Kazuo Nozaki (left) played a central role in the establishment of the Tsuchinoko Expedition, and Kohei Michishita, executive director of Shimokitayama Tsuchinoko Park, on Nov. 27, 2023.
LIFE / Travel
Jan 19, 2024
Village revisiting craze of phantom creature for local promotion
A snake-like creature that can tell lies, swill sake and jump 2 meters high becomes the best hope for a community suffering from depopulation.
Instead of hoping seats are free and scrambling to find luggage space on the shinkansen, what if you could fly charter across Japan on your next trip instead?
LIFE / Travel
Jan 13, 2024
Can charter flights connect rich tourists with rural Japan?
The tours, which fly to cities in western, central and northern Japan, will be priced from around ¥1.5 million per person for a group of four people staying two nights.
The Sapporo Snow Festival offers outdoor dining, markets, sports, ice sculptures and more across three event sites.
LIFE / Travel
Jan 6, 2024
Asia's winter festivals: Snow, fire and spectacle galore
The ancient city of Nara wards off the wintertime darkness with an unusual tradition: lighting a local mountain on fire.
A field study by elementary school students takes place in the Izawa River basin in Shiso, Hyogo Prefecture.
LIFE / Travel
Dec 24, 2023
Unveiling Shiso, a hidden gem of nature and coexistence
With 90% of its area covered by forest, the Hyogo city boasts picturesque streams and a bounty of access points to refreshing natural spring water.
Shinjuku's Kabukicho is filled with colorful individuals that give the neighborhood its character.
LIFE / Travel / Longform
Dec 22, 2023
Christmastime in Shinjuku Golden Gai
One of Tokyo's most storied watering holes gets a little quiet during the holidays now that it relies quite a bit on tourists.
Blair Masters and Talisker Scott Hunter pose for a photo with their kei truck, nicknamed “KT,” outside Ebisu Circuit in Fukushima Prefecture.
LIFE / Travel / Longform
Nov 6, 2023
The little truck that could: A fresh way to tour Japan's north
Travelers have documented almost every corner of Japan. Perhaps a new kind of adventure would be doing those same journeys by different means.
Nature journaling is a way of connecting to nature by organizing your observations, questions, explanations and discoveries in the pages of a notebook.
LIFE / Travel
Nov 2, 2023
How a notebook and some pens can 'connect yourself to nature'
According to nature journaling instructor Eriko Kobayashi, there are now about 140 such clubs devoted to the calming practice worldwide.

Longform

A statue of "Dragon Ball" character Goku stands outside the offices of Bandai Namco in Tokyo. The figure is now as recognizable as such characters as Mickey Mouse and Spider-Man.
Akira Toriyama's gift to the world