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February 22, 2025
 

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NEW YEAR

A visitor feeds the deer at Nara Park in Nara on Jan. 27. The monthly number of foreign visitors to Japan hit a record high in January.
JAPAN
Feb 19, 2025
Monthly number of visitors to Japan hit record high in January
The number of inbound visitors is estimated to have risen 40.6% from a year before to 3,781,200, exceeding 3 million for the fourth consecutive month.
Billed as a “cultural bridge that connects Japan and Vietnam,” Tet Viet Saitama drew tens of thousands of attendees from across the Kanto region.
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Feb 2, 2025
Home away from home: My first time at a Tet festival in Japan
A longtime resident of Japan attends Saitama’s first public celebration of Vietnam’s most important holiday.
Hoshoryu dispatches Oho in a playoff to clinch the Emperor's Cup on the final day of the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament on Sunday in Tokyo.
SUMO / Basho reports
Jan 26, 2025
Hoshoryu overcomes rank-and-file wrestlers to put yokozuna promotion in sight
Despite the best efforts of Kinbozan and Oho, it was ozeki Hoshoryu that eventually emerged victorious in the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament.
Terunofuji won 10 titles in sumo's top division during his career.
SUMO
Jan 17, 2025
Yokozuna Terunofuji retires after injury-plagued career
Terunofuji, who has already acquired Japanese citizenship, will become a stablemaster after his retirement.
Hoshoryu (right) defeats Kirishima on Sunday. Hoshoryu has the look of a contender in the early days of the year's first tournament.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Jan 15, 2025
Wide-open field has the New Year Basho looking like anyone's tourney
There has still been enough shakiness among the top-rankers to preclude ruling out any kind of outcome in the year's first tournament.
On Dec. 31, rock duo B’z appeared on NHK's year-end "Kohaku Uta Gassen" music extravaganza for the first time in a career spanning more than three decades.
CULTURE / Music / Sound Off
Jan 10, 2025
An explosive B’z set on ‘Kohaku’ hints at a strategy to win over viewers
Japan’s best selling act delivered one of the biggest moments of the year-end music blowout and reinforced the importance of catering to a more middle-aged market.
Kotozakura is in position to fight his way to a promotion to yokozuna going into the New Year Basho.
SUMO
Jan 10, 2025
Stage set for action-packed New Year Basho with yokozuna promotion battle
Few years in recent sumo history have begun with a landscape of possibilities as wide as 2025.
Terunofuji performs during a ceremony at Meiji Shrine in Tokyo on Tuesday.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Jan 8, 2025
Questions linger over Terunofuji's health ahead of year's first tournament
During the Yokozuna Deliberation Council's practice session on Monday, Terunofuji’s latent power, but also his physical decline, were on full display.
The number of passengers who used express services operated by Japan Railways Group companies during the 10-day period through Sunday was 2% higher than in fiscal 2018, surpassing the level seen before the COVID-19 pandemic for the first time.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 7, 2025
Number of passengers on JR express services during New Year rose 11%, firms say
The figure for the 10-day period through Sunday surpassed the level seen before the COVID-19 pandemic for the first time.
Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako attend a New Year ceremony at the Imperial Palace on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 2, 2025
Emperor wishes for peaceful year for those affected by disaster
Emperor Naruhito expressed his wish on Thursday for a peaceful year for people affected by disasters, following a strong earthquake that struck the Noto Peninsula a year ago.
A man offers prayers at Hebikubo Shrine in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward. The shrine is one of several across the country dedicated to the snake.
LIFE / Lifestyle / Longform
Jan 1, 2025
Shed your skin and reinvent yourself in the Year of the Snake
The Year of the Snake is characterized by wisdom, calm and steady progress. It urges introspection, calculated moves and a journey of reinvention.
On the first day of the 2000s, the world was relieved that the Y2K computer glitch was mostly nothing. And in Russia, Vladimir Putin came to power.
JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By
Jan 1, 2025
Japan Times 2000: Japanese celebrate new year
Check out what was on the front page on Jan. 1 in 1925, 1950, 1975 and 2000.
Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako pose for a photo at the Imperial Palace Small Hall in Tokyo on November.
JAPAN
Jan 1, 2025
Emperor prays for world peace in New Year's message
Emperor Naruhito stressed the "importance of people recognizing their differences and working hand in hand to realize a peaceful world."
The start of the 2024 Hakone Ekiden in Tokyo's Otemachi district. Every year on Jan. 2 and 3, Hakone Ekiden brings millions of fans across Japan to a standstill.
MORE SPORTS
Dec 31, 2024
A newcomer’s guide to the Hakone Ekiden experience
Every year on Jan. 2 and 3, Hakone Ekiden brings millions of fans across Japan to a standstill, even people who normally don’t care about running.
A transport ministry panel experiments with a dummy to determine how quickly a person lying on the road during the night would be spotted when drivers use low and high beam lights.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 27, 2024
Japan drivers warned to steer clear of drunk pedestrians sleeping on road
Collisions involving pedestrians asleep on the road typically spike in December, when more people get imbibed at New Year's gatherings.
At each shrine and temple, priests create festive, decorative go-shuin stamps, and you can collect the marks of all seven of the lucky gods on one piece of paper (called a shikishi) to serve as a good-luck talisman.
LIFE / Travel
Dec 27, 2024
Start the new year not with one temple visit, but seven
The seven lucky gods pilgrimage is a less hurried alternative to the often-crowded first temple or shrine visit of the year.
Writer Baye McNeil and his wife, Miki, host a Kwanzaa gathering in Yokohama together. The end of the year at the McNeil’s home is a mix of several different holiday traditions, including those of Kwanzaa.
COMMUNITY / Voices / Black Eye
Dec 23, 2024
A holiday season built on creativity and care
Fusing African heritage with Japanese spirituality, our columnist crafted a holiday season that celebrates cultural understanding.
Japan's traditional New Year cuisine has a long history, though modern developments have led to slight changes in the way things work.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Dec 22, 2024
A brief history of ‘osechi ryōri,' Japan's edible tradition for the new year
In addition to wordplay, color and shape often determine the reason why certain foods are part of Japan’s New Year holiday menu.
Passengers at the check-in counters of Haneda Airport in Tokyo on Jan. 3. The average budget for domestic trips during the upcoming year-end and New Year holiday period is estimated to hit a record high for the second straight year.
JAPAN
Dec 6, 2024
Domestic travel budget for holiday period projected to hit record
The increase reflects soaring accommodation costs and growing demand for travel to distant destinations, JTB said.
The average price of osechi traditional food for the 2025 New Year stood at ¥27,826 ($185), a 1.3% increase — or ¥360 — compared with that for the 2024 New Year.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 2, 2024
Osechi ryōri prices climb for a third consecutive year
The latest increase, at ¥360 ($2.40), is the smallest in three years, at less than half the increase for the 2024 New Year.
Yen advances past ¥150 per dollar as BOJ rate-hike bets ramp up
The Japanese currency climbed as much as 1% to ¥149.95 against the dollar on Thursday, a level it hasn’t touched since Dec. 9.
Japan release of Shiori Ito's documentary in limbo
Shiori Ito, who won a civil suit over a rape case against a TV reporter, in 2018. Her former lawyers claim her documentary includes footage used without the consent of sources.
Japan's Prince Hisahito to hold first news conference on March 3
Prince Hisahito heads to greet the Emperor and Empress on the occasion of his 18th birthday in Tokyo on Sep. 6.
LDP and opposition lock horns over Japan budget
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in parliament on Friday
Japanese panel seeks to tighten screening of new universities
Education minister Toshiko Abe (right) receives a report on higher education from an advisory panel on Friday.
As Ukraine rift emerges, Kyiv's envoy says Japan must take on bigger global role
Ukrainian Ambassador to Japan Sergiy Korsunsky speaks during an interview at the Ukrainian Embassy in Tokyo on Monday.
Japan release of Shiori Ito's documentary in limbo
Shiori Ito, who won a civil suit over a rape case against a TV reporter, in 2018. Her former lawyers claim her documentary includes footage used without the consent of sources.
Abdul Hakim Sani Brown ready to sprint past Paris disappointment
Abdul Hakim Sani Brown (center) runs during a 100-meter heat at the Paris Olympics on Aug. 3, 2024.
What is the ceiling for sumo’s newest yokozuna?
Newly promoted grand champion Hoshoryu (center) performs a dedication ceremony at Meiji Shrine in Tokyo on Jan. 31.
‘Yasuko, Songs of Days Past’ puts overlooked star in the spotlight
“Yasuko, Songs of Days Past” centers on a real-life love triangle between poet Chuya Nakahara (Taisei Kido, left), actor Yasuko Hasegawa (Suzu Hirose, center) and literary critic Hideo Kobayashi (Masaki Okada).

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
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Longform

Tokyo Koon stands at the forefront of tackling the so-called 2025 issue, also known as the “Magnetic Tape Alert.”
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