Gamers play the Pokemon Legends: Z-A video game at the Ninentdo booth during the Gamescom video games trade fair in Cologne, Germany, in August.
LIFE / Digital
Oct 17, 2025
Pokemon brushes up decades-old formula with Legends: Z-A
Pokemon’s latest title, Legends: Z-A, trades turn-based fights for real-time clashes in a Paris-inspired cityscape.
Ghost of Yotei, the follow-up to 2020's smash hit Ghost of Tsushima, is a violent, vengeful and engaging romp through 17th-century Hokkaido that fails to stick the landing on its most sensitive cultural material.
LIFE / Digital
Oct 11, 2025
Ghost of Yotei’s bloodstained fun sidesteps Ainu identity
Set in Ezo (modern-day Hokkaido), the highly anticipated samurai action-adventure game contains familiar thrills but subpar substance.
Professional models cosplay characters from Persona 5: The Phantom X, one of many titles on display at Tokyo Game Show, Japan's largest gaming industry event.
LIFE / Digital
Sep 26, 2025
Tokyo Game Show 2025 leans into renewal and rebirth
Japan’s largest games industry show returns with its largest spread of exhibitors yet.
Super Mario soft toys in various sizes at collector Kikai's residence in Mishima, Shizuoka Prefecture, on Aug. 19
LIFE / Digital
Sep 12, 2025
'He's a regular man, not unlike us': Marking 40 years of Mario games
Super Mario Bros., released for Nintendo's home consoles in Japan on Sept. 13, 1985, was a landmark of early video gaming.
Umamusume: Pretty Derby is the latest overnight success to come from the world of Japanese video games — never mind it was originally released in 2021.
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Sep 6, 2025
Racehorses, anime girls and gambling: Umamusume’s recipe for success
The latest overnight hit from Japan’s gaming world relies on a quirky mix of elements from the worlds of pop culture and sports.
Shinobi: Art of Vengeance makes excellent use of stages dripping with atmosphere to punch up the feel of its tight combat mechanics.
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Aug 25, 2025
Sega's ninja-themed Shinobi series is back from the dead
The long-running series hasn’t had a console release since 2003, but the new title is nearly enjoyable enough to make the wait worth it.
A video on Bayraktar's Instagram account of the Belgian photographer approaching an elderly worker in Tokyo's Shibuya has gone viral, garnering almost 9 million views.
LIFE / Digital
Aug 6, 2025
Photographer Bleg Bayraktar is winning social media with politeness
Japan holds a special place in the heart of the Belgian photographer, who has shot portraits in various countries and cultivated a reputation for being incredibly respectful.

Longform

Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell