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July 05, 2025
 

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DIVING

Ama female free divers, who fish in the ocean, lead volunteers as they swim with torches during Shirahama Ama festival in Minamiboso, Chiba Prefecture, on Saturday.
JAPAN
Jul 22, 2024
Short of ama female free divers, Chiba festival turns to volunteers
Age and disinterest have reduced the number of women willing to make a livelihood out of this type of diving.
Akira Saito (second from right), who took office as MSDF chief of staff, and his predecessor Adm. Ryo Sakai (right) attend a ceremony at the Defense Ministry on Friday.
JAPAN
Jul 19, 2024
More allowance frauds discovered at Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Forces
The amount of special allowances that divers of the Maritime Self-Defense Force fraudulently received exceeds ¥53 million, not ¥43 million as initially stated.
Defense Minister Minoru Kihara holds a news conference at the Ministry of Defense last month.
JAPAN
Jul 9, 2024
MSDF divers suspected of fraudulently receiving allowances, sources say
They have been making false claims for the diving allowances for many years, and the total amount they have fraudulently received may reach tens of millions of yen.
The United Kingdom's Tom Daley takes part in an interview after winning the men's 10m platform final at the FINA Diving World Cup in Tokyo in May 2021.
OLYMPICS / Diving
May 7, 2024
British diver Daley to compete at record fifth Games
The 29-year-old is set to defend his gold medal in the men's 10m synchronized platform event.
Kurara Okuno first encountered mermaiding in 2020, not long before she jumped into the deep end of the aquatic subculture.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Aug 19, 2023
Move over Ariel: Meet Japan’s professional merpeople
While mermaiding is still a niche activity in Japan, it is possible to slip on a tail and dive in.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 19, 2023
Seven missing divers safe off Okinawa after coast guard rescue
At around 11:50 a.m., a diving boat instructor reported that seven divers were missing on the north side of a coral reef.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Mar 13, 2023
Traditional ama fishing in Mie in danger as diver numbers plunge
The method is practiced primarily by women and is characterized by skin-diving and a hand-catching method that prevents overfishing.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jul 28, 2018
Can dolphins teach humans how to come up for air?
A look at new dolphin research may help Japanese pearl and seafood divers and other free divers learn more about countering decompression sickness.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
May 19, 2018
The Shima Peninsula, where life is built on oysters and seafood
Shima Peninsula may be most famous for pearls, but the true treasure is its bountiful natural environment and a plateful of fresh oysters.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
May 18, 2018
Scuba diving in Japan: Beneath the sea, a paradise of color and life
A carpet of sand stretches into the distance below me. As clear and still as the water, the light seems muted, creating a peaceful, subdued scene.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Apr 21, 2017
Home of the cultured pearl, Toba in Ise-Shima has both history and living tradition
"To Bond," Ian Fleming wrote in his 1964 novel, "You Only Live Twice," "they all seemed beautiful in the soft evening light ... the gleaming, muscled buttocks, cleft by the black cord, the powerful thong round the waist with its string of oval lead weights."
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 6, 2015
City withdraws controversial 'ama' divers mascot
The city of Shima in Mie Prefecture has scrapped its endorsement of a controversial mascot slammed by some locals as overly sexual and demeaning to local ama divers.
JAPAN
Aug 11, 2015
'Ama' divers denounce 'obscene' city mascot, demand its withdrawal
More than 100 ama divers are demanding that the coastal city of Shima, Mie Prefecture, scrap a newly adopted mascot on the grounds that it is obscene.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2014
Skin divers turn to tourism to stem the tide
At the Sea People restaurant in Shima, a coastal hamlet in Mie Prefecture, sea diver Machiyo Yamashita wants a piece of a tourism industry dominated by the cities that sapped her town's vitality by luring away its youth.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jun 16, 2013
Sand, sea and stars on idyllic Akajima
Back in 1972 when I first lived on Denman Island in the Georgia Strait of British Columbia between Vancouver and Vancouver Island, I was one of about 300 residents. By the time I left 25 years later for Japan, its population had just topped 1,000, and each year sees a few more drawn to live in that beautiful...
A prophesied disaster (likely) won’t strike Japan this weekend
A viral manga prediction of a July 5 disaster has gripped Japan with anxiety and triggered an economic impact, but experts warn that while such dates are unreliable, the threat of a massive earthquake remains real. 
Magnitude 5.5 earthquake jars Tokara Islands amid flurry of seismic activity
A strong quake struck off the Tokara Islands on Thursday afternoon, with the island chain having recorded around 1,000 earthquakes since a burst of seismic activity first began on June 21.
Japan to require flight passengers to keep power banks within sight
The transport ministry has announced new regulations requiring flight passengers to keep power banks within sight to mitigate fire risks while on board planes.
Ghibli’s Isao Takahata exhibit shows how beloved anime is made
“The man who planted Japanese animation” exhibition includes a variety of sketches, drawings and animation cels from Isao Takahata films such as color design for characters by Michiyo Yasuda from "Grave of the Fireflies."
Residents of Tokara Islands begin evacuation as seismic swarm continues
Details about evacuations from Akuseki Island, located in the Tokara island chain in Kagoshima Prefecture, is seen written on a whiteboard in the city of Kagoshima on Thursday.
Ghibli’s Isao Takahata exhibit shows how beloved anime is made
“The man who planted Japanese animation” exhibition includes a variety of sketches, drawings and animation cels from Isao Takahata films such as color design for characters by Michiyo Yasuda from "Grave of the Fireflies."
Flag football facing challenges and opportunities ahead
Japan’s women’s flag football team at the 2025 International Bowl in Los Angeles in June. The sport is enjoying continued growth in the country.
From Hokusai’s Great Wave, shinkansen to One Piece: a cultural treasure box for Lego Japan
Michael Ebbesen, general manager of Lego Japan, says Lego bricks based on Japanese culture have a rich global appeal and are sellable around the world.
With farmed fish, RelationFish swims against the tide in fine dining
Chef Hideaki Matsuo (middle) and the staff of Oseto Suisan Fisheries prepare to check on their sustainably farmed fish.
As Southeast Asia heats up, a Japanese cooling giant sees a major opportunity
An employee of Daikin Cambodia explains the use of different tools during an air conditioner installation training session in Phnom Penh. Daikin is one of Japan’s oldest air conditioning companies, but as Japan’s population falls, the firm is keying in on overseas growth.

Podcast

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

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
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Muji has been sustainable from the beginning
Muji has been sustainable from the beginning

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