Deep Dive, a podcast that goes below the surface of Japan

Mount Fuji is shot from above so that you can see the trails leading to its summit.

With the borders fully open, Mount Fuji is all booked up and Fuji Rock is back in full force. Drew Damron and Patrick St. Michel join us on the podcast ...

A man stands atop a float holding a portable shrine at this year’s Sanja Festival in Tokyo.

DEEP DIVE Jul 20, 2023

Why 2023 will be a deciding year for Japan’s iconic summer festivals

by Shaun Mckenna and Alex K.T. Martin

As the population gets older do we risk losing the summer festivals that make Japan unique? Alex K.T. Martin joins Deep Dive to discuss this and other demographic-related woes the ...

The tanks containing water from the disabled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant are almost full.

DEEP DIVE Jul 12, 2023

Japan is about to release 1.3 million tons of Fukushima wastewater. Should we be concerned?

by Shaun Mckenna and Mara Budgen

Environmental journalist Mara Budgen joins the podcast to discuss Japan’s plan to discharge millions of tons of wastewater from the Fukushima No. 1 power plant into the ocean.

The beds in Marina Abramovic's Dream House in Niigata Prefecture look a lot like coffins.

DEEP DIVE Jul 5, 2023

Would you spend the night in a coffin … for art?

by Shaun Mckenna and Thu-Huong Ha

Want to know what it’s like to spend the night in a coffin? Culture critic Thu-Huong Ha joins us to discuss her night in artist Marina Abramovic’s nightmare-inducing Dream House.

People opposing the revision of Japan's immigration control and refugee recognition law march in Tokyo on May 16, 2021. Many held up photos of Ratnayake Liyanage Wishma Sandamali, a Sri Lankan woman who died in March while being held at the Nagoya Regional Immigration Services Bureau in central Japan.

DEEP DIVE Jun 21, 2023

Things just got a bit tougher for asylum-seekers in Japan

by Shaun Mckenna and Gabriele Ninivaggi

Japan passes a controversial new law that changes the rules for which people can apply for asylum in an effort to solve issues like overcrowding at detention centers.

Cars are seen trapped in the mud following flooding and landslides in Saka, Hiroshima Prefecture, in 2018.

DEEP DIVE Jun 14, 2023

How the climate crisis is supercharging Japan’s rainy season

by Shaun Mckenna and Joel Tansey

When you think of natural disasters do you think of guerrilla rainstorms, landslides and heatwaves? You should, since that’s in the forecast for Japan’s climate-crisis-charged rainy seasons.

People take part in the Tokyo Rainbow Pride march on April 23.

DEEP DIVE Jun 7, 2023

Is Japan going to legalize same-sex marriage?

A series of court cases is helping to shape the debate over whether or not Japan will act on legalizing same-sex marriage.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pose for a photo after laying wreaths in front of the Cenotaph for the victims of the Atomic Bomb at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.

DEEP DIVE May 31, 2023

G7 '23: Kishida's pumped from a Zelenskyy bump

by Shaun Mckenna, Kanako Takahara and Gabriel Dominguez

Another year, another G7 summit done and dusted. How did Prime Minister Fumio Kishida do? Well, he’s thinking of an early election if that’s any indication.

The vacuum vessel of the Large Helical Device installed at the National Institute for Fusion Science in Toki, Gifu Prefecture

DEEP DIVE May 24, 2023

Japan's up for fusion — just don’t call it 'nuclear'

by Shaun Mckenna and Chris Russell

The Japanese government sets out guidelines to encourage private sector competition in the field of fusion power. Will a nuclear-wary public get on board?

DEEP DIVE May 17, 2023

Yes, crime is on the rise in Japan. No, you don’t have to panic.

by Shaun Mckenna, Alex K.T. Martin, Tadasu Takahashi and Elizabeth Beattie

The year so far has been marked with several high-profile crime stories and, according to the numbers, crime is on the rise. However, the types of crime we’re seeing are ...