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Car-floating sheets selling well to cope with increasing flood risk in Japan
If you can’t beat them, float on them. As in many corners of the globe, Japan has been putting up with an increasing number of previously rare weather-related natural disasters. One of the more...
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“Lineup” begins for iPhone18 in Tokyo
It’s more of a pointup than a lineup though. On 16 September, our veteran reporter Mr. Sato was strolling through Tokyo’s Omotesando neighborhood. It was a rather wet and miserable day, as many this...
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OC Japan Fair returns to California packed with all kinds of Japanese culture
Tuna dismantling? You bet! Every year, a weekend celebration of almost all things Japanese takes place in Orange County, California, and this year it’s coming back bigger than ever. From 16 to 18...
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Tokyo to repaint streets over rule that makes it impossible for cars to pass...
Some rules are meant to be broken. A few months back, Japan made some sweeping changes to bicycle laws, introducing the notorious “blue tickets” for infractions such as riding too fast on a sidewalk,...
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Making the latest social media snack sensation in Japan, Dot Butter
High in both cuteness and calories. The advent of the Internet enabled sharing of strange ways to eat food to a degree never before seen in human history. Whether it’s putting pudding in ramen, eating...
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Okinawa man convinced he won 700 million yen by scammers, saved by...
To serve and protect. Convenience store workers really don’t get enough credit. Often working for minimum wage, they have a wide array of duties, including sales, banking, postal services, and...
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Go to hell! …at a limited time historical art exhibit coming to Osaka
It’ll be a hell of a good time. The concept of hell has existed in Japan for a long time, but it’s a much more nebulous one compared to the clear-cut fire-and-brimstone version of Western countries....
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Movie about Shinzo Abe assassination reportedly in the works
Too soon? In 2022, former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who at the time had retired and was a Member of Parliament, was shot on the street while campaigning for a fellow party member in Nara City and...
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Elderly couple donates 400 million yen to erect Myaku-Myaku statue in Osaka
Multi-million-dollar Myaku-Myaku donation. It’s been nearly a year since the closing of the 2025 World Expo in Osaka, but its official mascot, the gooey humanoid Myaku-Myaku has managed to secure a...
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One Piece Day 2026 brings new art, music, and new cast announcements
Two days, One Piece. Another One Piece Day has come and finally hoisted anchor to set sail until next year. But this year’s two-day event continued to deliver in bringing entertainment and news to...
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Turn octopus, spaghetti, and more of your favorite foods into crackers with...
You haven’t truly eaten a food until you’ve made it into a cracker. Who doesn’t love a good cracker? They’re dry, portable, can be customized with a vast range of toppings, or be used as toppings...
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Time-lapse footage shows just how fast rebuilding in Kumamoto can go
All in a day’s work. Whenever major natural disasters hit Japan, I’m always amazed by the engineering feats that were set up in various places to minimize casualties and damage. It’s hard to feel a...
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Police ask Kumamoto residents to not get blackout drunk as much during...
Hard times and hard drinking don’t mix. Of course, there’s never a good time to experience a 7.1 magnitude earthquake, but late July and early August is a particularly bad season for it. The addition...
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One Piece Day returns to Tokyo Big Sight and worldwide on Youtube 22 and 23...
A day so nice they made it twice. It’s beginning to look a lot like One Piece Day, everywhere you go. But it’s at Tokyo Big Sight to see the pirates that will be arriving aaaaaashore… Sorry, I just...
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Over 400 titles of free translated manga from publisher Shueisha available...
It’s their birthday, but we’re getting the presents! Shueisha is the publisher behind many of manga’s top titles, from One Piece and Naruto to Chainsaw Man and Demon Slayer. It’s also celebrating its...
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Japan’s Super Volunteer, 86-year-old Haruo Obata, heads to the Kumamoto...
Your friendly neighborhood Super Volunteer. On 28 July, a 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck Kumamoto Prefecture, just outside of Kumamoto City. Having taken years to recover from a set of comparable...
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Koei Tecmo continues to be an investment firm that also happens to make video...
I’ve yet to see Berkshire Hathaway’s psychological horror game. I’ve long been a fan of games by Koei Tecmo, whether it’s their individual classics like Koei’s Dynasty Warriors or Tecmo’s Ninja...
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Okayama man arrested for catching butterflies in central Japan
It’s becoming a regular Gotham City out there. Things just aren’t the way they used to be in Japan. It wasn’t too long ago that it used to be safe for a butterfly to flutter by down the street without...
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Japanese government okays plan to create a backup capital city
Always good to have a spare lying around. Capital cities are essential parts of all countries, serving as the center of government, hubs of economic activity, and symbols of the national identity....
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61-year-old Kyoto man arrested for playing guitar and radio too loudly for...
Those darn sexagenarians with their loud rock music. A lot of people have music in their hearts, and that’s great, because the rest of us can’t hear it deep inside there without some sort of EKG...
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