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Pokémon Christmas village event taking place nightly in Yokohama
Bayside park lights up every night with Electric-type Pokémon Christmas tree.We’ve still got a couple weeks until it’s time for Santa to show up, but there are already some very welcome Christmas visitors who’ve arrived in Yokohama, the bayside city half an hour south of Tokyo. That’s because Yokohama’s picturesque Akarenga, also known as the Red Brick Warehouse, is hosting a special Pokémon Christmas village event with adorable decorations and photo spots.Though it’s open daily from 11 a.m. to
“Bear” voted Japan’s Kanji of the Year for 2025 in extremely close race
It bear-ly beat out the second-place kanji.A little while back, after writing my fifth or so article about bear-related news in Japan, I thought to myself, “You know, I bet ‘bear’ is going to win Kanji of the Year this time around.” And even though the increasingly chilly weather and increased hunting activity seem to be slowing the incidents recently, it’s hard to argue against calling 2025 “the year of the bear” in Japan.And sure enough, on 12 December
Kyoto samurai house wants to share its history of seppuku, torture and gold coins with visitors
If these walls could talk, they would probably scream.Nothing brings the story of samurai warriors to life quite like seeing and touching the marks left in wood by their swords in battle. You can almost hear the desperate shouts and feel the wind slicing through the air with the thrusts that must’ve occurred when these marks were made, and one place where you can see them is at the Former Maekawa Residence in Mibu, Kyoto.The Shinsengumi, a police force of elite swordsmen formed in 1863 to
Japan’s Hiepita forehead cooling strips, so popular they changed the language, are disappearing
Sales of the cooling strips are not so hot, but why?In the world of Japanese marketing, there aren’t many product names on the level of Hiepita. Produced by Tokyo-based health and hygiene company Lion Corporation (also a cool name), Hiepita comes from hieru, which means “cool down,” and pita, the Japanese onomatopoeia for sticking something to a flat surface. It’s a cute and concise summary of what Hiepita is: an adhesive strip that you stick to your forehead to bring your body temperature down.
Japanese group to hold fashion show of colostomy bags and other stoma equipment in Paris
Why hide it when you can accessorize it?There are estimates that the global population of ostomates is somewhere around 13 million and growing, and yet there is such a taboo about it in English-speaking countries that a lot of people don’t even know what an ostomate is. Heck, even my spellcheck keeps going off every time I type the word.There is a little more visibility about it in Japan through, and you may see restrooms labeled as suitable for ostomates using either the Japanese word 
U.S.A. now the fastest-growing market for Japan’s high-tech toilets, now selling quicker than ever
Toto’s Washlet is washing more and more backsides in the States, and there are likely two big reasons why the U.S. has started liking them for when it goes number two.“Japan is living in the future” is a statement that’s kind of debatable. Sure, we’ve got such science fiction-y wonders as real-world ridable Pokémon over here and services that’ll 3-D scan your body to turn it into an anime robot figure component, but we’re also kind of at the mercy of bears at the moment, and nostalgia for the si
This hot springs town in Japan sets fire across a mountain every winter in a beautiful tradition
Plus, another traditional festival involves giving a very icy bath to recently wedded grooms.Uonuma, Niigata Prefecture is probably most famous for its koshihikari rice production, but that doesn’t mean that it’s only worth visiting in the warmer months. While we previously compiled some of the best autumn activities to do in Uonuma, let’s build on that list by looking at two unusual festivals that blur the lines between fire and ice when the temperature drops and the snow star
Navigating the Future of Finance: Key Takeaways from Money20/20 Asia 2025
Money20/20 Asia 2025 recently wrapped up in Bangkok, and it really felt like the pulse of global fintech was beating strong ...
Evangelion original anime studio Gainax is now completely dissolved, Eva’s creator mourns ruined friendships
Gainax goes out in a very Gainax-like way.Anime studio Gainax is a great example of how you don’t necessarily have to be prolific in order to be prodigious. Best known for the original Evangelion TV anime and its earlier associated theatrical features, Gainax would sometimes go years between high-profile projects, but with works such as Eva, Royal Space Force/The Wings of Honneamise, Gunbuster, and Gurren Lagann, it’s ratio of landmark hits is enviably high.And yet, all has not been well with Ga
7-Eleven Japan has a hack for creating insanely delicious potato chip rice meals
A new product so good it’ll likely go viral. These days, many visitors to Japan get their information on what to buy at convenience stores through social media accounts, but it always pays to keep your eyes open for other interesting finds while you’re browsing the aisles, because then you can discover new products before they go viral online.▼ Take, for example, this humble product hiding out in the seasonings aisle, overlooked by many foreign tourists.Called “Aventure Meshi&
Gundam and Reebok team up for new GQuuuuuuX Pumps【Photos】
GQuuuuuuX kicks are ready to help you walk around in mobile suit style.Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX isn’t just the newest Gundam anime series, nor is it merely the one with the most unintuitively pronounced title (it’s meant to be said like “G quacks”). It’s also the first creative collaboration between Sunrise, perennial production studio of the Gundam anime franchise, and Studio Khara, founded by Hideaki Anno and best known for the Rebuild of Evangelion movies.Because of that, you could descri
Tokyo event lets you travel back in time, for free, to celebrate 100 years since Showa era start
A fully recreated Showa-style living room, with a modern surprise, awaits retro-seeking visitors.There’s always that time period that people tend to romanticize, or look back upon with nostalgia-tinted glasses, and for most of Japan that period is the Showa era. To mark 100 years since the start of the Showa era, a delightfully retro celebration is being held in the Otemachi Place entertainment complex in Tokyo from December 8 to December 12, 2025, called Otemachi Timeslip 2025: Back to Those No
Japanese woman sues man for 1.5 million yen for violating her “right to chastity”
It really does pay to know your rights.Sadly, it’s not such an uncommon story: You meet someone on a dating app, hit it off, and get into a romantic relationship with them. However, as time goes on, you notice some suspicious behavior, until it’s revealed that your partner had actually been married the whole time and was cheating on their spouse with you.Normally, this would result in a broken heart and a once-bitten-twice-shy attitude, leaving little else to do but pick up the piece
Tokyo considering law requiring more trash cans following litter increase in heavily touristed area
Proponents want cafes, convenience stores, and other takeout shops to take on greater responsibility as foreign tourist numbers and litter amounts grow.For quite some time, the scarcity of trash cans has been among the top complaints from foreign tourists in Japan. Now it looks like they’re going to become much more common in some of the parts of Tokyo most popular with international travelers.On December 10, a proposal was submitted to the assembly of Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward which would legally re
Pocky recall issued in Japan after customers notice off-the-mark taste caused by unintended smells
Pocky maker Glico recalls six million units across 20 different product types.Pocky is one of Japan’s all-time favorite snacks. The chocolate-covered biscuit sticks are loved by sweets fans both young and old, and their ubiquitous presence on store shelves and affordable price means that pretty much everyone in Japan is deeply familiar with what Pocky tastes like, so palates have been puzzled with a recent development.Starting around the middle of October, a large number of Pocky buyers in Japan
What’s at the top of this giant escalator in Japan?
A chance discovery leads to a surprise at the end of the tunnel. Sometimes the best discoveries are made when you stumble upon them unexpectedly. That’s what happened when our reporter Masanuki Sunakoma was driving along the Joshinetsu Expressway in Nagano Prefecture the other day and a huge escalator suddenly caught his eye. Wondering where it might lead, his curiosity grew as large as the escalator as he gradually approached it, prompting him to pull in and park at the Sakudaira Parking
Sanrio theme park in Japan announces plans to expand into a Sanrio resort
Japanese prefecture that already has a Hello Kitty airport is getting ready for even more Sanrio cuteness.In April, Japan’s Oita Airport renamed itself to Oita Hello Kitty Airport. This wasn’t just a silly tongue-in-cheek gesture, like when Kagawa Prefecture named a Pokémon as its new governor. The facility now really is officially called Oita Hello Kitty Airport, and it’s decked out in all sorts of Sanrio character decorations.The original plan was for this arrangement to last for half a year,
Dagashiya Ahiru Shop is a hidden gem for Japanese snacks lovers
Mysterious warehouse is a secret destination that’s yet to be discovered by overseas tourists. The rise of social media continues to funnel overseas visitors to the same tourist sites time and time again, but locals tend to have different places on their travel itineraries. One such hidden gem is a warehouse in Shirai City, in Tokyo’s neighbouring prefecture of Chiba, where you’ll find the “Dagashiya Ahiru Shop“, which specialises in an all-time Japanese favourite –
Once you hear this lady sing “Yooooooghurppe”, you may never stop hearing it
Sorry, I can’t hear you over this dairy girl in my head.You can never underestimate the power of a good jingle. To this day, “Byyyyy Mennen♫” still pops into my head, and I don’t even remember what the hell Mennen does. I think they make razor blades or something.It’s something Japanese companies are certainly aware of. Most television commercials end with a very punchy one-or-two-bar melody called a sound logo, that’s often just singing the brand name and/or
TNL Mediagene Co-Hosts the 2025 Generative AI Conference, Expands Presence in AI Ecosystem in Asia
NEW YORK and TOKYO, May 29, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- TNL Mediagene (Nasdaq: TNMG) (the "Company"), a Tokyo-based next-generation digital media and data group in Asia, co-hosted the 2025 Generative AI ...