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December 21, 2024
 

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NEW YEAR

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.
Emperor Naruhito, Empress Masako and their daughter, Princess Aiko, wave to members of the public for the Emperor's 64th birthday at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Feb. 23. The imperial family will greet the public at the palace on Jan. 2.
JAPAN
Dec 2, 2024
Imperial family New Year's event to be held for first time in two years
Emperor Naruhito, Empress Masako and other imperial family members will greet the general public.
Emerging Gen Z J-pop group ME:I will perform on this year's "Kohaku Uta Gassen," national broadcaster NHK’s New Year's Eve spectacle.
CULTURE / Music / Sound Off
Nov 24, 2024
'Kohaku' still matters for J-pop bragging rights
The recently announced 2024 lineup underlines how capturing a year of J-pop in one broadcast bonanza is impossible these days.
Many of the acts making their debut at this year's "Kohaku" song contest came out for the lineup announcement at NHK's studios in Tokyo.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Nov 19, 2024
NHK announces Number_i, Illit and Glay for ‘Kohaku’ lineup
Acts from the former Johnny’s were frozen out for a second year as NHK opts for new names and old favorites.
As part of the fukubukuro lineup for the New Year shopping season, Takashimaya will offer a ¥4.05 million luxury cruise ship tour to South Korea's Jeju Island and other locations.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 5, 2024
2025 New Year lucky bags to offer extraordinary experiences
Customers are seeking "a break from their daily lives," according to one department store official.
Aeon is selling an assortment of 'osechi' (traditional New Year's cuisine) curated with the support of artificial intelligence.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Sep 13, 2024
AI fried chicken, retro chic collabs: Retailers rebrand Japan's New Year's cuisine
Major department stores and supermarkets are trying unorthodox methods to entice younger generations to buy traditional New Year's dishes in Japan.
Travelers at Shanghai Hongqiao railway station on Feb. 6. For the Feb. 10-17 period, there were 99.5 million rail trips made in China, a figure 36% higher than the comparable period in 2019.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 19, 2024
China’s new year travel and spending top pre-COVID levels
Some 474 million tourist trips were made around the country during the festival, which began Feb. 10 and concluded Saturday.
A traveler walks past a flight information display at the Beijing Capital International Airport on Feb. 2 ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday that begins on Saturday in China.
JAPAN
Feb 8, 2024
Chinese visitors to Japan over Lunar New Year to fall short of 2019 level
Visa-free travel offered by some countries and last year's release of treated wastewater from Fukushima may be swaying Chinese travelers' decisions.
SUMO / Inside Sumo
Jan 31, 2024
Ninth title puts Terunofuji on cusp of joining all-time greats
His most recent victory puts him ahead — in terms of silverware won — of all but eight wrestlers to have made their debut in the past 65 years.
SUMO
Jan 24, 2024
Big names set up thrilling finale for January sumo meet
Terunofuji would appear to be the favorite as sumo's first tournament of 2024 reaches the homestretch, but a host of contenders means it could come down to the final day.
J-pop duo Yoasobi performed its 2023-defining hit, “Idol," during the 74th edition of NHK’s “Kohaku Uta Gassen,” giving the show its best moment — and drawing anger from netizens.
CULTURE / Sound Off
Jan 12, 2024
Yoasobi delivered the standout moment of ‘Kohaku.’ Why did some music fans hate it?
The J-pop duo brought artists from J-pop and K-pop together on stage for the night's best performance, but it didn’t take long for negative voices to emerge on social media.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Jan 12, 2024
Winds of change swirl at the top of sumo ahead of New Year meet
Kirishima has his sights set on promotion to yokozuna, while major questions surround injury-plagued Terunofuji.
BUSINESS
Jan 6, 2024
JR passengers up 8% during year-end and New Year's holidays
The combined number of users of bullet trains and other rail services came to around 9,869,000 for the period from Dec. 28 to Thursday.
January may be the month of new diets, but it doesn't have to be a month of short tempers as a result.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jan 6, 2024
Your 2024 diet isn't a blank check to be hangry
The neologism combining "hungry” and "angry” has been around since at least 1956 and made it into the Oxford English Dictionary in 2018.
The most expensive tuna sold at this year's first auction displayed outside Toyosu Market in Tokyo on Friday
BUSINESS
Jan 5, 2024
Tokyo’s top tuna for the new year sells for ¥114.2 million
The tuna weighed 238 kilograms and was sold Friday to seafood wholesaler Yamayuki and sushi chain operator Onodera Group.
One Japanese idiom goes, "the drawn dragon is missing an eye." It means that something lacks that crucial finishing touch.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jan 4, 2024
The Year of the Dragon has arrived along with a slew of idioms
Japanese sayings that involve dragons tend to invoke the powerful characteristics of the mythical creature.
Wrestlers with the Shikoroyama stable after a training session in Tokyo late last month.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Jan 3, 2024
Opportunities abound for sumo's governing body as centenary nears
Much progress has been made in Japan’s national sport in recent years, but there's still work to be done to better cater to foreign fans.
Devotees of Afro-Brazilian religions carry offerings to the sea as part of an annual rite in Rio de Janeiro on Dec. 29, 2023.
WORLD / Society
Jan 2, 2024
How to start the new year? Keep the sea goddess happy.
Followers of Afro-Brazilian religions have been displaced by New Year’s revelers. But they still find ways to make their offerings to the ocean.
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.
A year after going private, structural reforms bearing fruit for Toshiba
Toshiba's Corporate Senior Executive Vice President Koji Ikeya speaks during an interview in Tokyo on Monday.
Taiwan lawmakers brawl over bills that would 'damage democracy'
Lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party and opposition party Kuomintang brawl in parliament in Taipei on Friday.
Record 78% of people in Japan feel anxious, government survey finds
The public opinion survey on people's lives, conducted by the Cabinet Office, found that 28.1% of respondents think that their standard of living is at a lower-middle level among the general public — the highest percentage to give that response in 35 years.
Police raided suspect's home to arrest him after fatal Kitakyushu stabbing
Broken window glass is seen at Masanori Hirabaru's house in Kitakyushu's Kokuraminami Ward.
Japanese officials inspect Yokota Air Base over PFAS concerns
The Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo in September 2019. An inspection of the base by Japanese government officials on Friday came amid public pressure to investigate suspected links between the use of PFAS-containing firefighting foam by the U.S. base and contamination of soil and groundwater in western Tokyo.
Crime numbers rise in Japan for second straight year
A police officer stands in front of the residence of a man alleged to have stabbed two junior high school students in Kitakyushu.
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

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

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