Menu
Search
 
August 14, 2025
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

CULTURE

Stage

Film
Books
Art
Music
TV & Streaming
Stage
Entertainment news
Sung in Japanese, German and Ukrainian, “Natasha” is a multilingual opera with a multinational cast. Belgian soprano Ilse Eerens will originate the titular role, with Japanese mezzo-soprano Hiroka Yamashita as Arato and German baritone Christian Miedl as their trickster guide.
CULTURE / Stage
‘Natasha’ distills global zeitgeist on the opera stage
An original work commissioned by the New National Theatre, Tokyo, “Natasha” is a multilingual opera with a multinational cast from Japan, Germany and Belgium.
CULTURE / Stage
National Ballet of Japan stages first overseas performance in London
Thursday's show was the first of a total of five performances scheduled through Sunday.
CULTURE / Stage
Japanese dancers find a home abroad at Houston Ballet
Returning to Japan for the American ballet company's first international tour since 2022, several dancers speak about why they moved overseas.
Maria Seiren, known for winning the first-ever “Japan’s Got Talent” with her opera voice, has also been training in traditional noh theater, creating productions that combine opera, noh and even pop music.
CULTURE / Stage
Jun 28, 2025
Diva of dualities: Maria Seiren sings opera and noh in both a female and male voice
By Kat Joplin
The first-ever winner of talent show competition “Japan’s Got Talent” is having a stacked year with two noh and opera productions and her 10th anniversary album release.
Atsuko Okatsuka tries out some of the jokes from her new special, “Father,” at the Tokyo Comedy Bar in Shibuya in January.
CULTURE / Stage
May 30, 2025
Atsuko Okatsuka brings big 'dad' energy to new special
By Zoria Petkoska
The comedian’s upcoming special, titled “Father,” blends whimsical comedy and family drama — just in time for Father's Day.
Vocaloid idol Hatsune Miku and kabuki actor Nakamura Shido II first performed together in 2016. This month, they’re reviving the show for the Osaka World Expo.
CULTURE / Stage
May 17, 2025
Traditional performing arts are plugging into modern audiences
By Phoebe Amoroso
Noh and kabuki are getting an image update by teaming up with pop culture figures such as Vocaloid idol Hatsune Miku and DJ Ken Ishii.
Kotoba Slam Japan runs regional competitions to select a representative for the annual World Poetry Slam Championship, which will take place in Mexico at the end of the month.
CULTURE / Stage
May 9, 2025
Japan’s slam poetry scene is all about raw vulnerability
By Eric Margolis
Slam poetry is a rarity in Japan, but the scene is full of energy and potential that the poets have been bringing to the world slam poetry stage for 10 years now.
"Giselle” is a ballet telling the story of a peasant girl that dies from a broken heart and the supernatural revenge and haunting that follow.
CULTURE / Stage
Apr 11, 2025
National Ballet of Japan takes its 'Giselle' to Royal Opera House in London
By Kris Kosaka
First staged in 2022 to celebrate the NBJ’s 25th anniversary season, Miyako Yoshida's production is revived for the first time with several Tokyo shows in April.
K-Ballet Tokyo celebrates its 25th anniversary with an extended lineup including a revival of the vibrant pirate-story ballet "Le Corsaire."
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 15, 2025
K-Ballet Tokyo marks 25 years of passion and perseverance
By Kris Kosaka
The dance company celebrates a milestone anniversary with an extended lineup including a revival of the vibrant pirate-story ballet "Le Corsaire."
From her early love for "Cardcaptor Sakura" and "YuYu Hakusho" to her rise on "RuPaul’s Drag Race," Rock M. Sakura’s anime inspirations are central to her drag persona.
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 25, 2025
When anime meets drag: The manga-inspired world of Rock M. Sakura
By Kat Joplin
A drag queen who merges manga, anime and queer culture, Rock M. Sakura's persona resonates deeply with fans worldwide.

Britain’s Prince of Wales aircraft carrier makes Japan debut
HMS Prince of Wales arrives into the Port of Darwin, Australia, in July during Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025.
Japanese students who want to study abroad looking at options in Asia
The number of Japanese students who applied to the National Taiwan University in Taipei in 2025 is more than 60% higher than last year due partly to affordability and proximity.
Controversial theories continue to swirl around 1985 JAL jet crash
Kimi Ozawa, who lost her husband in the 1985 crash of a Japan Airlines jumbo jet, prays in front of his memorial marker on Tuesday in the village of Ueno, Gunma Prefecture.
The indelible memory of being a part of Unit 731
Hideo Shimizu, 95, says he cannot forget seeing the prisoners' bloody wills scribbled on the walls of prison cells at Unit 731 in 1945.
Taiwanese drama 'Zero Day Attack' on Chinese invasion to stream in Japan
A scene from the Taiwanese television drama "Zero Day Attack," which will stream in Japan from Friday.
Osaka Expo highlights the challenge of holding events in Japan's scorching summer
People huddle near a large fan blowing icy-cold mist at the Osaka Expo on July 12. Amid Japan's relentless summer heat, organizes have put myriad measures in place in order to keep guests safe.
At Himawari Shokudo 2, Italian food with a Japanese soul
At Himawari Shokudo 2, chef Hozumi Tanaka serves Italian-inspired fare with a focus on Toyama produce, such as this appetizer of lightly blanched "hotaru ika" (firefly squid) served atop mixed wild plants and a crepe prepared from "yamato-imo" yam.
Cheer with caution: Expert advises sports fans have game plan for extreme heat
A Cardinals fan fans himself during the seventh inning of a game against the Pirates in St. Louis, Missouri, in June 2022.
Australia's warship selection signals Japanese defense industry's arrival
The Maritime Self-Defense Force's Mogami-class frigate. Australia's selection of an upgraded version of the Mogami-class warship for its next frigate class could prove to be a watershed moment for Japan’s defense industry.
Japan's inheritance tax is high, unforgiving and sometimes avoidable
The National Tax Agency at the Ministry of Finance, Kasumigaseki, Tokyo. Japanese tax authorities can bill foreign residents in Japan for assets inherited globally.

Podcast

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

Longform

Koichi Tagawa’s diary entry from Aug. 9, 1945, describes the day of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
The horrors of Nagasaki, in first person
By Naoko Abe

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Muji has been sustainable from the beginning
Muji has been sustainable from the beginning

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER

Latest News

India set to allow its private firms to mine and import uranium to help nuclear expansion
8 hours ago
Will Ishiba's critics be able to garner enough support for a leadership race?
10 hours ago
1 in 55 Japanese middle schoolers abuse over-the-counter drugs, survey shows
10 hours ago
Japan's Nikkei 225 breaches 43,000 for first time ever
10 hours ago
One dead after yacht and cargo ship collide in waters off Japan
11 hours ago