91²Ö¿â

author

 
Menu
Search
 
May 01, 2026
 

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

Meta

Gendel Gento
Alongside the simplified management of a convenience store, Inkonbini asks players to help a small cast of regular shoppers with not only their shopping but problems in their personal lives.
LIFE / Digital
Apr 25, 2026
Inkonbini: Slice-of-life, cozy gaming from Japan¡¯s convenience stores
Inkonbini developer Dima Shen says convenience stores are like "safe rooms" from video games: familiar, friendly and always there when you need them.
At his studio, Grasshopper Manufacture, offbeat developer Goichi Suda makes games he likes to play ¡ª critics be damned.
LIFE / Digital
Mar 21, 2026
For Suda51, punk in games isn¡¯t dead. It¡¯s reloading.
With irreverent humor, touches of Japanese culture and a clash of gameplay styles, Romeo is a Dead Man carries on Goichi Suda's trademark approach to games.
While major gaming corporations will be able to afford higher font fees, smaller companies or lone developers are faced with only one solution: time-consuming work to switch over to new systems.
LIFE / Digital
Feb 21, 2026
5,200% price hike on fonts has Japan¡¯s indie game devs scrambling
The new pricing structure from Tokyo-based Fontworks, which is owned by U.S.-based Monotype, also includes caps on users that would incur even more fees.
A native of Washington state, Roger Dahl began contributing comics and editorial cartoons to The Japan Times in 1991.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Jan 26, 2026
¡®Zero Gravity¡¯ comes to an end, but Roger Dahl will keep drawing
The Japan Times¡¯ long-tenured cartoonist has kept busy over the past decades ¡ª and has plenty more projects on the horizon.
Justin Scarpone, Sega's global head of transmedia, believes the gaming icon has all the right conditions to become a multimedia powerhouse.
LIFE / Digital
Jan 16, 2026
The American bringing a Disney flair to Sega¡¯s nongaming push
As Sega¡¯s global head of transmedia, Justin Scarpone sees ¡®character, environments and stories¡¯ as key to success outside gaming.
An electronic display board shows the daily movement of the Nikkei Stock Average on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jan 10, 2026
Set your children up for financial success with the new NISA
Details are not yet final, but plans for the new take on the tax-advantaged investment account indicate a contribution limit of ?600,000 per year and ?6 million in total.
The 36+3 tourist train offers a unique way of traveling the full breadth of Kyushu.
LIFE / Travel
Jan 3, 2026
Seeing Kyushu slowly aboard the 36+3 tourist train
Named for the island¡¯s status as the world¡¯s 36th largest, the train offers a slower way to see some of the region¡¯s rural treasures.
The Tokyo National Museum and the Dino-A-Live show have partnered for a traditional storytelling performance with animatronic dinosaurs reimagined as folklore spirits back from the dead.
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 26, 2025
A night at the museum when dinosaurs come to life
The Dino-A-Live show, made with lifelike animatronic dinosaurs, has partnered with the Tokyo National Museum for a performance steeped in traditional culture.
Despite its decidedly European setting, the Harry Potter franchise has proven surprisingly popular in Japan, a country with no direct ties to the series.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 13, 2025
Why is 'Harry Potter' so big in Japan? ¡®Oshikatsu¡¯ fandom.
The "Harry Potter" franchise has no direct ties to Japan or Japanese culture, but fans say its stories are universal.
The history of internment camps for Japanese Americans in the U.S. during World War II has been the focus of several of George Takei's projects, including the Broadway show "Allegiance" and his memoir titled ¡°They Called Us Enemy.¡±
CULTURE / Books
Nov 26, 2025
George Takei brings children¡¯s book on wartime internment to Japan
The ¡°Star Trek¡± actor has written about his experience in the internment camps in the U.S. during World War II.
Located near the Imperial Palace, the Foreign Correspondents¡¯ Club of Japan prides itself on the accessibility of its events and the support it offers to budding and established journalists. The club is currently headed by Dan Sloan, a former reporter for Reuters.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Nov 17, 2025
Foreign Correspondents¡¯ Club of Japan celebrates 80 years at the forefront of press freedom
Since its founding in 1945, the club has been an important professional hub and played host to a startling array of political and cultural figures from around the world.
PokePark Kanto, the first permanent outdoor attraction in the franchise, will open Feb. 5 in the Tokyo suburb of Tama Hills.
LIFE / Travel
Nov 13, 2025
PokePark Kanto set for February opening in Tokyo suburb
Tickets for the new Pokemon-themed area of the Yomiuriland amusement park will be offered via a lottery from Nov. 21.
Among the long list of Japanese video game innovators, Tetsuya Mizuguchi stands alone for his unique approach to music, rhythm and puzzle-solving gameplay.
LIFE / Digital
Nov 11, 2025
Hearing colors and seeing sounds with Tetsuya Mizuguchi
The creator of Japan¡¯s answer to Tetris has long been obsessed with the concept of synesthesia in games.
Located in the redeveloped Takanawa Gateway neighborhood, the JW Marriott Tokyo is the first of the luxury brand¡¯s outposts in the Japanese capital.
LIFE / Travel
Oct 31, 2025
Tokyo¡¯s first JW Marriott brings a whole floor of mindfulness
The redeveloped Takanawa Gateway neighborhood gets the newest outpost of the hotel chain¡¯s luxury brand.
"Menheim¡± is a dark fantasy manga with a story that centers on a girl¡¯s quest to find a cure for her ill brother.
CULTURE / Books
Oct 25, 2025
Spanish artist and Japanese writer duos diversify the manga talent pool in Japan
As manga and anime¡¯s global popularity grows, international artists are getting new opportunities to enter the booming industry.
Ryu Hayabusa, the iconic ninja at the center of the Ninja Gaiden franchise, shares the spotlight with a newcomer in the latest entry to the series.
LIFE / Digital
Oct 21, 2025
Ninja Gaiden 4 revives series with kinetic carnage, clumsy platforming
Known for high-speed and occasionally punishingly difficult combat, the Ninja Gaiden series gets an update in mechanics thanks to a new developer.
Chris Glenn (right) will play Oda Nobunaga, known as one of Japan¡¯s three great unifiers, in the 71st annual Nagoya Festival on Oct. 18 and 19.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Oct 17, 2025
A samurai-loving radio host prepares to become Oda Nobunaga for a day
Nagoya-based radio host Chris Glenn will portray warlord Oda Nobunaga, becoming the first non-Japanese to join the city¡¯s historic parade.
Series composer Akira Yamaoka and writer Ryukishi07 were integral figures in helping one of Japan's greatest horror gaming franchises land a Japanese setting.
LIFE / Digital
Oct 17, 2025
How Japan¡¯s greatest psychological horror game came home
Since 1999, the Silent Hill franchise of psychological horror games has always leaned into American settings. But with the new Silent Hill f, the series comes to Japan.
Plotter's signature customizable leather binder is just one of many products contributing to the ongoing boom in the popularity of Japanese stationery.
LIFE / Style & Design
Oct 2, 2025
Tokyo's newest stationery store sells 'a slower, more human rhythm'
After years of selling its products in third-party stores, Japanese brand Plotter has officially opened a dedicated storefront in Tokyo.
Professional models cosplay characters from Persona 5: The Phantom X, one of many titles on display at Tokyo Game Show, Japan's largest gaming industry event.
LIFE / Digital
Sep 26, 2025
Tokyo Game Show 2025 leans into renewal and rebirth
Japan¡¯s largest games industry show returns with its largest spread of exhibitors yet.
New Zealand officials reject statue remembering 91²Ö¿â comfort women
A statue symbolizing former South Korean comfort women in Seoul
Head of U.S. military in South Korea calls for ¡®kill web¡¯ linking Seoul, Tokyo and Manila
U.S. Army Gen. Xavier Brunson (center), commander of U.S. Forces Korea, walks on a pontoon bridge with U.S. and South Korean Army soldiers during a U.S.-South Korea joint river-crossing exercise, part of the annual Freedom Shield joint military training, near the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas, in Yeoncheon, South Korea, on March 14.
Japan considers making language programs a factor in residency screenings
The government is considering creating a Japanese language program for foreign people that would be a factor in residency screenings.
'RikuRyu' signs off in emotional farewell
Figure skating pair Riku Miura (left) and Ryuichi Kihara pose for photos at a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday. The pair have announced their retirement from competitive skating.
Police search for Tokyo man on the run after hammer attack on students
Tokyo Metropolitan Police officers stand guard outside the home where suspect Teruyuki Takabayashi temporarily took refuge in Fussa, Tokyo, on Wednesday.
Head of U.S. military in South Korea calls for ¡®kill web¡¯ linking Seoul, Tokyo and Manila
U.S. Army Gen. Xavier Brunson (center), commander of U.S. Forces Korea, walks on a pontoon bridge with U.S. and South Korean Army soldiers during a U.S.-South Korea joint river-crossing exercise, part of the annual Freedom Shield joint military training, near the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas, in Yeoncheon, South Korea, on March 14.
The Japanese dietitian who keeps the Blue Jays¡¯ engines running
Sports dietitian Yuka Sanui works behind the scenes to ensure Blue Jays players get the most out of their bodies when they step on the field.
The American chef reconnecting with Japan through a Kyoto restaurant
SoNoMa chef partner Kyle Connaughton (right) and chef de cuisine Keita Tominaga both have ties to Sonoma County in Northern California, the restaurant¡¯s namesake. Connaughton rose to prominence there with SingleThread, while Tominaga¡¯s father ran a Japanese restaurant in the region.
Inkonbini: Slice-of-life, cozy gaming from Japan¡¯s convenience stores
Alongside the simplified management of a convenience store, Inkonbini asks players to help a small cast of regular shoppers with not only their shopping but problems in their personal lives.
Japanese developers worry over construction supply shortages amid Iran war
Paul Nikel, President of West Canada Homes, with an increasingly rare supply of plastic foam

Podcast

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

Longform

Projects like the BuddhaBot aim to re-create dialogue once lost to time, raising questions about whether AI can extend the teachings of Buddha or merely simulate them.
Can AI replace a priest? Japan¡¯s temples and shrines are testing the limits.
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER