Sumie Kaneko, a singer who plays the traditional Japanese instruments koto and shamisen, often performs wearing flashy dresses made of recycled kimonos. The idea of sustainability is deeply rooted in ...

The back of a 1980s colonial-style residence in suburban Boston might sound like an incongruous location for a centuries-old traditional Japanese house, or minka. Nevertheless, in the bedroom ...

The festival began in 2016, when city authorities opened the gates of Arakurayama Sengen Park to host visitors during the cherry blossom season. Home to a pagoda overlooking the town, the park quickly ...

Back in 578, when Buddhism was still new to the Japanese archipelago, three master craftsmen are said to have crossed the sea from the Korean kingdom of Baekje at the behest of the semilegendary ...

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi was on course for a sweeping mandate from voters for her economic policies and tough stance on immigration and China. Javier C. Hernández River Akira Davis Kiuko Notoya ...

Pricing power: Pedestrians cross the street in front of luxury shops at the Ginza shopping district in Tokyo. More than 30% of households expect inflation of approximately 5% to 10%, and a ...

From medieval beginnings, the samurai have inspired art, fiction and films, from Shōgun to Star Wars. But their true story is more complex and surprising than we might realise. The enduring legacy of ...

I've always loved these decorative indentations on book page edges but never knew what they were called. They're gauffered edges - gilt edges decorated by a finisher using heated tools to indent small ...

Miles Wu folded a variant of the Miura-ori pattern that can hold 10,000 times its own weight Ramsha Waseem - Freelance writer Wu’s innovation won the top prize of $25,000 at the 2025 Thermo Fisher ...

As Japan’s Grand Sumo tournament ended last month, the roaring crowd was treated to the time-honoured ritual of a man stepping into the sacred ring to honour the winner. Normally, the prime minister ...