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The Four Seasons Hotel Osaka opened in 2024, just one of many new luxury accommodations the city boasts ahead of the 2025 World Expo.
LIFE / Travel
Apr 12, 2025

Osaka Expo-bound? Take your pick of the city’s new luxury hotels.

Increased capacity makes lodging a buyer’s market, as intense competition keeps prices down and encourages hotels to differentiate themselves from the pack.
Government-stockpiled rice stacked in a warehouse in Feb. 18 in Saitama Prefecture
JAPAN
Apr 16, 2025

Japan to hold third auction of stockpiled rice next week

In total, 100,000 tons of reserved 2023 rice will be auctioned.
On the 28th floor of the Waldorf Astoria Osaka, the Peacock Lounge exemplifies the art deco decadence the brand has become synonymous with.
LIFE / Travel
Apr 19, 2025

Japan’s first Waldorf Astoria brings art deco luxury to Osaka

Stays at the Waldorf Astoria Osaka start at ¥150,000 per night, but this is no hotel to be pinching pennies.
The Supreme Court ruled that the man's conduct could undermine public trust in the system and the sound operation of the bus service.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 18, 2025

Japan bus driver steals $7, loses $84,000 pension

The city of Kyoto sacked the man after he was filmed by a bus security camera taking ¥1,000 in 2022.
The Tokyo version of the globe-trotting exhibition features a Ministry of Magic set, which includes an imposing replica of the Magic Is Might monument representing magical fascism.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Apr 18, 2025

Calling all Potterheads: ‘The Goblet of Fire’ comes to Tokyo

The grand scale and attention to detail is likely to impress — just make sure to withdraw some galleons at Gringotts before coming.
A portrait of the late Pope Francis is placed in front of the altar during a mass at the Buenos Aires Cathedral on Monday, following his death in the Vatican.
WORLD / Society
Apr 22, 2025

'One isn't born a saint': School nuns remember Pope Francis as a boy

A boisterous child, then-Jorge Bergoglio played football with his friends in the courtyard, and sprinted up and down the marble stairs.
China Coast Guard officers unfurl a national flag on Sandy Cay reef, near the Philippine-held Thitu Island, in disputed waters of the South China Sea this month in this screen shot taken from Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 27, 2025

China seizes disputed reef near key Philippine military outpost

Beijing's focus on claiming sovereignty over Sandy Cay reef in the South China Sea adds to fears over a clash with Manila.
A manhole card and a manhole cover featuring characters from "Sailor Moon," on Feb. 10. The cards were handed out by Tokyo's Minato Ward, where the series is set.
JAPAN
May 4, 2025

Manhole cover designs recognized as tourism assets in Japan

The initiative to create specially designed manhole covers began as a public relations campaign to improve the image of the sewage industry.
A Fuchu expressway entrance in western Tokyo is closed on April 6 due to a glitch in the Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) system.
JAPAN
May 2, 2025

Central Nippon Expressway won't collect tolls after ETC glitch

About 960,000 vehicles are estimated to have been affected by the problem, which lasted some 38 hours.
A seamstress at Kineya Tabi sews together split-toe "tabi" socks, once a major industry for the town of Gyoda, Saitama Prefecture.
LIFE / Style & Design
May 3, 2025

Japan’s ‘tabi’ sock mecca runs on thread and memories

At their peak in the early-20th century, Gyoda’s artisans churned out more than 84 million pairs of socks each year.
People watch as Berkshire Hathaway chairman Warren Buffett is seen on a screen speaking at the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders' meeting, in Omaha, Nebraska, on Saturday.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 5, 2025

Warren Buffett successor inherits giant cash pile and many questions

Buffett, the 94-year-old architect and face of Berkshire Hathaway, built the firm from humble beginnings into one of the world’s most valuable enterprises.
In a world where capital and rich individuals can cross borders freely, only international cooperation can ensure that multinational corporations and the superrich are fairly taxed.
COMMENTARY / World
May 7, 2025

America is becoming the world’s largest tax haven

Trump is turning the U.S. into a tax haven by weakening enforcement, deregulating crypto and abandoning international tax cooperation, favoring secrecy and the ultrarich.
Tatsumi Onose (right), who plays the part of Commodore Matthew Perry in Shimoda's Black Ship Festival, says the historical episode the event is based on should be remembered for its positives more than its negatives.
LIFE / Travel
May 8, 2025

Celebrating Japan’s defeat at Shimoda’s Black Ship Festival

Held this year from May 16 to 18, an event to the south of Tokyo turns a historical episode of national humiliation into a plain old good time.
A bulk carrier arrives at the Port of Los Angeles on April 28.
BUSINESS / Markets
May 13, 2025

China tariff relief spurs shipping rush and price hike U-turns

The temporary tariff relief means that U.S. companies will try to quickly ship out products that were being held in factory warehouses in China.
"Federal funding typically accounts for about 10% of our annual operating budget, which is significant," said Ann Burroughs, president and CEO of the Japanese American National Museum.
JAPAN
May 15, 2025

Japanese American museum head laments Trump-led cuts to financing

The Department of Government Efficiency, led by billionaire Elon Musk, has stopped funding for the National Endowment for the Humanities, which financially supports museums.
Walking along Osaka's Kanjosen brings you closer to a different side of the city that the head-in-the-clouds Expo 2025 misses.
LIFE / Travel
May 17, 2025

Fighting Osaka Expo fatigue? Walk the 21-km Loop Line for a cure.

Officially completed in 1961, the Osaka Kanjosen runs through the city’s most famous and less touristed neighborhoods alike.
Jony Ive, left, is collaborating with OpenAI’s Sam Altman as part of a nearly $6.5 billion deal.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 22, 2025

OpenAI to buy AI startup from Apple veteran Jony Ive in $6.5 billion deal

The purchase — the largest in OpenAI’s history — will provide the company with a dedicated unit for developing AI-powered devices.
Colts owner Jim Irsay (right) holds the Vince Lombardi Trophy during a rally to honor the team's Super Bowl win in February 2007.
MORE SPORTS / Football
May 22, 2025

Colts owner Jim Irsay dies at 65

During his long association with the team, Irsay also became the youngest general manager in Colts franchise history.
NTT Docomo will retire its iconic Docomo Emoji, ending a 26-year run that helped shape the visual language of mobile communication.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 22, 2025

NTT Docomo to retire iconic emoji set after 26 years

Beginning next month, newly released Android smartphones and feature phones sold by Docomo will no longer include the carrier’s original emoji.
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.
Onosato celebrates winning the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo on Sunday.
SUMO / Inside Sumo
May 28, 2025

Historic rise to yokozuna just the beginning for Onosato

There is a good argument to be made that Onosato is already the most widely decorated wrestler in sumo history.
Itsunori Onodera, policy chief of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, on Wednesday visited the city of Kawaguchi in Saitama Prefecture to address issues between Kurdish residents and locals, including illegal waste dumping.
JAPAN
May 29, 2025

LDP policy chief visits Kawaguchi over reported problems with Kurdish residents

The problems reported include illegal waste dumping and foreigners illegally working.
Rio Takeda tees off on the 10th hole during the first round of the U.S. Women's Open in Erin, Wisconsin, on Thursday.
MORE SPORTS / Golf
May 30, 2025

Rio Takeda in six-way tie for lead after first round of U.S. Women's Open

Defending champion Yuka Saso's bid for a third U.S. Open title in five seasons got off to a rocky start with a 2-over-par 74.
Artists offer their own interpretations of Japan's most famous monster at "Godzilla The Art Exhibition."
CULTURE / Art
May 31, 2025

'Godzilla The Art Exhibition' reimagines film icon as monstrous muse for modern art

The Mori Arts Center Gallery exhibition takes Japan's most famous monster beyond the world of filmmaking and asks nine artists to interpret the beast from their own point of view.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks at an Upper House Budget Committee meeting on Monday as agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi looks on.
JAPAN
Jun 2, 2025

Japan to set up minister-level meeting to address rice supplies

The government released a further 300,000 metric tons of stockpiled rice last week in a bid to bring down prices.
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.
Kenji Nanba, a former manager of Nihon University’s weightlifting club, is believed to use his authority as manager to compel staff to give him rides.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 11, 2025

Ex-Nihon University weightlifting manager allegedly forced staff to give him rides

Kenji Nanba, 63, allegedly used his authority as manager to compel staff to give him rides to and from work.
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.
Tokyo Rainbow Pride is wrapping up for the year, but a slew of events in cities all over the country, from Hokkaido to Kyushu, lies in store in the second half of 2025.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Jun 12, 2025

The persistence of Pride: LGBTQ+ events in Tokyo and beyond

Pride isn’t just a one-off weekend — a slate of activities and programs in support of the queer community continues in full force, from Hokkaido to Kyushu.
Japan has a deep rogues' gallery of age-old "yōkai" (spirits), but a museum on the island of Shodoshima has released a new book collecting yōkai that reflect the uncertainties of the modern world.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jun 14, 2025

'Rice swindler,' 'Face thief': Worried citizens invent new monsters

A decade-old contest for original "yōkai" art reflects what keeps people up at night in Japan.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight