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June 30, 2026
 

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Mai Yoshikawa
Fans hold Japanese flags during the men's figure skating short program at the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea, on Feb. 16, 2018.
OLYMPICS
Feb 3, 2026
From across Europe, Japanese fans rally for the Winter Games
The Olympics feel closer and more personal than ever for some Japanese expats.
A test shot of Shizuka Minami taken by herself
SPORTS / Golf
Jan 13, 2026
In sports photography, a Japanese woman finds her own angle
Sports and festivals may seem like an unlikely pairing, but to Shizuka Minami, the combination makes perfect sense.
Members of the Chunichi Dragons pray at Atsuta Jingu in Nagoya ahead of the start of their season in March.
SPORTS
Jan 1, 2026
Gods and games: Rituals that kick off Japan’s sporting year
From hatsumōde to victory charms, many athletes have rituals that are rooted in the spiritual side of Japanese sport.
Ayuri Shimano is a two-way player for the Giants' women's team.
BASEBALL
Dec 25, 2025
Girls inspired by Shohei Ohtani leading Japan’s next wave of two-way players
Against the odds, players such as Ayuri Shimano and Aika Morimoto are forging a new path for women’s baseball.
Shogi player Kana Fukuma speaks at a news conference about issues with Japan Shogi Association rules governing pregnant women, in Osaka on Dec. 10.
MORE SPORTS
Dec 19, 2025
In Japan, a shogi player opens a debate on motherhood and the ‘game of generals’
Kana Fukuma says new rules governing female shogi players would have forced her to choose between her career and having a second child.
Sports fan Tadashi Yokoyama streams basketball and fencing on three screens.
SPORTS
Nov 13, 2025
Japan fully enters sports streaming era as fans face new dilemmas
Japan, where viewing habits have been slow to change, is now fully in the streaming era, though not everyone is ready to come along for the ride.
Japan Sumo Association Chairman Hakkaku (front center) delivers a speech on the first day of the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament at the Fukuoka Kokusai Center on Sunday. Centuries of belief and tradition still underpin the all-male association's stance of excluding women.
SUMO
Nov 11, 2025
As Japan’s female leader rises, can she cross sumo’s sacred line?
Professional sumo’s ring remains off-limits to women and girls — not by law, but by centuries of belief and tradition.
Judi Oyama at Winchester Skatepark in San Jose, California, in January 1979. The Skateboarding Hall of Fame inductee and Guinness World Record holder still skates and hopes to inspire older women.
SPORTS / Skateboarding
Nov 4, 2025
From 1973 to 2025: A Japanese American skater’s long ride to recognition
At 66, Judi Oyama would be considered a senior citizen by Japan’s official standards, but nothing about her life fits that description.
Team Japan performs during the group 5 Ribbons Final at the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships in Rio de Janeiro on Aug. 24.
MORE SPORTS / Gymnastics
Oct 28, 2025
Tough love or too far? Inside Japan’s rhythmic gymnastics coaching scandal
Reports of harsh tactics behind the scenes of Fairy Japan have prompted urgent questions about the boundaries of coaching and the price of winning in sports.
Yotaro Sato and Tomoka Sato perform during the artistic swimming mixed duet competition at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka on July 16, 2023.
MORE SPORTS / Swimming
Oct 3, 2025
Artistic swimming welcoming more men into pool ahead of LA Olympics
Yotaro Sato used to hide the fact that he’s an artistic swimmer. Now, he’s part of a growing number of men taking up a sport that was long exclusive to women.
Tomokazu Harimoto waits for China's Wang Chuqin to serve during the men's singles final at the WTT Champions Yokohama 2025 tournament on Aug. 11.
MORE SPORTS / Table tennis
Sep 26, 2025
Can Japan crack the China code in table tennis?
Japan has much more work to do if it is to be a proper rival for its neighbor.
Japan's Mebuki Suzuki in action with Uganda's Oscar Chelimo in the men's 10,000 meter final at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on Sept. 14
MORE SPORTS / Athletics
Sep 22, 2025
The Japanese face and body patches that have had the world wondering
Some athletes at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo swear by the products.
Actor and World Athletics special ambassador for the local organizing committee Yuji Oda (front, fifth from right) poses with athletes at Tokyo's National Stadium during an open practice on Sept. 4.
MORE SPORTS / Athletics
Sep 11, 2025
Broadcaster TBS taps Hello Kitty and Yuji Oda in bid to sell World Athletics
TBS has provided televised coverage of the World Athletics Championships since the 1997 event in Athens.
Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
SPORTS / Longform
Sep 8, 2025
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight
Two Japanese athletes reveal how their pursuit of excellence in sports led to eating disorders, and how recovery is reshaping their lives.
Koryo High School players greet their cheering section after beating Hokkaido’s Asahikawa Shiho in the first round of Summer Koshien on Aug. 7. The school withdrew three days later as a bullying scandal enveloped the team.
BASEBALL / FOCUS
Aug 27, 2025
Koshien’s dark summer forces reckoning for high school baseball
A young player’s dream was to play in the National High School Baseball Championship. A series of bullying incidents this year changed all of that.
A catch-all term for tendonitis and arthritis caused by excessive smartphone use, 'sumaho yubi' may be difficult to treat for gadget-crazy Japan.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Aug 22, 2025
Fingers sore from too much phone time? You might have ‘sumaho yubi.’
One doctor says the symptoms of smartphone-induced tendonitis and arthritis are on the rise for those in the 20s, 30s and 40s.
Two boys pose with Pocari Sweat and Aquarius sports drinks in a park near Tokyo.
SPORTS
Aug 19, 2025
The great sports drink debate: What’s best for athletes?
When it comes to the classic debate of Pocari versus Aquari, fans on both sides have strong opinions about which sports drink reigns supreme.
The Japan Boxing Commission's safety protocols have been thrust into the spotlight following the deaths of Shigetoshi Kotari and Hiromasa Urakawa, who suffered fatal brain injuries while fighting on the same card on Aug. 2.
MORE SPORTS / Boxing
Aug 15, 2025
Recent deaths of Japanese boxers underline importance of emergency action plans
Such plans are crucial to minimize delays and increase a fighter’s chances of survival after sustaining a serious injury in the ring.
A Cardinals fan fans himself during the seventh inning of a game against the Pirates in St. Louis, Missouri, in June 2022.
MORE SPORTS
Aug 7, 2025
Cheer with caution: Expert advises sports fans have game plan for extreme heat
The consequences of extreme heat exposure range from dehydration to heatstroke and even death.
Reporters and photographers, including long-time baseball beat writer Keizo Konishi, swarm around Ichiro Suzuki during the World Baseball Classic in San Diego in 2009.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jul 27, 2025
Three decades and a pile of notebooks: The beat writer who chronicled Ichiro’s career
For nearly three decades, this journalist’s job revolved around one man — Ichiro Suzuki. But covering the baseball legend was never boring.
Uruguay federation reportedly cancels charter flight after World Cup exit
Uruguay's Jose Maria Gimenez reacts after the team's loss against Spain at the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Friday.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
India’s gig workers pay the price for exposure to New Delhi’s hazardous air
Rohit Kushwaha waits for a customer as he delivers his last parcel of the day, in New Delhi in January. His work as a delivery driver has helped pay the family’s bills, but has had a significant impact on his health.
Chinese and Russian bombers and fighter jets stage joint patrol near Japan
A Chinese Air Force H-6 bomber is seen during a joint patrol with Russian military aircraft on Saturday.
U.S. missile moves in Japan send China clear message: A new era has arrived
Soldiers conduct the first Typhon midrange capability live-fire exercise outside of the continental United States, firing an SM-6 missile in July last year in Australia's Northern Territory during Exercise Talisman Sabre.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
A French ship with close ties to Japan combines arts and sciences on the high seas
Romain Troublé, the executive director of Tara Ocean Foundation, speaks to visitors aboard the Tara during a rare port call in Tokyo in April.
LGBTQ+ families are building lives Japanese lawmakers still struggle to see
Haru Ono founded Nijiiro Kazoku in 2010 after forming a same-sex stepfamily. She said the impetus for founding the organization was that she couldn’t find much reliable information out there for families such as hers in Japan.
In Kyushu’s far south, Senti.U sparks a culinary destination
Chef Yasuhiko Uchida was born in Saga Prefecture but has made his home in Kanoya, Kagoshima Prefecture, since 2012.
‘The colors speak for themselves’: How Japan’s chroma bible went global
“A Dictionary of Color Combinations” is meant to function as a quick-reference guide for artists, designers and anyone with a passing interest in aesthetics as a quantifiable pursuit.

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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