues cease-and-desist order against Google

The Japan Fair Trade Commission has accused the U.S. tech giant of violating the country's anti-monopoly law by forcing manufacturers to preinstall its apps in smartphones.
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.
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.
Police officers ask a man to evacuate from an empty beach following a tsunami warning, in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jul 30, 2025

Japan on edge but prepared for tsunami after huge Kamchatka earthquake

Tsunami waves measuring up to 1.3 meters were observed off the Pacific coast of Japan, with authorities urging people in coastal areas to evacuate to higher ground.
At Himawari Shokudo 2, chef Hozumi Tanaka serves Italian-inspired fare with a focus on Toyama produce, such as this appetizer of lightly blanched "hotaru ika" (firefly squid) served atop mixed wild plants and a crepe prepared from "yamato-imo" yam.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Aug 8, 2025

At Himawari Shokudo 2, Italian food with a Japanese soul

Punching above its own weight, the intimate restaurant is one of the growing number of quality establishments that are helping to cement Toyama's status as a dining destination.
Filipino soldiers take part in a flag-raising ceremony on Mavulis Island during a visit by the Philippines' Armed Forces chief of staff, in Batanes, the Philippines, in June 2023. Batanes, a group of idyllic islands at the country’s northernmost tip, sits about 160 kilometers from Taiwan.
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 25, 2025

Philippines quietly deepening ‘unofficial’ defense ties with Taiwan

The moves come as Manila settles into a view that alliances, geography and economic interests would inevitably pull it into any U.S. conflict with China over the island.
Osamu Dazai struggled with depression and addiction, themes that were also central to his writing.
CULTURE / Books
Sep 22, 2025

Why Japan’s most melancholic writer speaks to today’s youth

Osamu Dazai's works are enjoying a new boom of retranslations and readers 80 years after they were first published.
Jon Heese (second left) takes part in a 2024 New Year's nihonshu barrel opening ceremony.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 17, 2025

Why I chose Japanese citizenship over permanent residency

It may be adequate for some residents’ purposes, but when the chips are down, many will be shocked at just how few protections it offers.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes