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Essay
A Japanese mother on the challenges her family faces after returning to Fukushima - and on how the area is still struggling to recover
How did a condition once thought to be non-existent in Japan become the country's "national illness"? Blame the government, says Krys Suzuki.
In 1978, the Toei Company rushed a Star Wars knock-off into theaters. It nearly blew up on the launchpad. Here's why (and why you should watch it anyway).
In 1888, "the Mount Fuji of the North" erupted so fiercely that it remade the local landscape. The incredible story of how Meiji Japan suffered - and recovered - from the worst volcanic disaster in modern Japanese history.
How a casual tweet promoting an author's new book about Japan blew up into a discussion of Western privilege and Orientalism.
What drove one of Japan's most acclaimed authors to raise a personal militia, and take a high-ranking general hostage in an attempted nationalist coup d'état?
A youth who found excitement only in books, Mishima Yukio became a brilliant author who challenged his country's sexual mores - until the day his life became stranger than fiction.
How did Japan's "parade of demons" get its start? Learn about the history behind the creatures who haunt some of Japan's most popular games and anime.
How did a theatrical troupe with profoundly sexist and homophobic origins end up challenging gender stereotypes instead?