Menu
Search
 
December 20, 2024
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

LIFE

Lifestyle

Travel
Digital
Food & Drink
Style & Design
Language
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."

Mother hopes for reunion with daughter ensnared by Tokyo host clubs
The Kabukicho district in Tokyo, where the daughter of a woman in her 60s fell deeply into the host club culture.
Bank of Japan opts for caution as Trump factor and wage concerns weigh
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda holds a news conference after a BOJ policy meeting in Tokyo on Thursday.
Honda and Nissan might combine to form world’s No. 3 auto group
Nissan President and CEO Makoto Uchida (left) and Honda President and CEO Toshihiro Mibe hold a news conference in Tokyo in March. Both automakers have been working together for months on a deal of some sort.
Graft scandals disrupt China military modernization, Pentagon report says
A visitor takes pictures near models of military equipment and a giant screen displaying Chinese leader Xi Jinping, at an exhibition at the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution in Beijing in October 2022.
As bitcoin soars, luxury brands consider accepting crypto payments
A customer leaves a luxury eyewear shop in Hong Kong on Wednesday.
A year of Oscar wins and a quiet push for diversity
Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Evil Does Not Exist,” released in Japanese theaters in April, sharply dramatizes the clash between rural and urban values. The film won five awards at the 2023 Venice Film Festival, including the second-place Silver Lion prize.
Curiosity didn’t kill the meme: Why cats still rule Japanese YouTube
A screen shot from YouTube user @lagelda shows the simplicity of going viral in Japan in 2024: A cat dancing to EDM in front of a green screen.
With rare Asia carrier deployment, France seeks greater interoperability
The flight deck of the French Navy's Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier during a stop at Changi Naval Base in Singapore in May 2019
Taiwan’s bullet train a testament to shinkansen’s export potential
A Taiwan High Speed Rail bullet train arrives at Nangang Station in the city of Taipei.
Looking for ways to be charitable in Japan? Give the gift of reading.
Book Santa is a program that delivers books to children in need for Christmas, but it also operates year-round.

Podcast

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

Longform

Yasuyuki Yoshida stirs a brew in a fermentation tank at his brewery in Hakusan.
The quake that shook Noto's sake brewing tradition
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

mission sustainability vol.12 : Kose Corp.Kose takes pride in creating beauty in the world
mission sustainability vol.12 : Kose Corp.Kose takes pride in creating beauty in the world

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER

Latest News

Foxconn's interest in Nissan said to be on hold amid Honda merger talks
1 hour ago
Record 78% of people in Japan feel anxious, government survey finds
2 hours ago
Japan says overall economy recovering, but cuts view on corporate profits
2 hours ago
A decade on, Malaysia renews search for vanished MH370
3 hours ago
Japanese officials inspect Yokota Air Base over PFAS concerns
3 hours ago