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Zensho Holdings, operator of fast-food chain Sukiya, said it will close all of its stores in Japan, except for a small number in shopping centers, between Monday and Friday following recent contamination incidents.
JAPAN
Mar 30, 2025

Japan's biggest beef bowl chain Sukiya to shut nearly 2,000 stores after rat and bug contamination

As of the end of 2024, Sukiya operated 1,965 stores in Japan.
Fishermen unload Pacific bluefin tuna off Miyakejima island in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Mar 31, 2025

Tokyo aiming to establish brand power of fish caught off its islands

Tuna hauls around the islands of Hachijojima and Miyakejima are on the rise, as catch quotas have been expanded thanks to the growing tuna population in the Pacific Ocean.
Pix (left), the mascot of the U.K. Pavilion at the 2025 World Expo in Osaka, is seen alongside the event's official mascot, Myaku-Myaku, on Jan. 16 in the city of Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture
JAPAN / Society
Apr 4, 2025

Countries' mascots beat drum for Osaka Expo

Participating nations are taking on Japan's love of mascots by coming up with characters of their own, some of which incorporate the culture of the host country.
Vehicles used for ride-hailing services in the city of Kiryu, in Gunma Prefecture
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2025

Ride-hailing services spreading in Japan

About 3,300 people have registered as ride-hailing drivers in central Tokyo and other areas.
An ongoing shortage of rice has resulted in rising prices for Japan's main food staple.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Longform
Apr 7, 2025

Why Japan is running out of rice — and farmers to grow it

Outdated government policy, changing diets and even an earthquake scare have had an impact on the national food staple.
Bento boxes and other food items attract visitors at the Sera roadside station in Hiroshima Prefecture.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Apr 21, 2025

10 years on, Hiroshima-Shimane highway boosts logistics and tourism

The Chugoku Yamanami Highway has played a crucial role in regional development since its full opening in 2015.
While Unzen Onsen's "hells" can be visually striking, locals describe them and their effects as "a source of emotional healing."
LIFE / Travel
Apr 12, 2025

Heaven from hells: The sulfuric pleasure of Unzen Onsen

Located deep within Kyushu’s Shimabara Peninsula, this hot spring town offers dramatic scenery worth the effort it takes to get there.
Shirakawa-go in Gifu Prefecture in 2017. Travel agencies catering to luxury tourists often include areas outside well-known cities such as Tokyo and Kyoto in their itineraries offered.
BUSINESS
Apr 11, 2025

A trip to remember: Japan answers the demand for curated luxury travel

Creating a unique experience that luxury travelers feel they can hold on to well after their trip is part of the challenge.
Arata Hirano, owner of the restaurant Shokudou Arata, pours California-grown Calrose rice into a rice cooker at his restaurant in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Apr 17, 2025

More Japanese embracing foreign rice, even before it became a tariff topic

A change in mindset could allow Tokyo leeway to relax restrictions if rice becomes a thorny topic in tariff talks with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Bottles of Hakkaisan-brand sake for export
BUSINESS
Apr 17, 2025

U.S. tariffs overshadow Japan's agriculture and food exports

Japanese goods need to be sold by "emphasizing that there are no alternatives" to them, said Kazuhito Yamashita, senior researcher at the Canon Institute for Global Strategies.
Marriage proposals in Japan look a lot like those in other countries, but there are traditions that are specific to the country that some people still adhere to.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 18, 2025

Voicing intentions and a peek into a traditional Japanese engagement ceremony

While the basics of a marriage proposal are similar to what happens in most countries, an extra ceremony requires specific gifts.
Crow meat, shaped into a ball and attached to a foot of the bird, is one of the peculiar offerings of game at Mauvaise Herbe.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Apr 20, 2025

Crow meat, goat tartare: Mauvaise Herbe raises its game

Taking an unconventional approach to sourcing, chef Keiji Ojima is out to showcase the little-known wild flavors of Okinawa in his French-inspired Okinawan fare.
U.S. military personnel join Japanese officials and residents for a one-off joint nighttime patrol on the streets of the city of Okinawa, in Okinawa Prefecture, late Friday in the first such joint operation since 1973, following sexual assault cases involving U.S. servicemen.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 19, 2025

Japan and U.S. patrol Okinawa streets after sexual assaults

In the first such joint operation since 1973, participants walked along a downtown street dotted with restaurants, bars and clubs near a U.S. airbase.
Henriette Jaeger crosses the finish line win a women's 400-meter heat at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, on March 7.
MORE SPORTS / Athletics
Apr 24, 2025

Norwegian athletes advised to avoid meat in China over doping fears

The 2025 World Athletics Relays will take place in early May at the Guangdong Olympic Stadium in Guangzhou, while the Diamond League event in Shanghai is scheduled for May 3.
The scallop carpaccio with strawberries is a harmonious blend of flavors and textures, and one of the standout recipes in "Umai: Recipes From a Japanese Home Kitchen."
LIFE / Food & Drink
Apr 26, 2025

A modern Japanese cookbook that is ‘a beautiful mess’

With an easygoing tone, Millie Tsukagoshi Lagares’ first cookbook is a vibrant Japanese culinary guide that speaks to a globalized generation.
Stephen Dacus, incoming chief executive officer of Seven & I Holdings, speaks during an interview at the company's headquarters in Tokyo on Friday. Dacus plans to boost investments in its U.S. stores using cash from a planned listing of its American retail operations.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 25, 2025

Seven & I’s new CEO plans aggressive investments in U.S. stores

In addition to investing in its North America operations, Stephen Dacus is also looking to review the company’s supply chain globally.
Sunset at Dudley Page Reserve, in Dover Heights, Sydney, on April 21
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 29, 2025

Australia’s economic ‘miracle’ is ending no matter who wins vote

Polls suggest the May 3 election will be tight, with many pundits predicting the winner will lead a minority government.
Time Out Market Osaka, located in the basement of Grand Green Osaka's South Building, is the London-based media and hospitality business' first Asian edition of their food market.
LIFE / Food & Drink
May 4, 2025

More than a food court: Time Out Market curates Osaka’s best flavors

After whetting appetites in cities like New York and Dubai, Time Out Market, the food event of the eponymous magazine and media group, has opened its first Asian edition in Osaka.
Coming in handy: The "temaki-zushi" (hand-rolled sushi) was first created by Tama Sushi to solve the problem of eating sushi on the go.
LIFE / Food & Drink
May 3, 2025

The sushi cone that changed everything

Inspired by ice cream cones, Tokyo’s “temaki-zushi” made sushi handheld, affordable — and a quietly radical moment in Japanese dining.
Keegan Bradley chips onto the 18th green during the second round of the Truist Championship in Philadelphia on Friday.
MORE SPORTS
May 12, 2025

U.S. players thinking about Ryder Cup as major season heats up

U.S. captain Keegan Bradley has become a fan favorite, especially after the Netflix series "Full Swing" documented how he was left off the 2023 Ryder Cup team.
Shoichi Kojima holding a cheesecake made with funazushi on May 6 in the city of Hikone, Shiga Prefecture
JAPAN
May 13, 2025

Shiga chef turns stinky sushi into cheesecake

Girasole, a restaurant in the city of Hikone, has been serving the funazushi-derived Basque-style cheesecake since April 2021.
A few tweaks to the conversations you learn in your Japanese class will help you sound like a native when you step out the door.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
May 16, 2025

Closing the gap between what you learn and what you say in Japanese

When trying to sound natural in Japanese, sometimes you just need to know a single key word or phrase.
Nadaman Sazanka-so is known for its "kaiseki" (multicourse Japanese haute cuisine), which is deftly executed by chef Takehiko Yoshida.
LIFE / Food & Drink
May 18, 2025

A Japanese dining icon gets a (minor) facelift

Less a purposeful renovation than a prudent refitting, the renewed Nadaman Sazanka-so has retained its old world charm that made it such a celebrated dining destination.
Questionable websites appear to be taking advantage of consumers looking for cheaper rice online amid the high prices of the staple grain in the nation.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 21, 2025

Beware of dubious websites offering cheap rice, consumer watchdog warns

The Consumer Affairs Agency urges consumers to verify the legitimacy of websites offering rice at unusually low prices before making any purchase.
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?
Director Jafar Panahi, Palme d'Or award winner for the film "Un simple accident" ("It Was Just an Accident"), poses  during a photocall after the closing ceremony of the 78th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
May 25, 2025

Iranian filmmaker Panahi urges 'freedom' as he wins top prize at Cannes

The dissident filmmaker's "Un Simple Accident" tells the tale of five Iranians confronted with a man they believed tortured them in jail.
A worker sorts plastic waste for recycling at Minato Resource Recycle Center in Tokyo in 2019. Japan has been criticized by environmental groups for its strategy on plastics, which is heavily reliant on recycling instead of reduction.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
May 25, 2025

Are microplastics hurting our fertility?

While a lot remains unknown about how microplastics affect our health, scientists in Japan and around the world broadly agree there's an urgent need to reduce plastic production.
Silversea Cruises' culinary program takes guests on a rich gourmet experience at wellness retreat Zenbo Seinei, where the local produce is presented in an eight-course meal.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jun 1, 2025

Waves of umami: Awaji Island's culinary trove

Silver Nova, one of Silversea Cruises’ newest vessels, takes guests on a food excursion on the largest island of the Seto Inland Sea with an immersive gourmet program.
Tokyo police declared that Japanese young men and women were simply "not accustomed to one another’s society" due to their cultural upbringing — and thus freewheeling dance venues and foreign customs needed to be reined in.
JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By
Jun 4, 2025

Japan Times 1925: Tokyo police impose curfew on ‘social dances’

In June 1925, concern over “the moral effects of the Western dancing” on Japanese youth led to restrictions on social venues.
Travel advisories, declining visitor numbers from key countries and stricter border enforcement by the Trump administration have cast doubt on tourism gains for Los Angeles, which is hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup and also the 2028 Olympics.
COMMENTARY / World
May 28, 2025

Is LA throwing a world cup party no one will attend?

At a time when the U.S. should be preparing to roll out the welcome mat to the world, President Trump’s erratic immigration policies and rhetoric are scaring tourists away.

Longform

In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan