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August 12, 2026
 

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Kiuko Notoya
Tourists in the Shibuya area of Tokyo are stopped by a group of multilingual officials who hand out fines to people caught littering on Thursday.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 6, 2026
On patrol with Tokyo¡¯s new litter police
On the streets of Shibuya, patrol teams caught 10 people littering on the first day of the new ordinance, 15 on the second day and nine on the third, according to city officials.
The interior of Ume-no-yu, a public bathhouse in the city of Nagano. Soaring oil prices driven by the war in the Middle East are threatening to deal a final blow to a storied Japanese institution: the sento, or traditional public bathhouse.
JAPAN / Society
May 2, 2026
Not even Japanese bathhouses are immune from shocks of Iran war
Soaring oil prices driven by the war in the Middle East are threatening to deal a final blow to the traditional public bathhouse.
An anonymous donor has gifted Osaka with gold bars worth ?566 million ($3.6 million) to help repair the city¡¯s aging water pipes.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 27, 2026
A Japanese city received 21 gold bars with instructions: Fix your water pipes
Osaka says it will honor the anonymous donor¡¯s wishes by using the money from the gold bars ¡ª worth ?566 million ¡ª on the city¡¯s pipes, which are some of the oldest in Japan.
Hikaru Fujita, a candidate for parliament, in Azumino City, Nagano Prefecture. Fujita is a standout in a country where expectant mothers rarely enter national politics.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 7, 2026
She¡¯s upending Japanese politics with two words: ¡®I¡¯m pregnant¡¯
Hikaru Fujita is a standout in a country where expectant mothers rarely enter national politics.
A Swedish snowboard instructor works at the Niseko ski resort area on Hokkaido, in Kutchan, in December 2022
JAPAN / Society
Oct 4, 2025
A Japanese ski resort town is roiled by a debate over immigration
Residents are protesting a planned housing facility for foreign workers, exposing the conflict between labor needs and worries over immigration.
Ngun Nei Par, the general manager at Ginshotei Awashima in Numata, Gunma Prefecture, graduated from a university in Myanmar with a degree in geography.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 6, 2024
Japan needs foreign workers, but it might not want them to stay long
Japanese politicians remain reluctant to create pathways for foreign workers, especially those in low-skill jobs, to stay indefinitely.
Sora Shirai trains at the Olympic skateboarding venue in Paris on Thursday.
OLYMPICS / Skateboarding
Jul 28, 2024
Will these sensational skateboarding tricks win Japan Olympic gold?
Japanese skateboarders like Yuto Horigome and Sora Shirai are creating some of the most difficult tricks in the history of the sport, and landing them in high style.
Japan has finally scrapped every regulation requiring the use of floppy disks for administrative purposes.
JAPAN
Jul 6, 2024
Japan finally phases out floppy disks
One of the world¡¯s most technologically advanced nations has held on to some of the most outmoded devices.
A customer buys a ticket for ramen at a vending machine at Goumen Maruko ramen shop in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 8, 2024
Japan runs on vending machines. It¡¯s about to break millions of them.
New yen notes set to be introduced this summer won¡¯t be compatible with many machines that businesses like ramen shops rely on.
Sony employees simulate the physical sensations of pregnancy at the company¡¯s headquarters in Tokyo in February. The simple power of numbers can begin to remake workplace cultures, but many Japanese women still struggle to balance their careers with domestic obligations.
JAPAN / Society
May 8, 2024
It took decades, but Â鶹´«Ã½ working women are making progress
Employers have taken steps to change a male-dominated workplace culture. But women still struggle to balance their careers with domestic obligations.
¡®Total whiplash¡¯: Foreign residents react to Â鶹´«Ã½ changing permanent residency rules
The entrance to the Tokyo Immigration Bureau in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in March. For some foreign residents of Japan, tightening measures for permanent residency have become one factor in a broader calculation over whether remaining in the country makes financial sense over the long term.
Yasukuni Shrine introduces ban on military attire and cosplay
People gather in front of thousands of lanterns on display at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on July 15 during the Mitama Matsuri, one of the capital's largest summer o-Bon festivals.
Many Indonesians named after Japanese anime characters
Some people in Indonesia are named Doraemon, the name of a lead character of the blockbuster anime series with the same title.
Strong wind and heavy rain forecast as tropical storm approaches Japan
Tropical Storm Chan-hom is expected to make landfall in northern Kanto between late Tuesday and early Wednesday.
Where do foreign residents in Japan want to die?
The Yokohama Foreign General Cemetery is one of the few cemeteries in Japan that allows burials, albeit with conditions for the deceased, including foreign nationality and permanent residency in Kanagawa Prefecture.
¡®Total whiplash¡¯: Foreign residents react to Â鶹´«Ã½ changing permanent residency rules
The entrance to the Tokyo Immigration Bureau in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in March. For some foreign residents of Japan, tightening measures for permanent residency have become one factor in a broader calculation over whether remaining in the country makes financial sense over the long term.
As Â鶹´«Ã½ concrete jungles sizzle, urban forestry offers an all-natural fix
People and birds find relief from the sun in Tokyo's Nakano Ward earlier this month. While experts agree that urban greening is crucial to mitigating the impact of climate change, trees are becoming even more scarce in Japanese cities.
Â鶹´«Ã½ brewers experiment with a secret ingredient: music
At Smoke Craft, a craft beer brewery in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, music isn't just a background to the brewing process ¡ª it's an ingredient.
As countries ban social media for children, Japan mulls a different approach
Data from NTT Docomo¡¯s Mobile Society Research Institute released in June found that 55% of respondents across all age groups said they fiddled with their phones when they had nothing to do, even when another person was in front of them.
J. League enters new era as league kicks off first fall-spring campaign
Players from each J. League club pose during a kickoff event on Monday ahead of the start of the 2026-27 campaign.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo¡¯s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo¡¯s ¡®stadium of desire¡¯

Longform

Disaster relief workers Taichi Kato (left) and Seiji Yoshimura enter the collapsed living quarters at Kyuganji temple in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture.
What Kumamoto revealed about Â鶹´«Ã½ earthquake readiness
By Alex K.T. Martin

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