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The athletics portion of the Olympics has finally arrived in Tokyo 2020 and it’s interesting how much it resembles its ancient predecessor, when competitors from Greece’s coexisting city states would meet naked…
By David McElhinney
Host nations always tend to do pretty well at the Olympics. Yet, even with that in mind Team Japan has, thus far exceeded expectations, leading the medal table for much of the…
By Matthew Hernon
On the surface, the five artists do not have much in common. Walls & Bridges – Touching the World, Living the World, at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, is a kind of…
By Taylor Stewart
Two sapphic women, a murder case, an obsession for lust and a question: Would you kill for love?
By Camilla Chandra
The Olympians are taking over TikTok with their antics inside the Olympic Village, showing us just how well they maintain healthy work-life balance
Our Shop Japan roundup this week features gifts for pet owners, children or parents-to-be and anybody with a sweet tooth. All are made in Japan and feature unique Japanese materials or ingredients,…
By Weekender Editor
Due to the concerns over the outbreak of Covid-19, Roppongi Art Night 2021 scheduled for September 23–26 has been postponed. The future schedule is undecided at this time. Updates will be announced…
Summer in Tokyo is notoriously hot. Some love going to the beach or mountain, but the art lovers have something else in mind. A scorching summer can’t get you in the cool…
By Anna Maude
Located in a lush valley in Oita Prefecture’s western Sarayama district, Ontayaki Pottery Village moves to a steady rhythm of its own. There’s no mistaking its distinctive sounds — rushing water, a…
By Yeo Kwee Chuan
Protests and online petitions aren’t stopping netizens from contributing to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic conversation. One can always count on Twitter to keep you in the loop. Even if you’ve muted, blocked…
By Lisandra Moor
2020 was the absent year. The year that dreams were cut adrift and individuals, families, communities and companies decimated. Nobody could have foreseen, in late 2019, that the world would have shifted so…
By Paul McInnes
Preamble: Team events for the Olympics officially began on Wednesday July 21 with individual competitions starting three days later. We’ll keep you up to date with all the big sporting stories from the Games with our…
When you think of maid cafés, you probably imagine cute Japanese girls in frilly French maid outfits being gawked at by tourists and cheered on by their loyal otaku clientele. You’re not…
By Alana Juric
No one ever said life was meant to be easy, but some people lead lives straight out of a bad Hallmark movie (or a particularly good episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race.) Whether…
By Lisa Wallin
There’s been lots of negativity surrounding the upcoming Olympics for obvious reasons. Yet one thing the Japanese public can all feel positive about is the appearance of Rikako Ikee at the event. …
Let your mind conjure the image of the stoic sullen craftsman. Furrowed brow, few words, sunk in his world. Kimiaki Kono, a Tokyo shamisen craftsman, takes that image, considers it for a…
By Zoria Petkoska
Great news — you can now get your head in the Olympics game from your couch
There’s an inherent, undeniable link between comedy and horror. One only needs to look at, say, Alfred Hitchcock. The master of terror and suspense had a darkly humorous side exemplified by his iconic…
By Cezary Jan Strusiewicz
