Amy Chavez came to Japan in 1993 and, four years later, met her best friend. From there, things were a roller coaster.

Smaller towns in Japan aren't having to deal with the pandemic directly, but its effects are still being felt on lifestyles as festivals opt to cancel celebrations.

Right now I am in voluntary self-quarantine after returning from overseas. When I flew into Kansai International Airport from the island of Bali on March 23, Indonesia wasn’t on the list of countries with known coronavirus infections, and local authorities had not yet asked ...

We're all trying to do our best to help the environment, but some efforts may take more than just buying something with the word "eco" attached to it.

The people living on Shiraishi Island are already recycling, composting and reusing their plastic bags. How do we convince them to take the next step in environmental awareness?

One new year tradition that has managed to stick around is making mochi, just make sure to watch your hands while you do it.

Attracting international tourists used to be the goal. Events and trends over the past decade, however, have caused a small island to rethink their tourism strategy.

It seems like a good idea, move to the country and focus on Japanese. And it works, it just depends on what kind of Japanese you want to learn.

When I first came to Japan, I was stunned by the beauty of the Seto Inland Sea. Its thousands of peaked islands look as if they'd dropped straight from the sky and settled like gum drops on the water. Stretching 450 kilometers from Osaka ...

In 1185, Japan's Taira (Heike) and Minamoto (Genpei) clans played out the final battle of the Genpei War, the result of which would have a profound effect on Japan ushering in its first shogun with Kamakura as the shogunate. In the latter part of the ...