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July 12, 2026
 

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Jessica Speed
“Heated Rivalry” centers on two male hockey players (Hudson Williams, left, and Connor Storrie) on rival teams who fall in love over the course of a decade. 
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Jan 31, 2026
How ‘Heated Rivalry’ fits into the history of Japanese ‘boys’ love’
The Canadian hockey romance series is television’s latest global hit, but its fandom language goes back to 1970s Japan.
A Vietnamese worker picks tomatoes at a farm in Asahi, Chiba Prefecture, in 2018. Vietnamese comprised the largest percentage of foreign workers in Japan in 2025.
JAPAN
Jan 30, 2026
Foreign workers in Japan reach a record 2.57 million in 2025
The total was up 11.7% from a year earlier and comes amid an acute labor shortage in the rapidly aging country.
Government data shows that 1,074 students died last year, including 532 elementary, junior high and high school students — the highest number since 1980.
JAPAN
Jan 29, 2026
Japan’s suicide death toll drops to record low
The overall number fell by 1,223 from the previous year’s confirmed total, marking a third consecutive annual decline.
Travelers at Narita Airport. A new policy package from Japan's government put a spotlight on foreign patients not paying medical fees as a major topic to address, but it may not only be a matter of them dodging the bill.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Jan 29, 2026
Are foreign nationals actually dodging their medical bills in Japan?
When it comes to foreign patients not paying their medical fees, the answer might not be that straightforward.
Defense lawyers of a 1952 murder case seeking a retrial hold signs reading "unjust decision" on Wednesday in the city of Kumamoto.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 28, 2026
Court rejects retrial request for executed man believed to have had leprosy
It was a rare case in which a retrial was sought for a defendant who had already been executed.
Deep snow at Iyahiko Shrine in central Sapporo on Monday
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2026
Heavy snow continues to batter northern Japan
Thousands of travelers have been left stranded by transportation disruptions caused by above-average snowfall.
Former Kadokawa Chairman Tsuguhiko Kadokawa (center) speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Thursday after a court handed him a suspended jail sentence of two years and six months over bribes linked to sponsorship contracts for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 22, 2026
Former Kadokawa chairman given suspended jail sentence over Olympic graft scandal
Tsuguhiko Kadokawa, 82, was found guilty of bribing a former senior official of the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee.
Cartoonist Mitsuru Yaku (center) and other executives of Freelance League of Japan announces their survey to reporters in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 21, 2026
One in 10 Japanese creatives see income fall due to generative AI
Survey respondents cited being asked to accept shorter deadlines and lower fees, or losing commissions altogether.
Shimbashi Station in Tokyo's Minato Ward is crowded with commuters on Friday morning following East Japan Railway's suspension of major train lines.
JAPAN
Jan 16, 2026
Power outage takes major Tokyo train lines offline during morning rush
The suspensions of the Yamanote and Keihin-Tohoku lines affected approximately 673,000 people.
Cedar pollen is expected to start dispersing in northern Kyushu, Shizuoka and southern Kanto in early February, spreading across much of western and eastern Japan by mid-month, Weathernews said Wednesday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jan 15, 2026
Cedar pollen season to start in early February; above-average levels expected
Nationwide pollen volumes are forecast to be 18% higher than last year’s levels and 28% higher than the long-term average.
A weather map shows snow depths in Hokkaido on Tuesday night
JAPAN
Jan 14, 2026
Hundreds of passengers stranded at Hokkaido airport after severe blizzard
Snowfall prompted the cancellation of 126 flights on Tuesday, with inbound and outbound flights having since resumed.
Japan's pilot Hiroshi Suzuki (front) and Hisashi Miyazaki during the two-man bobsled event at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. Japan’s bobsled athletes had been aiming to qualify for the Winter Olympics for the first time since 2014, but a misunderstanding has doomed such hopes.
OLYMPICS / Bobsled
Jan 14, 2026
Planning failure dooms Japan’s Olympic bobsled hopes
Japan’s bobsled federation acknowledged that a misunderstanding by its competition committee had proved fatal to its Olympic hopes.
Police have arrested the 49-year-old operator of a bar in the town of Hidaka, Hokkaido, after a woman’s body was found concealed inside the establishment's wall.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 13, 2026
Man held after body found inside wall of bar he ran in Hokkaido
A woman’s body was concealed inside the wall of the bar for days while the operator continued serving customers, according to local media.
Kimono-clad young men walk on their way to a venue during their Coming of Age Day celebration ceremony in Yokohama on Monday.
JAPAN
Jan 12, 2026
Number of young people in Japan becoming adults drops to second-lowest ever
Some 1.09 million people — 560,000 men and 530,000 women — reached adulthood as of Jan. 1, according to government data.
Cabaret-turned-kissaten 27 Kissa in the Kabukicho nightlife district in Tokyo is a cafe that operates during the day and becomes a bar at night.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 12, 2026
Young coffee shop owners in Tokyo keep the dwindling coffeehouse culture alive
Younger generations in love with the feel of the Showa Era are working to preserve its traditional coffee shops and offer their own take on them.
Makoto Suwa will be the eighth Japanese astronaut to conduct a long-duration stay on the ISS.
JAPAN
Jan 9, 2026
JAXA astronaut Makoto Suwa to join ISS crew in 2027
Suwa, who joined the space agency in 2023, is the eighth Japanese astronaut to be assigned to a long-duration mission.
A helicopter engages in fire suppression efforts as a forest fire spreads on Mount Ogi in Uenohara, Yamanashi Prefecture, on Friday.
JAPAN
Jan 9, 2026
Over 140 residents told to evacuate as crews struggle to contain wildfire in Yamanashi
The wildfire has burned approximately 8 hectares as of Friday morning and had advanced to within 150 meters of the nearest residence.
According to a report released by the National Police Agency, criminal organizations are paying higher prices to acquire bank accounts that are then used to move illicit funds.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 8, 2026
Police move to tighten money-laundering laws
While penalties for selling a bank account include a maximum of one year in prison or a ¥1 million fine, a report from the National Police Agency deemed them insufficient.
The Nuclear Regulation Authority has reported the loss of a work-issued smartphone containing highly sensitive contact information after an employee misplaced the device while traveling in China late last year.
JAPAN
Jan 7, 2026
Nuclear regulator employee loses phone containing sensitive info in China
The device, which has not been recovered, contained the names and contact details of staff in charge of nuclear security, all of which is highly confidential.
Older adults with no remaining teeth had a mortality risk about 1.7 times higher than those with 21 or more teeth, according to Japanese researchers.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jan 5, 2026
Dental hygiene key to predicting mortality, Japanese researchers find
Studies concluded that poor oral health among older adults is closely linked with higher mortality rates and a higher risk of requiring long-term care.
China’s demand for Soviet-style apartments shows limits to revival
Apartments built during a Soviet Union-inspired construction drive in the 1970s and 1980s tend to suffer from poor insulation and outdated plumbing, but they are seeing a revival in interest due to their attractive locations.
Japanese scientists identify neural mechanism that may explain why we dislike people
The aggressive mouse (left) used in the experiment and a mouse defending itself
Japanese payment processor’s collapse hits banks and restaurants
Zentoshin served around 200,000 shops, many of which rely on early payments to maintain cash flow, raising concerns over their financial stability following the disruption.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
Lenders seek $700 million after Japanese payments firm’s collapse
The financial failure of Osaka-based Zentoshin has left 63 creditors with claims totaling ¥115.16 billion, according to Tokyo Shoko Research.
Japan’s largest exhibition of women photographers rights a wrong in cultural history
Miwa Yanagi’s “Elevator Girl House” series skewers the superficiality of gender roles through staged images.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
‘Princess Mononoke’ comes alive in Super Kabuki staging
The “Princess Mononoke” adaptation was created under Shochiku’s Super Kabuki initiative, a modern form of kabuki with more technology in staging and open to pop culture collaborations.
The beating heart inside ‘Human Vapor’
Different forms of love and connection form the emotional backbone of Netflix’s “Human Vapor,” says actor Shun Oguri, who plays troubled detective Kenji Okamoto.
Japan bets on character IP to drive global growth
Born on social media platforms in 2022, Opanchu Usagi has become a major hit, especially among Generation Z.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
By Alex K.T. Martin

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