Pritzker laureate Riken Yamamoto calls Tokyo's Hills-style mega-developments, Azabudai Hills chief among them, a "colony for the rich." A look at the towers, the neighborhoods they replace, and how other cities have handled the same pressure.
Japan's anime market has reached a record $25 billion globally. While aggressive M&A deals by Sony, KADOKAWA, and others have fueled explosive overseas growth, questions remain about low animator wages, creative risk-taking, and whether the industry's real creators are seeing any of the profits. A deep dive into the boom's winners and losers.
At its first global showcase, Amazon Prime Video announced worldwide exclusives on three Japanese anime titles: a 40th-anniversary Fist of the North Star reboot, a new Ghost in the Shell TV series, and a fantasy sequel. What the deals say about Japanese IP in the streaming era.
At the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, all six moguls medalists used ID one skis made by Material Sports, a five-employee company in Osaka, Japan. It was the second straight Olympics in which Japanese-made skis took every moguls medal, and ID one swept the new dual moguls podium as well.
JR Central has pushed completion of three Tsukui and Fujino tunnel sections on the Chuo Shinkansen maglev line to 2031, after the rock proved more fragile than expected. A look at what the world's first superconducting maglev is up against, with costs now at ¥11 trillion.
Up to 90% of farmed oysters have died in parts of Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan's largest oyster-producing region responsible for 60% of national output. Rising water temperatures, high salinity, and oxygen depletion in the Seto Inland Sea have caused unprecedented damage to a 450-year-old aquaculture tradition. We report on the causes, impact, and what comes next.
Dentsu Group posted a record net loss of 327.6 billion yen ($2.1 billion) for FY2025 after massive goodwill write-downs on failed overseas acquisitions. CEO steps down, dividends cut to zero. What went wrong with Japan's biggest ad agency's global ambitions?
As cocoa prices hit record highs, Japan embraces innovative alternatives — from sunflower seed "chocolate" to soy meat. Discover how rising food costs are reshaping Japanese food culture, driving innovation, and changing consumer habits just in time for Valentine's Day.
Japanese space startup SpaceOne launched its third KAIROS small rocket on March 5, 2026 after repeated delays, but flight was aborted about 68.8 seconds after liftoff, a third straight failure following Flights 1 and 2. Learn what the company changed, what went wrong this time, and where its "space delivery service" dream stands now.
Japan's cat-driven economy "Nekonomics" has reached approximately $19 billion in 2026, rivaling the Osaka World Expo. Explore the booming cat cafés, cat islands, feline health tech startups, and the unique cultural forces powering Japan's extraordinary cat business ecosystem.
Japan's largest mobile payment service PayPay has formed a strategic partnership with Visa to enter the US market. With 72 million users and roughly 70% of Japan's QR code payment market share, PayPay plans to launch a dual-mode digital wallet supporting both NFC and QR code payments, starting in California. Here's how Japan and the world are reacting.