Starting November 1, Japan's new tax-free shopping system will require international visitors to pay consumption tax at the time of purchase and claim refunds upon clearing customs or after leaving the country.
The warming of relations between Beijing and Moscow is becoming a diplomatic nightmare for Tokyo as the two powers collaborate to weaponize historical memory against Japan, warns China watcher Kawashima Shin.
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Miyazaki Hayao’s Animism: The Historical Theories That Shaped “Princess Mononoke”
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The Magazine Culture that Nurtured Shōjo Manga
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Sacred Ground: Anime’s Nagano Heartland
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Nara’s Three-Faced Ashura: The Resolute, Sorrowful Gazes of a Kōfukuji Masterpiece
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Sagrada Familia Sculptor Sotoo Etsurō—A Half Century in the Service of Gaudí’s Open-Ended Masterpiece
Despite administrative efforts to cut overtime, a recent survey finds that unreduced workloads mean most schoolteachers in Japan continue to put in long shifts.
Bottled water topped a ranking of the sources Japanese people mainly use for drinking water, with convenience as the most popular reason for doing so.
The director Miyazaki Hayao and other leading anime creators have a surprising number of connections to Nagano in central Japan. The prefecture’s Suwa region, steeped in prehistoric Jōmon culture, is home to one of Japan’s oldest Shintō shrines.
The scenery rolls by outside, and the sushi rolls by inside. A new gourmet sightseeing bus has hit the streets of Tokyo, taking passengers through some of the city’s best-known sites while they are treated to all-you-can-eat sushi.
Fukushima’s akabeko is a favorite souvenir from the Aizu region in the prefecture’s west. A look at the history and ongoing popularity of this adorable, bobbleheaded crimson cow.
Today Japanese cuisine is popular all around the world. But at its heart lie many ingredients that are much less well-known. This series explores some of the items underpinning the dishes that diners love. (Banner photo © Pixta)
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Buddhist statues in Japan have a history going back to the early seventh century CE, when Buddhism was brought to the country from the Asian continent. The methods and motifs of the artform underwent several shifts in early centuries before the sculptor Jōchō brought it to a peak of native Japanese refinement in the late Heian period. Buddhist sculpture continued to evolve thereafter, notably in the hands of the Kamakura period master Unkei. In this series, a specialist in Buddhist studies and art sets forth the details that will deepen observers’ understanding of these religious art masterpieces, accompanied by photographs by Muda Tomohiro.
(Photo: Close-up of a bronze image of a standing bodhisattva in the collection of the Tokyo National Museum. © Muda Tomohiro.)
PHOTOS
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Sumō Gone Global: Japan’s Traditional Sport in an International Age
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Rice-Planting Festivals: Folk Traditions Centering on the Rice Paddy Deity
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Miyazaki Hayao’s Animism: The Historical Theories That Shaped “Princess Mononoke”
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J-Horror Rises Again: Unraveling the Heart of Fear, Japan Style
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Japan’s Top Events in Autumn 2026
