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December 04, 2024
 

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Owen Ziegler
Owen Ziegler is an editor at The Japan Times in charge of Lifestyle and Food. For pitches, contact him at [email protected].
From hidden street art to this two-story-tall Pikachu balloon, Yokohama will be blanketed in Pokemon paraphernalia through Aug. 14.
LIFE / Digital
Aug 10, 2023
Pokemon comes home for the 2023 world championships in Yokohama
For the first time in the Pokemon franchise’s history, its world championships get underway in Japan.
Asia's best bartenders congregated in Hong Kong for the unveiling of the 2023 list of the continents top watering holes.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jul 21, 2023
Tokyo’s Ben Fiddich inches toward top of Asia’s 50 Best Bars
A total of 14 bars in Japan cracked the top 100 of this year’s continent-wide rankings.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jul 11, 2023
Tokyo’s Gold Bar makes instant splash in Asia’s 50 Best Bars rankings
A week ahead of the full unveiling of the 2023 edition of the Asia’s 50 Best Bars rankings, the top 51-100 bars across the continent have been announced.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jun 24, 2023
Airbnb’s newest venture is in Japan’s most hidden village
Airbnb has partnered with one rural family to offer two lucky guests a free two-night stay in their traditional thatch-roofed home.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jun 21, 2023
Three in Japan break into World’s 50 Best Restaurants rankings
The top accolades of the evening went to Central (Lima, Peru), but Japan’s influence can be found up and down the list.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jun 7, 2023
In-N-Out opens one-day-only pop-up in Ebisu
Today only from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., In-N-Out returns to Tokyo.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jun 3, 2023
At Grace Choy’s table, a tantalizing portal to Cantonese cuisine
A rising culinary star, Choy considers it a mission to evangelize authentic Chinese flavors across Tokyo.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / Reviews
May 18, 2023
Tears of the Kingdom soars thanks to its journey, not its destination
The latest Zelda release emulates 2017’s Breath of the Wild in many ways, but that doesn’t mean it lives entirely in its shadow.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
May 12, 2023
‘Zelda holiday’: Tears of the Kingdom is a blitz of merch and exploration
The latest entry to the venerable Zelda franchise has bigger shoes to fill than any game in the series before it.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Apr 22, 2023
Zelda and legal battles show Nintendo's dueling gaming ‘freedoms’
Tears of the Kingdom releases in three weeks, but one of Nintendo's biggest targets in the fight against piracy was released from prison first.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 30, 2023
10 in Japan — and 7 in Tokyo — named among Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants
This year is a slight step backward for Japan's culinary scene, but how long will that dip last?
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Mar 25, 2023
High-tech 'sassen' duels are an active otaku's dream
In a world of endless options for virtual entertainment, could this be the perfect marriage of tech and athletics?
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Mar 4, 2023
We hardly played ye: A bittersweet eulogy to E3
Once the Super Bowl of the gaming world, it’s time to remember E3 for what it once was instead of what it now unfortunately has come to be.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 26, 2023
Lamp Bar: Majestic cocktails befitting Japan’s ancient capital
Many visits to Kyoto include a day in Nara, and every trip to Nara should include a stop at Michito Kaneko’s exceptional cocktail bar.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Feb 4, 2023
Hogwarts versus transgender rights, Blizzard versus Beijing
Can you truly separate the art from the artist? For many gamers, Hogwarts Legacy is their first such test.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 29, 2023
Drinking with purpose at Bar Nayuta, a covert Osaka speakeasy
No sign, no menu and a trick room for an entrance — if you can find this bar, you’ve earned every sip.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Dec 31, 2022
Elden Ring's artful cruelty set the bar for gaming in 2022
FromSoftware's ambitious, brutal high fantasy RPG was by far the best game to come out of Japan in the last five years.
Japan Times
LIFE
Nov 22, 2022
Your guide to watching the World Cup from Tokyo
Tuning into games from Qatar looking more complex than a Messi dribble? Here's how to make sense of all of Tokyo's World Cup watch parties, streaming options and more.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 18, 2022
Michelin awards 200 Tokyo restaurants a total 263 stars for 2023
Between Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto, nearly 400 restaurants in Japan proved worthy of at least one illustrious Michelin star.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 13, 2022
The Americans going where no miso has gone before
Eleana Hsu and Kevin Gondo don't just break the rules with their homemade miso and shoyu — they create their own.
Japan’s 2024 buzzword of the year urges a reevaluation of past norms
Sadao Abe, who played the role of a time-traveling Showa Era teacher transported to present day in a popular TV drama, receives the 2024 buzzword of the year award for the word "futehodo," the nickname of the series.
Princess Aiko, only child of emperor, turns 23
Princess Aiko on Nov. 22 ahead of her 23rd birthday on Sunday at the Imperial Palace
Ishiba questioned on political reform, social issues and the economy
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks in the Lower House in Tokyo on Monday.
Nearly 90% in Japan and China have negative views of other
Chinese people's sentiment toward Japan is believed to be impacted by their use of social media platforms such as Weibo and Douyin, as well as whether they have visited Japan.
Bear that attacked Akita supermarket employee captured
A brown bear in Hokkaido. In the city of Akita, a bear that attacked a supermarket employee over the weekend was captured in a box trap on Monday morning.
Can Japan's scientific community rebound from a Nobel nosedive?
The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo is a popular place to foster curiosity in the natural sciences.
Europe eyes 'boots on the ground' in Ukraine as possible peace deal option
A serviceman with the Ukrainian Army's 24th mechanized brigade fires a machine gun during an exercise, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the country's Donetsk region on Friday.
Seven strangers and an algorithm: Can this new dinner app help you make friends?
Timeleft uses an algorithm to match its users with five or six strangers in an effort to prompt “human connection” over dinner at a restaurant. It determines the attendees with the help of a simple personality quiz available when you sign up for the service. 
Don’t worry, you can still use your Japan health insurance card — for now
A My Number card reader at a pediatric clinic in Tokyo. While the government will stop issuing new health insurance cards on Monday, most people will remain unaffected by the move in the short term as existing health insurance cards can still be used for another year.
The Geisha bean is the leading lady of Tokyo's coffee scene
Discovered in the 1930s, the Geisha coffee plant came to worldwide fame in the early 2000s and now represents some of the best coffee on the planet — Tokyo's top cafes included.

Podcast

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

Longform

The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo is a popular place to foster curiosity in the natural sciences.
Can Japan's scientific community rebound from a Nobel nosedive?
By Tomoko Otake

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