Reiwa, the era name or gengo for the reign of Japan’s new Emperor Naruhito, was taken from Japan’s oldest poetry collection, the Manyoshu (Record of...
United States President Donald Trump pressed North Korea’s supreme leader Kim Jong Un to settle the long-festering issue of Japanese abductees at their second summit...
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe recently vowed to “unconditionally” meet with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, breaking from reiteration of his earlier rhetoric that...
Dear Megumi, How are you doing? Here, the warmth of spring has spread across Japan and your favorite flowers are blooming beautifully. Do...
The Reiwa era has commenced, and all Japanese need to be aware of the true significance of that poetic name that constitutes a call to...
(Second of Two Parts) Part 1: [Mythbusters] The ‘Happiness Report’ that Makes Me Very Unhappy Japan's Missing Culture of 'Blowing your own...
The New York Times ran one of its periodic pieces on how bad things are in Japan. The gist of this piece is that China’s...
Tozaburo Yanagiya, 42, is a storyteller with a drive to spread the word on rakugo, a traditional form of Japanese comic storytelling. If you ask...
(First of Two Parts) Journalists and pundits writing about Japan seem to love league tables (lists of rankings) that give Japan a low rank....
More than once this writer has come out with the view that the government should drop the planned consumption tax rate hike slated to rise...
Kimono – the simple yet timeless elegant garment that is traditional Japanese fashion. From the powerful samurai in battle to graceful geisha dancing in tea...
The theater play Kafka on the Shore is making a triumphant homecoming for the first time in five years, returning to Tokyo on May 21....