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japanese culture

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Sport

Train gang

The Kodokan Judo Institute offers accommodation, learning and a new way of looking at the world.

  • Issue #168
  • 2 min read
Large group of judo practitioners in white gis with red belts positioned across green and orange tatami mats in dojo
Hospitality

Growing strong

Minagarten, a green retail and residential development, offers locals and visitors everything from delicious pastries to calligraphy workshops.

  • Issue #165
  • 8 min read
Six people in aprons standing together outside glass greenhouse-style building at Minagarten development
Craft

Making the cut

We join movie directors, curators and yakuza, who all drop in on the young blade keeping alive a centuries-old Japanese craft.

  • Issue #164
  • 4 min read
Sotaro Matsumura working with precision at his whetstone, wearing traditional indigo samue robes in his cedar workshop
Travel and restaurants

Hidden gems

The small Japanese town of Yame, and its surrounding countryside, is pulling in visitors with its new inn and craft heritage.

  • Issue #161
  • 10 min read
Traditional Japanese room with tatami floors, exposed wooden beams, paper lantern, low table and built-in shelving
Retail

Paper win

Expert gift wrapper Sayaka Takagi applies a precise finishing touch.

  • Issue #159
  • 1 min read
Sayaka Takagi smiling behind a counter with wrapped gifts at Itoya's Ginza store
Music

The Opener

Airlines making middle seats enticing, battling peacocks and poorly disguised Russian spies. Plus: photographer Steven Klein and festive chart hits from across the globe.

  • Issue #159
  • 8 min read
Red Rhätische Bahn train crossing stone viaduct through autumn forest in Swiss mountains
Hospitality

Small wonder

Roka, an intimate ryokan, is now welcoming art lovers on the island of Naoshima. It offers exquisite interiors, fine food and soothing open-air baths in each of its 11 rooms.

  • Issue #154
  • 6 min read
Roka owner Shintaro Sasaki performing tea ceremony in traditional Japanese interior with wood beams and tatami
Culture

Comic timing

France has an august tradition of homegrown comic-book heroes but its rising stars now are Japanese.

  • Issue #153
  • 11 min read
Comic timing
Affairs

Comment

Want to live long and prosper? We visit the nation’s top city for longevity.

  • Issue #150
  • 4 min read
Illustration of an elderly person with long hair walking with a cane
Travel and restaurants

Time to get going

While many were grounded, the travel industry has been gently gearing up. Here are some new developments that you might have missed. We start our tour at a citrus-strewn island hotel in Japan.

  • Issue #146
  • 11 min read
Time to get going

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