- Unseen Japan

Japanese Idol TV Competition Ends With No Results

Fans of idol competition Seven Colors tuned in this week to find out if their oshi made the cut. Here's why everyone ended up disappointed.

Is That Japanese Town a “Chou” or a “Machi”?

The character 町 - pronounced either "chou" or "machi" - is common in Japanese town and neighborhood names. But how do you tell if a given town is a "chou" or a "machi"?

GACKT: Japan Should Return to Isolationism, Maybe

Singer-songwriter GACKT appears to have the solution for overtourism: return the country to isolationism.

Popular Japanese Politician Tamaki Yuichirō Attends Porn Law Symposium

A number of political party representatives - including popular Democratic Party for the People (DPFP) leader Tamaki Yuichirō - attended a symposium this week aimed at changing the so-called "new Adult Video Law."

Leafy Lift: Thieves in Japan Steal Thousands of Cabbages

Somehow, someone managed to steal 1,200 cabbages out from under the nose of a farmer in Japan's Ibaraki Prefecture. Cabbage theft has apparently become a popular crime in Ibaraki as prices have risen by 3.6x in a year, making them a valuable target.

As Japan Tourism Booms, Domestic Business Travelers Settle for Crappy Hotels

With tourists continuing to stream into Japan, the cost of hotels - even those geared towards domestic travelers - is skyrocketing. That's forcing business travelers, who are assigned fixed budgets, to settle for capsule hotels - or worse.

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