Women wearing kimonos pose for a souvenir photo with blooming cherry blossoms in Kyoto. Instead of tarpaulins being laid out in the parks of Tokyo in anticipation of the arrival of the first cherry blossoms, crash barriers are being erected with signs warning that the annual revelries are prohibited as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The...
The destroyed city of Natori, Miyagi Prefecture in northern Japan, after the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami For some survivors, the anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami disaster will bring back memories of the sexual abuse they suffered a decade ago. This story is part of a series on women’s issues in China and Asia...
Craft beer, live music and lodging featured in renovation plans that Takuya Shimbo had for an aging Tokyo bathhouse, hoping to rescue a fading industry from extinction by reinventing the concept of communal bathing. Then the novel coronavirus struck. The government deemed Japan’s few remaining bathhouses as critical for public hygiene so it requested they stay open,...
To attract customers, bakeries often try new recipes from around the world. A photo of a scallion bread sold in a bakery in Japan went viral on Facebook, with a caption saying that “Japanese must have misunderstood Taiwanese people.” The photo taken at a bakery in Okinawa shows the bread with chunks of green onions on top...
The rearranged Tokyo Olympics are likely to be a pared-down version of recent editions of the four-yearly Games, Japanese Olympic Committee chairman Yasuhiro Yamashita said on Tuesday. Japan and the International Olympic Committee postponed the Tokyo Games until 2021 in March because of the coronavirus pandemic. Since then, organisers have spoken of trying to simplify the event...
Eating insects has become a thing now in the Western countries. More and more international organizations are encouraging the practice of eating ‘insect meal’ due to their high energy and protein content as well as low production cost. Some companies are even introducing this uncommon food into people's diet by serving it with other dishes...
The convenience store chain launched the dessert on Oct 29. Anyone who has been to Japan would be familiar with the country’s unique convenience store culture — a large part of it attributed to the numerous delicious things you can find in these 24-hour shops. There’s piping hot oden, sushi, gourmet sandwiches, desserts and everything but...
