Bookmark is a JAPAN Forward feature that gives you long reads for the weekend. Each edition introduces one overarching thought that branches off to a...
In 2019, the Japanese government announced that it would invite Chinese President Xi Jinping to Japan for an official state visit. It was a...
“Locals of Tottori Prefecture are eating pink curry.” This is the rumor that’s been going around, especially in Thailand. It all started from a...
Japan’s Emperor Emeritus Akihito, 86, briefly lost consciousness and collapsed on Wednesday, January 29, the Imperial Household Agency disclosed. Akihito underwent an MRI examination,...
What were the words and topics that Japanese couldn’t get enough of in 2019? What were the buzzwords on everyone’s lips? For this five-part series,...
Japanese Princess Toshinomiya Aiko, the only child of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, turned 18 on December 1. In April, Princess Aiko entered...
Questions have been raised as to whether Emperor Naruhito’s enthronement ceremony violated the separation of political and religious institutions established by the Constitution. Criticism...
Emperor Naruhito carried out the most traditional and important of the rituals to becoming emperor of Japan, the Daijosai, starting from the evening of...
The Japanese people en masse were finally able to greet the new Reiwa Emperor in a public parade through the streets of Tokyo on Sunday,...
When you laugh, the world lights up — Someone’s happiness makes the world a brighter place. We send our happiness to you. With...
Many of Japan’s traditions and ideas are unfamiliar to those outside of Japan. Therefore, JAPAN Forward and Jinja Honcho have collaborated to bring readers an explanation...
The enthronement ceremony, or Sokuirei-Seiden-no-Gi, for Japan’s Emperor Naruhito took place in Tokyo on October 22, leading up the climax of the rites of ascension to...