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June 08, 2025
 

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Like other martial arts, aikido takes the concept of 気 (ki, spirit/mind) and incorporates it into the philosophy of the sport.  
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 28, 2023

Physically, spiritually and linguistically speaking, 'ki' is all around us

Often used to mean energy or spirit, the Japanese word "ki" can be seen in many different types of idioms and phrases.
This sweet and salty dish owes much to both early modern merchants and 20th century Tokyo University students.
LIFE / Food & Drink / JAPANESE KITCHEN
Oct 22, 2023

Recipe: Deep-fried sweet (and salty) potatoes

Sweet potatoes are an iconic Japanese treat. Originally from Central America, they came through China in the 17th century to southern Kyushu.
This stir-fry is a staple of many Japanese meals, and the techniques used to make are also commonly used throughout traditional cuisine.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 5, 2023

Recipe: Carrot and burdock root stir-fry

When selecting "gobō," choose ones that are straight and relatively thin — the thicker, the older.
A squeeze of fresh "sudachi" citrus is the final element in this earthy, warming dish perfect for cooler temperatures.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 19, 2023

Here’s the tea on traditional dobin teapot-steamed mushrooms

Dobin mushi pairs well with meat, fish, tofu, omelets and other vegetables. You can also serve dobin mushi in lieu of soup at any meal.
With this simple yet filling soup, you might just forget you're not back home at the family table for Thanksgiving dinner.
LIFE / Food & Drink / The Recipe Box
Nov 19, 2023

Recipe: Velvety kabocha soup

Kabocha is harvested in the summer in some regions, and after sitting for a few months, the plentiful starches inside the tough outer skin turn to sugars.
This chocolate salami dish is a no-bake truffle medley of chocolate ganache mixed with biscuits, nuts and dried fruit.
LIFE / Food & Drink / The Recipe Box
Dec 24, 2023

Recipe: Chocolate salami roll

The chocolate salami dish is a no-bake truffle medley of chocolate ganache mixed with biscuits, nuts and dried fruit.
With a little dehydration and a few pinches of Japan's favorite mold, you've got yourself some game-ready wings with a Tokyo twist.
LIFE / Food & Drink / The Recipe Box
Jan 28, 2024

Recipe: Kickoff-ready glazed wings

These ponzu-glazed wings are a perfect finger food to enjoy alongside your early-morning football.
JAPAN / Explainer
Jan 31, 2024

Quake-hit Noto faces a long road to recovery. Here's how you can help.

After initially asking people to refrain from coming as volunteers, municipalities in Ishikawa are now open to outside help.
Naoko Motooka began hunting 10 years ago. Her hobby is one way Hokkaido hopes to curb a current boom in the deer population.
PODCAST / deep dive
Feb 15, 2024

Hunting in Hokkaido; Taylor Swift comes to Tokyo

You probably don’t think of guns when you think of Japan, but Hokkaido’s hunters do.
Motoki Taniguchi (left) and one of his clients, Maurice Shelton, hope their lawsuit can change alleged police practices involving stop-and-search.
PODCAST / deep dive
Mar 8, 2024

A lawsuit puts alleged racial profiling by police on trial in Japan

Three residents with foreign roots have filed a lawsuit claiming Japanese police target visible minorities. We discuss what they hope to achieve.
Toshihiro Kinjo (center), a research support technician at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, inspects an audio recording device in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on April 3 as Masako Ogasawara, a research support specialist at OIST, looks on.
PODCAST / deep dive
May 23, 2024

What does climate change sound like in Okinawa?

This week, Japan Times climate editor Chris Russell joins us to discuss what researchers at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology are listening to.
Serve this savory parfait chilled with rustic bread, crackers or other charcuterie.
LIFE / Food & Drink / The Recipe Box
Jun 8, 2024

Broaden your parfait horizons with chicken liver

Spices and herbs can be adjusted to individual tastes or even omitted, but the gelled wine topping is fairly classic, set here with seaweed extract.
Sardines may not be the traditional choice for Japan's special midsummer eel-eating day, but with a few special touches, the fish can be a satisfying and sustainable replacement.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Washoku Essentials
Jul 21, 2024

Going eel-less for Japan’s midsummer tradition

Japanese eel is endangered, but sardines are an ethical — and delicious — substitute for this year’s double Doyo no Ushi no Hi.
There are no rules when it comes to making a bibimbap adapted to your own personal tastes.
LIFE / Food & Drink / The Recipe Box
Aug 18, 2024

With the humble bibimbap, do as you like

With broccoli florets as part of our bibimbap topping, we can also make a quick pickle of the stalk, meaning this meal is practically without waste.
Digital minister Taro Kono at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo in September 2023
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 19, 2024

LDP presidential hopefuls' first hurdle — securing 20 signatures

Each needs to garner support from 20 LDP lawmakers before the registration deadline for them to stand in next month's election.
Roasting cauliflower can seem daunting when its already hot outside, but the flavors here more than make up for slaving over a hot stove for a bit.
LIFE / Food & Drink / The Recipe Box
Aug 25, 2024

With a bit of Japan's 'national mold,' cauliflower becomes a superstar

Picallili is a style of lightly spiced cauliflower mustard pickle, the result of South Asian flavors integrated into colonial British cuisine.
Former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, 43, is one of two contenders who have consistently outperformed other candidates in the Liberal Democratic Party leadership race in recent polls conducted both among the general public and LDP supporters.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 11, 2024

Nine hopefuls vie for LDP presidency in complex election

The leadership race is the most crowded in the ruling party’s history and one of its most unpredictable in decades.
The Japanese used by any shop clerk in Japan will generally be the most polite form of the language.
LIFE / Language / Vocabulary Boost
Oct 1, 2024

'Need a bag for that?': Knowing what the clerks are saying at the convenience store

When it comes to serving their customers, convenience store workers tend to all read from the same mannerly script.
There's nothing like a tangy sandwich to see the last gasps of summer fade into a crisp Japanese autumn.
LIFE / Food & Drink / The Recipe Box
Oct 6, 2024

Get yourself in a pickle with this uber-tangy banh mi

As a sandwich, this banh mi is a great hot weather lunch for those last few gasps of summer.
Israeli soldiers carry the body of a victim of the earlier Hamas attack at on a kibbutz in southern Israel, during clean-up operations on Oct. 10, 2023.
WORLD
Oct 13, 2024

Secret documents show Hamas tried to persuade Iran to join its Oct. 7 attack

Minutes of Hamas’ secret meetings obtained by The New York Times show Sinwar’s determination to persuade Hamas’ allies, Iran and Hezbollah, to join the assault.
Kabocha are harvested in the summer, but they don't reach peak flavor until they mature in the months leading up to fall and winter.
LIFE / Food & Drink / JAPANESE KITCHEN
Nov 3, 2024

A perfect dish for peak kabocha season

This dish is an interesting alternative to potato salad and also makes a great appetizer to go along with some pre-dinner drinks. 
In Japan, these sweet morsels are a traditional New Year's treat, but they share a surprising overlap with American Thanksgiving flavors, too.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Washoku Essentials
Nov 10, 2024

The winter sweet that matches perfectly with autumn

If I’m in America for Thanksgiving, I’ll serve "kuri kinton" (syrup-stewed chestnuts in sweet potato paste) as a festive accompaniment to the holiday turkey.
This cakelike dessert is, in fact, not a cake at all and, being flourless, is gluten free.
LIFE / Food & Drink / The Recipe Box
Dec 1, 2024

For holidays in warm weather, a light, rolled meringue fits best

In the topsy-turvy seasons of the antipodes, Christmas is in summer and fresh fruit medleys make sense for this dessert.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declares martial law in Seoul on Dec. 3. Yoon is currently facing charges related to his actions over that two-day period.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 7, 2025

Was there an insurrection in Seoul on Dec. 3, or is that happening now?

Yoon can now be held for up to six months in prison simply at the behest of the prosecutors.
These larger than life meatballs are inspired by the stuffed meatballs found in Iran's Tabriz Bazaar.
LIFE / Food & Drink / The Recipe Box
Feb 23, 2025

Cold with a chance of kimchi meatballs

Warm up with a comforting hot pot of ground meat stuffed with the Korean fermented vegetable.
With the weather warming up, there's no better time to make a bowl of chilled "surinagashi-jiru" (pureed soup).
LIFE / Food & Drink / Washoku Essentials
May 18, 2025

Flaunt your seasonal greens with Japan’s traditional pureed soup

Get the best flavor out of your peas and pods by simmering them in a dashi-based broth.
Japanese purin is a classic dish, but this plant-based version is a bit of a sweet twist.
LIFE / The Recipe Box
Oct 15, 2023

Recipe: Soy caramel flan

Looking for a sweet snack? Here’s a traditional caramel and plant-based custard with a seaweed extract setting agent.
While "yōkan" jellies are usually set quite solid with "kanten" agar, there is something to be said for using it more sparingly for a softer finished product.
LIFE / Food & Drink / The Recipe Box
Nov 12, 2023

Recipe: Sweet potato ‘pie’

With a little effort, you can turn baked sweet potatoes into a fun and easy introduction to the world of traditional Japanese sweets.
Police officers block Wulumuqi Street in Shanghai on Nov. 27, 2022, amid protests over China's 'zero-COVID' policy.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 26, 2023

'Still suffocated': Mourning China's 'zero-COVID' protests a year on

Vigils for victims of a fire quickly morphed into calls to end zero-COVID measures — and in some cases, to topple Xi Jinping.
Seihan Mori, chief priest of Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto, writes "zei" (taxes), which was chosen on Tuesday as the kanji of the year.
JAPAN
Dec 12, 2023

Talk of taxes spurs choice for Japan’s kanji of the year

The choice came as tax hikes and cuts were heavily covered in the news and discussed among policymakers.
Foreign tourists with unpaid medical bills in Japan to be denied entry
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during ministerial meeting meeting on foreign residents in Japan on Friday at the Prime Minister's Office.
Japan eyes tougher rules for foreign residents and tax hike for tourists
A tax-free shop in Kyoto in April 2024. Last week, members of a Liberal Democratic Party study group drafted a proposal seeking to scrap the country's tax-free shopping system altogether.
Accidents raise concern over how Japan vets foreign drivers
Keita Ueno (right), the owner of Kiki Driving School and an instructor who supports both foreign nationals and Japanese citizens returning from abroad in getting their foreign driver’s licenses converted, is worried about the current lax system for the process.
Japan won’t wait for G7 summit for possible U.S. trade deal
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's top negotiator in tariff talks with the U.S. speaks to reporters at the Japanese Embassy in Washington on Friday.
From ridicule to redemption: Rice crisis returns Koizumi to the spotlight
Agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi speaks to the media as he inspects a warehouse storing stockpiled rice in Kanagawa Prefecture on May 30.
What can Kenji Yanobe’s cosmic cats teach us about humanity?
Kenji Yanobe’s spacesuited cats are the main characters of “Ship’s Cat Island,” the inaugural exhibition at Hyper Museum Hanno in Saitama Prefecture.
From ridicule to redemption: Rice crisis returns Koizumi to the spotlight
Agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi speaks to the media as he inspects a warehouse storing stockpiled rice in Kanagawa Prefecture on May 30.
New Naoshima museum bets on Asia, not the West
Detail of Takashi Murakami, “Rakuchu-Rakugai-zu Byobu: Iwasa Matabei RIP” (2023-25)
Japan’s prison reform focuses on rehabilitation
Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Friday. Suzuki said preparations for the changes that will focus more on rehabilitation are being actively made at each correctional facility.
Accidents raise concern over how Japan vets foreign drivers
Keita Ueno (right), the owner of Kiki Driving School and an instructor who supports both foreign nationals and Japanese citizens returning from abroad in getting their foreign driver’s licenses converted, is worried about the current lax system for the process.

Podcast

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

Longform

After the asset-price bubble crash of the early 1990s, employment at a Japanese company was no longer necessarily for life. As a result, a new generation is less willing to endure a toxic work culture —life’s too short, after all.
How Japan's youth are slowly changing the country's work ethic
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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