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The Hokkaido East Trail links some of the northern prefecture's most striking national parks and landscapes.
LIFE / Travel
May 24, 2025

In search of untouched Japan? Meet Hokkaido’s newest hiking trail.

The 410-kilometer Hokkaido East Trail links three national parks as it winds through marshland, calderas and more.
Seicho Matsumoto’s “Suspicion” is based on a true story known as “the Beppu 300 million yen insurance murder,” swapping the real-life husband with a former Tokyo hostess.
CULTURE / Books
May 25, 2025

Truth is slippery in ‘Suspicion,’ a detective story based on a true crime

Seicho Matsumoto’s mystery novella is based on 1974’s “Beppu 300 million yen insurance murder.”
Mixue, a Chinese bubble tea chain, has become the world’s largest food and beverage chain, with tens of thousands of stores all over Asia. The company is just one example of the increasing reach and popularity of Chinese cultural exports across the globe.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 23, 2025

How China’s soft power is rewriting Asian culture

Chinese cultural exports are becoming increasingly popular across the world and especially Asia. Do they promote cross-border understanding or are they tools for propaganda?
After establishing Lagoon Brewery in 2021, Yosuke Tanaka began making export-only "nihonshu" (Japanese sake) and later, "craft sake," a new genre of sake that isn't bound by the rules of traditional sakemaking.
LIFE / Food & Drink
May 25, 2025

Brewed from rice, water and tomatoes: The growth of ‘craft sake’

Hampered yet inspired by the strict regulations for new brewers, a growing breed of sake producers are making the beverage on their own creative terms.
Construction equipment sits idle in a park near Shiba Toshogu shrine in Tokyo's Minato Ward. While Japan has a history of treating its trees with reverence, green coverage is said to be lacking in most of the major cities.
ENVIRONMENT / Earth science / Longform
May 26, 2025

Do Japan's trees no longer occupy the sacred space they used to?

Trees have long occupied a sacred place in Japanese culture. In the fast pace of the 21st century, however, they're increasingly losing out to progress.
Otakukon, an anime, manga and cosplay meet in Harare, Zimbabwe, last August. Japan should take advantage of decades worth of hugely popular cultural content by taking the big swings in bringing its own stories to global audiences.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 1, 2025

Japan can ride the anime wave to become the new soft superpower

It's time for Japan to better leverage anime's global popularity, reaching international audiences via streaming platforms while opening the door to other cultural exports.
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.
According to the Japan Society for the Study of Obesity, 20% of women in their 20s in Japan are underweight, one of the highest rates among developed countries.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jun 10, 2025

Female Underweight/Undernutrition Syndrome to be classified disorder

According to one group, 20% of women in their 20s in Japan are underweight.
Part of Osaka Art and Design 2025, Maki Takato’s “Yokai Unity” is a collaboration with a Zen-Buddhist monk from Nara, whose hands in prayer were 3D-scanned for an inflatable sculpture.
CULTURE / Art
Jun 14, 2025

Osaka wants to show off its artistic talents

With the expo underway, the city is buzzing with people. The art scene is trying to catch some of that attention with a variety of events and initiatives this summer.
"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.
A social media influencer photographs her meal for her followers.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 16, 2025

Influencers take bigger bite of ad pie as economic turmoil tightens budgets

Brands increased investment in influencer partnerships by 49% in 2024 and content creators topped social media marketing budgets, taking up a quarter of total annual spending.
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.
An 11-year-old girl (Yui Suzuki) finds glimpses of hope while coping with her father’s terminal illness in “Renoir.”
CULTURE / Film
Jun 26, 2025

‘Renoir’: An impressionistic portrait of grief and girlhood

Chie Hayakawa’s latest feature about a young girl facing losing a parent to cancer is a shining, soulful study of quiet mourning.
Rie Usui has been working to help people with disabilities get jobs, and now runs a talent agency for disabled people.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 29, 2025

Tokyo woman working to help people with disabilities secure jobs

Rie Usui's talent agency represents about 40 models and television personalities who feature in advertisements and TV drama series.
A gate to check climbers at Mount Fuji's fifth station in Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi Prefecture, on June 13. Climbers who do not have the necessary climbing equipment may be barred from using the trails.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 30, 2025

Mount Fuji’s ¥4,000 entrance fee kicks in for all routes

Climbers paid ¥2,000 to scale the mountain via the popular Yoshida trail last year, while those who made the journey through other routes did not have to pay anything.
Shintaro Awa is the new head chef of L'Ambroisie in Paris, replacing the legendary Bernard Pacaud, who helmed the restaurant for more than four decades.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jul 5, 2025

Shintaro Awa appointed to head the kitchen of L’Ambroisie in Paris

The Japanese chef takes over the role of Bernard Pacaud, who helmed the renowned restaurant for nearly 45 years.
“Giselle” lead Yuriko Kajiya (center), performing with Connor Walsh as Albrecht, is one of six Japanese dancers at Houston Ballet.
CULTURE / Stage
Jul 9, 2025

Japanese dancers find a home abroad at Houston Ballet

Returning to Japan for the American ballet company's first international tour since 2022, several dancers speak about why they moved overseas.
Hyun Bin (center) plays real-life Korean independence fighter Ahn Jung-geun in “Harbin.”
CULTURE / Film
Jul 11, 2025

‘Harbin’: Somber historical drama sees act of mercy lead to bloodshed

Hyun Bin portrays real-life Korean independence fighter Ahn Jung-geun as a complex figure shrouded in a sense of doom in Woo Min-ho’s film.
A high school senior (Taisuke Niihara, center), his girlfriend (Yuki Araho, left) and their alcoholic teacher (Yuka Kouri, right) find themselves in a lopsided love triangle in Toshiya Kominami’s “Young & Fine.”
CULTURE / Film
Jul 11, 2025

‘Young & Fine’: Teenage horndog tale balances heart and hormones

The oddball sensibility of Toshiya Kominami’s coming-of-age film, paired with Yuka Kouri’s winning performance, elevates a questionable setup into something surprisingly human.
Hideo Kojima, the leading auteur in Japanese video games, has skirted controversy in the wake of the release of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Jul 12, 2025

Is Japanese skin really ‘too smooth’ for Hideo Kojima’s games?

When it comes to Hideo Kojima’s visuals, art imitates life — and it’s more often Hollywood’s version of life than Japan’s that influences his games.
Businesses who cater to fandoms gathered at Tokyo Lifestyle Week for the second annual Oshikatsu — Merch Collection Expo, a trade show devoted to fandom goods.
CULTURE / Music / Sound Off
Jul 12, 2025

Music idol and anime fandom merch is big business

Over 100 booths showed off the latest in acrylic stands, binoculars and cheering items such as glow sticks and flags at the second Oshikatsu — Merch Expo.
A barber gives a model a haircut during the World Barber Classic at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo on Monday.
BUSINESS
Jul 15, 2025

Japan's World Barber Classic tries to bring back business

The event is part of a bid by Japan's struggling barber industry to attract young male clients lost in recent years to hair salons.
Mod's memoir “Things Become Other Things” chronicles his walking trips across the Kii Peninsula, surveying “a graceful end to a certain life cycle.”
CULTURE / Books
Jul 16, 2025

Craig Mod's life in motion in a disappearing Japan

In “Things Become Other Things,” the longtime resident of Japan captures that grace that lingers in slowly vanishing countryside towns.
A call girl (Kaho Seto) traumatized by the death of her young daughter becomes entangled with a strange client in “New Religion.”
CULTURE / Film
Jul 17, 2025

‘New Religion’: Chic debut is low on shivers

Keishi Kondo’s horror film dives deep into dream logic and dread, but its emotional detachment leaves a chill that’s more cold than scary.
Pham Thi Bich Hau (fifth from left) began translating and interpreting for the Vietnamese community in Japan in 2013, when she was working for a trainee management organization. She went on to found the Vietnam Women's Union in Japan, organizing activities like the Tet festival pictured here.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Jul 21, 2025

The mothers holding up Japan's Vietnamese community

Online support groups and in-person events are helping Vietnamese women from all walks of life manage motherhood abroad.
One of Leonard Foujita’s biggest muses was himself. He painted self-portraits, often with a cat on his side, looking back at the viewer. He posed for photographers throughout his life, the displayed photos showing he retained his signature bowl cut and round glasses.
CULTURE / Art
Jul 18, 2025

The self as a muse: Leonard Foujita's world in paintings and photos

“Foujita: Painting and Photography” at Tokyo Station Gallery is being billed as the first exploration of the artist as a photographer and has been a decade in the making.
Pupu’s name means “appetizer” in Hawaiian, but this sweetheart is definitely more of a main dish.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / ADOPT ME!
Jul 24, 2025

A big, beautiful Bengal cat named Pupu

A sweetheart with a big presence, Pupu loves to make her feelings known while enjoying a cozy moment.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba meets with Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok in Tokyo on May 22.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 31, 2025

Japan’s strategic blind spot in the heart of Europe

Central Europe may hold the key to increased strategic autonomy without the geopolitical baggage of the superpowers.
Left to right: A woman repurposes a garbage bag to protect her hat from the rain; having a hat and a beverage close at hand is a festival must.
CULTURE / Music / Photo essay
Aug 4, 2025

A weekend in Naeba: Rain or shine, the fun never stopped at Fuji Rock '25

Sweltering naps, makeshift shelters, dancing in the rain — Fuji Rock is all about surrendering to the moment.
This year, Fuji Rock Festival's ticket sales were the strongest they have been since the COVID-19 pandemic, with overseas ticket buyers accounting for roughly 10% of all sales.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 4, 2025

From far and wide, overseas visitors flock to Fuji Rock

From Singapore to Greece to Michigan, fans came to Japan not just for the music, but for the nature, the relaxed atmosphere and the freedom to dance into the early hours.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years