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July 25, 2026
 

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TEXTILES

A rise in tourists on the hunt for on-the-ground deals as well as foreign-facing resellers seeking to turn a profit has Japan's secondhand fashion industry facing a crunch.
LIFE / Style & Design
Jul 12, 2026
Global demand is reshaping secondhand fashion in Japan
Shop owners in Japan are seeing a deluge of overseas customers, and buyers outside Japan say the costs to stock their stores have doubled or even tripled.
Across Kojima, production facilities handle different stages of denim-making, from sewing and washing to finishing and quality control.
LIFE / Travel
Jun 13, 2026
How Kojima made a destination out of denim
In Okayama Prefecture, an old textile town has turned jeans into a source of craft, identity and tourism.
Kaihara Chair Junji Kaihara holds a pair of jeans made of Kaihara Denim in its initial stage at the company¡¯s museum in Fukuyama, Hiroshima Prefecture. A panel behind him shows a photo of the company¡¯s first dyeing machine, ¡°Nintai-go.¡±
51³Ô¹ÏÍø / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Dec 8, 2025
Hiroshima¡¯s textile industry lives on through quality and new techniques
From a company becoming one of the top global denim brands to a son repairing machines himself to keep his family¡¯s business going, the prefecture¡¯s textile industry lives on.
Despite the advance of synthetic alternatives and declines in the available workforce, some textile workers still see the potential of traditional persimmon dyeing.
LIFE / Style & Design
Nov 1, 2025
Sun-dried and sustainable, Japan¡¯s persimmon dye lives on
Thanks to Japan¡¯s largest freshwater lake, Shiga Prefecture has long thrived as a production center of persimmon tannin dyeing.
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.
Garment workers at a factory in Gazipur, Bangladesh, in April.
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 5, 2025
Bangladesh¡¯s textile firms turn to technology to sort waste crisis
Cloud-hosted software allows manufacturers to monitor waste on a digital platform and track it as it passes between factories, handlers and recyclers.
An Iranian man checks a rug at a shop selling antique and expensive carpets in northern Tehran on Sept. 9.
BUSINESS / Markets
Sep 29, 2025
Iran¡¯s carpet industry unraveling under sanctions
The Persian rug risks becoming a relic of a lost golden age, with its legacy hanging by a thread.
A seamstress at Kineya Tabi sews together split-toe "tabi" socks, once a major industry for the town of Gyoda, Saitama Prefecture.
LIFE / Style & Design
May 3, 2025
Japan¡¯s ¡®tabi¡¯ sock mecca runs on thread and memories
At their peak in the early-20th century, Gyoda¡¯s artisans churned out more than 84 million pairs of socks each year.
The hands of dyeing craftsman Yoshiharu Okamoto are stained a deep blue by his work with indigo.
LIFE / Style & Design
Dec 26, 2024
True blue tradition: How Japan¡¯s coveted jeans are made
Craftspeople in Okayama Prefecture are carrying on a centuries-old tradition of indigo dyeing that contrasts with contemporary fast fashion.
Unitika President Shuji Ueno attends a news conference in Osaka on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 29, 2024
Unitika announces withdrawal from textile business
Its textile division has been struggling in recent years due to intensifying competition with Chinese and other rivals.
Aiku Kurotaki¡¯s ¡°Human 1¡± (2024) ¡ª and ¡°Human 0¡± (2024) to the left ¡ª on display at Tokyo¡¯s Som Gallery earlier this year.
CULTURE / Art
Nov 26, 2024
¡®From 0 to 1¡¯: Aiku Kurotaki¡¯s fabric of existence
The artist¡¯s wool sculptures play off the idea of string theory, which conceptualizes subatomic particles as infinitesimal strings vibrating in fixed patterns.
Workers at a garment factory in Gazipur, Bangladesh, on April 16, 2023
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 5, 2024
AI supports fashion¡¯s climate goals, but workers may be left behind
In Bangladesh, about 60% of apparel workers, or 2.7 million people, risk losing their jobs due to automation.
A model displays a creation by Japanese designer Norio Surikabe during a runway show on Sept. 6 for the latest edition of Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo.
LIFE / Style & Design
Sep 14, 2024
Tokyo¡¯s top fashion showcase pushes rising stars to the world stage
Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo celebrated industry veterans while shining a spotlight on emerging talent.
The colored patterns of Tsuguru "nuri," made in Aomori Prefecture, are achieved by applying multiple coatings of lacquer, which are later polished down to reveal layers of colors beneath.
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
May 18, 2024
A new initiative rethinks old Tohoku crafts
Described as ¡°collector¡¯s items,¡± the works are being kept under wraps until their debut at a May 24-25 exhibition at Kudan House in Tokyo¡¯s Chiyoda Ward.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Jun 16, 2023
Marimekko designer Fujiwo Ishimoto returns to his roots in Ehime
When I arrive at the flagship store of Mustakivi in Dogo, Ehime Prefecture, I¡¯m greeted silently by 82-year-old Ehime-born designer Fujiwo Ishimoto. He unlocks the back door to his adjoining atelier and motions for me to come in. We pass through the kiln room and enter a studio filled with ceramic...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Dec 10, 2022
Deep in Yamagata¡¯s mountains, rural artisans pull on history¡¯s threads
A spell of financial insecurity during the Edo Period gave rise to one of Japan¡¯s strongest textile traditions.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Oct 10, 2021
28 shades of aimai: Reinventing Japan¡¯s traditional color wheel
Want to upholster your couch in a color that references ¡°fog hanging above blue seas¡±? Now you can, with designer Teruhiro Yanagihara¡¯s lineup of textile shades for Kvadrat.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Jul 4, 2021
No time to die, but a great time to wear a maekake apron
Once standard workwear for tradespeople, Anything Co. Ltd.¡¯s maekake feature contemporary graphic designs, iconic ukiyo-e prints, manga characters and sports team logos.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Dec 19, 2020
There¡¯s a story behind each of Makiko Minagawa¡¯s textiles
The former textile director of Miyake Design Studio is still pushing the boundaries of natural fabric, craftsmanship and sustainability.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Mar 9, 2020
Design innovations in Kyoto¡¯s textile industry pave the way forward
The contrasting worlds of contemporary designer Mae Engelgeer and Hosoo, a historical Japanese textile company, overlap to ethereal effect at ¡®Colortage,¡¯ an exhibition of new approaches to fabrics.
Japan weighs regulating Pokemon cards amid trading mania
A Pokemon event is held in Jakarta on July 11
Head of Swiss euthanasia firm dies after collapsing while ascending Mount Fuji
Around 200,000 people typically scale the 3,776 meter Mount Fuji each year.
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 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.
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.
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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