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July 24, 2026
 

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MUSIC

People take selfies next to a screen displays a message referencing singer Taylor Swift and National Football League player Travis Kelce outside Madison Square Garden, the venue for their wedding celebrations, in New York on Friday.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Jul 4, 2026
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are married, as pair hosts New York celebration
¡°JUST&T MARRIED,¡± flashed on giant screens on the exterior of the Manhattan sports arena.
Open from July 3, the Fender Cafe Shimokitazawa hopes to be just another musically inclined entry to the neighborhood's web of live houses.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jul 3, 2026
Fender opens a second, more unplugged Shimokitazawa cafe
Open from July 3, the Fender Cafe Shimokitazawa seeks to sit alongside the neighborhood¡¯s reputation as a hotbed of Japan¡¯s indie music scene.
The quintet from Nagoya ¡ª comprising (from left) Sangen Ron, Junsei Iwai, Musashi, Hayato Komiya and Kion Umemura ¡ª released their debut album ¡°Tomogachi Ga Imashita¡± on June 17.
CULTURE / Music
Jun 27, 2026
Trooper Salute marches to its own beat on dazzling debut album
The quintet¡¯s debut album ¡°Tomogachi Ga Imashita,¡± released on June 17, features an impressive array of styles drawn from the band members¡¯ wide-ranging influences.
Mei Hanada, a former member of the idol group AKB48, posted a video to X in response to her recent termination by the management.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Jun 26, 2026
Buzzcut backlash: AKB48 member¡¯s termination stirs online furor
Mei Hanada¡¯s response video to her termination from idol group AKB48 echoes a scandal involving a different member of the pop outfit from 2013.
The members of TV Tairiku Ondo ¡ª (from left) Harea Togari, Ryuji Chiyotani, Kotaro Suzuki and Hiroto Yanagawa ¡ª met as high school students in Sapporo and went viral in 2024 with an energetic 90-second track.
CULTURE / Music
Jun 12, 2026
TV Tairiku Ondo channels the chaotic creativity of youth
After going viral with a 90-second track in 2024, the rock quartet from Hokkaido has been hitting stages big and small and working hard on a debut album.
Ukrainian musicians take part in a presentation amid the Russian invasion in the city of Dnipro in April 2022.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 2, 2026
The cultural component of national security
Russia¡¯s war against Ukraine has involved a deliberate campaign of cultural erasure. Since 2022, more than 1,750 cultural heritage sites have reportedly been damaged or destroyed.
Yo Kitamura won the fifth prize in the cello division of the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels on Sunday.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
May 31, 2026
Japanese cellist Kitamura wins fifth prize in Brussels contest
Kitamura, 22, played Russian composer Sergey Prokofiev¡¯s Symphony-Concerto and other works with the Belgian National Orchestra.
The culture agency is looking to pass the copyright revision in the current parliamentary session ending in July and aims to have the law take effect within the next three years.
51³Ô¹ÏÍø / Society
May 15, 2026
Copyright law revision to extend compensation for artists
The Cabinet on Friday pushed forward the bill, which, once passed by parliament, aims to pass on usage fees to musicians.
Train cars at Toyama Chihou Tetsudou's Etchu-Funahashi Station in Toyama Prefecture
51³Ô¹ÏÍø
May 14, 2026
Local railway operator offers chances to stream original music
The Toyama company is pushing the project forward as part of local revitalization efforts.
Sony Group said Friday it expects operating profit to rise about 11% to ?1.6 trillion for the year through March 2027, broadly in line with market expectations.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 8, 2026
Sony announces $3 billion buyback as memory prices take toll
Sony¡¯s shares are down 22% this year as escalating component costs erode margins across the consumer electronics industry.
As Tokyo's public bathhouses age, many are embracing more contemporary aesthetics to stay relevant for a younger class of customer.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Apr 13, 2026
Where Tokyo goes to sweat and soak
To stay relevant and attract new customers, public bathhouses and saunas are trading weary grandeur for contemporary cool.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (third from left) poses with members of British rock band Deep Purple ¡ª (left to right) Don Airey, Ian Paice, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover and Simon McBride ¡ª during their meeting at the Prime Minister's Office on Friday.
51³Ô¹ÏÍø
Apr 10, 2026
Deep Purple thrills Japan¡¯s superfan prime minister with a quick visit
The group¡¯s courtesy call was a welcome respite for Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who has vowed to ¡°work, work, work, work and work.¡±
In recent years, while Yamaha has worked to introduce guitar models with innovative features, the basic shape has remained unchanged.
LIFE / Style & Design
Mar 14, 2026
After 60 years, Yamaha guitars still striking the right chord
This year marks six decades since the company put out its first acoustic folk guitar, the FG180.
Yumi Sakurai (second from left in the background) performs on a piano damaged in the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami and later restored, at Sendai Airport in Miyagi Prefecture, on Saturday.
51³Ô¹ÏÍø
Mar 4, 2026
Sendai Airport fills with music from piano once damaged in 2011 tsunami
After being made playable again, the piano has been placed at the airport for a limited period every year since 2021 to encourage people to reflect on the disaster.
The joint venture by Sony Music Group and Singapore¡¯s GIC will give the Japanese entertainment company funds to build up its portfolio of songs.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 29, 2026
Sony and Singapore¡¯s GIC to invest $2 billion in music catalogs
The joint venture will give the Japanese entertainment company funds to build up its portfolio of songs.
There are more tools in the Japanese songwriter's toolbox than rhymes alone.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Dec 19, 2025
Why Japanese musicians don¡¯t need rhymes to sing
Japanese pop rarely relies on rhyme. Instead, its lyrics draw power from mora-based rhythm, repetition, sound symbolism and traditional poetic devices.
A member of the public waves Israel's national flag while watching an Israeli singer performing during the Eurovision Song Contest 2025, at the St. Jakobshalle arena in Basel, Switzerland on May 15.
WORLD
Dec 5, 2025
Eurovision hit by boycotts after Israel cleared to compete
Spain, Ireland and the Netherlands all announced they were boycotting Eurovision ¡ª the world¡¯s largest live music competition ¡ª over the decision.
The music industry has been battling AI companies, alleging illegal use of their songs.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 20, 2025
Major music labels strike deals with new AI streaming service
The world¡¯s largest music companies have licensed their works to a music startup called Klay, which is building a streaming service that will allow users to remake songs using artificial intelligence tools.
At an Oct. 15 performance in Hiroshima, Argentinian pianist Martha Argerich (left) plays a piano that survived the atomic bombing of the city. She is accompanied by Japanese pianist Hayato Sumino. In the right foreground is a digital piano developed to reproduce the notes of the famous piano.
51³Ô¹ÏÍø
Oct 17, 2025
Digitized sounds unveiled of piano that survived atomic bombing of Hiroshima
Concerns about the aging piano¡¯s fragility prompted the creation of a project to make a digital recording of its 88 keys recorded at six volume levels.
Artisan Ghulam Mohammad Zaz makes the santoor instrument at his home in Srinaga on Sept. 23.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Sep 29, 2025
Strings of identity: Kashmir¡¯s fading music endures
The santoor, an instrument played with hammers, has long been central to Kashmir¡¯s musical identity, but global music trends are beginning to overshadow local sounds.
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.
Japan weighs regulating Pokemon cards amid trading mania
A Pokemon event is held in Jakarta on July 11
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.
The sci-fi sensibilities of electronic trio Black Boboi
Black Boboi was formed in 2018 when solo artists Julia Shortreed, Utena Kobayashi and Ermhoi came together under Kobayashi¡¯s newly founded label, Bindividual.
A perfect storm: Kaze Fujii fans flock to Fuji Rock
Okayama-born singer-songwriter Kaze Fujii has carved out a distinctive place in Japanese pop since his major-label debut in 2019.
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.

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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