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July 15, 2026
 

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It's not unheard of for summer temperatures in Kumagaya to reached over 40 degrees Celsius, but the Uchiwa Festival goes on regardless.
LIFE / Travel
Jul 14, 2026
Surviving the Uchiwa Festival, Japan¡¯s hottest ¡®matsuri¡¯
By Jessica Kozuka
Temperatures in Kumagaya, home of the raucous Uchiwa Festival, often top 40 degrees Celsius.
Tea practitioner Fukutaro Nakayama moved through the space of KAIT Plaza preparing tea for each guest next to them.
LIFE / Style & Design
Jul 13, 2026
A sensory encounter at rare architectural gem KAIT Plaza
By Erik Augustin Palm
KAIT Plaza, usually a student hangout, became a one-day tea ceremony and sound experience.
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
By Gabrielle Doman
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.
Ramen is one of Japan's national dishes. But what exactly is it?
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jul 11, 2026
Is ramen soup? An inquiry.
By Thu-Huong Ha
An ever-evolving online discourse about how to categorize different types of foods has finally come for one of Japan¡¯s national dishes.
For a refreshing kick on a hot summer day, wrap your tempura chicken in "shiso" (perilla leaf).
LIFE / Food & Drink / JAPANESE KITCHEN
Jul 11, 2026
In Japan, ¡®tastes like medicine¡¯ can be a compliment
By Makiko Itoh
The culinary term ¡°yakumi¡± includes more ingredients than a Western chef might ever group together, but it¡¯s a foundational element of Japanese cuisine.
Students take part in a tournament leading up to last year's Ogura Hyakunin Isshu Competitive Karuta All-Japan High School Championship.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 10, 2026
Japan¡¯s top high school ¡®karuta¡¯ players head to their own Koshien
By Yuko Tamura
Classical poetry meets lightning-fast reflexes in one of Japan¡¯s most unique competitions for teenagers.
Stephen Lancaster says Sezanne's loss of its Michelin stars is an opportunity to move one of Tokyo's newest fine dining institutions in a new direction.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jul 5, 2026
Stripped of Michelin stars, Sezanne embraces a changing of the guard
By Phoebe Amoroso
Once awarded three stars, the restaurant now holds none. But new executive chef Steven Lancaster sees the sudden change as a golden opportunity.
La & Le, a new Parisian-style cafe in the posh Minamiaoyama neighborhood, includes two oversized lamps meant to evoke the iconic streetlights of the French capital.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jul 5, 2026
La & Le brings a slice of Paris cafe culture to Tokyo
By Weiwen Lin
After 20 years at the French capital¡¯s iconic Cafe de Flore, Tetsuya Yamashita returned to Tokyo to open a restaurant that captures the spirit of traditional Parisian cafes.
Tourists in Japan have always been interested in quintessentially Japanese approaches to modern culture, and, increasingly, visits to nail salons have become the new hot thing.
LIFE / Style & Design
Jul 4, 2026
Japanese nail salons are tourists¡¯ new obsession
By Gabrielle Doman
A combination of more affordable pricing, faster service and attention to detail is drawing more and more tourists to Tokyo¡¯s nail salons.
With a golden-brown broth and a host of classic toppings, Rairaiken's shoyu ramen carries on a legacy dating back to 1910.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jul 3, 2026
Japan¡¯s first standalone ramen shop reopens in Asakusa
By Weiwen Lin
Fifty years after it closed its doors, Asakusa Rairaiken is now back to court a new generation of ramen lovers with the shoyu-seasoned broth it created in 1910.
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
By Aden Max Juarez
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.
From January 2028, PlayStation games will release only as digital downloads, calling into question protections about ownership over software and the long-term playability of older titles released on discs.
LIFE / Digital
Jul 2, 2026
Sony to end video game disc production in January 2028
By Owen Ziegler
The gaming giant says the move toward digital-only games aligns the company with consumer trends toward online marketplaces.
America¡¯s new India doctrine: Never repeat the China mistake
U.S. President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi take part in a joint news conference at the White House in February 2025.
Global demand is reshaping secondhand fashion in Japan
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.
Extreme heat grips Japan with potential double storm brewing
As heat grips Japan, authorities are urging residents to use air conditioning, avoid unnecessary outdoor activity and drink fluids before feeling thirsty.
Japan is building a new intelligence agency with help from the West
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who serves concurrently as leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, delivers a speech during the party's convention in Tokyo in April.
How Putin turned Japan into a den of spies
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Aeroflot CEO Sergei Aleksandrovsky at the Kremlin in Moscow on April 6.
Japan¡¯s largest exhibition of women photographers rights a wrong in cultural history
Miwa Yanagi¡¯s ¡°Elevator Girl House¡± series skewers the superficiality of gender roles through staged images.
Is ramen soup? An inquiry.
Ramen is one of Japan's national dishes. But what exactly is it?
Global demand is reshaping secondhand fashion in Japan
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.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
¡®Princess Mononoke¡¯ comes alive in Super Kabuki staging
The ¡°Princess Mononoke¡± adaptation was created under Shochiku¡¯s Super Kabuki initiative, a modern form of kabuki with more technology in staging and open to pop culture collaborations.

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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