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July 04, 2025
 

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CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
May 27, 2001

Bibliophiles rejoice

A COLLECTOR'S GUIDE TO BOOKS ON JAPAN IN ENGLISH: An Annotated List of over 2,500 Titles with Subject Index, by Joseph Rogala. Richmond, Surrey: Curzon Press, Ltd., 2001. 292 pp., 15.99 UK pounds. The book's title says precisely what it is. It is not a listing of 'best' books on Japan, nor a catalog...
Japan Times
Special Supplements / Hiroshima G7 Summit Special
May 19, 2023

Seto Inland Sea area boasts lush nature, bustling cities, cultural heritage

The area surrounding the Seto Inland Sea, Japan’s largest inland body of water, constitutes the Setouchi area, represented by the cities of Hiroshima, where the G7 Summit will be held, Okayama, Matsuyama and Takamatsu. Spanning the prefectures of Hiroshima, Okayama, Ehime and Kagawa, respectively,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Sep 10, 2004

Dodging tourist traps in Kyoto

Ebisugawa has a vast array of small shops that sell dozens of varieties of high-quality green tea and traditional Kyoto sweets, as well as bric-a-brac stores that are a bargain-hunter's dream.
Japan Times
PODCAST / deep dive
Feb 16, 2022

Where the wild things grow — foraging in Japan

Winifred Bird is the author of 'Eating Wild Japan,' a book that goes deep into the foraging culture of Japan and contains essays on foraging, a selection of recipes and a guide to forageable plants.
Japan Times
JAPAN / INTERPRETATION & TRANSLATION
Feb 18, 2013

Making a living using foreign language skills

What would it be like to make a living using foreign language skills as a freelance professional? Missa Takahashi, an interpreter and translator of English, French and Italian, shares how she established her career, expanded her work and deepened her understanding of language and culture.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2008

Critics dispute Michelin regard for Tokyo

Paris might still be good if you've got a big wad of cash and want the best of the best. But Tokyo is really where it's at foodwise, at least according to the French people who keep track of these things.
Japan Times
CULTURE / OTAKOOL
Sep 27, 2007

Akihabara's awful truths

While the Establishment packages Electric Town as a mecca for manga and anime obsessives, and a magnet for camera- toting tourists, the reality differs: 'Akiba' is alienating the geeks who once made it great
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Jul 1, 2007

Kotaro Sawaki: Writer on the road of life

Kotaro Sawaki is one of the most popular nonfiction writers in Japan. He made his name with "Shinya Tokkyu (Midnight Express)," a reportage of a yearlong overland trip through Asia and Europe he took when he was in his mid-20s. Those stories — whose title refers to a euphemism for "prison break" used...
Japan Times
Features
Feb 6, 2005

Calls for change as WHS status threatens one of Japan's gems

The breathtaking mountain landscape of the Kii Peninsula, and its ancient temples, monasteries and shrines have captivated the Japanese people for more than 1,000 years.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jan 12, 2005

What's in a name? The good, the bad and the absurd

From the (e-)mail bag, Patrick O'Mara from Washington, D.C., sent the following message: "I'm writing as a new fan to the game; my wife got me into (baseball) this past season, when the Red Sox finally overcame the Yankees. My question is why do they call it the "World" Series?
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
May 21, 2002

The hermit opens up to visitors

PYONGYANG -- It's not difficult to find your way around Pyongyang. The city has few tall buildings and wherever you go, the imposing monolith of the Tower of the Juche Idea -- topped by a red "flame" that glows at night -- enables visitors to get their bearings.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Dec 31, 2010

Eat temple style at home or find the right Tokyo eatery

It seems implausible these days but, until 150 years ago or so, Japan was essentially a vegetarian country. Certainly, river fish were caught, seafood was eaten by people on the coast and hunting was part of life for those living in the inhospitable interior. But the Buddhist tenets against taking life...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / FREEWHEELIN' ACROSS JAPAN
May 16, 2008

Into the Land of the Dead

Second of two parts
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / Top 5
Mar 13, 2022

Tokyo's top tonkatsu make for a hefty meal

The hearty pork cutlet is a favorite choice for lunch in Japan. Thankfully, Tokyo has no shortage of places that serve it.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / A Weekend In
Nov 10, 2018

A weekend in Sapporo: Fresh crab, craft beer and sculpture gardens

For more than a third of the year, Sapporo is buried beneath thick snow. During its warmer months, however, the city shrugs off its winter coat and bursts into life.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Mar 23, 2007

A treasure chest of tradition

The capital of Ishikawa Prefecture greeted me like it does most travelers: with a downpour. The train's rain-streaked windows blurred my first views of a city in a storybook setting. Kanazawa averages 178 soggy days a year, so it's fitting that the station's glass dome fans out like an umbrella.
LIFE / Travel
May 10, 2000

Postcards from the flip side of Japan

Think of the antithesis of Japan. A place where there are few people, an abundance of unspoiled natural beauty, a low standard of living and, perhaps most importantly for the visitor, sparkling blue oceans teeming with fish and alive with coral reefs.
Japan Times
PODCAST / deep dive
Feb 9, 2022

The rise and fall of Japan's ski industry

Japan Times contributor Francesco Basetti joins Deep Dive to discuss the rise and fall of the Japanese ski industry, and how resorts are faring with so few people able to enjoy them.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Feb 10, 2007

Time custom-designed for that unique experience

It takes Charlie Spreckley no time at all to leave his apartment in Ebisu and meet at the station. He is tall, smiling, and very droll. Nicole Fall, his business partner, falls in not far behind, looking brisk and wearing wrist weights. "I've no time to go the gym these days. These help keep my upper...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Apr 11, 2015

Sakai: a keyhole to the history of Osaka

As I peered out the window from my vantage point on the 21st floor of the Sakai City Hall, in the distance I could see Abeno Harukas — Japan's tallest skyscraper, which houses a train station, hotel, museum, department store and offices. But this modern curiosity was not what I was looking for. I was...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Apr 16, 2008

Omissions and risky commissions

For several years now I have been at work on a new book — to be titled "Field Guide to the Birds of East Asia" — that is due to be published later this year. You may think it would be an easy matter to put together such a tome; after all, ornithologists and birdwatchers have been studying birds for...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Dec 9, 2007

The buildup to Beijing

During the 40-minute drive from Beijing Capital International Airport to the city center, my Chinese tour guide, Ma, had plenty of time to relate his views on Beijing's rapid development.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 9, 2003

Using the right words in Kosovo

When it comes to media access, Kosovo's population is spoiled for choices. No apartment block is complete without its symmetrical rows of white satellite dishes scanning the heavens for news and entertainment. One estimate has it that 75 percent of the population has media access. BBC and MTV are just...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Nov 6, 2022

Dining from forest and field at Niigata's Satoyama Jujo

The Sanaburi dining room in Minamiuonuma serves dishes so fresh they come straight from the soil — sometimes literally.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 24, 2018

Good libations: Examining the evolution of Japan's rich cocktail culture

The art of the cocktail is indisputably non-Japanese. The word itself is old American slang for a pick-me-up, referring in modern parlance to any mixed drink containing liquor and at least one other ingredient. Even if you aren't a drinker, chances are you can name quite a few: the martini, the Manhattan,...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Dec 12, 2016

Finn finds niche as Kyoto's first foreign jinrikisha driver

As the season for viewing autumn leaves comes to an end in Kyoto's Arashiyama district, a tall young blond rickshaw driver is drawing attention.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Sep 3, 2016

Strolling the quiet alleyways of Nara, Japan's forgotten capital

It's hard playing second fiddle when you used to be first chair. Just ask Nara, Kyoto's underpraised southern neighbor.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Jul 27, 2014

Osaka bets big on TOEFL to boost English levels

The Osaka Prefecture Board of Education is pushing through a raft of initiatives to shake up English-language education, chief among them the introduction of TOEFL at top-performing high schools, which will be taught by an elite group of teachers earning approximately ¥8 million a year.
JAPAN
Dec 5, 2013

Tokyo restaurants loses Michelin three-star ranking

The Michelin Guide has cut the number of Tokyo restaurants with its top rank by one, reducing the city's three-star winners for the second year in a row.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Nov 18, 2012

The little 'black bird' is a hit, from Liverpool all the way to Asia

It is 50 years this year since the best-selling band in history, The Beatles, released their first single, "Love Me Do." They were set to catapult Britain into the Swinging '60s and launch a global musical phenomenon.
Magnitude 5.5 earthquake jars Tokara Islands amid flurry of seismic activity
A strong quake struck off the Tokara Islands on Thursday afternoon, with the island chain having recorded around 1,000 earthquakes since a burst of seismic activity first began on June 21.
Onosato's yokozuna promotion causes rare quirk in new sumo rankings
Newly promoted yokozuna Onosato holds a copy of the latest banzuke ranking in Anjo, Aichi Prefecture, on Monday.
A prophesied disaster (likely) won’t strike Japan this weekend
A viral manga prediction of a July 5 disaster has gripped Japan with anxiety and triggered an economic impact, but experts warn that while such dates are unreliable, the threat of a massive earthquake remains real. 
Over 900 earthquakes strike Tokara islands in space of two weeks
A screenshot shows many quakes occurring in the Tokara islands over the past 30 days, in this image taken from the U.S. Geological Survey website.
Ghibli’s Isao Takahata exhibit shows how beloved anime is made
“The man who planted Japanese animation” exhibition includes a variety of sketches, drawings and animation cels from Isao Takahata films such as color design for characters by Michiyo Yasuda from "Grave of the Fireflies."
Ghibli’s Isao Takahata exhibit shows how beloved anime is made
“The man who planted Japanese animation” exhibition includes a variety of sketches, drawings and animation cels from Isao Takahata films such as color design for characters by Michiyo Yasuda from "Grave of the Fireflies."
Flag football facing challenges and opportunities ahead
Japan’s women’s flag football team at the 2025 International Bowl in Los Angeles in June. The sport is enjoying continued growth in the country.
From Hokusai’s Great Wave, shinkansen to One Piece: a cultural treasure box for Lego Japan
Michael Ebbesen, general manager of Lego Japan, says Lego bricks based on Japanese culture have a rich global appeal and are sellable around the world.
With farmed fish, RelationFish swims against the tide in fine dining
Chef Hideaki Matsuo (middle) and the staff of Oseto Suisan Fisheries prepare to check on their sustainably farmed fish.
As Southeast Asia heats up, a Japanese cooling giant sees a major opportunity
An employee of Daikin Cambodia explains the use of different tools during an air conditioner installation training session in Phnom Penh. Daikin is one of Japan’s oldest air conditioning companies, but as Japan’s population falls, the firm is keying in on overseas growth.

Podcast

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

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Smile! It’s ‘Sanrio Time,’ now and ever after
Smile! It’s ‘Sanrio Time,’ now and ever after

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