A Ukrainian soldier scored Japanese snacks and cup noodles out of 10. His zine was reprinted in at least seven times the quantity expected. Who sent the box, and what instant noodles already meant in Ukraine.
A wild fox dropped a mole at a home in Yonago, Japan, and walked away. It has visited about seven times. Japan's internet thought of a school folktale; a mole researcher has a more practical theory.
Sony cancelled Physint in June and Xbox picked it up in September. English-language forums blamed Sony. Japanese forums argued about deadlines, budgets, and where they would even be able to play it.
JR East opened public voting on three successors to the Suica penguin, and about 58% of Japanese posts turned negative. What they object to, why the 2018 Takanawa Gateway vote poisoned the well, and why it may not last.
The Apothecary Diaries is getting a live-action drama starring Mana Ashida, on Prime Video from 2028. Japanese social media flipped from dread to approval within an hour, but one uncast role still has fans nervous.
Saint Seiya creator Masami Kurumada sued his ex-manager on September 2, 2026, over 4.686 billion yen (about $29.3 million) allegedly embezzled. A trusted editor walled him off for 25 years, his lawyers say.
Shingo, a village of 1,919 in northern Japan, has had a tomb of Jesus since 1935, declared by a promoter of a forged chronicle. Almost nobody there believes it, yet the Shinto rite hit its 62nd edition in 2026.
Japan's Children and Families Agency asked 100,000 young people about marriage. 35.1% of unmarried respondents said they have no intention of marrying, but only 53.1% of that group said they do not want to.
After reports that Rakuten would help Helsing sell its HX-2 drone to Japan's Defense Ministry, three shops left Rakuten Ichiba. Strike drone or interceptor, and how far does a seller answer for the mall's other business?
ONE PIECE FILM BAAD opens in 2029, and so far it is four handwritten letters and nothing else. Japanese fans have landed on 5 readings; overseas forums reached for Arabic and Urdu dictionaries instead.
A high-kick photo under a torii split Japan, and shrine officials said Shinto has no rules to break. A country of 123 million reports 175 million adherents, yet only 26 percent claim a faith.
Japan's trade ministry is reportedly winding down the Cool Japan Fund and its 54 billion yen in losses. Hours later it published a strategy targeting 20 trillion yen in content exports by 2033.
Chiikawa the Movie took 8.07 billion yen in 20 days. A random figurine, then a Bonbon Drop sticker: how Japan's moviegoer-gift system built the repeat viewing behind that number, and where the film opens next.
Purupuru Maker, a free browser tool that wobbles only the parts of an image you paint, has gone viral in Japan and abroad. Meet the solo developer behind it and Japan's culture of gloriously pointless web toys.
A nine-story mosque near Tokyo's Okachimachi Station became a national flashpoint after one post on X. But it's a rebuild of a facility that has served the area since 2008. A calm look at the jewelry district's history of coexistence and Japan's distance from Islam.
A hard drive on a concrete pillar in a Tokyo canal, rumored to hold trillions of yen in Bitcoin, was finally identified as an enterprise HGST drive. Then, a day after going viral, someone took it. The math, the law, and the vanishing act.
Corn and mayonnaise on pizza, bread and salad is everyday food in Japan but baffles the world. A look at Hokkaido's corn history and what makes Japanese mayo so different.
X JAPAN has released never-before-seen 1989 Hibiya footage of Kurenai and X. Here's why fans treasure this exact show — from the famous +YOUR VOICE live single to the original TAIJI-era lineup.
Warabi mochi is a Japanese sweet famous for its jiggly, melt-in-your-mouth texture. We dig into its surprising origin (it is not made from rice), its thousand-year history, the rise of matcha warabi mochi, and why it keeps going viral on TikTok.
In a new Billboard JAPAN interview, sailor-uniformed quartet ATARASHII GAKKO! reflect on entering their 11th year. We unpack their 'hamidashi' philosophy, how they perform for crowds who don't speak Japanese, and the 12-year bond between four members, from their 88rising debut to Coachella and beyond.