Lifestyle
The waters of Hiroshima: Remembrance and life
It’s August 6, 2023 and the 78th anniversary of the Hiroshima A-bombing is coming to a close. As the sun starts to set, people start to make their way to Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park. Over the next few hours, thousands of paper lanterns will be set afloat in memory of… Read
Swiss paper cutting artist takes the scissors to old ways
Marianne Dubuis stared intently through a magnifying glass, using a slim cutter to make tiny incisions in paper as she carved out delicate tableaux of life and human emotions. The 64-year-old designer is reinventing the Swiss traditional art of paper cutting, which typically shows Alpine landscapes and cows heading to… Read
Lost and laughing: 5 embarrassing stories of tourists in Japan
Nara’s Toshodaiji is an eighth-century temple founded by the Chinese monk Ganjin, one of the greatest influences on Buddhism in Japan. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Toshodaiji is an iconic and historically significant temple. Among its treasures are its golden hall, Ganjin’s preserved living quarters and sacred text, wooden statues over… Read
As summer breezes fade, sweltering Europeans give air conditioning a skeptical embrace
During Europe's heat wave last month, Floriana Peroni’s vintage clothing store had to close for a week. A truck of rented generators blocked her door as they fed power to the central Roman neighborhood hit by a blackout as temperatures surged. The main culprit: air conditioning. The period — in… Read
2025 Osaka World Expo aims to be first in the world to allow dogs, possibly cats too
We’re just a little more than 18 months away from the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo, where wonders of the modern age and possibly Pokemon tour guides await. A lot of details about the massive event are still under wraps, aside from its really weird mascot, but now it’s been revealed that they are planning to allow… Read
Whatever happened to Premium Friday? Japanese government looks set to pull the plug
Things have a way of changing so gradually, it’s sometimes easy to forget how it used to be. Back in the day, we used to all think a guy singing about pineapples, pens, apples, and pineapples was just the greatest thing. It was also a time when an economic policy by… Read
Online romance scams: Research reveals scammers' tactics – and how to defend against them
In the Netflix documentary “The Tinder Swindler,” victims exposed notorious con artist Simon Leviev, who posed as a wealthy diamond mogul on the popular dating app Tinder to deceive and scam numerous women out of millions of dollars. Leviev is a flashy example of a dating scammer, but criminal operations… Read
Standing sleeping pods coming to Tokyo cafe, promise to relieve fatigue and stress
The whole point of stepping into a cafe for a cup of coffee is that it’s more comfortable and relaxing than just grabbing a drink from a vending machine or convenience store. A comfortable seat and laid-back ambiance go a long way towards making that coffee not just a beverage,… Read
Does being in a good mood make you more generous? Researchers say yes and charities should take note
Those ads showing caged dogs and desperate looking cats while Canadian singer Sarah McLachlan's “Angel” played in the background have been not just effective at making viewers sad, but also remarkably successful at raising money for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals since 2007. However, a… Read
Brand-new Pikachu manhole covers coming to Yokohama to celebrate Pokemon World Championships
The eyes of the Pokemon-fan world are about to turn to Yokohama. Starting Tuesday the coastal city, half an hour south of Tokyo, will become the first town in Japan to host the Pokemon World Championships. Fans of the Pokemon video games, card game, and anime will want to keep their eyes out for artistic… Read
