September 11, 2025

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LIFE

Digital

Sega's first brick-and-mortar store in Japan is an example of how the country's video game industry is thinking of its digital products as tangible experiences.

LIFE / Digital

Jul 18, 2025

Sega’s first Japan store signals ‘immersive entertainment’ push

By Gendel Gento

Opened on July 18 in the Shibuya Parco building, the video game company’s brick-and-mortar venture hints at a broader trend in Japan’s gaming landscape.

After nearly shuttering earlier this year, the Tokyo-based Game Preservation Society continues its work to save the early history of Japanese gaming.

LIFE / Digital

Jul 12, 2025

‘Our ultimate goal is to save every single Japanese video game’

By Gendel Gento

The Tokyo-based Game Preservation Society almost shuttered earlier this year, but a flood of support has buoyed efforts to save games on extinct media.

Hideo Kojima, the leading auteur in Japanese video games, has skirted controversy in the wake of the release of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES

Jul 12, 2025

Is Japanese skin really ‘too smooth’ for Hideo Kojima’s games?

By Owen Ziegler

When it comes to Hideo Kojima’s visuals, art imitates life — and it’s more often Hollywood’s version of life than Japan’s that influences his games.

Since its introduction in 1985, Sega's UFO Catcher machine has come to define crane games in Japan.

LIFE / Digital

Jun 24, 2025

King of Japan’s arcades, Sega’s UFO Catcher turns 40

By Gendel Gento

Where would Japan’s arcades be without the rows and rows of crane games that Sega’s influential machine helped popularize?

From participants on the JET Programme to full-time content creators, Megan and Ben share their lives in Japan on screen. They recently signed with Tokyo-based influencer agency GeeXPlus.

LIFE / Digital

Jun 19, 2025

The Hitobito's Megan and Ben uncover the real Japan, one video at a time

By Patrick St. Michel

The couple moved to Japan to be teachers. Now, their YouTube clips are viewed by millions.

Elden Ring Nightreign sees a developer following up its greatest commercial and critical outing with a game that struggles to find its stride.

LIFE / Digital

Jun 2, 2025

In Elden Ring Nightreign, the FromSoftware formula goes awry

By Owen Ziegler

Released on May 31, the studio’s first purely multiplayer effort struggles to grasp what makes its newly chosen genre great.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 isn't your typical Japanese role-playing game, but that hasn't stopped it from being one of the best to come from the genre in years.

LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES

May 24, 2025

Uh-oh, is the rest of the world making JRPGs better than Japan?

By Owen Ziegler

Developed by a French studio, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has pushed the genre forward more than any Japanese-developed title in the past 10 years.

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.

The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight

By Mai Yoshikawa

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Tokyo Gas lights the way to carbon neutrality

Tokyo Gas lights the way to carbon neutrality

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