business

FOOD

The Japanese Rice Cooker: A History of Trials and Errors

Learn what led to the development of the Japanese rice cooker and how it found a home in just about every Japanese…

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

Hikidashi-ya: The Shady Business Disguised As Hikikomori Rehabilitation Centers

Hikidashi-ya are self-proclaimed hikikomori “rehabilitation facilities” that claim to be able to treat social withdrawal in children and adults as well as…

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

The Company NEET: Japan’s Employee Who’s Hardly Working

Not everyone is working hard in Japan. Meet the company NEET, a new species of employee who's flying under the radar.

ENTERTAINMENT

Want Better Localization? Blame Corporate Greed

The entertainment industry’s unwillingness to pay skilled language professionals to produce high-quality localizations is a matter of choice.

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

Time to Pay Up: Campaign Puts Japan’s Uniqlo on Blast

UJ talks with the organizer of a campaign that seeks to make Uniqlo pay back wages to Indonesian workers whom they say…

FEATURED

Coffee in Japan: A Short, Tasty History

Did you know canned coffee is a Japanese invention? Learn how coffee went from foreign luxury to everyday staple in Japan.

LIVING IN JAPAN

In Praise of the Japanese Toilet Seat

When is a toilet not just a toilet? We have the straight poop on Japan's mighty contributions to the art of elimination.

TRAVEL

Japan to Finally Relax Some Border Restrictions

After a year and a half of almost no movement, Japan's strict border control is finally being relaxed for business, trainee, and…