FOOD
I Ate Edo-style Sushi for Less than $10 at a Japanese Train Station
Want to eat sushi like they ate it during the time of the shogun? A shop in Shinjuku Station is offering this…
history
FOOD
TRAVEL
Kimono Rental Shops in Japan: What’s Real, What’s Fake, & How Not to Get Swindled
Learn about the different types of kimono styles and how to tell serious, traditional shops apart from the TikTok trends.
JAPANESE LANGUAGE
The “Dead” Slang Words a Japanese Dictionary Officially Killed
In English, words are rarely deleted from dictionaries. So why in 2021 did a Japanese dictionary publisher give 1,100 words the boot?
HISTORY
Suzuki Masa: The Samurai’s Daughter Who Helped Found Modern Japanese Nursing
NHK's 2026 morning drama Kaze, Kaoru modeled one of its heroines on a woman most people in Japan have never heard of:…
HISTORY
Kikuya: The Cast-Out Dancer Who Invented the Geisha
The Tatsumi Geisha were the first female geisha of Japan. And they owe their existence to a woman driven out of her…
TRAVEL
Hanabi Taikai: A Traveler’s Guide to Japan’s Summer Fireworks Festivals
Japanese summer is impossible to imagine without hanabi taikai, the riverbank fireworks displays that pack millions onto seawalls every July and August.…
FOOD
Nekomanma: The “Ill-Mannered” Japanese Food That Used to be a Commonfolk Staple
Is pouring miso soup onto rice bad manners? It is in modern Japan. But this "cat food" was a commoner staple for…
TRAVEL
More Than Matcha: A Guide to Uji, a Kyoto Travel Gem
Discover temples, tea culture, and hidden history just outside Kyoto.