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#japanese-culture

12 articles Reset

Japan

Food9 min

Kissaten: inside Japan's retro coffee house culture

The kissaten, Japan's café before the chains: its legal origin, jazz kissa, naporitan, cream soda, morning service and the unlikely revival of a genre declared dead.

August 4, 2026Read

Japan

Arts12 min

The vermilion of the torii: why Asian temples are these colours

Red that repels evil and protects wood, the gold of the Buddha, the five colours of dancheong: what the colours of Japanese, Chinese and Korean shrines actually say.

July 22, 2026Read

Japan

Traditions13 min

Hanakotoba: The Secret Language of Flowers in Japan

Funereal camellia, graveyard lycoris, fleeting cherry blossom: in Japan every flower carries a coded message you had best read before offering a bouquet.

July 20, 2026Read

Japan

Business & Tech10 min

Nintendo: from hanafuda cards to global video games

The story of Nintendo, from the hanafuda card workshop founded in Kyoto in 1889 to the Famicom, Wii and Switch consoles. A century of pivots.

July 17, 2026Read

Japan

Pop Culture9 min

Doujinshi: the amateur manga that shaped Japan

Doujinshi (同人誌), self-published manga made by circles of enthusiasts, fuels Comiket and launched CLAMP and Type-Moon. Inside a counter-economy of drawing.

July 13, 2026Read

Japan

Culture15 min

The Cat in Japan: Maneki-neko, Bakeneko and Cat Islands

From the lucky maneki-neko to feline yōkai bakeneko, from cat islands to cat cafés: a journey through a Japan that both worships and fears the cat.

July 8, 2026Read

Japan

Culture10 min

Cosplay: From American Sci-Fi to Japanese Pop Culture Phenomenon

From 1930s American science fiction conventions to a multi-billion dollar global phenomenon, the complete history of cosplay, its Japanese transformation, major events, and worldwide cultural impact.

June 21, 2026Read

Japan

Culture9 min

Boys Over Flowers: How a Japanese Manga Became a Korean and Global Phenomenon

From Hana Yori Dango to Boys Over Flowers, a look back at the history of a franchise that crossed borders, languages, and screens, from shojo manga to the most widely exported K-drama of the 21st century.

June 19, 2026Read

Japan

Society12 min

Gachapon: Japan's Capsule Toy Culture

The history and culture of gachapon, Japan's capsule-toy machines. Onomatopoeic origins, Bandai, Kaiyōdō, Fuchiko, and an industry worth hundreds of billions of yen.

May 10, 2026Read

Japan

Society15 min

Japanese Toilets: Technology and the Culture of Hygiene

From TOTO's washlet to futuristic public restrooms, Japanese toilets embody a cultural obsession with comfort, cleanliness, and innovation.

April 22, 2026Read

Japan

Society10 min

Sanrio and Hello Kitty: The Global Empire of Japanese Kawaii

From silk to Hello Kitty through Kuromi, Cinnamoroll and My Melody, the history of Sanrio, the Japanese company that invented the economy of kawaii.

March 6, 2026Read

Japan

Arts10 min

Gunpla: The Culture of Gundam Model Kits in Japan

From Bandai's first 1980 boxes to today's Real Grades, a deep dive into Gunpla, the Japanese hobby where assembling a Gundam becomes a meditative art.

February 28, 2026Read