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April 25, 2025
 

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FESTIVALS

This year’s Fuji Rock Festival, which took place last weekend and featured The Strokes, Foo Fighters and Lizzo as headliners, brought a cumulative total of 114,000 attendees to the mountains of Niigata Prefecture.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 4, 2023
Fuji Rock’s diversity is back — and it feels great
Millennial rock, Gen Z rap and a Sinead O’Connor tribute fill a stellar weekend of music.
PODCAST / deep dive
Jul 26, 2023
A tale of two Fujis: Bullet climbs, crowds and Lizzo
With the borders fully open, Mount Fuji is all booked up and Fuji Rock is back in full force. Drew Damron and Patrick St. Michel join us on the podcast to discuss Japan’s two favorite Fujis.
At this year’s Fuji Rock Festival, big-name acts The Strokes, Foo Fighters and Lizzo will serve as headliners at the main Green Stage.
CULTURE / Music
Jul 25, 2023
Rap acts stand out in Fuji Rock’s diverse lineup
Kanagawa rap crew Bad Hop’s final hurrah and Lizzo’s Sunday night swagger are set to deliver some of the most memorable moments of the three-day music extravaganza.
On July 17, Jiyugaoka in western Tokyo held its summer Bon Odori Festival for the first time in four years. While the pandemic spelled the end of the road for some longstanding local events, others weathered the storm.
CULTURE / Longform
Jul 24, 2023
Fate of the fete: Japan’s matsuri fight to survive
While COVID-19 was the final nail in the coffin for many of the country's smaller festivals, others have clung on and are making a determined comeback this year.
Japan Times
People / 20 QUESTIONS
Jun 23, 2023
Alexis Sato: ‘We want to make music a reason for people to travel to Japan’
Some chance meetings led Alexis Sato to some of the best summers of his life. Now he wants to provide that summer vibe to everyone.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 9, 2023
Summer music festivals aim to bring the good times back
The return of summer festivals means live music is back, with events featuring overseas acts alongside K-pop and pool parties.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Jun 5, 2023
The farewell tour: Amid rising costs, a Canadian doctor ends his Japanese music festival
Once dubbed the 'patron saint of Japanese indie,' Canadian Steven Tanaka is ready to settle down for some 'me' time.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Photo essay
May 28, 2023
Does the pure joy seen at this year's Sanja Matsuri hint at a summer of celebration?
After scaled-down celebrations became the norm during the COVID-19 pandemic, one of Tokyo's biggest festivals returns in full form.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 22, 2023
A new music festival shakes up Kyoto's staid atmosphere
Kyotophonie, a sister event to photography festival Kyotographie, succeeds in its uniqueness and use of storied spaces, but it’s not clear who the event is actually for.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Apr 10, 2023
Already at risk, performing arts in northern Okinawa dealt blow by pandemic
The local culture of the Yanbaru region is rich in variety, ranging from dance and theater to staff fighting and drum dancing, but relies on being handed down from generation to generation.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / Sound Off
Feb 25, 2023
Festival organizers hope to woo tourists with Lizzo, Blur and Kendrick
With Japan's borders back open, major concerts have once again become a staple of the live ecosystem, and Fuji Rock and Summer Sonic are courting tourists to boost the festival industry.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 3, 2023
Lizzo, Foo Fighters and The Strokes top Fuji Rock’s 2023 lineup
The premier summer festival will also feature names such as Weezer, Yo La Tengo and Denzel Curry, underlining the event’s return to showcasing non-Japanese acts.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 22, 2023
Celebrate Setsubun with a dish of demon-ousting beans
Don't believe in soybeans' exorcising qualities? Maybe this recipe will convince you of their culinary merit instead.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / Sound Off
Jan 8, 2023
A love letter to hot springs at music festivals
Getting covered in grime, mud and sweat is an expected part of attending a multiday outdoor festival, but in Japan, hot springs provide a surprisingly liberating dimension to the weekend.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 11, 2022
Can flashy music festivals go green?
Deep Tropics organizers said that all the carbon consumed for the two-day event (including the fuel used by all the festivalgoers) will be offset by the planting of some 23,000 trees.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / Sound Off
Aug 27, 2022
Online discourse sends netizens into a tizzy over Summer Sonic controversies
Two Japanese groups came under criticism online for seemingly mocking foreign acts during the music festival, even though many of the commentators were nowhere near the real-life scene.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 27, 2022
Overseas acts make a joyous return to Summer Sonic
The future of live concerts seems much firmer after this year's edition of the two-day music festival, which featured acts such as The 1975, Post Malone, Megan Thee Stallion and Maneskin.
Amid uncertain tariffs, is now the time to buy a new iPhone?
An Apple store in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward in September. Prices for the newest iPhone models start at around ¥100,000 ($700) in Japan.
Japan must correct Trump’s false data for trade talks, says Kono
Former Foreign Minister Taro Kono
Japan wants to 'separate' tariff and security issues. That may be tough.
Japan’s chief tariff negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, poses with a "Make America Great Again" cap at the White House in Washington on April 16.
Social media helps fuel growing 'sex tourism' in Japan
People walk down a street in the red-light entertainment area of Kabukicho in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo on March 31.
Japan set to fine cyclists on the spot for rule violations from 2026
Under new rules, those who use smartphones while riding a bicycle would be subject to the maximum fine of ¥12,000.
Amid uncertain tariffs, is now the time to buy a new iPhone?
An Apple store in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward in September. Prices for the newest iPhone models start at around ¥100,000 ($700) in Japan.
Built in a flash, Osaka Expo pavilions wrestle with sustainability
Kengo Kuma & Associates oversaw the construction of the Malaysia pavilion, which is encased in interwoven rows of bamboo that appear to ripple.
Japan weighs using U.S. rice imports as tariff negotiation tool with Trump
A restaurant owner pours California-grown Calrose rice into a rice cooker at his restaurant in Tokyo
Is Japan’s parliament ready to welcome more youth to its ranks?
Lower House lawmaker Kai Odake in his Tokyo office on Wednesday
Crow meat, goat tartare: Mauvaise Herbe raises its game
Crow meat, shaped into a ball and attached to a foot of the bird, is one of the peculiar offerings of game at Mauvaise Herbe.

Podcast

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

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.
By Tomoko Otake

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Tsukuba massif granite, one of the world’s few heritage stones
Tsukuba massif granite, one of the world’s few heritage stones

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