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September 19, 2025
 

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COMMUNITY

Mateusz Urbanowicz’s recent book “Imaginary Storefronts” collects his illustrations of the mundane Japanese street scenes that have given him immense inspiration.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
May 31, 2025
Mateusz Urbanowicz: ‘Miyazaki inspired me to put the audience first’
The Polish artist and animator talks about how he came to Japan and the inspiration he draws from ordinary streets and storefronts.
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.
More Chinese families are clustering in Tokyo's Bunkyo Ward, a district renowned for having the finest educational environment in Japan.
JAPAN / Society
May 29, 2025
Chinese parents are fueling Tokyo’s education race
International schools in Tokyo are already witnessing an influx of children from the newly arrived, highly involved Chinese households.
A blue car driving the wrong way on the Shin-Meishin Expressway in Mie Prefecture, on Sunday
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 20, 2025
Peruvian man held on suspicion of hitting vehicles while driving the wrong way
The Mie Prefectural Police believe the suspect continued to drive in the wrong direction after causing collisions.
Police questioned a man who turned himself in as he closely resembled the driver recorded on the dashcam of another vehicle that happened to pass by the scene of a hit-and-run incident in Saitama Prefecture.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 18, 2025
Police arrest Chinese man in Saitama hit-and-run case
The man turned himself in earlier in the day, and police are investigating his motives and his whereabouts since the incident.
Four people have been arrested on suspicion of transferring a food delivery driver account to a foreigner who is not qualified to work in Japan.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 16, 2025
Four arrested for letting Uzbek use their delivery driver account illegally
The suspects were arrested for allegedly creating a Demaecan driver account under a Japanese name on Oct. 21, 2023, then transferring it to an Uzbek national.
Masataka Yuhara, secretary-general of the Friends of Lee Teng Hui Association in Japan, which has been calling for "Taiwan" to be permitted as a place of origin in family registers.
JAPAN
May 14, 2025
Japan to recognize Taiwan as place of origin in family registration system
Residents of Taiwanese descent in Japan and their support groups have welcomed the change.
Takashi Hashimoto, who was rescued by the crew of an Okinawan fishing boat 45 years ago, on March 4 in Tokyo's Minato Ward
JAPAN
May 14, 2025
Former Vietnamese refugee says he is thankful for Japan after 45 years
The native of now-defunct South Vietnam boarded a small bamboo boat crowded with 24 people in the central city of Da Nang in March 1980.
Since 2017, Kotomi Li has won some of Japan’s top literary awards and built a formidable career in the face of persistent online harassment. “Authors are tenacious creatures to begin with,” she says.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
May 5, 2025
Kotomi Li: 'I refuse to choose death'
The Taiwanese writer reflects on the importance of queer community, her ascent in Japan’s literary world and her ongoing battles against online harassment.
Climbers gather on the first day of the climbing season on the Yoshida Trail at the fifth station on the slopes of Mount Fuji in Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi Prefecture, on July 1, 2024.
JAPAN
Apr 28, 2025
Man rescued from Mount Fuji twice in one week, local media reports
Police could not immediately confirm reports saying the man had returned on Friday to retrieve his phone.
Barbosa Anderson Robson
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 12, 2025
Brazilian man to face jury trial over murder of wife and child in Japan
The suspect, Barbosa Anderson Robson, is said to have stabbed his wife, Manami Aramaki, then 29, and their then 3-year-old daughter to death after discussing a divorce.
Under the watchful eye of Ken Theriault, Costco representative director and Japan country manager, the American membership-model wholesaler has flourished in Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 31, 2025
A Canadian made a weekend trip to Costco a Japanese pastime
Since 2009, Ken Theriault has been keeping himself busy maintaining Costco's American charm and catering to the needs of the Japanese consumer as the wholesaler's boss in Japan.
Johan Leutwiler checks a sword he made at his workshop studio in the Kui district of Mihara, Hiroshima Prefecture.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Mar 24, 2025
Japan's first foreign swordsmith opens workshop in Hiroshima Prefecture
Johan Leutwiler hopes to promote the charm of Japanese swords following the completion of his five-year apprenticeship.
The Fukuoka Prefectural Police Headquarters. Between October 2022 and late September 2023, a Chinese couple developed about 2,300 square meters of land owned by 21 individuals without their consent and opened a campsite, according to police.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 21, 2025
Chinese couple arrested for opening campsite at historic Fukuoka ruins
A city official first spotted prefab huts erected at the castle ruins around October 2022 and demanded their removal, but the couple refused to comply, according to police.
Okayama goalkeeper Svend Brodersen reaches for the ball against Urawa's Thiago Santana (front) at Saitama Stadium on March 8.
SOCCER / J. League
Mar 18, 2025
Manga-loving German goalkeeper finds peace, and himself, in Japan
Svend Brodersen moved to Japan in 2021 and now plays for top-tier J. League side Fagiano Okayama, but he admits that initially he felt like he was "on another planet."
Sources say a hui suo — a private club, which in Japan caters mainly to Chinese businesspeople — will soon open on the upper floors of the Moutai Building in the Ginza district of Tokyo.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 16, 2025
Private clubs quietly open in Tokyo for free-spending Chinese businesspeople
With the economy weak in China and opportunities harder to come by there, more wealthy individuals have been flocking to Japan.
Artist Adrian Steckeweh 3-D prints otherworldly clothes and accessories for himself, in a way augmenting his reality with tangible objects.
CULTURE / Art
Mar 16, 2025
Augmented reality artist Omega C navigates a precarious scene for XR art
Just this year, XR art featured heavily in the digital art festival Dig Shibuya and is the focus of the ongoing “Machine Love” exhibition at Mori Art Museum.
Then-Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa presents a gift to a Ukrainian refugee during the Women, Peace and Security session as part of the Japan-Ukraine Conference for Promotion of Economic Growth and Reconstruction at the Japan Business Federation in February last year.
JAPAN
Mar 15, 2025
Japan recognized 1,661 'quasi-refugees' in 2024
Protection was given to 1,618 Ukrainians, 17 people from Syria, 13 from Myanmar, 11 from Sudan, and one each from Afghanistan and Uzbekistan.
Professor Hu Shiyun of Kobe Gakuin University
JAPAN
Mar 14, 2025
Chinese professor returns to Japan after going missing in China
It is not known whether Hu Shiyun, who went missing after entering China in summer 2023, had been detained by Chinese authorities.
David Moreton, a former professor at Tokushima University, originally came to Japan as a missionary in 1988. He is now one of the world’s foremost experts on the Shikoku 88-Temple Pilgrimage.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Feb 24, 2025
How a Canadian missionary found spiritual transformation in Shikoku
David Moreton has devoted decades to researching southern Japan’s famed 88-temple pilgrimage, established by influential monk Kobo Daishi.
Wealthy foreign nationals picking up ultimate souvenir — a condo in Tokyo
A high-end property in the fashionable Daikanyama district in Tokyo
Japan dispatches five language education 'partners' to India
Five members of the Japan Foundation's Nihongo Partners program (front) gather at the Japanese Embassy in New Delhi on Monday.
Struggling train firm in Chiba Prefecture turns to self-deprecating humor
"Laughter is important when you're in a difficult situation," said Katsunori Takemoto, president of Choshi Electric Railway, on Aug. 5 in Choshi, Chiba Prefecture.
Over 90% of low-income families in Japan struggling to feed children
Save the Children Japan domestic program chief Sonoko Kawakami speaks at a news conference in Tokyo in July. A survey conducted by the group in June has found that over 90% of low-income households with children face food insecurity.
Japan's elderly population down at around 36.2 million
The estimated number of people age 65 or older in Japan stands at 36.19 million as of Monday, accounting for record 29.4% of the country's total population, according to the internal affairs ministry.
Japan’s front-line researchers see bright path ahead for dementia treatment
A scientist looks at scans of grains at the Memory Centre at the Department of Readaptation and Geriatrics of the University Hospital (HUG) in Geneva, Switzerland, on June 6, 2023.
Still plenty to fight for, says Japan’s team leader at worlds
Race walker Hayato Katsuki earned bronze for Japan on the opening day of the World Athletics Championships on Saturday.
Wealthy foreign nationals picking up ultimate souvenir — a condo in Tokyo
A high-end property in the fashionable Daikanyama district in Tokyo
Japanese athletes inspired by raucous home fans at World Athletics Championships
Fans cheer on the home favorites during the women's marathon at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on Sunday.
Japan's major art events converge this fall
Shinji Ohmaki’s “Tokinokage” exhibited at Fuji Textile Week 2021 shows the use of fabric as art.

Podcast

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

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

We are pleased to announce the winners of the 6th annual Sustainable Japan Award.
We are pleased to announce the winners of the 6th annual Sustainable Japan Award.

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