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Fumio Kishida this week won the race to be the new Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leader, defeating public favorite Taro Kono. He will now formally be voted in as prime minister in…
By Matthew Hernon
The triennial election to choose the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) takes place next Wednesday. The winner of the LDP leadership election will then be formally named as prime minister…
In this week’s news roundup, we report on the two ballistic missiles North Korea fired into Japan’s exclusive economic zone. There’s also the latest on the upcoming LDP leadership election as Shigeru Ishiba pulls…
You’ve probably seen a lot of extraterrestrial content coming out of the US, but what about UFOs in Japan? We’ll get to that, but first, let’s talk about the shift from conspiracy…
By David McElhinney
Musician and actor Gackt will be going on a hiatus for an indefinite period. The 48-year-old singer has dysphonia (vocal disorder) and has been told by doctors it would be impossible to…
British comedian, writer and actor BJ Fox will be familiar to many in the international community for his work with the Stand-Up Tokyo comedy collective, but now Fox is teaming up with…
By Louise George Kittaka
On August 19, the world said goodbye to Shinichi Chiba, Sonny Chiba, Sadaho Maeda and Rindo Wachinaga. Of course, we are talking about the same person, just one who used various names…
By Cezary Jan Strusiewicz
In a shock announcement on Friday, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said he wouldn’t be running in the upcoming LDP election, effectively ending his term as the country’s leader. The 72-year-old Akita Prefecture-native…
“Close your legs” or “sit like a lady” were phrases I often heard as a child. Back then, I didn’t identify myself with terms like “lady” (I hated it, actually) and I…
By Jes Kalled
“Sometimes I’m Penelope. Sometimes Pedro!” But always she is Pepe: towering, red-headed, award-winning make-up artist, working freelance during the day and reigning over Shinjuku Ni-chome at night. Her portfolio ranges from high…
By Kat Joplin
The Tokyo Paralympics kicked off on Tuesday with an opening ceremony that was colorful and at times moving. “Paralympians you gave your all to be here,” said IPC President Andrew Parsons. “Blood, sweat and…
How do you capture the essence of a nation’s culture? And how do you then “summarize” that culture? Coinciding with this year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Agency for Cultural Affairs and…
By Taylor Stewart
If Japan’s Olympic critics were looking for a smoking gun, they may well have found one: it goes by the name of “Lambda.” Brought in by an Olympic official and covered up,…
The closing ceremony of the Olympics took place a couple of weeks ago, but Tokyo 2020 isn’t over yet. Next up are the Paralympic Games, which will be held from August 24…
By Paula Chiarino
One coronavirus case was all it needed for the New Zealand government to put the country into a nationwide lockdown. In Japan, things are a little different. Despite infections soaring, it’s a case…
Was Tokyo 2020 a success? This is not a rhetorical question; there is no straightforward answer. Much like the debate over whether the Games should have gone ahead, the question of success…
From a sporting perspective, the Tokyo 2020 Olympics proved a huge success for Japan. The country finished third in the table, winning a record 27 gold medals, just one fewer than they…
In the final week of the Games Japan added another 10 golds to finish with 27 in total. That’s 11 more than they managed at their previous best competitions in 1964 and…
