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Japan may be super famous for anime, ninja, and ramen, but it’s also a profoundly spiritual and religious country. In fact, its relationship to Buddhism dates back centuries. Of all the shrines and religious sites to visit, look no further than the Magaibutsu in Oita Prefecture on the island of Kyushu!

Japanese romance movies and TV shows often focus on realistic emotions rather than exaggerated drama or fantasy. Instead of fast-moving plots, these stories usually develop slowly and emphasize everyday experiences that feel familiar to viewers.

It’s January 2026, and the year of the horse has begun. In the Chinese Zodiac, the horse is the seventh of twelve signs.. For a particularly wily and rascally horse in Kawasaki, it meant that it was high time to hightail it out of Meiji University on the morning of Monday, the 5th.

Mars has long stood as one of the most enduring and popular destinations for speculative science fiction. In December last year, NHK released a new live-action drama set on Mars. Queen of Mars takes viewers to the red planet, mixing political tension, alien mystery, and sweeping adventure. What is Queen of Mars? In the distant...

The VTuber, or Virtual YouTuber, has exploded from a niche Japanese internet trend into a global entertainment powerhouse. These digital avatars, often with big anime-style eyes and colorful outfits, stream live content, chat with fans, play games. Some of them even perform concerts while a real person controls their movements in real time. What began...

In Japan, there is an annual event in which the public votes on a kanji character to represent the year. Held at the end of the year, the event is meant to showcase Japan’s overall state, for better or worse. The kanji can summarize an event, mark a change in economic health, or celebrate a...