Voice actor Takahiro Fujiwara, known for roles in My Hero Academia and Kingdom, died on May 14 at age 43.

McDonald's serves up regional Japanese dishes with a fast food twist.

Japan's Mister Donut brings back its softest donuts ever with the return of Mocchurin!

Move aside egg sando, there's a new convenience store sandwich in town.

Things aren't looking good for Japan's izakaya dining scene.

Happening bars exist behind double-door systems. You use an intercom to enter the foyer, then someone inside unlocks the bar door. At least one bar adds a third locked door before the playrooms.

Japan's music market is 3-4x larger than South Korea's. Yet Japanese-language tracks rank 5th globally versus SK's 4th. Why is J-pop losing the soft power war? We dive into the tangle of anti-scalping laws, fraud fears, and "oshi doping" that keeps foreign fans out.

The Japanese government's naphtha numbers are real, but they're measuring the wrong thing. The issue isn't supply generally; it's how instability in the naphtha market is disrupting the pigment production chain.

In 2005, 96.8% of young single men in Japan owned a TV. By 2025, that number had dropped to 58%. A 2023 LINE survey found that computer ownership had already surpassed TV ownership among those under 30.

This is a good time to mention that we're so glad for our following here on Bluesky, and also grateful that Bluesky doesn't suppress links. Bsky represents a whopping 48% of our website traffic from social media. We're all writers & you guys make it possible for us to keep writing like it's 1999.

Japan may soon fit stalkers with GPS ankle monitoring devices that would alert their victims when the offender draws near. The proposed amendment to the Stalker Regulation Act follows the heinous murder of a woman at a Pokémon Center in Tokyo earlier this year.

A new smartphone-location data analysis reveals how lopsided Japan's tourism really is: just seven of Japan's 47 prefectures contain 72 of its top 100 inbound-tourist hotspots. 25 prefectures don't appear at all. How Japan's responding - and how you can help - below.

Finally got around to unboxing the art commission that @keizama.bsky.social sent out last week. Not only did Kei put in a lot of work into this beautiful piece, they also went above and beyond in protecting the piece during shipping. I can’t thank you enough; I look forward to bringing it home to HI

when bsky doesn’t like my posts

It was through Yuji Ohno’s music in Lupin III that made love jazz music. His style is instantly recognizable and I would argue in the same league as John Williams, Hans Zimmer and Shunsuke Kikuchi. Rest in peace, Ohno-san, and thank you for nearly six decades of music catalog. You’ll be missed.

Japanese potato chips to get black-and-white packaging because of war in Iran.

Mayor in Japan calls out the "ridiculous" attitude of out-of-season hikers on Mt. Fuji.

At Honolulu Airport to catch a flight back to Japan, but first, a quick stopover to the Sakura Lounge, one of the perks of flying business on JAL.

You can give all your love to another even when loving yourself seems impossible. That doesn't lessen your heart's truth. But starting to care for yourself doubles the love —you give more to them, and beautifully back to you. Your soul is worthy of gentleness. Nurture it. You're enough🏳️‍⚧️🌈

Pizza Hut Japan knows that "Pizza or curry?" is too painful a decision to make, so they're letting us choose "Both."

Local guide shares 3 hidden gems for a cheap lunch in Shinjuku.

Japan Gov’t: “We need to teach foreigners how to properly sort garbage.” Local Residents: “But wouldn’t that money be better off used on real issues, like the rising cost of food and gas, or addressing mental health?” Japan Gov’t: 👇

Not what I had in mind when my significant other said the wanted to “spoon.”

That’s a significant price increase.

If you stand at the border of two Tokyo wards and listen to the dueling 5pm theme songs at the same time your head explodes SCANNERS-style

Japan's Tourism Agency cited Biei in Hokkaido as another early case of dual pricing. Visitors pay a ¥500 parking fee at the popular Blue Pond, while Biei residents are exempt.

I have removed my previous post because I fear that doxxing this POS will result in my account being suspended, and I can’t afford to have this account suspended after my accounts on other platforms got hit, albeit unrelated to the doxxing (it’s far more ridiculous).

I’m so sorry you’re constantly subjected to this kind of behavior. No woman, let alone any person, should ever have to deal with creeps like this. Even though there are creeps everywhere, there will always be more good people than creeps that will come to your defense.

Did Dane Cook switch faces and hair with Robert Wuhl?

This is grotesquely disrespectful of the dead children.

For my almost-47 years of life, I wanted the UFO files released. But now…I’m just tired. So tired.

People living in rural parts of the country live shorter lives, on average, than their urban counterparts, largely due to heart disease. That disparity grew during the pandemic.

Guns are the number one cause of death for Americans age 1 to 19 while suicide by guns continue to rise annually…but sure, let’s send guns via USPS. What’s next, explosives? While they’re at it, maybe Temper TanTrump will reanimate the corpse of Ted Kazinsky & make him the next Postmaster General.

What in the actual hell?

A ballsy new product is coming to gacha machines around Japan.

Local Okinawans grow up learning the dangers of rip currents. Foreign tourists often don't know what they are - one factor in why tourists now make up over half of the prefecture's water accidents.

Doai Station in Gunma Prefecture is called "Japan's number 1 mole station." Its south platform sits 70 meters underground, reached by 462 steps that take around 10 minutes to climb. At the top, a sign reads お疲れ様 ("good job," or "you made it").

"Two or three people are being arrested every day." Touts and scouts in Kabukicho tell Japanese tabloid FRIDAY they're in the middle of a quiet crackdown. Will it actually clean up the neighborhood? Or just change who profits?

ICYMI: Libraries worldwide are struggling as people read fewer books. One library in Kanazawa has figured it out: the Ishikawa Prefectural Library won an iF Design Award, drew more visitors last year than people who live in the entire prefecture. unseen-japan.com/ishikawa-pre...

You will be visited by three spirits

Six months ago, the federal government indicted me, my friend Andre, and four others for protesting ICE. Our trial is this month and we are facing up to $250k in legal debt. Please help us win our case and protect all of our rights by donating to our legal defense: tinyurl.com/katandre

US navy came under missile fire after US attack on Iranian oil tanker, Iran state media says reut.rs/48IB6hK

All my life, I’ve had to do things solo, even if I’m part of a team. Not because I’m bad at my job; often because I’m too good. And when one person threatens the status quo of a bad system, they’re often thrown to the wolves.

It’s so easy for everyone at work to blame me if something goes missing as I’m the only courier at the company. When you are a party of one, it is easy to be made a scapegoat. “A bad system will beat a good person every time.” — W. Edwards Deming

I’ve been with the same company for the past 20 years now, 12 of which in my current position. I really wish people would get off my back and stop lecturing me on how to do my job, especially if they have no experience as a courier. I sure as hell don’t lecture my coworkers how to do theirs.

Here’s a couple of pro tips: 1. If you’re gonna make accusations against me, better have receipts. I’ve got mine; how about you? 2. If you’re in need of time sensitive materials and I’m on leave and you can’t wait for me to return to work to deliver it to you, PICK IT UP YOUR DAMN SELF!

This one manager at work who has a habit of making accusations against me without providing context to my supervisor did it again, but completely skipped the chain of command and went straight to the big boss. I didn’t enjoy that talk at all. I so want to get out of this shithole job.