ICYMI: Harassment by customers has been a growing issue in Japan for years. As companies tackle harassment, the current scene in Japan tells a somber story. According to surveys, it’s not looking good.
It may be under fire in Japan but conveyor belt sushi is still a popular way to grab a quick bite without breaking the bank. Here are the ones that foreign residents ranked as their favorites in a recent survey.
With an annual turnover of ¥170 billion ($1.1 billion), Inaba Foods is a big player in pet food and canned goods. However, their dorms for new hires - which ex-employees describe as falling apart - are so crusty that 90% resigned within weeks of starting this April.
The new short documentary Snack Sakura embraces the retro charm and social ambiguity of Japan's ubiquitous snack bars. Learn more about the history of snack bars in Japan - and how to watch the new doc - in our review below.
Planning a run? One shrine in Tokyo, made famous by a long-running manga, has a protective charm just for you. Plus , you can carb up on pastries while you're there. Learn more about the unique strategies the shrine is using to increase visitors and stay afloat.
Japan Railways East is cracking down on customer harassment. The company says behavior such as physical or verbal attacks & demanding a deep apology bow (土下座, dogeza) are a no-go. They’re also keeping an eye on online abuse & anything that makes their employees feel unsafe.
Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications announced that, as of October 2023, there were 9 million unoccupied homes throughout the country. There are a total of 65.2 million homes in Japan, which means that unoccupied houses represent 13.8% of total homes.
Hanko seals in Japan may one day go obsolete due to digitization. But thanks to tourists buying them as souvenirs, they're more popular than ever. Learn why the traditional signature seals are Japan's hot new omiyage (and where to get one yourself) in our latest.
It’s getting easier to book a reservation online if you don’t speak Japanese. TableCheck, the Toreta app, Omakase, and Tabelog now support English. Tabelog also supports Mandarin, Cantonese, and Korean. Meanwhile, TableCheck supports a whopping 18 languages.
A packed train sucks. That’s why there are rules and customs around how to conduct yourself on a crowded subway in Japan. One of those rules is to take your backpack off your back so you don’t bump into other passengers. But why is that rule falling out of favor now?
In Japan, 30% of employees resign from their first jobs. But at Inaba Foods, they're setting new records for attrition. Why were conditions so bad there that 90% of new employees left within weeks?
Kugyo’s final acts lead us to believe he thought the murder of his uncle, the ruler Minamoto no Sanetomo, would result in his ascension to shogun. Certainly, he had a claim, given his late father’s position. Had someone convinced him this would be possible?
Surprisingly, Ghibli Park is only the 7th most popular destination in Aichi Prefecture. 51.4% of tourists say they’re going to see the famous Nagoya Castle. Other top spots included the Nagoya Station area (50.3%) and the Osu shopping area.
A restaurant in Tokyo had to close temporarily after its owner ranted on social media about a non-Japanese couple who came to the store. Learn why the remarks are so controversial - and how some Japanese restaurants are struggling with the influx of tourists.
Despite putting up signs in multiple languages asking people to follow the rules, infractions – and complaints – haven’t let up. As a result, officials say they’ll set up a vinyl curtain, some 20 meters long and 2.5 meters high, to black out a popular photo spot for Mt. Fuji.
Common wisdom holds that there's a polite way to hold your backpack on a crowded train in Japan. But is common wisdom wrong? Here's why some in Japan argue that the front-facing backpack isn't as polite as it's claimed to be.
Minamoto no Sanetomo’s murder not only brought an end to the line of one of Japan’s great conquerers. It also helped usher in a war between the samurai and the emperor that would cement warrior power in Japan for more than six centuries to come.
In Japan, they say "the customer is god." Lately, more customers are acting like angry, wrathful gods - and one Japanese company says it's had enough. Here's how Japan Railways plans to fight a rising tide of harassment by customers.
One woman from Japan in a three-generation family of eight says this is her family’s third – and maybe last – trip to Hawaii. Instead of economizing to account for the weak yen, she says, “I raised the limit on my credit card.”
A new English translation of Takaoka's Travels by Japanese author Shibusawa Tatsuhiko is a funny, fantastical fever dream. Read our full review below for more.
As Japan's population ages, it's finding itself awash in a glut of unoccupied homes - and a new report says the country just set a record. Learn more about the crisis - and how local governments are trying to address it - in our latest.
Japanese cuisine has a reputation for being healthy. While much of it is, this is also a country that loves itself some fried foods. While most people know about kara-age (fried chicken), fewer know about its delicious cousin: kushikatsu (串カツ) or deep-fried skewers.
A popular Japanese right-wing meme on social media holds that foreigners are bleeding Japan dry. Is that true? A series of articles citing actual data show that the reality for foreigners living in Japan is far different than right-wingers suggest.
A newspaper feature using Pokemon to teach Japanese dialects gained traction on Twitter due to an unexpected double meaning. Twitter users were surprised to learn that “chinchin" means something...different there.
Combini are as ubiquitous throughout Japan as Starbucks in Seattle. How did it get that way? And what do people use them for? Let’s take a look at the scale of Japanese convenience stores and how, exactly, they fit into modern life in Japan.