The latest Japan travel and culture news

FEATURED

Black Dragon Society: Japan’s Secret Imperialist Clique

How the Black Dragon Society of right-wing nationalists and pan-Asianists pushed Japan ever further rightward prior to World War II.

WOMEN

Doc: Women in Japan Can’t Be Trusted with Morning After Pill

Japanese Twitter erupts as a leading doctor in the country says sex education is too "inadequate" to let women obtain levonorgestrel over…

HISTORY

Hosono Masabumi: The Shunned Survivor of the Titanic

How Japan's lone passenger on the Titanic survived - and the ridicule and judgment he faced upon his return.

FEATURED

Sakamoto Ryoma: The Samurai Who Forged a New Japan

Learn about how a low-ranking samurai, Sakamoto Ryoma, helped bring down the Shogunate - and why he lost his life for it.

ENTERTAINMENT

How The Kremlin Saved Kurosawa Akira

Japanese film maestro Akira Kurosawa was at his lowest point - and then the Soviets stepped in.

SOCIETY

Sexual Assault by Trusted Caregivers in Japan Rising

Sexual abuse by teachers and caregivers in Japan appears to be rising. Advocates say one reason is a major systemic flaw in…

RACE IN JAPAN

China, the Japanese Far Right, and COVID-19

As xenophobia ramps up during COVID-19, we take a deep dive into the history of the Japanese image of a dangerous, "anti-Japanese"…

CULTURE

Sukyo Mahikari: Not All Harmony and Light

Founded by an architect of the Nanking Massacre, Sukyo Mahikari bathes its followers in "purifying energy", anti-Semitism, and Japanese nationalism.