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Mayuko Kashiwazaki tries on her mask after getting into costume before a dress rehearsal for "Dojoji," a famous noh drama about the revenge of a betrayed woman.
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 7, 2024

An 'all-women' noh production challenges traditional Japanese ideas

While women have been involved in noh for decades, older audiences tend to expect an all-male cast. Now, actors believe the times are changing.
Baseball player Shohei Ohtani poses with his Japanese interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara (right), and his agent, Nez Balelo, during a news conference after signing a 10-year deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers last year.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 22, 2024

Shohei Ohtani scandal raises the stakes on sports betting

The speed at which U.S. sports leagues have embraced betting put the Japanese star's fastball to shame.
Yayoi Kusama’s “Pumpkin,” once the victim of high waves that dragged it into the sea, sits at the end of a pier on the south side of Naoshima.
CULTURE / Art / Longform
Apr 6, 2024

Why is the most exciting art in Japan so hard to get to?

Japan has a unique movement of public art projects and festivals that are a slog to get to — by design. A writer examines the country's “inconvenient art."
Tokyo-based artist valknee has stood out as part of a wave of underground acts eager to tear down genre walls.
CULTURE / Music
Apr 12, 2024

Four up-and-coming music acts to start spring off right

Give your algorithms a nudge to put you in the mood for warmer weather with acts such as valknee, Uilou, Cho Co Pa Co Cho Co Quin Quin and kinoue64.
A guest room at the Muji Hotel Ginza. Ryohin Keikaku, the brand’s parent company, now has a new business called Muji Stay, which brings under one umbrella the retailer’s existing hotels, homes and camps.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 12, 2024

Japan’s Muji bets minimalist retail will work for homes and hotels

Muji currently has three hotels — one in Ginza, one in Beijing and one in Shenzhen, with rooms often booked out months in advance
The inhabitants of a tranquil mountain village see their local environment threatened by Tokyoites with plans to build a glamping site in “Evil Does Not Exist.”
CULTURE / Film
Apr 25, 2024

‘Evil Does Not Exist’ builds its dramatic tension to perfection

Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s nuanced drama deftly meditates on humanity’s complex relationship with nature.
Yukio Tsunezuka holds a back issue of the Noto magazine in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, on April 22.
JAPAN / Society
May 3, 2024

Local info magazine in quake-hit Noto region set for revival

The New Year's Day quake struck just as the latest edition was about to be printed.
Kendrick Lamar has long been cast as the authentic and artistic representative of modern rap.
CULTURE / Music / Sound Off
May 10, 2024

Japanese MCs jump in on the Kendrick Lamar-Drake rap beef — and pick a favorite

The way artists here have joined the feud between two of rap's biggest names says more about hip-hop beefs in Japan than you realize.
The eighth edition of the Yokohama Triennale, held at the Yokohama Museum of Art, opened in March this year with the theme “Wild Grass: Our Lives."
CULTURE / Art
May 14, 2024

Yokohama Triennale's eighth edition makes room for context

Curators Liu Ding and Carol Yinghua Lu's dynamic and vital show positions art at the vanguard of social change.
Lee Hsien Loong steps down as Singapore's prime minister on Wednesday, passing the baton to his deputy Lawrence Wong, the second non-member of the Lee family to lead the wealthy Asian nation.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 15, 2024

Lee Hsien Loong, the scion PM who modernized Singapore and stifled dissent

He has left his own imprint on the wealthy city-state after steering it through a global financial crisis and pandemic while diversifying its economy.
A gawky high school senior (Hsu Kuang-han, right) falls for an older colleague (Kaya Kiyohara) who gives him life advice in “18×2 Beyond Youthful Days.”
CULTURE / Film
May 16, 2024

‘18×2 Beyond Youthful Days’: Formulaic tearjerker hits the road for true love

Though the leads lack chemistry, they nonetheless earn kudos for their performances in Michihito Fujii’s Japan-Taiwan co-production.
The European Organization for Nuclear Research's Large Hadron Collider, the world's largest particle accelerator, is depicted as a circle in tactile drawing in the new book, as opposed to the three-dimensional figure in the source material that makes it appear oval, to avoid misunderstanding.
JAPAN / Society
May 29, 2024

Japan translates physics book into braille

The book was produced through cooperation among the authors of the source material, braille experts and researchers with visual impairment.
Junichiro “John” Imaeda (middle row center) decided to start Ajate, a band that infuses traditional Japanese festival music with Afrobeat, after spending three months traveling around Ghana and Burkina Faso to absorb the music of West Africa.
CULTURE / Music
May 31, 2024

Ajate's joyous blend of Afrobeat and Japanese festival music

The nine-piece project brings together sounds from disparate lands to celebrate connectivity and community.
Russian and North Korean flags fly at the Vostochny Сosmodrome in Russia's far eastern Amur region in September.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 13, 2024

China and Russia fail to stop U.N. meeting on North Korean rights abuses

Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia called on Wednesday for a review of sanctions against Pyongyang.
Harmony Korine (center-left, in orange) DJs a set with his EDGLRD crew at a Tokyo event promoting his film, “Aggro Dr1ft,” at WWW X on June 6.
CULTURE / Film
Jun 14, 2024

Harmony Korine wants us to dream movies, and he’s working on a ‘pill’ for that

Korine and his collaborators came to Tokyo to screen his new film "Aggro Dr1ft," his first visit to Japan in 17 years.
Gyaru Daijin poses in the city of Oita. Now a staffer at CGO.com, she has worked at Tenjin Core, a recently closed commercial complex in the city of Fukuoka that features gyaru fashion.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Jun 24, 2024

‘Gyaru’ culture makes comeback as businesses aim to loosen up meetings

The subculture is attracting attention as a way to make unproductive meetings and boring presentations more interactive and flexible.
Natsuko Imamura’s new short story collection "Asa: The Girl Who Turned into a Pair of Chopsticks" explores the worlds of three alienated girls whose problems are anything but typical.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 16, 2024

‘Asa: The Girl Who Turned into a Pair of Chopsticks’: Uncanny tales of troubled young women

Natsuko Imamura's narrators are young women with dogged resolve, few scruples and a naivete that borders on delusion.
After his Emperor's Cup triumph in Tokyo last month, Onosato (right) is the clear favorite to be the next wrestler to earn promotion to ozeki.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Jun 19, 2024

Onosato heads slim field of sumo wrestlers with ozeki potential

The wrestler's meteoric rise makes him the clear-cut favorite to become the sport's next "ozeki."
Toshiko Takaezu made vases and bowls in all shapes and sizes, some that could fit in your palm and some towering over your head.
CULTURE / Art
Jun 23, 2024

The Japanese-American ceramicist who made pots as big as her

The exhibit “Toshiko Takaezu: Worlds Within,” on view at the Isamu Noguchi Museum, is part of a resurgence of interest in the Hawaiian artist of Okinawan descent.
Oshoma watches the All Japan Championships at the Kokugikan in Tokyo in December 2022.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Jun 26, 2024

Rising star Oshoma blends traditional background with unique approach

Despite his late arrival in sumo’s higher ranks, it would be wrong to dismiss Oshoma's impressive 10-win top-tier debut.
Horror artist Junji Ito adds just a dash of comedy to his work, though he aims for it to be understated. “If it’s truly a horror story, the humor must be restrained and more veiled,” he says.
CULTURE / Art
Jun 29, 2024

Fear still matters to Junji Ito

Currently on view at Tokyo's Setagaya Literary Museum is an extensive collection of the horror master's work, the first large-scale exhibition of it's kind in Japan.
Estonian Prime Minister and newly nomiated EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas addresses a news conference at the end of the European Council summit at EU headquarters in Brussels on Friday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 29, 2024

A lifetime fighting Putin’s aggression drives EU’s next diplomatic chief

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, the bloc's next foreign policy chief, will be charged with shaping its response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
"Shogun" features Hiroyuki Sanada as the warlord Toranaga. The series is generating major buzz ahead of the announcement of Emmy nominations on July 17.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Jul 6, 2024

All hail the era of Japan-themed prestige TV

With shows like "Shogun" and "Tokyo Vice" vying for Emmy nominations this month, it's safe to say the streamers are having a bit of a "Japan moment."
Musician Yuka Noda’s 1989 album “Karibu no Yume: Light Fusion Fantasy” has developed a cult following among jazz fusion fans, and the album is set to be reissued as a CD and record next week.
CULTURE / Music
Jul 19, 2024

Yuka Noda's sonic escape to a balmy yesteryear

The reissue of Noda's 1989 album “Karibu no Yume: Light Fusion Fantasy" underlines a growing interest in bubble-era nostalgia and Japan's jazz and fusion works.
Paris must complete its gold-medal transformation into something greater once the athletes have packed up and gone home.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 24, 2024

Paris Olympics can help unify a fractured city

As Paris prepares for the Olympics, it must also work towards a more cohesive and equitable regional future, striving to balance progress with social harmony.
A nefarious fraudster (Etsushi Toyokawa, left) and his protege (Go Ayano) engineer a multibillion-yen property scam in Netflix’s “Tokyo Swindlers.”
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Jul 25, 2024

Netflix’s ‘Tokyo Swindlers’ is this summer’s guiltiest pleasure

The flashy new series about real estate scammers is a ridiculous treat to watch.
Photographer Gaku Lange says Japan's film photography scene is growing, but it still lags behind overseas communities.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Aug 5, 2024

Looking at Japan’s ‘tribal’ photography scene through a new lens

More young people in Tokyo are ditching smartphones for film cameras, but the old guard isn't necessarily pleased about it.
A Goku balloon from the “Dragon Ball” anime series takes part in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in Manhattan in November 2018. Japan’s creative industries are under threat as AI tools make it easy to mimic anime, manga and other forms of the nation’s artistic output.
COMMENTARY
Aug 9, 2024

Japan’s soft AI stance is betraying its anime artists

From Studio Ghibli to Pokemon, the country’s creatives have driven its influence and must be protected.
Adult diaper products made by Daio Paper and academic institutions. The company, which produces products for hospitals and care facilities, is collaborating with the University of Tokyo and other academic institutions to enhance the quality of its products.
BUSINESS
Aug 13, 2024

Adult diaper market to surpass ¥100 billion by year-end

Manufacturers are ramping up efforts to develop a wider variety of products to cater to Japan's postwar baby boomers who are turning 75 or older.
Used cars are sold at high prices at a dealership in Nagoya as a surge in export demand has reduced supply on the domestic market.
BUSINESS / Companies / Regional voices: Chubu
Sep 2, 2024

Japanese businesses grapple with exchange rate swings

For the used car sector, the weaker yen has resulted in buyers being forced to pay higher prices due to increased export demand.

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