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Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Nov 20, 2022

Merged with surf and jungle, Okinawa’s holiest sites survive

Where Shinto integrates nature into its holy sites, the caves, trees and shoreline sacred to Okinawa's indigenous religion can often seem untouched by human hands.
Japan Times
PODCAST / deep dive
Mar 2, 2022

The sublime boredom of walking Japan

In a world where getting from A to B is dominated by cars, planes and trains, we all walk far less than people used to. 10,000 steps a day is an aspirational target for many. But for Craig Mod, that's just a stroll before lunch.
Japan Times
PODCAST / deep dive
Feb 16, 2022

Where the wild things grow — foraging in Japan

Winifred Bird is the author of 'Eating Wild Japan,' a book that goes deep into the foraging culture of Japan and contains essays on foraging, a selection of recipes and a guide to forageable plants.
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Dec 18, 2012

Senkyo postā keijiba

Dear Alice,
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Apr 22, 2017

Uncharted waters: exploring the untapped potential of Tokyo's waterways

If the color of the taxi I have boarded is anything to go by, I could be in New York or Chicago, maybe even Kolkata. Instead, this particular yellow cab is ferrying me around Tokyo and rather than vying for lane space with trucks, buses and passenger vehicles, it's chugging along some of the little-traversed...
EDITORIALS
Mar 12, 2010

Exposure to tobacco smoke

Five years have passed since the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control went into effect (Feb. 27, 2005). The FCTC, the first treaty negotiated under the auspices of the World Health Organization, has 168 parties and covers 86 percent of the world population. Nevertheless, tobacco products remain the...
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 28, 2021

A pandemic-weary world is facing a distressing reality check

Around the globe, people and governments are finding out that COVID-19 won't be thrashed into extinction, but is more likely to enter a long, endemic tail.
Japan Times
PODCAST / deep dive
Mar 23, 2023

The cherry blossoms are here and business is blooming

Kathleen Benoza explains what's at stake during the hanami season, while Thu-Huong Ha and Alyssa I. Smith discuss the science, symbolism and culture of sakura in Japan.
Japan Times
CULTURE
Aug 17, 2019

Game not over: Japan's amusement arcades tap community spirit to stay relevant

"Kana," to call him by the nom de guerre he uses when he is competing in arcade game tournaments, is so good at The King of Fighters '97 that he can beat most other players one-handed.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 25, 2016

Toyota joined in top three by Buick in annual Consumer Reports automotive ranking

Toyota Motor Corp.'s Lexus and Toyota brands held their lead atop Consumer Reports' annual reliability rankings, while General Motors Co.'s 117-year-old line became the first from the U.S. to win one of the list's top three places.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Mar 18, 2007

Flaky or fact? Are 'power spots' wacky ... or what?

After minus-ion bottled water to transform your entire being, and natto (fermented soybeans) that was claimed to effortlessly turn chubbies into model specimens, "power spots" look to be taking their turn at the pinnacle of Japan's ever-fleeting (but ever-marketable) fascination with the slightly otherworldly....
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 23, 2018

Wherever you go in Japanese, you'll always find your 'tokoro'

The word 'tokoro' can be used to pin down a place in space, time or in a more abstract sense.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Jul 1, 2007

Kotaro Sawaki: Writer on the road of life

Kotaro Sawaki is one of the most popular nonfiction writers in Japan. He made his name with "Shinya Tokkyu (Midnight Express)," a reportage of a yearlong overland trip through Asia and Europe he took when he was in his mid-20s. Those stories — whose title refers to a euphemism for "prison break" used...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Apr 17, 2023

Dark skies, bright future: Japan looks to the heavens for tourism appeal

With a number of dark sky locations offering unparalleled stargazing opportunities, communities are hoping to capitalize on the draw of the cosmos.
Japan Times
PODCAST / deep dive
Jan 25, 2023

Japan on a plate: Our food critic reveals his favorite spots

Food writer Robbie Swinnerton has been covering Tokyo’s culinary scene for decades, so for this week’s episode we asked him to pick out a few standout meals from last year.
A person walks among the giant columns supporting the Metropolitan Area Outer Underground Discharge Channel in Saitama Prefecture.
PODCAST / deep dive
Jun 20, 2024

Tokyo underground: The city beneath our feet

Join us this week on Deep Dive as we discuss with Alex K.T. Martin the expansive subterranean world of Tokyo’s ever-changing underground.
Tourists walk in front of Crown and Anchor pub on Neal Street in London in 2018. Pubs are big part of British culture.
WORLD / Society
Sep 4, 2023

What’s really killing Britain’s historic pubs

With each time-honored spot that’s shuttered, another little piece of British history is lost.
French police evict migrants from a squat in a disused industrial building not far from the Paris 2024 Olympic Village in Ile-Saint-Denis, near Paris, in April.
WORLD / Society
Dec 25, 2023

Asylum-seekers and Roma evicted from Paris squats ahead of Olympics

Advocates and some officials say the evictions appear to be a policy aimed at beautifying the area for the sporting event.
Fukuoka, known for its outdoor food stalls, is a popular destination for Japanese tourists, but now it's starting to draw more international travelers, too.
LIFE / Travel
Sep 9, 2023

Beyond its yatai, Fukuoka hosts travel pleasures aplenty

Tourists come for the city’s lauded cuisine, its casual atmosphere, vibrant arts and nightlife scenes and temperate climate.tk
3M’s Cottage Grove, Minnesota factory had been churning out varieties of per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances known as PFAS since the 1950s.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Apr 9, 2024

PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ pervasive in water worldwide, study finds

The study of over 45,000 water samples worldwide found that about 31% of groundwater had levels of the chemicals considered harmful to human health.
Tour guide and history buff Rory Dent left his job at a U.K.-based tour operator to move to Japan and start his own business.
LIFE / Travel / Longform
Jun 30, 2024

Guiding Japan through the challenges of overtourism

With the number of overseas tourists breaking records, guides and tour operators are seeing their businesses flourish.
From a Michelin-star kitchen in Italy to a central-Tokyo gelateria, Masako Minaguchi of Gelato MinNa believes doing what you love should always be a priority.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Jul 11, 2024

Masako Minaguchi: ‘Gelato is full of possibilities’

From a Michelin-star kitchen in Italy to a central-Tokyo gelateria, this foodie believes doing what you love should always be a priority.
An empty street in Fukiya, Okayama Prefecture. Japan may be both experiencing overtourism in some places and witnessing the opposite in others.
JAPAN
Jul 11, 2024

Japan doesn't have too many tourists, statistics suggest. It just feels that way.

The country received 0.2 tourists per capita in 2023, compared with France's 1.5, Greece's 3.4, Portugal's 2.5 and Spain's 1.8.
A bulletin board shows the day's highest temperature in Kumagaya, Saitama Prefecture, on July 29.
JAPAN / Boiling Point
Aug 8, 2024

From Naha to Nemuro, how Japan’s cities are responding to more heat

Municipalities are reaching for everything from automated misting systems to anime to help cool residents and educate them about the risks of heat.
A woman shops for cosmetics at a department store in Seoul in July 2020.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 28, 2023

Personal color analysis is fueling a global Gen Z tourism boom

The procedure aims to assign individuals flattering colors that can inform their choices around clothing, makeup and accessories.
A woman in Vatican City on July 19 during a heat wave. Projecting temperatures is inherently imprecise because modern humans have never experienced such extremes.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jul 29, 2023

An overheating planet requires extreme climate solutions

Projections say warming will only get worse, but humans exert control over planet-warming pollution and can change these models’ trajectories.
The "furoshiki" style of wrapping gifts takes advantage of a fabric that can be used more than once.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 10, 2023

Eco-friendly eating with a healthy helping of Japanese

Sustainability-related vocabulary isn't the only way to get your thoughts across on sustainable food practices in Japanese.
Cypriot researcher and urbex enthusiast Christos Zoumides climbs a fence into an abandoned amusement park in Nicosia, Cyprus.
WORLD
Aug 9, 2023

Divided capital of Cyprus popular among ‘urban explorers'

Alarmed by the trend, U.N. peacekeeping forces labelled any excursions that come even close to military areas as "completely irresponsible."
The color of a red torii gate in Bushidaira, Saitama Prefecture, still stands out against a vibrant green backdrop.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Aug 18, 2023

Exploring the eerie beauty of Japan's abandoned villages

Depopulation and an aging society have turned parts of the countryside into tourist attractions for those eager to explore a forgotten era.
Shinobu Yamanaka, a mom of three sons and director of a day care facility in Konan, Kochi Prefecture, serves up to eight "members" six days a week.
JAPAN / Science & Health / FOCUS
Aug 22, 2023

Kochi dementia care center aims to set new paradigm in Japan

A new generation of people with Alzheimer’s in Japan are trying to change not only dementia care but also social attitudes toward patients.

Longform

People in cities across Japan will pop into their local convenience store for any number of products they believe will help them with a night of drinking.
Hangover cures are everywhere in Japan — but do they work?