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June 30, 2026
 

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Thu-Huong Ha
Thu-Huong Ha was the culture critic at The Japan Times, focusing on contemporary art and fiction. Previously she was a reporter for Quartz, an editor for TED.com and an executive producer of TEDxNewYork.
If the “Mona Lisa” functions as a cultural pilgrimage site, Mount Fuji may be Japan’s closest equivalent — an iconic image that millions travel to see for themselves.
CULTURE / Art
Jun 24, 2026
What is the ‘Mona Lisa’ of Japan?
From Hokusai to Kusama, searching for the country’s ultimate artwork
A sprawling retrospective on Moriyama, a giant of Japanese street photography, is on view at the Kyoto City Kyocera Museum of Art, as part of annual international photo festival Kyotographie.
CULTURE / Art
Apr 23, 2026
Kyotographie’s Daido Moriyama retrospective resonates in an age of endless images
A dense, sprawling retrospective at the annual photo festival reflects Daido Moriyama’s lifelong question: What does a photo do?
Japan was the first country in the world to adopt 3G, but this month, it cuts off access to the obsolete wireless network for good.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Mar 28, 2026
With the end of 3G, Japan’s beloved flip phones go dark
More than 500,000 users and their retro phones will lose access to the network from March 31.
Outside, at the western entrance of Edo-Tokyo Museum, one of the spaces redesigned under architect Shohei Shigematsu, is an installation of torii gate-inspired structures.
CULTURE / Art
Mar 27, 2026
What’s new (and what’s not) at the reopened Edo-Tokyo Museum
After four years, the extensive history museum reopens with new large-scale models, digital screens and some finer tune-ups.
In “Sisters in Yellow,” Mieko Kawakami brings to life a group of exuberant young hustlers in the underbelly of 1990s Tokyo.
CULTURE / Books
Mar 17, 2026
‘Sisters in Yellow’ is a wild ride through Tokyo’s underworld
Mieko Kawakami’s noir-y novel follows a group of powerless young women working in Tokyo’s 1990s nightlife.
Writer Kanako Nishi was born in Tehran and grew up partially in Cairo and Osaka.
CULTURE / Books
Mar 14, 2026
Author Kanako Nishi is ready for anything — even the world
The beloved writer is finally getting her due as “Sakura,” her bestselling debut novel, comes out in English 20 years after its original release.
At the new Tenshoku Sodan Bar, owner Shota Umemoto (right) and recruiting staff from Yokohama-based LIA Group serve up cocktails and career advice in equal measure.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Feb 11, 2026
Inside Yokohama’s ‘quit your job’ bar, where drinks and advice are free
Owner Shota Umemoto says he was surprised by the viral response to his new bar aimed at making discussions around changing jobs more casual.
“Alfredo Jaar: You and Me and the Others,” features works by the Chilean artist over the span of his 50-year career. “Tomorrow is another day” is a new commission about U.S.-Japan relations.
CULTURE / Art
Jan 25, 2026
Artist Alfredo Jaar turns his critical eye toward Japan’s relationship to ‘America’
“You and Me and the Others” is a new exhibition at Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery devoted to the works of the New York-based Chilean artist and architect.
From left: Naoki Prize winner Teru Shimazu and Akutagawa Prize winners Ushio Hatakeyama and Makoto Toriyama pose for a photo at a press conference in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on Jan. 14.
CULTURE / Books
Jan 14, 2026
Time and history win big at most prestigious Japanese book awards
The Akutagawa Prize and the Naoki Prize in January 2026 were awarded to Makoto Toriyama, Ushio Hatakeyama and Teru Shimazu.
The 2025 Aichi Triennale took place in several locations, including a former bathhouse where Rui Sasaki's “Unforgettable Residues” was exhibited.
CULTURE / Art / 2025 IN REVIEW
Dec 29, 2025
A year of plenty: Endless art shows, subtle curation of themes
Japan’s art scene was bursting with public enthusiasm, overflowing exhibition halls and more art festivals vying for attention.
“Dai Pinchi Zukan 3” is part of a series of illustrated kids' books; all three books have been immensely popular, selling a cumulative 2.7 million copies in four years.
CULTURE / Books / 2025 IN REVIEW
Dec 21, 2025
Life lessons from bestselling kids’ book about making mistakes
The top-selling book of 2025, “Dai Pinchi Zukan 3,” is a children’s book about a cloddish kid forever falling into mishaps or “big pinches.”
Like clockwork, the Year of the Fire Horse has depressed birth rates in Japan due to a stigma associated with girls born in the year.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 20, 2025
Will Japan’s ‘fire horse’ curse strike again in 2026?
In 1966, the stigma related to the Chinese sexagenary cycle caused birth rates to plummet.
Crowded with links, icons and graphics, Japan’s major web portals deliver information at full volume, echoing an online culture that favors abundance over empty space.
LIFE / Style & Design / Longform
Dec 15, 2025
Why Japan’s internet looks weird — unless you live here
A closer look at Japan’s maximalist web design shows how cultural values and practical needs create an online world richer than it appears.
“Rental Family,” directed and co-written by the single-named Hikari, follows out-of-work actor Phillip (Brendan Fraser), who is hired as the “token white guy” at a Tokyo agency called Rental Family.
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Nov 19, 2025
Why we can’t get enough of the sham of the rental family
The new “Rental Family” film starring Brendan Fraser revisits an irresistible controversy and suggests that while rental family members are fake, they address a real loneliness.
The byzantine process for converting a foreign driver’s license into a Japanese one entails mountains of paperwork and significant stamina — unless you're a lucky license holder from a country or region where these requirements are waived.
COMMUNITY / Issues / Longform
Oct 22, 2025
Driving in Japan isn’t hard. Getting the license is.
From the desperate and defeated to the blissful and breezy, readers share their experiences of getting a driver’s license in Japan.
Ari Bayuaji's artwork of the benevolent Bali god Barong is on display in a glass case on the ground floor of Hollywood Beauty Plaza.
CULTURE / Art
Oct 2, 2025
Artist Ari Bayuaji materializes monsters from ocean plastic
From his series “Weaving the Ocean,” the demon Rangda is on display at Go for Kogei 2025, while the more benevolent Barong sits in a glass case in Roppongi.
“Archipelago of the Sun” by Yoko Tawada is part of a trilogy billed as a dystopian future under threat of climate crisis.
CULTURE / Books
Sep 24, 2025
Yoko Tawada’s wandering trilogy concludes search for the ‘land of sushi’
In “Archipelago of the Sun,” the merry band of polyglot friends board a boat crossing the Baltic Sea, still vaguely in search of a disappeared Japan.
“Between Currents and Bloom,” an eye-popping crocheted seascape by Indonesian artist Mulyana, dazzles with Instagram-ready cuteness while recalling a vibrant ocean now threatened by warming seas.
CULTURE / Art
Sep 22, 2025
Aichi Triennale’s message to the art world: Free Palestine
At Aichi Triennale 2025, Hoor Al Qasimi, the festival’s first foreign artistic director, takes a stand in support of Palestine.
Otherwise common sights in Japan's supermarkets, the country's fruit and veggie boxes can hide surprising symbols of local pride.
LIFE / Style & Design
Sep 19, 2025
Behold the glory of Japan’s fruit boxes
Watermelon mountains and onion parades: The everyday cardboard containers for fruits and veggies are a designer’s delight.
Shuji Nakagawa created a teahouse using the same technique for making traditional wooden buckets.
CULTURE / Art
Sep 19, 2025
A bucket becomes a house in the hands of craftsman Shuji Nakagawa
At Go for Kogei 2025, a third-generation woodworker envisions new forms for a humble vessel.
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.

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