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December 25, 2024
 

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Lifestyle
In 2024, efficiency trumped effort among Japan's fitness-focused aspirants.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Casual workouts, cool living, ‘complete’ food: Japan’s health trends of 2024
This year’s health and wellness fads point to a Japan that desires more wholesome lifestyles but doesn’t have the time or resources to go about it in traditional ways.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Make the Yuletide gay: Tokyo’s LGBTQ+ Christmas events
Drag shows and lip-sync karaoke may not be traditional holiday get-togethers, but they deck the halls just the same.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Silent night? Not if you want to impress your Christmas Eve date.
In Japan, a date night on Christmas Eve typically starts with a romantic dinner at a restaurant often with a great view or a private space.
Shohei Ohtani's prowress on the diamond translated into an outsized influence on Japan's consumer trends this year.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 13, 2024
The year that Shohei Ohtani achieved 'yokozuna' status … in the market
By Mark Schreiber
To qualify as a genuine "hitto" (hit), a product or service must harness some new concept or technology in a manner that significantly impacts the marketplace.
People in cities across Japan will pop into their local convenience store for any number of products they believe will help them with a night of drinking.
LIFE / Lifestyle / Longform
Dec 6, 2024
Hangover cures are everywhere in Japan — but do they work?
By Thu-Huong Ha
Japan’s suspect remedies make up 20% of the world’s market for hangover cures, but their success lies more in marketing than science.
Rachel Accurso, in character as the internet personality Ms. Rachel, in New York on Nov. 4.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Nov 30, 2024
Ms. Rachel’s improbable journey from toddler whisperer to holiday toy sensation
By Sapna Maheshwari
A series of toys depicting children’s YouTube sensation Ms. Rachel is quickly becoming one of the hottest holiday gifts.
Shiho Hanadate is part of a small yet growing number of young tappers pivotal in securing the future of domestic sap collection used in Japanese lacquerware.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Nov 30, 2024
The young sap collectors underpinning Japanese lacquerware
By Jessica Kozuka
“You can’t cut into the core, so you have to judge the thickness of the bark,” says tapper Shiho Hanadate. “You have to develop a sense for it.”
Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
LIFE / Lifestyle / Longform
Nov 25, 2024
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat
By Greg Dvorak
The modern sauna experience is more than just taking a seat in some steam — whisking, aufguss shows and spectacle all play a part.
While baldness can often be the butt of jokes in Japan, it can also be a powerfully freeing act of self-acceptance for those struggling with hair loss.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Nov 16, 2024
Thinning up top? Hair loss in Japan is not the end.
By Kat Joplin
Among Asian countries, Japan has the highest rate of alopecia at around 26%, as well as 7.8% of women experiencing some form of hair thinning.
Sanwa Koutsu's Kuroko Taxi service has drivers dressed in traditional stagehand garb communicate with passengers only through gestures and written messages.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Nov 9, 2024
The sound of silence: Japan's no-conversation services
By Mai Yoshikawa
“Constant social interaction can feel like torture for us introverts,” one customer says. "I think it’s a pretty smart business move."

Is Japan ready for 60 million tourists?
Visitors to Kyoto walk along a street near Kiyomizu Temple in April. A popular tourist spot, Kyoto has seen what locals feel to be an overwhelming amount of tourists in 2024.
Honda-Nissan megamerger in the works
Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida (left), Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe (second from left) and Takao Kato, CEO of Mitsubishi Motors, hold a news conference on merger talks on Monday in Tokyo.
Picturesque Japan hot spring town limits day trippers
Ginzan Onsen hot springs in Obanazawa, Yamagata Prefecture
Bankruptcies and suicides rise as Japanese struggle with mounting debt
Lawyers estimate that personal bankruptcies in Japan are on track to reach the highest since 2012 this year.
Japan accuses Google of violating antimonopoly law
The Japanese antitrust watchdog said that Google forced smartphone makers to preinstall its search app on their devices, sources say.
For baseball fans, 2024 brought The Summer of Shohei Ohtani
Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani reacts to a standing ovation from fans after hitting his 50th home run of the season, against the Marlins in Miami on Sept. 19.
Trump's Pentagon policy pick pushed for Japan to spend 3% of GDP on defense
Elbridge Colby (center) speaks at the Threat and the Strategy panel during the Air Force Association Air, Space and Cyber Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, in September 2019.
A brief history of ‘osechi ryōri,' Japan's edible tradition for the new year
Japan's traditional New Year cuisine has a long history, though modern developments have led to slight changes in the way things work.
Japan accuses Google of violating antimonopoly law
The Japanese antitrust watchdog said that Google forced smartphone makers to preinstall its search app on their devices, sources say.
Casual workouts, cool living, ‘complete’ food: Japan’s health trends of 2024
In 2024, efficiency trumped effort among Japan's fitness-focused aspirants.

Podcast

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

Longform

Visitors to Kyoto walk along a street near Kiyomizu Temple in April. A popular tourist spot, Kyoto has seen what locals feel to be an overwhelming amount of tourists in 2024.
Is Japan ready for 60 million tourists?
By Kathryn Wortley

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