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November 08, 2025
 

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CULTURE

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Kenshi Yonezu's “Iris Out” was an instant hit when it dropped in September. Its association with smash anime "Chainsaw Man — The Movie: Reze Arc" has spread it to even more people.
CULTURE / Music
Kenshi Yonezu, 'Chainsaw Man' and the art of pop ubiquity
Top single “Iris Out,” featured in the nation's top film, prove that music and movies can unite Japan — and define a cultural moment.
CULTURE / Music
Oasis returns to Japan after 16 years — and fans can still sing every word
The British rockers' Tokyo Dome set included such favorites as "Wonderwall," "Live Forever" and "Champagne Supernova."
CULTURE / Music
Oasis returns to Tokyo: Rain, rapture and rock
Oasis’ first Japan shows since 2009 drew roughly 110,000 fans to Tokyo Dome over the weekend.
Rock band kurayamisaka’s debut album has listeners debating over its “shoegaze” classification.
CULTURE / Music
Oct 24, 2025
Japanese rock fans can't agree on kurayamisaka
By Patrick St. Michel
The September release of the band's debut album has dominated Japan’s indie-rock conversation for weeks, with listeners debating over its “shoegaze” classification.
South Korean singer Chanyeol made his Japanese-language solo debut with the EP “Hibi,” which features six tracks inspired by his love of Japanese music.
CULTURE / Music
Oct 23, 2025
K-pop idol Chanyeol does J-pop his own way on ‘Hibi’
By Adam Davidson
The South Korean singer explores his creative growth on a Japanese-language EP inspired by a desire to put his own spin on J-pop.
Nodoka Okisawa conducts the Saito Kinen Orchestra to perform Benjamin Britten's opera "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at the Matsumoto Performing Arts Center in August for the 33rd edition of the Seiji Ozawa Matsumoto Festival.
CULTURE / Music
Sep 28, 2025
Nodoka Okisawa is carrying the baton for Seiji Ozawa in Matsumoto
By Chiho Iuchi
Japanese conductor Nodoka Okisawa embraces both tradition and renewal at a festival that still embodies Ozawa’s spirit.
American saxophonist Patrick Bartley is the leader of J-Music Ensemble, a jazz-fusion band specializing in instrumental covers of Japanese music.
CULTURE / Music
Sep 25, 2025
Finding jazz in J-pop: Patrick Bartley’s musical second language
By Ryne Hisada
The J-Music Ensemble leader translates Japanese culture into a classic American musical tradition.
Singer-songwriter Mei Ehara confronted the pressure of creating her third album by taking inspiration from a literary device that merely serves as a trigger for a plot. The resulting album is “All About McGuffin.”
CULTURE / Music
Sep 12, 2025
Mei Ehara’s third album finds clarity in the noise
By Patrick St. Michel
The Japanese singer-songwriter turns the concept of a McGuffin into her most direct work yet, sharpened by a U.S. tour with Faye Webster.
Polish pianist Hania Rani took the audience on a synth odyssey at the first Japan edition of Unsound Osaka over the weekend.
CULTURE / Music
Sep 11, 2025
Unsound turns Osaka into a laboratory of avant-garde music
By James Hadfield
Long-running Polish music festival Unsound channels Expo ’70 at its first Japan edition.
Musician Haruna Kimishima, better known as Haru Nemuri, confronts Japan’s politics, nationalism and censorship on her recent output.
CULTURE / Music
Sep 5, 2025
Haru Nemuri’s radical new album refuses easy listening
By Patrick St. Michel
Haru Nemuri’s “ekkolaptomenos” fuses philosophy, pop and protest, confronting Japan’s politics while navigating visa fears and DIY touring.

The Toyota buyout is a major test for Japan’s reforms
Akio Toyoda, chairman of Toyota Motor, speaks during a media preview at the Japan Mobility Show in Tokyo on Oct. 29. Minority investors are challenging the carmaker's bid to take affiliate Toyota Industries Corp. private.
From France to Mali, a deportee's struggle far from home
Moussa Sacko, a Malian deported from France — where he had lived since he was a young child — stands on a street in Bamako, Mali, in December. Compared with his home in France, Bamako feels like a different planet, Sacko said.
New satellite images suggest 'mass graves' in Sudan's El-Fasher
A general view of a berm construction in Kinin Village near El-Fasher.
High-speed rail is expensive and difficult, but seen as a key to growth
Achal Khare, former managing director at India’s National High Speed Rail Corporation, gives a presentation during the IHRA Forum 2025 in Tokyo on Oct. 23.
SoftBank is said to have explored potential takeover of Marvell
SoftBank explored a potential takeover of U.S. chipmaker Marvell Technology earlier this year, in what would have been the semiconductor industry's largest-ever deal.
These are the hottest lower-division rikishi to watch right now
Fukazaki (right) grapples with Enho at the IG Arena in Nagoya on July 13.
Across borders and screens, Tokyo film festival finds humanity in migration
“Mother Bhumi” takes place in a multiethnic rice-farming community where Chinese, Thai and Malay lineages intertwine.
Takaichi’s balancing act: Supporting Taiwan and stabilizing China ties
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi shakes hands with Lin Hsin-i, Taiwan’s presidential adviser, on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit meeting in Gyeongju, South Korea, on Saturday in this image posted to Takaichi's official X account.
From 1973 to 2025: A Japanese American skater’s long ride to recognition
Judi Oyama at Winchester Skatepark in San Jose, California, in January 1979. The Skateboarding Hall of Fame inductee and Guinness World Record holder still skates and hopes to inspire older women.
More Japanese universities pushing toward teaching in English
Waseda University in Tokyo

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Maruhachi never sleeps in quest for better futons
Maruhachi never sleeps in quest for better futons

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