Japan’s masculine pronoun “ore” doesn't have the juice it used to. Instead, men are choosing boku, watashi, and jibun in ...

As Japan's divorce rate goes down, some experts say the country is seeing a rise in couples who stay together even after they ...

One of Tokyo's ritziest hotels found itself in hot water over an art gallery exhibition that featured material sexualizing ...

If you’ve seen one image of Kitano Takeshi, alternatively known by his comedic sobriquet “Beat” Takeshi, it’s likely this one: Takeshi in a white button-up shirt on a beautiful beach, smiling as he ...

Japanese journalist Itō Shiori will release her documentary Black Box Diaries in Japan for the first time on December 12, following controversy over its alleged use of footage without consent. The ...

It was meant to protect women. But is Japan’s new adult video (AV) law actually working? Recent evidence suggests it is – but many in the AV industry say it’s affecting legitimate productions as well.

Long before Mario jumped his first barrel, and a century before Pokémon fit in a pocket, Nintendo was already a household name in Japan. But let’s be clear: their customers weren’t kids, and they ...

Regular readers have seen me take swings at Japanese business culture for its love of antiquated technologies like fax machines and Internet Explorer. And that’s a little unfair. Japan has contributed ...

Whenever I peruse message boards such as Quora[1] or Reddit[2], a common question is asked: “Is Japan racist?” There’s usually a wide range of answers. Some claim it isn’t racism, but xenophobia, as ...

There’s a pervasive myth that the Japanese language lacks swear words. It’s true that Japanese doesn’t have a codified list of socially egregious expletives à la English. However, Japanese, like any ...

Why are Okinawan names difficult for even mainland Japanese speakers? How the languages of the Ryukyu kingdom survived – despite attempts to eradicate them. Video ...

Imagine you’re flipping through channels on a hypothetical Japanese television. The first show you land on is animated; a boy with spikey black hair rides a small cloud across the sky, a young girl in ...