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March 07, 2026
 

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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
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.
LIFE / Digital / Longform
Japan¡¯s gaming icons are getting midlife makeovers as they hit their 40s
Zelda, Pokemon, Dragon Quest and more mark major anniversaries in 2026 ¡ª a milestone year for the industry they built.
LIFE / Digital
Rare Pokemon card sets record with $16.49 million sale
One of just 41 such cards in existence, the Pikachu Illustrator card is now the most expensive trading card in history.
Team Ninja's latest soulslike action RPG will put you through the ringer, but it also gives you more than enough assistance to feel as powerful as the demonic enemies you'll face.
LIFE / Digital
Feb 4, 2026
Nioh 3: Demons, death and an early contender for game of the year
By Owen Ziegler
Team Ninja¡¯s latest hardcore action RPG will hurt ¡ª but it gives players ample tools to hit back even harder.
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
By Gendel Gento
As Sega¡¯s global head of transmedia, Justin Scarpone sees ¡®character, environments and stories¡¯ as key to success outside gaming.
This year, Asian countries' relatively lenient approach to nuisance streamers has been replaced by legal charges and potential jail time.
LIFE / Digital / 2025 IN REVIEW
Dec 27, 2025
In 2025, Asia got tough on nuisance streamers. Japan did not.
By Owen Ziegler
After years of leniency, Asian countries are imposing serious penalties on transgressive online personalities ¡ª with Japan lagging behind.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Ghost of Yotei and Assassin¡¯s Creed Shadows were among the most prominent video games of 2025 to draw heavily on Japanese aesthetics, history and genre traditions.
LIFE / Digital / 2025 IN REVIEW
Dec 19, 2025
In 2025, Japan became the canvas for the year¡¯s best video games
By Owen Ziegler
From Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 to Ghost of Yotei, Japan served as both inspiration and setting for many of the year¡¯s most notable releases.
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
By Gendel Gento
The creator of Japan¡¯s answer to Tetris has long been obsessed with the concept of synesthesia in games.
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
By Gendel Gento
Known for high-speed and occasionally punishingly difficult combat, the Ninja Gaiden series gets an update in mechanics thanks to a new developer.
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
By Gendel Gento
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.

Drones and missiles: U.S. Marines in Okinawa evolve for sea-denial role
Lt. Gen. Roger Turner, commanding general of the III Marine Expeditionary Force, speaks to marines and sailors aboard the amphibious assault ship USS America at Naval Base White Beach in Okinawa Prefecture on Aug. 10.
Japan¡¯s national museums to implement dual-pricing system
Admission fees for the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo and 11 other state-run museums are set to increase for visitors from outside Japan.
Three arrested over illegal hiring of Vietnamese workers in Japan
The Metropolitan Police Department has arrested three men over alleged involvement in employing Vietnamese nationals without work permits in Fukuroi, Shizuoka Prefecture.
Violence in sumo provokes anger but little surprise
Terunofuji pictured at Isegahama stable on Jan. 29, 2024
Netflix deal shuts out Japan¡¯s sports bars from freely showing WBC
Fans watching from Tokyo react after Japan beat the U.S. in the World Baseball Classic in March 2023.
Cherry blossom season set to begin up to a week earlier than usual
Cherry blossoms are expected to bloom earlier than usual this year, with flowering forecast to begin in Nagoya on March 17 and in Tokyo on March 19, according to Japan Meteorological Corp.
Taiwan¡¯s FM calls for Taipei to be part of 'first island chain' security framework
Taiwanese Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung speaks during an interview last week in Taipei. Lin has called on Japan and other partners to step up cooperation in areas such as intelligence-sharing, joint exercises, defense-industry tie-ups, data links and dealing with hybrid threats such as China¡¯s gray-zone activities.
Netflix deal shuts out Japan¡¯s sports bars from freely showing WBC
Fans watching from Tokyo react after Japan beat the U.S. in the World Baseball Classic in March 2023.
¡®My hope has fear inside it¡¯: Iranians in Japan react to attacks back home
Somayyeh Mehri speaks in an interview on Monday in Tokyo. The psychological weight of watching events unfold from Japan is gut-wrenching for Mehri.
Shohei Ohtani returns to Japan as the center of attention ahead of WBC
Shohei Ohtani is back with Samurai Japan for the 2026 World Baseball Classic. Ohtani was the MVP of the 2023 tournament.

Podcast

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

Longform

As Japan accelerates AI adoption, policymakers and corporations frame the technology as essential to offsetting a projected labor shortfall of 11 million workers by 2040.
Japan is betting big on AI. Few workers have used it.
By Eric Margolis

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