In 2008 the news that cause a stir in Japan was mostly bad. The worldwide economic struggle hit Japan hard and the country dealt with food scandals, political resignations, earthquakes and murder in 2008.  The highlights of the year came with a good performance by the Japanese team at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing [...]

Great photos of a crowded rush hour commute on Tokyo’s trains from Tony McNicol, one of the contributors to the Japan Photo Gallery here at The Nihon Sun.
Big brother is watching from Tokyo’s Billboards – a whole new way to capture demographic information for advertisers.
Yoko Ono recently visited Japan and Alfie Goodrich of Japanorama got [...]

The 2008 kanji character of the year in Japan is hen (pictured on the right) – ‘change’ in English.  The announcement was made my by Seihan Mori, chief monk at Kiyomizu temple in the ancient capital of Kyoto (via Yahoo! News).  Japan Probe presents a  video of the announcement (in Japanese) and shares the runner [...]

If you are planning a trip to Tokyo for the holidays take note:  Tsukuji Fish Market will ban spectators at the morning auctions from December 15th to January 17th.
Oscar winning animator, Hayao Miyazaki, of “Ponyo On the Cliff by the Sea” fame, spoke at a rare press conference in Tokyo at the Foreign Correspondent’s Club [...]

Mitsubishi, the world’s biggest tuna trader, imports the bulk of bluefin tuna caught in the Mediterranean to Japan. As stocks of this staple of the sushi platter become scarcer some groups believe that there is a need to impose a partial moratorium on bluefin tuna fishing and to drastically reduce catch quotas.
Is Harajuku in [...]

Do you aspire to be B-grade gourmet?  B-grade gourmet is “food that is inexpensive but delicious and distinctive to a locality” and is what you eat with friends and family.  The B-1 Grand Prix was held in Kurume, Japan and featured 24 of Japan’s best-loved dishes competing for the holy grail of B-grade cuisine.  [...]

Autumn in Japan is fast giving way to winter.  To go naked in autumn, you’ve gotta have yu, a recent article in The Japan Times, talks about the Japanese propensity for being cold and their love of yu (hot water) and nabe (hot pot).  For those studying the Japanese language, the article offers the added [...]