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September 07, 2025
 

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DEATH

"Coffin club" member Kevin Heyward poses next to a coffin he built to resemble a hot rod. It's a task of grave importance, but there's nothing to stop New Zealanders having a laugh as they work on DIY caskets in the country's coffin clubs.
WORLD / Society
Mar 18, 2024
New Zealand's 'coffin clubs' bury taboos about death
The clubs, where people work on DIY caskets, provide a space to open up about death and dying during weekly meetups.
In the quest for immortality, some researchers believe mind uploading will be our ticket to an eternal existence.
PODCAST / deep dive
Feb 8, 2024
Japan’s take on immortality; problems in Palworld
As scientists and technologists attempt to tackle the problem of aging and death, we discuss Japanese ideas about immortality.
Emperors sought eternal life for centuries, but scientists believe our physical bodies have limits. That's where technologists come in.
BUSINESS / Tech / Longform
Feb 3, 2024
The digital beyond: Is an eternal existence within grasp?
Immortality has been a dream for centuries, but scientists doubt its possibility. Can technologists and coders find a virtual path instead?
Shitsui Hakoishi, 107, works with researcher Yasumichi Arai (left) while her younger brother, Hidemasa, looks on. Researchers like Arai believe the healthy and active Hakoishi's cells may hold the secret to living a long life.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Longform
Jan 27, 2024
Living until 100, if not forever, in good health
Immortality may be out of reach, but can a slew of research projects prolong our natural aging process?
A mid-19th century ukiyo-e woodblock print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi depicts Xu Fu’s voyage in search of the elixir of life. He can be seen near the left side of the image, with what looks to be Penglai, or Mount Fuji, in the background.
JAPAN / History / Longform
Jan 20, 2024
Eternal pursuits: A history of Japanese quests for immortality
Whether it's a permanent state of meditation or feasting on mermaid, the quest for immortality in Japan isn't too far off from those in other cultures.
JAPAN
Jan 16, 2024
Doctors and nurses support families at morgues after Noto quake
Teams were sent after the 2016 quakes in Kumamoto Prefecture and a major mudslide in Atami in Shizuoka Prefecture in 2021.
The question of when a person dies is a scientific and moral issue with far-reaching implications in the area of organ transplants, among others.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 16, 2023
When does science say we die?
Debates about when a human being dies are yet unresolved, with profound implications for the medical profession and areas such as organ transplants.
The family grave of Toshihide Matsumoto is dismantled in Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture. An increasing number of Japanese people are opting to permanently close their family graves as traditional family structures continue to change.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 9, 2023
Graying Japan faces a grave problem
Services designed to help people move or scatter their ancestors' ashes and close up family graves are experiencing increased demand.
The Justice Ministry is considering revising the law that requires wills to be handwritten so that people can write them on computers and smartphones.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 4, 2023
Japan considers law revision to allow computer-written wills
The Justice Ministry hopes that not requiring wills to be handwritten will both ease the burden of creating the documents and promote their use.
Kanji Matoba offers a prayer in front of a touch screen displaying a portrait of his late wife, at a columbarium in Sendai.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 4, 2023
New types of graves and services reflect changes in tradition
The COVID-19 pandemic made such services as grave visiting in place of families or ones using virtual reality technology take root.
Nihon Coffin showcases its products at Endex Japan 2023, an annual funeral and cemetery exhibition that was held at Tokyo Big Sight from Aug. 29 to 31.
BUSINESS
Sep 4, 2023
End-of-life companies look to innovate as Japan's deaths keep rising
A record 1.57 million people died in 2022, up from 1.25 million in 2012, and facilities to store dead bodies are becoming increasingly scarce.
Designed by Sadamaranai Obake, Kumomonaka is a wagashi (traditional Japanese confectionery) kit that encourages those in mourning to talk about the past while creating sweets in colors that remind them of their deceased loved ones.
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Aug 26, 2023
Japan-made novelties with deeper purpose
The easiest way to understand Japanese cultural concepts might be through these smartly designed products.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Longform
Jul 10, 2023
In Japan, plenty of inheritances, but no one to claim them
With deaths outpacing births by 2-to-1, dealing with the assets of the deceased is both a growing business and an administrative nightmare.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
May 15, 2023
Haircuts for the deceased, begun in Mie, now offered across Chubu
Stylists across the region now cooperate in offering such services, aiming to make the deceased look the way they used to and allow families to spend a last moment with their loved one.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health
Apr 6, 2023
Excess deaths doubled in Japan in 2022 — COVID-19 may be to blame
Despite being less pathogenic than previous coronavirus variants, omicron hit Japan's elderly population particularly hard last year.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 17, 2023
For some in Japan, the first day of spring means a visit with the ancestors
While visits to the family grave are often done during the Bon holidays in August, the spring and autumn equinoxes are also a traditional time to reconnect with your ancestors.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2023
Japan eases restrictions for funerals of COVID-19 patients
The revised guidelines will allow wakes and funerals for infected people to be held normally, albeit with some precautions taken.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Dec 19, 2022
Downsizing death: Japan's funeral industry at a crossroads
The death care business is rethinking the services it offers in response to soaring bookings and sagging revenue in a rapidly aging nation
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / Sound Off
Dec 4, 2022
Ryuichi Sakamoto keeps the music going with a 'profound' concert
The upcoming “Playing the Piano 2022” concert will showcase a musician still exploring new horizons while contemplating the finiteness of life.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Oct 3, 2022
Calls made for COVID victims' families to be allowed a final farewell
Families of those who died of COVID-19 are still banned from attending cremations in nine municipalities in Hiroshima, and many hospitals prevent relatives from seeing patients after death.
‘Confugenics’ and East Asia's demographic crisis
East Asia’s fertility plunge is driven not just by financial costs but by perfectionist cultural expectations that burden parents with intense educational and social demands.
Japan prince comes of age as succession crisis looms
Prince Hisahito concludes his his elaborate "kakan no gi" coming-of-age ceremony at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Saturday.
Bangladesh is a South Asian time bomb
Many Bangladeshis hoped that the overthrow of long-time leader Sheikh Hasina last year would revitalize the country’s democracy after an authoritarian lurch under the “iron lady.” Instead it has led to proliferating human-rights abuses, intensifying repression and widespread Islamist violence.
Japan to experience blood moon lunar eclipse on Monday
A blood moon is seen during a partial eclipse in the sky over Lake George near Canberra on March 14.
Japan's $550 billion investment pledge outlined in MOU
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Ryosei Akazawa, Japan’s chief tariff negotiator, sign trade agreements on Thursday in Washington.
London’s calling and sumo’s top division — along with Hello Kitty — are ready to answer
Yokozuna Hoshoryu and Hello Kitty, an ambassador for sumo's upcoming tour to London, at Tokyo's Kokugikan on Tuesday
Resonac creates 27-member consortium to pursue advanced chip developments
Representatives from member companies of JOINT3, a consortium working together on semiconductor-related developments announced by Resonac, pose for a photo in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Haru Nemuri’s radical new album refuses easy listening
Musician Haruna Kimishima, better known as Haru Nemuri, confronts Japan’s politics, nationalism and censorship on her recent output.
Overseas sluggers step up to bat in small-town Hokkaido
The Betsukai Pilot Spirits welcomed new players (left to right) Yuta Yamanaka, Roman Guthrie, Scott Bellina and Leo Jiminian this year, pictured here with Yassir Lachkar of the Ishikari Red Phoenix.
Xi — joined by Kim and Putin — delivers stark warning at military parade
Chinese leader Xi Jinping walks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un before a military parade marking the 80th anniversary of victory over Japan and the end of World War II, in Beijing on Wednesday.

Podcast

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

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past
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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