Search - culture

 
Menu
Search
 
August 07, 2025
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access
20,431 results
Sort by: Relevance Newest Oldest
After adjusting your search parameters, press Enter on your keyboard or click on the red magnifying glass to run your query again.
A Tokyo bride (Mai Fukagawa, centers) finds that marrying the heir to a traditional folding-fan shop and navigating the subtleties of Kyoto’s social etiquette isn’t as easy as she expected.
CULTURE / Film
Jun 6, 2025

‘Strangers in Kyoto’: Tea, tradition and passive-aggressive politeness

Masanori Tominaga’s comedy of manners — and missteps — centers on a newcomer from Tokyo who tests the limits of the city's social etiquette.
Vice president of events and exhibitions for Studio Ghibli, Kenichi Yoda (right), and director and Ghibli Park creative development manager, Goro Miyazaki (left), pose at the 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival before receiving an Honorary Palme d'Or.
CULTURE / Film
Jun 6, 2025

Studio Ghibli marks 40 years, but future looks uncertain

A look into the legacy of the beloved anime studio.
Lee Sang-il’s "Kokuho" stars Ryo Yoshizawa as an orphan from a yakuza clan who rises through the world of kabuki to become a star performer.
CULTURE / Film
Jun 8, 2025

‘Kokuho’ finds riveting drama on and off the kabuki stage

Ryo Yoshizawa and Ryusei Yokohama deliver stage performances that are both convincing as kabuki and arresting as drama in Lee Sang-il’s ambitious film.
A woman walks past campaign posters calling to vote in a referendum in downtown Rome on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 9, 2025

Italy holds referendum on citizenship and workers' rights

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her coalition partners encouraged voters to boycott the referendum.
Chinese tour groups visit a waterfront promenade in Hong Kong on May 5.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 9, 2025

Can big stars bring higher-spending tourists back to Hong Kong?

Hong Kong, which once billed itself as Asia’s World City, is now seeking to brand itself as the region’s events capital.
By spurring the ASEAN countries to deepen cooperation, with one another and with others, U.S. tariffs could bring about an even more prosperous — and, crucially, resilient — grouping.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 9, 2025

Trump vs. a united ASEAN

By spurring the ASEAN countries to deepen cooperation, U.S. tariffs could bring about an even more prosperous — and, crucially, resilient — grouping.
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung speaks during a ceremony to mark the 70th Memorial Day at Seoul National Cemetery on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 10, 2025

China's Xi urges South Korea's Lee to protect free trade in first talks

Chinese leader Xi Jinping told new South Korean President Lee Jae-myung that the two countries “should jointly safeguard multilateralism and free trade."
South Korean musical "Maybe Happy Ending" won big at the 78th Tony Awards in New York on June 8. From left: Hunter Arnold, Dez Duron, Marcus Choi, Hue Park, Helen J. Shen, Darren Criss, Will Aronson and Jeffrey Richards.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Jun 11, 2025

South Korean musical 'Maybe Happy Ending' tops Broadway's Tony Awards

The awards celebrated Broadway's biggest year since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020.
Firefighters work at the site of a Russian drone strike in Kyiv on Tuesday.
WORLD
Jun 11, 2025

Russia launches one of war's largest air attacks on Kyiv

The overnight strikes were part of what Moscow says is retaliation for attacks by Ukrainian forces on Russia.
Activists, filmmakers and survivors attend a symposium in Tokyo marking 60 years since the discovery of Niigata Minamata disease.
CULTURE / Film
Jun 11, 2025

Film symposium marks 60 years since Niigata Minamata disease outbreak

The disease caused by mercury poisoning was documented in such films as “Fighting Pollution” and “Minamata Mandala.”
Politics find a way into the bedroom as a stay-at-home wife (Ami Chong, left) clandestinely tends to a series of johns (including Kenji Iwaya, right) in “A Unique Country in Asia.”
CULTURE / Film
Jun 12, 2025

‘A Unique Country in Asia’: Sex and politics make for strange bedfellows

With sex work and small talk, Kenji Yamauchi’s politically sharp film paints a complex portrait of modern Japan.
June is Pride Month, which means it’s the perfect time to get acquainted with how sexual minorities have been represented in Japanese fiction if you’re not familiar with these narratives already.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 11, 2025

Pride and prose: Novels that illuminate queer lives in Japan

From Yukio Mishima and Haruki Murakami to Li Kotomi and Akira Otani, dive into Japanese fiction’s LGBTQ+ narratives in honor of Pride Month.
Novak Djokovic plays a forehand return to Italy's Jannik Sinner during their men's singles semifinal match on day 13 of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland-Garros Complex in Paris on June 6, 2025.
TENNIS
Jun 11, 2025

No rest, no gain: Novak Djokovic’s go-to tools for a mind and body reset

Japan residents with deep pockets now have a chance to replicate Djokovic’s wellness and longevity routines at Aman Tokyo.
“Junk World” is Takahide Hori’s second entry in his stop-motion “Junk” series, which is populated by cyborgs, monsters and artificial lifeforms called “Mulligans.”
CULTURE / Film
Jun 13, 2025

Stop-motion sci-fi saga ‘Junk World’ expands its bizarre universe

The monsters are cute, the war is weird and interior designer turned director Takahide Hori’s creativity stretches far beyond his budget.
India’s potential participation in the Japan-U.K.-Italy fighter jet project GCAP makes strategic sense but should be postponed until the core partners solidify the program to avoid delays, conflict and operational risk.
COMMENTARY
Jun 12, 2025

India should join the Global Combat Air Program — but not just yet

GCAP is more than just a weapons platform. It is a statement of strategic autonomy, industrial innovation and trilateral cooperation among democracies.
To ensure no damage occurs to the historic Nelson Stair, the delicate washi paper clouds are made to weigh only about half a kilogram each.
CULTURE / Art
Jun 15, 2025

A multisensory exhibition of washi paper unfolds at London Design Biennale

In the exhibition “Paper Clouds: Materiality in Empty Space,” washi paper clouds float on golden threads in the historic Somerset House.
"In My Closet" by the artist Noumra is on display at Tokyu Plaza Harajuku's Harakado space until June 18.
CULTURE / Art
Jun 14, 2025

At Tokyo Pride’s first queer art exhibition, intimacy and resistance share the wall

A vibrant, community-sourced exhibition in Harajuku showcases queer art that spans the political, absurd and deeply personal.
Yasuhiro Aoki's "ChaO" won the Jury Award in the feature films category at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival on Saturday.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Jun 15, 2025

Japanese director Yasuhiro Aoki wins French animation award for 'ChaO'

"ChaO" tells the story of a romance between an office worker and a mermaid princess in a future society where humans and mermaids coexist.
The classic red brick arches of Tokyo’s first “gādo-shita,” built in 1910, are what most Japanese people think of when they think about commercial spaces under elevated railways.
LIFE / Style & Design / Longform
Jun 16, 2025

Revitalizing the space under Tokyo’s train tracks

Rail underpasses in big cities are being transformed into vibrant spaces for artisans, foodies and travelers — without erasing their past.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (left) speaks to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin on June 13.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 16, 2025

Nvidia's pitch for sovereign AI resonates with EU leaders

The concept for every nation to develop its own artificial intelligence is based on the idea that the language, knowledge, history and culture of each region are different.
After decades of dominance by foreign wrestlers, last month Onosato became just the second Japanese this century to be named to sumo's highest rank of <i>yokozuna</i>.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 17, 2025

The national sport of Japan wrestles with a generational change

As one legend departs, another star is rising. In a new era, sumo is grappling with its future.
Goldin Auctions CEO Ken Goldin speaks to a collector in Ikebukuro on Saturday.
MORE SPORTS
Jun 17, 2025

Ken Goldin brings his sports memorabilia from Netflix to Tokyo

Goldin Auctions CEO Ken Goldin brought some high-end sports memorabilia for the public to see on his first trip to Japan.
Panthers center Sam Reinhart lifts the Stanley Cup after Florida beat Edmonton to clinch a second-straight title.
MORE SPORTS / Ice Hockey
Jun 18, 2025

Sam Reinhart scores four as Panthers beat Oilers to retain Stanley Cup

Reinhart scored on all four shots he took to become the first player to notch four goals in a Stanley Cup Final game since 1957.
Trishit Banerjee moved to Japan in 2015, embarking on an academic and personal journey that taught him lessons about the collective and the individual.
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Jun 23, 2025

A singular ensemble: Indian food, science and Fukushima

After moving to Sendai for college, an Indian student began thinking about the dynamic between the individual and the ensemble — in food, science and society.
Shibuya’s iconic scramble crossing has helped put the district on the map globally.
BUSINESS
Jun 18, 2025

Shibuya, Tokyo's coolest ward, offers startups a leg up in Japan

It's offering international entrepreneurs free space, a good address and a wide range of support services.
Gentleman thief Lupin (Kanichi Kurita) and crew head to an uncharted island in the Bermuda Triangle and find themselves up against vaguely human monsters inspired by "The Island of Doctor Moreau” in “Lupin the IIIrd The Movie The Immortal Bloodline.”
CULTURE / Film
Jun 19, 2025

‘Lupin the IIIrd The Movie The Immortal Bloodline’ goes big on action, light on plot

Takeshi Koike’s latest “Lupin” film needs more than poison gas, bullets and nudity — its characters need something to do.
A Disaster Medical Assistance Team commander (Shun Oguri, right) and a health ministry official (Tori Matsuzaka) work together to respond to Japan’s first brush with COVID-19 in “Frontline — Yokohama Bay.”
CULTURE / Film
Jun 19, 2025

‘Frontline — Yokohama Bay’ revisits nation’s first pandemic struggles

Part docudrama, part recognition of unsung crisis responders, “Frontline — Yokohama Bay” looks back at the ship that warned a nation: COVID-19 is here.
Science suggests that three days of “shinrin-yoku” (forest bathing) is enough to boost immunity for an entire month.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jun 21, 2025

The science of shinrin-yoku: Why forest bathing feels good

Science suggests that three days of “shinrin-yoku” forest bathing is enough to boost immunity for an entire month.
The Fuji TV building in May. The company has taken responsibility for having enabled "sexual violence" toward an unnamed victim, who is a former Fuji TV worker, along with causing her emotional distress due to its initial reactions to the incident.
JAPAN / Media
Jun 20, 2025

Fuji TV settles ‘sexual violence’ case with apology and compensation to victim

Fuji TV President Kenji Shimizu apologized to the unnamed woman over the incident and how the company handled it.
Okinawan rapper Awich ruled the summer music festival circuit last year. Which act will prove to be the most memorable in 2025?
CULTURE / Music
Jun 23, 2025

Stage dive into summer: Japan’s best music festivals, month by month

The weather will be hot, but the concert calendar is looking even hotter.
How Pakistan shot down India's cutting-edge fighter using Chinese gear
An Indian Air Force pilot gets out of a Rafale fighter jet during its induction ceremony at an air force station in Ambala, India, September 2020.
China’s unbeatable new production model export
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.
Trump: The $550 billion pledged by Japan is 'our money'
U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday. He told CNBC that investment pledges are like signing bonuses.
Australia announces new warships will come from Japan
The Maritime Self-Defense Force's Mogami-class frigate Niyodo sails at an undisclosed location in this image released Tuesday.
Japan swelters as previous heat record melts
A worker tries to cool down a street in central Tokyo Tuesday as wide swaths of the Kanto region sweltered under intense heat. In Gunma Prefecture, the temperature rose 41.8 degrees Celsius, the highest ever recorded in Japan.
Australia announces new warships will come from Japan
The Maritime Self-Defense Force's Mogami-class frigate Niyodo sails at an undisclosed location in this image released Tuesday.
Fuji Rock's weekend of surprises was one of its best yet
Radwimps lead singer Yojiro Noda threw himself into the rock band’s Green Stage performance ahead of headliner Vampire Weekend.
How Trump is gaslighting on climate change — with Japan’s help
The Bishu Maru LNG tanker, owned by Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, next to the Freeport LNG terminal in Texas
With a new distillery, Suntory makes a spirited move on gin market
A staff inspects a distillation pot still at Suntory's new Osaka Spirits & Liqueurs Craft Distillery, which will focus on gin production and help Suntory capture a bigger slice of the fast-growing gin market.
Junglia brought dinos back to Okinawa. But will it bring tourists?
At Panorama Dining, one of Junglia’s two proper restaurants that also doubles as the rooftop Inifinity Terrace overlook, guests can pay extra to sit in balcony tables made to look like birds’ nests overlooking the park grounds.

Podcast

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

Longform

A mushroom cloud from the atomic bombing on Hiroshima taken from a U.S. military aircraft on Aug. 6, 1945. Copying the photo without permission is prohibited.
80 years on, a Japanese American hibakusha recalls the day the bomb dropped
By Elizabeth Beattie

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027
Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER