On July 1, a brand-new model of the Tokaido Shinkansen train made its debut. As the first full model change in 13 years, the...
Few trains stop in Yoichi. The small station stands frozen in time. Not many people make it up here, let alone in the middle of...
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced on April 16 that the government was extending the state of emergency, necessitated by the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic...
The fire crackles in the chilly winter air and they gather around the warm embers of the flame. Who are “they,” you ask? Monkeys! ...
Just as the cherry blossoms were declared in full bloom on February 3 in Okinawa, and the Kawazu sakura are in full swing as...
The short documentary film Little Miss Sumo (2018) by British Director Matt Kay follows a young amateur female sumo athlete, Hiyori Kon, in her...
Hidden in a valley south of Toyama prefecture, just a 30-minute drive from the main city area, lies a village that is not populated...
Thanks to you, our dear readers, JAPAN Forward reached new milestones in monthly and daily readerships in 2019. Millions of users around the world followed our...
This year’s “Beautiful Japan” amateur photo contest received hundreds of entries that captured interesting perspectives on what makes the country stunning. The contest is a project...
In the decades leading up to the Meiji Restoration of 1868, sonno joi (revere the Emperor, expel the barbarians) activists and shogunate adherents, such as...
Video Credit: SCMAGLEV Global Voice In the future, if you’re in a hurry, you will be able to get from Tokyo to Osaka...
Typhoon Hagibis (Typhoon #19) roared through Eastern Japan over this past weekend, leaving at least 75 people dead and around 200 known injured. Over 16,000...