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August 25, 2025
 

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CULTURE

Music

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Entertainment news
Summer Sonic’s 2025 lineup demonstrated its strength, showcasing the latest in J-pop, including “new kawaii” act Fruits Zipper.
CULTURE / Music
Alicia Keys closed Summer Sonic, but J-pop owned it
Summer Sonic 2025 showcased Japan’s pop power: Mrs. Green Apple, Hikaru Utada and rising stars outshone the festival’s headliners.
CULTURE / Music
The early bird gets the bangers at this year’s Summer Sonic
This year’s festival makes its biggest moves before noon, with Japan’s top acts and K-pop stars commanding early slots.
CULTURE / Music
The families that rock together at Fuji
Taking children to Fuji Rock is a rite of passage that should be supported.
This year, Fuji Rock Festival's ticket sales were the strongest they have been since the COVID-19 pandemic, with overseas ticket buyers accounting for roughly 10% of all sales.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 4, 2025
From far and wide, overseas visitors flock to Fuji Rock
By Alyssa I. Smith
From Singapore to Greece to Michigan, fans came to Japan not just for the music, but for the nature, the relaxed atmosphere and the freedom to dance into the early hours.
Radwimps lead singer Yojiro Noda threw himself into the rock band’s Green Stage performance ahead of headliner Vampire Weekend.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 4, 2025
Fuji Rock's weekend of surprises was one of its best yet
By Patrick St. Michel
Thousands braved crowds and slow-moving lines, but unexpected guest appearances by Mariya Takeuchi and Atarashii Gakko! made this year’s event one of the all-time greats.
Left to right: A woman repurposes a garbage bag to protect her hat from the rain; having a hat and a beverage close at hand is a festival must.
CULTURE / Music / Photo essay
Aug 4, 2025
A weekend in Naeba: Rain or shine, the fun never stopped at Fuji Rock '25
By Alyssa I. Smith
Sweltering naps, makeshift shelters, dancing in the rain — Fuji Rock is all about surrendering to the moment.
Rural, a three-day techno festival, was held July 18 to 21 at Nowhere Camp in Fukushima Prefecture.
CULTURE / Music
Jul 30, 2025
How Japan made techno its own
By Arjan Rietveld
Once inspired by Berlin and Detroit, Japanese techno now moves on its own wavelength — deep, immersive, and unmistakably local.
Fuji Rock still excites Hitsujibungaku — (from left) bassist Yurika Kasai, lead singer and guitarist Moeka Shiotsuka and drummer Hiroa Fukuda — even as its flock grows abroad.
CULTURE / Music
Jul 25, 2025
Hitsujibungaku’s pop-fueled rise to stardom
By Patrick St. Michel
Rock trio Hitsujibungaku is set to make its fourth appearance at Fuji Rock this weekend on its most primetime stage yet — the White Stage right before headliner Haim.
In recent years, Fuji Rock has had fewer blockbuster performers and showcased more top-selling Japanese acts and international musicians' first-time performances in Japan.
CULTURE / Music
Jul 24, 2025
Behind the scenes: Inside Fuji Rock’s strategy for staying on top
By Philip Brasor
With younger fans, more diverse acts and rising global interest, Fuji Rock — one of Asia’s biggest music festivals — is seeing its strongest turnout in years.
Fuji Rock Festival turns the green slopes of Niigata Prefecture’s Naeba Ski Resort into a summer escape that offers soundtracks for every mood.
CULTURE / Music
Jul 22, 2025
JT picks: What not to miss at Fuji Rock 2025
By Johan Brooks, Alyssa I. Smith, Patrick St. Michel, Mark Thompson and Philip Brasor
Ready for Fuji Rock? Here are The Japan Times crew's recommendations for must-see artists at next weekend's three-day music festival.

Japan to revise romanization rules for first time in 70 years
The Agency for Cultural Affairs is recommending replacing the government’s long-standing Kunrei system with more widely used Hepburn-style spellings.
Character-crazed Japan has little appetite for Labubu
A pop-up advertisement for the newly opened Chiikawa Park in Tokyo's Ikebukuro neighborhood demonstrates how the country is chockful of cute characters — to the detriment of trends like Labubu.
At meeting rich in symbolism, Ishiba and South Korea's Lee agree to steadily build ties
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba shake hands at joint press announcement after summit talks in Tokyo on Saturday.
Are 'coolcations' the answer for Japan's heat-weary tourists?
Hikers on a trail in Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture. As extreme heat continues to grip Japan, a tectonic shift may be underway in the nation’s summer tourism scene as more people gravitate toward cooler destinations.
Japan to boost support for joint ride-hailing services
Tatsuaki Igarashi, mayor of Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, exits a ride-sharing vehicle at Tsukuba Station in January.
Germany's first sakemaker offers a bold brew of ideas
Reigen, Germany's first sake brewery, makes a diverse, nontraditional range of sake that includes fruit-flavored sips and wine barrel-aged renditions.
Alicia Keys closed Summer Sonic, but J-pop owned it
Summer Sonic’s 2025 lineup demonstrated its strength, showcasing the latest in J-pop, including “new kawaii” act Fruits Zipper.
Is the LDP’s catch-all approach to politics still effective?
Former economic security minister Sanae Takaichi visits Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Aug. 15. Political commentator Toru Hashimoto has suggested that Takaichi ought to lead a group of like-minded hawkish politicians out of the Liberal Democratic Party and form their own party.
Fingers sore from too much phone time? You might have ‘sumaho yubi.’
A catch-all term for tendonitis and arthritis caused by excessive smartphone use, 'sumaho yubi' may be difficult to treat for gadget-crazy Japan.
As farm minister, Koizumi is held ‘hostage’ by Ishiba
Farm minister Shinjiro Koizumi (center) attends a Lower House session on Aug. 1. Locking Koizumi into the Cabinet is Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s way of turning a potential rival into a team player, according to one expert.

Podcast

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

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past
By Alex K.T. Martin

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