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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 ...
Japan’s first hotel with a human washing machine is now ready for you to come and bathe in it
It’s the Future Human Washing Machine…today!Right now, sitting or standing wherever you are as you read this, you might, understandably, think that we’re living in the present. After all, we know about things that have already happened, so we’re not in the past anymore, and if we can’t say with certainty what’s going to happen next, we must still be in the present, right?But in fact, the situation is more complicated than that, and it is my great pleasure to inform you that we are now all
Has China’s don’t-go-to-Japan warning shortened queues at this Ichiran ramen restaurant in Tokyo?
Shinjuku locations present a different side to the story that made international headlines.Last month, tensions flared between Japan and China when the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs told its citizens to avoid travelling to Japan. Two weeks after the travel advisory, prompted by the newly appointed Japanese prime minister suggesting Japan would support Taiwan in the event of an invasion by China, the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo reiterated its nation’s statements, leading many people to b
We check out the new apartment building construction site area that opened in KidZania Tokyo
Kids can learn about the construction and maintenance processes of multi-story residential buildings while earning their own currency.KidZania is a Mexican chain of “edutainment” amusement parks that combine educational experiences with entertainment by allowing kids to role play different professions within a constructed city. Furthermore, they earn kidZos currency for completing jobs, which they can then use to buy goods or services throughout the city. There are currently three lo
Studio Ghibli mixes with sporty street styles of New Era to put No Face on your head in cap series
These Spirited Away characters may not be able to talk, but they’ve still got seven ways to help you make a fashion statement.When Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away received the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2003, you could say it marked a turning point for anime. While the medium had long been popular in Japan and enjoyed support from pockets of enthusiasts outside its home country, Spirited Away’s Oscar win made a tremendous difference in legitimizing Japanese animation as a cinematic
Real-world Koraidon and Miraidon Pokémon are ready for their close-ups【Photos】
We head to the Japan Mobility Show Kansai to take a closer look at the real, ridable Legendary Pokémon.For old-school automotive fans, it can be a little depressing to see how many car shows have new rebranded themselves as “mobility shows.” But as the nature of transportation evolves, event organizers have to keep pace, and there is a silver lining in that not all “mobility” innovations are boring, appliance-like pods designed to shuttle us from Point A to Point B with as little excitement or e
What’s inside the McDonald’s Japan fukubukuro lucky bag for 2026?
Join us as we take a pre-sale sneak peek at what the brand will be serving up for lucky customers at New Year. Every year, brands around the nation release special “fukubukuro” (“lucky bags“) to celebrate the arrival of a new year. Sometimes, big-name brands team up with each other to deliver twice the joy for customers, and that’s what McDonald’s is doing this year, with Japanese home furnishing and lifestyle brand Francfranc adding its signature design aesth