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Tokyo native Noemi Minami founded Koen Book Club in 2021 with two friends. The club continues to meet monthly in public parks across Tokyo, weather permitting.

COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element

May 18, 2026

Anglophone bookworms unite across Japan

By Mike Fu

Book clubs, book swaps and other reading events are providing a space for wholesome offline socializing in Tokyo and beyond.

Muslims pray at Tokyo Camii in the Yoyogi-Uehara neighborhood. Though Muslims account for only 0.3% of Japan’s population, rhetoric in online spaces and by conservative politicians has fomented social tensions.

COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element

May 4, 2026

Fujisawa flashpoint: A mosque project stokes nativist fears

By Simon Scott and Ben Stubbings

The planned construction of a mosque in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, had been quietly proceeding for years — until a YouTuber decided to run for office.

The executive committee of Women in Law Japan poses for a photo at the organization’s 10th anniversary gala.

COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element

Mar 30, 2026

Women in Law Japan marks 10 years amid persistent gender gap in the profession

By Louise George Kittaka

Through events, workshops and mentorship programs, the platform offers opportunities to connect for women in the legal profession in Japan.

Over the past 15 years, a spate of restoration projects in Onomichi has emerged due to demographic decline, a surplus of vacant hillside homes and growing interest from visitors drawn to the town’s historic character.

COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element

Mar 23, 2026

In Onomichi, urbanists redesign public life via vacant homes

By Sneha Nagesh

Since 2019, a volunteer renovation and reconstruction project has been reimagining community and bringing new energies to a seaside town in Hiroshima Prefecture.

In the week before CC’s closed, customers lined up in the rain to pay a final visit to the longstanding cafe.

COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element

Mar 6, 2026

Kyoto bids farewell to a storied poets’ cafe

By Felicity Tillack

Opened by American poet Cid Corman in 1974, CC’s in Nakagyo Ward had served as an important gathering ground for the literary community.

Though Okinawa accounts for only 0.6% of Japan’s total land, it hosts 70.3% of exclusive-use U.S. military bases.

COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element

Mar 2, 2026

Recentering Okinawa, one story at a time

By Kris Kosaka

Through conferences, films and publications, international scholars and journalists are building bridges with Okinawan communities and amplifying the voices of local residents.

Visitors worship at a Hare Krishna temple in Nishikasai, Edogawa Ward, which became a hub for the Indian expat community in the 2000s.

COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element

Feb 23, 2026

After closures and breaks, Tokyo’s ‘Little India’ regains its footing

By Shyam Bhardwa

The Indian cultural hub of Nishikasai in Edogawa Ward is bouncing back post-pandemic with new businesses and reprising the lively celebrations of years past.

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

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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