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July 24, 2026
 

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Jessica Kozuka
It's not unheard of for summer temperatures in Kumagaya to reached over 40 degrees Celsius, but the Uchiwa Festival goes on regardless.
LIFE / Travel
Jul 14, 2026
Surviving the Uchiwa Festival, Japan¡¯s hottest ¡®matsuri¡¯
Temperatures in Kumagaya, home of the raucous Uchiwa Festival, often top 40 degrees Celsius.
The latest head of one of Japan's most acclaimed ceramicist families believes that to preserve traditional crafts, they must adapt in some ways to the present.
LIFE / Style & Design
May 12, 2026
Ohi Chozaemon XI: ¡®We cannot make tradition the absolute rule¡¯
The 11th head of the Ohi ware school of ceramics believes his craft can only survive if history is a set of guidelines, not laws.
Traditional Japanese needlework has exploded in popularity, but a book from a third-generation artisan aims to bring more context to the craft's newfound popularity.
LIFE / Style & Design
May 2, 2026
¡®Sashiko¡¯ needlework artisan says craft is about ¡®the stories behind the stitching¡¯
In a new book, a third-generation craftsman explores how the origins of his art are at risk of being lost in an upswell of popularity.
Kiyoshi Gonda (left), sixth-generation sakemaker of Gonda Shuzo in Saitama Prefecture, wants to make his sake from as many local ingredients as possible.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 27, 2026
A Saitama sake brewery embraces a little-known rice variety
Gonda Shuzo in Kumagaya is banking on Sake Musashi, a local cultivar, to define the terroir of the region¡¯s sake.
Since all 22 kilns in Suzu were destroyed in the 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake, many of the local potters came together for a joint firing in the municipal kiln.
LIFE / Style & Design
Jan 1, 2026
Noto¡¯s Suzu ware reemerges from the earthquake rubble
Two years after the 2024 earthquake and tsunami, Noto potters find purpose in carrying on their craft.
Art Week Tokyo featured a live performance of Keiichiro Shibuya¡¯s ¡°Android Opera Mirror ¡ª Deconstruction and Rebirth ¡ª,¡± starring an advanced humanoid robot.
CULTURE / Art
Nov 28, 2025
Is human-machine collaboration the future of fine art?
At this year¡¯s Art Week Tokyo, AI emerged as a major and incredibly nuanced theme among participating artists.
Workers in Okinawa oxidize a pool of indigo dye, one of many regional textile craft traditions examined in Charlotte Linton's new book.
CULTURE / Books
Oct 24, 2025
New book scrutinizes sustainability of traditional Japanese textiles
In ¡°Dyeing with the Earth,¡± an Oxford research fellow examines how Japan¡¯s age-old textile traditions sometimes run counter to modern ideas of eco-friendly processes.
¡°The Bathhouse of Honest Desires,¡± a Taiwanese-Japanese collaboration, was performed the first weekend of the Autumn Meteorite festival.
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 10, 2025
Autumn Meteorite stages a month of inventive theater in Tokyo
The inaugural performing arts festival brings a variety of shows, from monodramas to 20-people, multivenue ensemble productions.
In a region more associated with art, Keirin Hotel 10 takes a decidedly more athletic approach to attracting tourists.
LIFE / Travel
Aug 16, 2025
A seaside hotel built on competitive Japanese cycling
Naoshima is known for art, but this coastal hotel in Tamano, Okayama Prefecture, focuses on Japan¡¯s competitive cycling scene.
Located in Patina Osaka, P72 doesn't have a fixed menu, opting instead to rely on whatever is available from local suppliers and its on-site garden to create its innovative plant-based cuisine.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jul 25, 2025
P72 sows the seeds for a dynamic plant-based cuisine
With an ever-changing menu dictated by what¡¯s available from its garden and suppliers, the Osaka-based restaurant injects creativity and spontaneity into its green cuisine.
FemUniti was founded in 2024 by Setsu Suzuki (right) and Meagan Ward (second from left) to empower women entrepreneurs and connect them to resources and opportunities.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
May 19, 2025
Detroit-Nagoya network empowers women-owned businesses around the world
Supporting women in business is a ¡°blueprint for the future,¡± says the cofounder of femUniti ¡ª and she has the data to back it up.
The Four Seasons Hotel Osaka opened in 2024, just one of many new luxury accommodations the city boasts ahead of the 2025 World Expo.
LIFE / Travel
Apr 12, 2025
Osaka Expo-bound? Take your pick of the city¡¯s new luxury hotels.
Increased capacity makes lodging a buyer¡¯s market, as intense competition keeps prices down and encourages hotels to differentiate themselves from the pack.
Tokyo Humanities Cafe was launched in 2017 by Laurence Williams (left) and Alex Watson, professors at Sophia and Meiji Universities, respectively.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Apr 7, 2025
Tokyo Humanities Cafe feeds hungry minds
A free quarterly event invites everyone to explore what it means to be human.
Hiromi Okuda¡¯s study abroad experience at the University of Mumbai inspired her to build a career at the intersection of social welfare and IT.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Mar 7, 2025
Hiromi Okuda: ¡®Humans and emerging tech should exist symbiotically¡¯
For the past 30 years, Hiromi Okuda has forged a career at the intersection of social welfare and technology.
Shiho Hanadate is part of a small yet growing number of young tappers pivotal in securing the future of domestic sap collection used in Japanese lacquerware.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Nov 30, 2024
The young sap collectors underpinning Japanese lacquerware
¡°You can¡¯t cut into the core, so you have to judge the thickness of the bark,¡± says tapper Shiho Hanadate. ¡°You have to develop a sense for it.¡±
Oitomi's decision to send superstar Shohei Ohtani one of the company's traditional ironware tea kettles has paid off with a surge of interest from general consumers.
LIFE / Style & Design
Nov 23, 2024
After Shohei Ohtani bump, Iwate ironware maker sees brighter future
Thanks to the Dodgers superstar, the waitlist for Oitomi¡¯s Miyabi Tetsubin kettle now stretches to more than a year.
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
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Nov 13, 2022
Todd Silverstein: ¡®Startups are challenging but Naro is like several startups put together¡¯
An experienced producer, Todd Silverstein finds a way to bring the aspects of Japan that he finds most inspiring to your living room.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / Food Sustainability in Japan
Nov 20, 2021
Miyazaki distiller sees the potential in hyper-local, sustainable ²õ³ó¨­³¦³ó¨±
The Watanabe Distillery is a small, family-run business that was founded in 1914 and now produces about 50,000 liters of shu014dchu016b per year.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Oct 3, 2021
Transforming Tono from hop heartland to boutique beer destination
A community group called Brewing Tono is helping local hop farmers and innovative brewpubs put this Iwate Prefecture town on the craft beer map.
Japan scientists identify clusters of protein believed to trigger Alzheimer¡¯s disease
A team of researchers said they found a ¡°seed¡± that accelerates the amyloid beta accumulation process in the brain, naming it ¡°Peak 1 amyloid beta,¡± as seen in a mouse's brain.
Indian brothers make manga debut in Japan
Two Indian brothers made their manga debut in Japan with "Kung Fu Kung Fool" ¡ª an action-comedy series that follows the adventures of a notorious thief and a young boy.
Low-income families in Japan cut food and air conditioning during summer break
Yumiko Watanabe, the chairperson of nonprofit Kidsdoor, explains the results of a survey in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on July 1.
Iran strikes on CIA facilities prompt questions about possible Russian role
Iranian drones are displayed in an undisclosed location in Iran, in this handout image obtained on Jan. 13, 2025.U.S. officials have acknowledged that Russia has ?provided targeting ?and other support for Iran in its drone strikes on U.S. targets in the Persian Gulf region.
Intervention is the word after yen moves beyond ?163 and sits there
The government could prop up the yen at any moment, though its signaling is hard to read.
Can Japanese comedy get laughs in English? Yoshimoto Kogyo lets the jokes rip
Wes-P has millions of followers and his viral clips made him recognizable out of Japan.
The 180-day locals: Life on Japan¡¯s digital nomad visa
Christopher Flinn works remotely from Tokyo earlier this month. Japan issued 646 digital nomad visas in 2025, but tourism officials are hoping to increase that figure in the coming years, with Japan's relatively cheap cost of living and the weak yen seen as potential draws for young professionals.
Japan reveals hint of new defense spending target in fiscal blueprint
The Self-Defense Forces' Type 16 mobile combat vehicle fires during a joint live-fire drill with U.S. Marines as part of the annual Resolute Dragon exercises in Yufu, Oita Prefecture, on June 28.
Summer has arrived in Japan and so have hot sleepless nights
Amid the heat and humidity in Japan, a good night¡¯s sleep is growing increasingly elusive without the heavy use of air conditioning.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo¡¯s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo¡¯s ¡®stadium of desire¡¯

Longform

For many people, utility poles and power lines have become such a familiar part of Japan¡¯s landscape that they often go unnoticed.
Why Japan¡¯s utility poles won¡¯t be disappearing anytime soon
By Alex K.T. Martin

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