CULTURE
Why There’s an 11-Meter Goddess Inside This Tokyo Department Store
It's impossible to miss: a soaring goddess ensconced inside a paragon of capitalism. What inspired a sculptor to carve this mysterious figure…
history
CULTURE
INSIDER
Urine Nation: Japan’s 150-Years-Long War Against Peeing in Public
During Japan's Edo Era, peeing in the street wasn't a crime, but a contribution to the economy. Here's how Meiji Japan, anxious…
CULTURE
Bar Lupin: Drink Where Japan’s Modern Literary Masters Hung Out
In a Ginza basement, Bar Lupin has poured drinks since 1928 for Dazai Osamu, Ango, and other Japanese literary greats.
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…
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…