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August 11, 2026
 

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LIFE

Travel
Digital
Food & Drink
Style & Design
Language
Lifestyle
What once was a summertime treat you could get for a few coins is becoming a luxury item worth several thousand yen.
LIFE / Food & Drink
?6,000 for shaved ice: Is luxury ¡®kakig¨­ri¡¯ worth it?
By Weiwen Lin
The summer staple is being elevated into an extravagant treat by dessert purveyors ¡ª with varying results.
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.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Â鶹´«Ã½ brewers experiment with a secret ingredient: music
By Gabrielle Doman
It might sound like pseudoscience, but there could be more to the idea of brewing with music than meets the ear.
TCC Therapy Park is supported financially by racing organizations as well as donations from members of the public.
LIFE / Lifestyle
How Â鶹´«Ã½ racehorses find second careers away from the track
By Rachel Teo
After their racing careers are over, only a lucky few of Â鶹´«Ã½ nearly 9,000 racehorses end up at TCC Therapy Park for rehabilitation.

Travel

Japan's first prison-turned-hotel, Hoshinoya Nara Prison offers as much luxury as it does surprisingly thoughtful reflections on the former facility's place in the country's march toward modernity.
Travel
Locked up in luxury at the new Hoshinoya Nara Prison hotel
By Owen Ziegler
Open from July, the lodging occupying an Important Cultural Property prompts guests to reflect on societal progress and the role of prisons.
Travel
Luxury is pastoral at Iwate¡¯s Azuma Farm Koiwai
By Gendel Gento
Travel
In the hills of Shimane, Â鶹´«Ã½ steelworking tradition forges on
By Louise George Kittaka
Travel
Surviving the Uchiwa Festival, Â鶹´«Ã½ hottest ¡®matsuri¡¯
By Jessica Kozuka
Travel
Beyond crabs and dinos: Â鶹´«Ã½ least-touristed region rethinks its appeal
By Louise George Kittaka
Travel
Tokyo¡¯s best Four Seasons may not be its biggest
By Gendel Gento
Travel
Osaka Itami Airport named Asia¡¯s best in new travel rankings
By Weiwen Lin

Digital

Releasing on Aug. 4, Beast of Reincarnation is set in a far-future version of Japan ruined by a mysterious apocalypse.
Digital
Beast of Reincarnation shows Game Freak has more to learn
By Owen Ziegler
Game Freak¡¯s ambitious action RPG borrows familiar ideas but struggles to make them feel fresh.
Digital
¡®Tony Hawk with Japanese trains¡¯: Denshattack! makes derailing a blast
By Owen Ziegler
Digital
Sony to end video game disc production in January 2028
By Owen Ziegler
Digital
On Dragon Quest¡¯s 40th anniversary, ¡®it¡¯s impossible to ignore its influence¡¯
By Gendel Gento
Digital
A salaryman, a ghost and a water spirit walk into a coffee bar
By Owen Ziegler
Digital
Forza Horizon 6 is all gas, no brakes in series¡¯ first Japan pit stop
By Gendel Gento
Digital / Longform
How Japanese influencers in China are bridging a growing divide
By Mike Fu

Food & Drink

What once was a summertime treat you could get for a few coins is becoming a luxury item worth several thousand yen.
Food & Drink
?6,000 for shaved ice: Is luxury ¡®kakig¨­ri¡¯ worth it?
By Weiwen Lin
The summer staple is being elevated into an extravagant treat by dessert purveyors ¡ª with varying results.
Food & Drink
At Nonna Nietta, Italian magic in suburban Tsukuba
By Robbie Swinnerton
Food & Drink / The Recipe Box
A sushi rice pocket by any other name
By Simon Daly
Food & Drink
Japan shut out of Asia¡¯s 50 Best Bars top 10 for first time
By Weiwen Lin
Food & Drink
A symbol of summer, this Japanese dessert brings sweet relief
By Weiwen Lin
Food & Drink
Heading to Yokohama¡¯s Chinatown? Here are the real local bites you¡¯re missing.
By Manami Tominaga
Food & Drink
Kansai¡¯s first Michelin-selected sommelier knows how to read a room
By Weiwen Lin

Style & Design

Tea practitioner Fukutaro Nakayama moved through the space of KAIT Plaza preparing tea for each guest next to them.
Style & Design
A sensory encounter at rare architectural gem KAIT Plaza
By Erik Augustin Palm
KAIT Plaza, usually a student hangout, became a one-day tea ceremony and sound experience.
Style & Design
Global demand is reshaping secondhand fashion in Japan
By Gabrielle Doman
Style & Design
Japanese nail salons are tourists¡¯ new obsession
By Gabrielle Doman
Style & Design
¡®The colors speak for themselves¡¯: How Â鶹´«Ã½ chroma bible went global
By Aarohi Narain
Style & Design
Ohi Chozaemon XI: ¡®We cannot make tradition the absolute rule¡¯
By Jessica Kozuka
Style & Design
¡®Sashiko¡¯ needlework artisan says craft is about ¡®the stories behind the stitching¡¯
By Jessica Kozuka
Style & Design
What happens when Japan curates its aesthetic for the world?
By Erik Augustin Palm

Language

A "Chiikawa The Movie" poster is seen at Toho Cinemas in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo.
Language / BILINGUAL
Speaking Japanese at the movies with ¡®Chiikawa¡¯
By Yuko Tamura
Explore the vocabulary behind horror, spoilers, happy endings and the surprising reactions to this summer¡¯s biggest anime.
Language / BILINGUAL
J-pop idols are behind much of Â鶹´«Ã½ Gen Z slang
By Shaun McKenna
Language / BILINGUAL
Japanese has a word for when your husband makes you sick
By Yaeko Kabe
Language / BILINGUAL
Â鶹´«Ã½ top high school ¡®karuta¡¯ players head to their own Koshien
By Yuko Tamura
Language / BILINGUAL
Summer in Japan: The language and flavors of staying cool
By Eric Margolis
Language / BILINGUAL
Predicting the future, one Japanese grammar point at a time
By Yaeko Kabe
Language / BILINGUAL
The fighting words fueling support for Â鶹´«Ã½ World Cup team
By Yuko Tamura

Lifestyle

TCC Therapy Park is supported financially by racing organizations as well as donations from members of the public.
Lifestyle
How Â鶹´«Ã½ racehorses find second careers away from the track
By Rachel Teo
After their racing careers are over, only a lucky few of Â鶹´«Ã½ nearly 9,000 racehorses end up at TCC Therapy Park for rehabilitation.
Lifestyle
How one Japanese couple made the 1920s and ¡¯30s into a way of life
By Alex K.T. Martin
Lifestyle
Bilingual speech club offers freedom to be yourself
By Aviraj Gokool
Lifestyle
In Japan, a bull market for bear deterrents
By Alex K.T. Martin
Lifestyle / Longform
Can AI replace a priest? Â鶹´«Ã½ temples and shrines are testing the limits.
By Alex K.T. Martin
Lifestyle
Where Tokyo goes to sweat and soak
By Erik Augustin Palm
Lifestyle
With the end of 3G, Â鶹´«Ã½ beloved flip phones go dark
By Thu-Huong Ha
Read more LIFE stories
America¡¯s cyberforces grapple with cluster of deaths by suicide
The U.S. Cyber Command building (center) stands on the National Security Agency campus at Fort Meade, Maryland.
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.
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.
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.
¡®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.
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.
Speaking Japanese at the movies with ¡®Chiikawa¡¯
A "Chiikawa The Movie" poster is seen at Toho Cinemas in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo.
How Â鶹´«Ã½ racehorses find second careers away from the track
TCC Therapy Park is supported financially by racing organizations as well as donations from members of the public.

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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