People wait for the start of the Sumidagawa Fireworks Festival in Tokyo last year, marking the return of the event after pandemic-era cancellations.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jun 9, 2024
Start circling the dates for fireworks season now
When you think of a Japanese summer, inevitably you'll think of fireworks. The displays have been a part of the culture for centuries.
Pete Reynolds (front row, right) has trained for 38 years with the Bujinkan, an organization that teaches skills used by ninja. The American moved to Japan in 2000 and is now a senior instructor at the organization’s dojo in the Nezu neighborhood in Tokyo.
LIFE / Lifestyle
May 10, 2024
The unexpected acolytes helping to keep ninja heritage alive
What may have started as youthful fantasy has led to a deeper passion in an area of Japanese history by non-Japanese martial arts practitioners.
If it's too hot to do much (and the costs for air conditioning continue to surge) during the day, it might be time to consider shifting the bulk of our activities to cooler nighttime hours.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Apr 6, 2024
A solution for scorching days: Do everything at night.
Working night shifts, however, comes with a host of health problems, increasing the risk of diabetes, heart disease and even cancer.
The 8620-class steam locomotive was manufactured in 1922 during Japan's Taisho Era (1912-1926).
LIFE / Lifestyle
Mar 30, 2024
One last journey for Japan's oldest steam train
Japan's 101-year-old steam locomotive has made its final journey, thought it may live on as a museum piece in the future.
Instead of suffering in sneezes when seasonal allergies have you feeling low, these medicines may be able to help.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Mar 30, 2024
Take your pick of allergy season's many remedies
A key fact about most allergy medicines is that it's better to start taking them before you actually need the relief they provide.
Kaori Yamada grew up surrounded by bonsai her whole life and was expected to carry on her family's 170-year-old legacy when she became an adult.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Mar 23, 2024
The bonsai master working to branch out an age-old craft
Kaori Yamada grew up surrounded by bonsai her whole life and was expected to carry on her family's 170-year-old legacy or otherwise end it.
From sending too many emojis than your partner might be expecting to delaying a response in order to avoid seeming overeager, the texting portion of a young relationship is unexpectedly fraught with peril.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Mar 23, 2024
The subtle art of texting your crush for the first time
Gen Z dating app users are 50% more likely than millennials to delay responding to a message "to avoid seeming overeager.”

Longform

Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.
The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'