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January 21, 2025
 

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LIFE

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One of the brighest spots of Japan's indie gaming landscape in 2024 was Sonokuni, and with more incubators and other avenues of support springing up, there may be more games like it in the future.
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Japan-made games part of a rising tide of indie greatness
With games developed by lone individuals rivaling the quality of major studios, it's time to reconsider what makes an indie game indie.
LIFE / Digital
Nintendo announces Switch 2, its first new console in eight years
Japan residents can apply via lottery for a hands-on demo of the Switch 2 on April 26 and 27 at Chiba’s Makuhari Messe convention center.
LIFE / Digital / Japan Pulse
Curiosity didn’t kill the meme: Why cats still rule Japanese YouTube
Cat memes continued to thrive and evolve in 2024. In Japan, they're not just for jokes — they’re for storytelling, venting and a little therapy.
Video game music has come a long way from its humble origins.
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Dec 7, 2024
Beyond beeps and boops: Video game music has grown up
By Samantha Low
Video game music has gone from 8-bit chiptunes to fully realized productions that bring the gamer’s experience to life.
While FromSoftware's Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is a strong contender for game of the year, Black Myth: Wukong, the first AAA game made by a Chinese developer, offers some stiff competition.
LIFE / Digital / 2024 in Review
Dec 6, 2024
It’s Japan versus China for 2024’s game of the year
By Owen Ziegler
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree and Black Myth: Wukong both have a claim to the best game of 2024, a year marked by cultural scandals and lawsuits.
The newly opened Nintendo Museum and upcoming Donkey Kong Country area of Universal Studios Japan are the latest examples of the gaming giant's efforts to expand beyond traditional consoles and handhelds.
LIFE / Digital
Nov 16, 2024
Why Nintendo is becoming a 'talent agency' for its beloved characters
By Mathias Cena
Game and console sales account for over 90% of Nintendo's revenue, so exposure to characters could be "a trigger" to attract more people to consoles.
Held weekly at the Red Bull Gaming Sphere in Tokyo’s Nakano Ward, Tatakai Tuesday brings together both local and visiting fighting game enthusiasts.
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Nov 2, 2024
Blood, bruises and brotherhood at Tokyo’s fighting games club
By Samantha Low
Organizers Jonathan Metoyer and Andrew Fidelis started the events to 'replicate a sense of pressure you’d feel in competitive space.'
Shinobi, one of Sega's most popular video game series, is to be made into a movie.
LIFE / Digital
Oct 9, 2024
Sega's ninja game Shinobi to get the movie treatment
Sega did not give a target date for the movie's release.
The Sega Corp. and Atlus Co. booth at the Tokyo Game Show in Chiba last month featured a sneak peak at Metaphor: ReFantazio.
LIFE / Digital
Oct 8, 2024
Man behind Persona games flips to fantasy in latest release
By Kilian Fichou
Though new to the realm of fantasy, game designer Katsura Hashino and his team were driven by the challenge of simply seeing if they could pull it off.
As is the trend in movies and TV, the games with the biggest budgets at Tokyo Game Show 2024 were by and large remakes and remasters.
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Oct 5, 2024
At Tokyo Game Show 2024, nostalgia was king
By Samantha Low
Indie gems were on the show floor, but the nostalgia from remakes and remasters drew the biggest crowds this year.

Chinese buyer of Okinawa island to make visit in summer
Yanaha Island in Okinawa Prefecture as seen from a ferry.
More bird flu cases found in Japan; 1.44 million birds to be culled
Officials with the agriculture ministry hold a news conference in Nagoya on Friday following an outbreak of avian influenza in Tokoname, Aichi Prefecture, earlier this month.
Fuji TV loses more advertisers amid inquiry into host’s behavior
Fuji TV is losing more advertisers following allegations about inappropriate behavior by a celebrity host and questions about its handling of the case.
As Trump returns, will Japan be able to weather the storm?
Then-U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at Akasaka Palace in Tokyo in May 2019.
Top sumo pros to enter the ring in Paris in June 2026
Japan Sumo Association Chairman Hakkaku (right) alongside David Rothschild, the promoter of an upcoming tournament in Paris, on Sunday in Tokyo
As Trump returns, will Japan be able to weather the storm?
Then-U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at Akasaka Palace in Tokyo in May 2019.
Amid rising world hunger, a Japan-inspired group in Kenya is making a big impact
Wawira Njiru, the founder of Food4Education, serves food during the opening of a new kitchen in Mombasa County, Kenya, in 2022. The organization started in 2012 by feeding 25 children out of a single kitchen. Now it feeds nearly half a million every day.
From Tokyo to Manhattan, Takuma Watanabe stirs up a stiff drink
It's taken Takuma Watanabe little time to establish himself as one of New York's hottest bartenders.
For tourists in search of seasonal sights, Yamagata makes its case
For some time away from Tokyo's suffocating urban sameness, Yamagata Prefecture is home to a soothing array of natural abundance.
A slow dive into ‘a moment and an eternity’ with Ryuichi Sakamoto
From the mid-2000s onward, Ryuichi Sakamoto created a number of installation works, often in collaboration with Shiro Takatani, of multimedia art collective Dumb Type.

Podcast

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

Longform

Atsuyoshi Koike, the president and CEO of Rapidus, says there is a “sense of urgency” when it comes to Japan’s efforts in manufacturing semiconductors. “We have to make sure we are successful,” he says.
Atsuyoshi Koike’s big game: Fourth down and 2 nanometers to go
By Kazuaki Nagata and Richard Meyer

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

mission sustainability vol.14 : Unicharm Corp.Unicharm recycles diapers back into diapers
mission sustainability vol.14 : Unicharm Corp.Unicharm recycles diapers back into diapers

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