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In a city as electrifying and overwhelming as Japan’s neon-hued capital, the new JW Marriott Tokyo serves as a perfect refuge from the crowds and clutter of city life. The luxury hotel brand’s first outpost in Tokyo only opened in autumn 2025, but its faultlessly helpful staff seem to have already accrued a generation’s worth of Japanese hospitality.

Situated on the topmost floors of the new Takanawa Gateway development in the city’s southern Minato ward, the elegant hotel offers guests an atmosphere of calm and comfort, if only they can first tear themselves away from the view.

Why stay here?

The first thing you notice (and indeed, will never fail to notice) are the floor-to-ceiling windows and the glittering, metropolitan panorama that stretches out below. Our southwest-facing room also rather generously provided a view towards Mount Fuji 60 miles away, all the more impressive when silhouetted against the blushing sunset. It’s breathtaking, restorative stuff.

Designed by interior gurus Yabu Pushelberg, the hotel’s 200 rooms are an authentically Japanese blend of contemporary design and Zen aesthetics, in pleasant contrast to the urban flurry beyond its walls. Natural tones and textures prevail, with panelled walls adding clean lines in charcoal and pale oak, and a glossy slab of olive green in the form of a window-length chaise longue from which to savour the view. The glass-fronted bathroom is a more showy affair, clad in honeyed marble with a walk-in waterfall shower, standalone bathtub and toiletries from UK wellness brand Aromatherapy Associates.

Also of note is the considerable size of the hotel’s rooms, with the standard ‘Deluxe King’ occupying an ample 460 sq ft, which seems positively palatial when compared to the dinky hotel rooms that are typical across much of Japan.

Elsewhere there’s a bright and well-furnished fitness centre, and a 25-metre indoor swimming pool and whirlpool with enticingly high-ceilinged views across the skyline towards Tokyo Tower. Underlining the hotel’s focus on wellness and mindfulness, there is a spa lounge with holistic treatments available including massages and therapy baths, and a relaxation space that brings to mind the sci-fi ambience of a futuristic starship.

While the hotel benefits from its proximity to Haneda Airport (25 minutes by rail) and Shinagawa Station (a bullet train hub), it’s worth noting the surrounding neighbourhood is primarily a business district with relatively few attractions beyond Takanawa Gateway’s boutiques and the modest Sengaku-ji temple. In a city as decentralised and as well-served by rail as Tokyo, however, this shouldn’t come as any kind of discouragement.

Eating and drinking

The JW Marriott Tokyo offers three on-site restaurants staffed by a coterie of Michelin-starred chefs, including Sefino and Saki, the former specialising in Mediterranean cuisine and the latter an intimate Japanese kappo experience. We dined at Kakō, a handsomely appointed space lined with wabi-sabi vases and another superb view, this time overlooking Tokyo Bay.

For dinner we enjoyed an eight-course tasting menu of traditional Japanese cuisine with an emphasis on seasonal fare, all impeccably presented. Dishes included tuna and sea bream sashimi, snow crab, and an intriguing pufferfish steamed custard that was perhaps a little too unusual for our palates. The star course was a rich fillet of grilled yellowtail fish, zhuzhed with a citrussy hit of kumquat and ginger.

Drinks range from wine to shochu, with a particular focus on sake, but after dinner the hotel’s JW Bar is everything you want from a nightcap in Tokyo: a chic lounge, sparkling city lights, and a glass of something feisty (the sakura-infused cocktail, in our case).

At breakfast, we opted for soufflé pancakes and croissants doused in honey and vanilla cream, but there is also a Japanese bento option as well as buffet items and various arrangements of pillowy eggs.

Things to do

If retail therapy is the kind of self-care you have in mind, Tokyo won’t disappoint. The ritzy Roppongi Hills complex houses a staggering array of luxury brand stores with a strong focus on fashion, alongside a modern art museum and smattering of clipped, green spaces. If you work up an appetite, indulge in afternoon tea at the much-loved French brasserie The Moon on the 52nd floor.

When you’re ready for some respite from the busy streets, Tokyo has no shortage of museums and galleries for you to enjoy a little culture at your own pace. The splendid Nezu Museum houses a collection of Asian art and antiquities ranging from paintings to samurai swords, with a traditional tea room and beautiful grounds to explore, too. Also nearby is the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, another excellent space with a rolling programme where recent exhibitions have included overviews of 1960s Japan and legendary photojournalist Robert Capa.

Less celebrated for its green spaces than Kyoto, Tokyo still has an impressive number of parks that are well worth visiting, many attached to venerable temples and shrines. Shinjuku Gyoen is a rambling blend of European and Japanese formal gardens that becomes a focal point of the cherry blossom season in late March. The densely forested grounds of Meiji Jingu Gyoen feel a touch wilder, ideal for a morning stroll, and give way to neighbouring Yoyogi Park, frequented on Sunday afternoons by troupes of denim-clad rockabilly dancers.

The verdict

The JW Marriott Tokyo confidently blends understated style with a sense of Japanese refinement, and the result is a tranquil, enchanting space in the beating heart of one of the world’s most intoxicating cities.

Stephen was a guest at JW Marriott Tokyo; marriott.com

A viral video of a young girl being pushed over as she poses for a photo in the street has sparked consternation about safety in Japan’s public spaces.

The clip, posted last week by a Taiwanese social media user, was filmed in February at Tokyo’s famous Shibuya crossing. Like others around her, the girl pauses to smile for the camera and someone in a mask “strides up from behind” and “shoves the girl, who falls to the ground”, said the South China Morning Post. “This was no accidental clash of shoulders in a crowded place,” said The Guardian. It was “one of the most visible examples” of butsukari otoko – literally “bumping men” – incidents in Japan.

‘Reflection of modern society’

The butsukari otoko phenomenon “entered the Japanese public consciousness in 2018”, said The Guardian, after a video went viral of a man “deliberately barging” into women at the busy Shinjuku railway station. Other incidents were reported at Tokyo’s Tamachi station; one woman was hit so hard, she “suffered broken ribs”. Last year, a 59-year-old professor in Fukuoka was arrested on suspicion of assault, for allegedly striking pedestrians with his bag as he walked past.

The term refers to men who deliberately collide with others (mostly women) in crowded public spaces like stations and crossings. But “it’s not just men doing the bumping”; at Shibuya crossing, it was a woman, and other social media clips show men and women alike “purposely striding” through public spaces “in readiness to administer a shoulder barge to unsuspecting victims”.

It is a “reflection of modern society”, said Kiryu Masayuki, a specialist in criminal psychology at Toyo University, last year. “Old-fashioned ideas” about gender roles and male superiority “are still deeply rooted” in Japanese society. And “in today’s world, where the job market is tough and people are uncertain about the future”, bumping into women is a “low-risk way” to vent frustration.

Intimidation, aggression

“Japan remains incredibly safe, but the clip highlighted a real pattern of harassment that people here have observed for years,” said Japan Today. Butsukari otoko is “typically about intimidation or aggression”. Commentators also cite factors like “a desire for control, displaced anger, stress or the anonymity of dense crowds”, exacerbated by Japan’s tourism boom. Bollards and designated pedestrian lanes have been introduced to “better separate commuter traffic”.

There are no official figures because shoving attacks are not counted separately in Japan’s crime statistics. “Considering how fast it happens and how easy it is to brush off as an accident, it goes largely under-reported.” But, in a 2024 survey of nearly 22,000 people by IT consultancy MediaSeek, 14% said they had been the victim of butsukari otoko, and 6% said they had witnessed it. Of course, “crowds of people in a hurry make it easy to dismiss a forceful collision as part of the rush-hour chaos” and that’s what makes the phenomenon “so frustrating: the perpetrator keeps walking, no one intervenes and the victim is left wondering whether they are imagining the intent”.

The trend has begun to spread from Japan to other large world cities like New York and London. It’s “commonly associated with misogynistic subcultures and self-identifying incels”, said Glamour. “I’m struck by what this trend exposes: a deeper, systemic discomfort with women taking up space,” clinical psychologist Arianna Masotti told the magazine. “It’s about reminding women, in a visceral way, that their bodies don’t belong in public.”

The Tokyo High Court has upheld a decision to dissolve the Unification Church, a controversial religious organisation linked with the assassination of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe. Tetsuya Yamagami, the convicted murderer who was sentenced to life in prison, cited Abe’s affiliation to the church as his primary motivation for the killing.

The church used “coercive tactics to solicit large donations” from its members, said The Japan Times. A lower court ruled last year it had “committed acts in violation of laws and regulations”, which were “significantly harming the public welfare”.

Forced compensation

There has been “intense societal focus on the rulings” due to the “scope of harm” the organisation has caused across the country. Under the Religious Corporations Act, the church will be forced to compensate those affected – around 1,500 people – with “damage fees totalling approximately ¥20.4 billion” (£97 million).

The church will also lose its title as a religious organisation, so it can continue only as a “voluntary organisation” and as such will lose tax benefits. Even if the church appeals the decision to the Supreme Court, the liquidation process can proceed immediately.

The Unification Church is a South Korean movement that has “exerted significant influence in Japan since the 1960s”, said The New Yorker. It was founded by Sun Myung Moon and followers are referred to as Moonies. They promote a “theological mix of Christian Messianism, Cold War anti-Communism, pro-natalism, and self-adulation”. Around the same time, Moon “befriended” Shinzo Abe’s grandfather, Nobusuke Kishi, “a war criminal who later served as prime minister” and head of the Liberal Democrats, Abe’s future party.

The church “boasted of having millions of members around the world”, ranging from “Brazil to Nigeria”; however, “this number was likely inflated”. By the 1990s, there were about 600,000 Unificationists in Japan, “twice as many as in Korea”, and today the organisation still has around 60,000 followers in Japan. As recently as 2017, the church’s annual fundraising goal in Japan was an “astounding” $200 million, according to a former official, though the church denies this.

‘Exploiting fears’

It was the “shock assassination” of Abe in 2022 that put the Unification Church under global scrutiny, said the BBC. Yamagami, who has appealed his sentence, “had held a grudge against the prime minister” because of his closeness to the organisation, “which had bankrupted his family”.

Investigators found that the church “coerced” followers into “buying expensive items” by “exploiting fears about their spiritual well-being”, and also revealed “close ties with many conservative lawmakers”.

Abe had appeared in a 2021 video expressing his “respect” for the church’s leader and wife of Moon, Han Hak-ja, said Nippon.com. The following year Abe was killed by Yamagami, who harboured a “deep-seated resentment” of the religious organisation, stemming from the “financial duress his family suffered” at its hands.

The “political connections” the church had “are just the tip of the iceberg” as many other issues “remain unresolved three and a half years after” Abe’s murder. “So much suffering could have been avoided had those in power in both Japan and South Korea not waited to act against the UC.”

To combat the “universal threat” of “cults” like the Unification Church, Japan should “draw on foreign legal frameworks like France’s anti-cult laws”. This is an “ongoing human rights crisis that can no longer be ignored”.

War remains an endemic human tragedy, and movies have long been one of the best ways to demonstrate its horrors to those who have never experienced it. With great power tensions rising in the real world, there has never been a better time for audiences to watch these films — if only to remind themselves of why peace is preferable to conflict.

‘Black Hawk Down’ (2001)

With the U.S.-led 1992-1993 intervention in Somalia struggling to relieve the country’s famine due to state failure, Major General Garrison (Sam Shepard) greenlights an operation to capture the warlord Mohamed Aidid in Mogadishu using U.S. Army Rangers dropped from helicopters. The operation goes awry when one of the Black Hawk helicopters is brought down and its crew, including Durant (Ron Eldard), killed or besieged. With journalist Mark Bowden’s book as the “guarantor of a horrendous authenticity,” director Ridley Scott’s film uses “immense technical skill and spectacular photography” to produce a gripping war film that has nevertheless justifiably taken criticism for its context-free depiction of Somalia’s plight, said Philip Strick at Sight and Sound. (Prime Video)

‘Letters From Iwo Jima’ (2006)

Famously conservative icon Clint Eastwood seems like an unlikely choice to make a subtitled film that takes the Japanese view of one of World War II’s closing battles seriously. But that’s exactly what happens in his magnificent “Letters From Iwo Jima,” which depicts the early 1945 American invasion of the strategic island and its airfields, which are about 750 miles from mainland Japan.

Ken Watanabe is General Kuribayashi, who is tasked with defending the island from the impending American assault, and Kazunari Ninomiya plays Saigo, a soldier digging trenches on the beach until Kuribayashi shifts strategy and orders the construction of a network of tunnels and fortifications inland.

The film grapples movingly with how commanders and soldiers understood their predicament, including an unforgettable scene in which a number of soldiers commit suicide. Eastwood’s epic operates in a “poetic mode,” finding a place “where the limitations of a war movie start to vanish” and resulting in the “best of both worlds: an art house combat picture,” said Tim Brayton at Alternate Ending. (Prime Video)

‘The Hurt Locker’ (2008)

So far the definitive statement about America’s decade-long misadventure in Iraq is director Kathryn Bigelow’s deservedly lauded “The Hurt Locker.” Staff Sergeant William James (Jeremy Renner, in a career-making performance) is the team leader of an explosives disposal unit whose predecessor (Guy Pearce) gets obliterated by an IED in the film’s opening minutes.

James is a renegade constantly at odds with his rule-bound team, short-timers Sergeant J.T. Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) and Specialist Owen Eldridge (Brian Geraghty), who worry with some justification that James’ unorthodox, bespoke and often impulsive bomb-defusing tactics are going to get them all killed. A film that “doesn’t engage the politics of the war in Iraq per se,” it is a “totally immersive, off-the-charts high-anxiety experience from beginning to end,” said Amy Taubin at Film Comment. (Netflix)

‘Waltz with Bashir’ (2008)

Based on his experiences as a soldier during Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon, director Ari Folman voices his character as he interviews fellow veterans of the conflict — most of whom play themselves. The gorgeous, haunting animation allows the filmmakers to precisely recreate the Lebanese battlefield and grapple with the events that led to the infamous massacre of Palestinian refugees at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camp outside of Beirut at the hands of Lebanese Christian extremists. Simultaneously a “history lesson, a combat picture, a piece of investigative journalism and an altogether amazing film,” the result is a “work of astonishing aesthetic integrity and searing moral power,” said A.O. Scott at The New York Times. (Prime Video)

‘Hacksaw Ridge’ (2016)

Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield) is a religiously devout pacifist who get drafted in 1942 and becomes an army medic but refuses to carry a rifle or engage in combat, drawing intense scrutiny from his peers and superiors in director Mel Gibson’s engrossing film. Based on a true story, “Hacksaw Ridge” follows Doss from childhood through the war, culminating in his heroic rescue of 75 soldiers during the Battle of Okinawa.

Buoyed by a searing performance from Garfield, the film was nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards — a triumph for Gibson, whose life and career had been mired in controversy for years. The film, “though corny at times, treads close to madness and majesty alike, and nobody but Gibson could have made it,” said Anthony Lane at The New Yorker. (Disney+)

‘Dunkirk’ (2017)

A structurally daring look at the miraculous evacuation of some 400,000 British expeditionary forces from France who were pinned down by German forces early in the war, “Dunkirk” marked director Christopher Nolan’s departure from his familiar science fiction and fantasy territory. The film is told from three perspectives: Tommy (Fionn Whitehead) is an infantryman making his way to the beach for evacuation; George (Barry Keoghan) joins the crew of an unarmed civilian trawler that heroically volunteers to help transport the fleeing forces; and Farrier (Tom Hardy) is an Royal Air Force pilot helping provide cover for the evacuation.

Unlike many ultraviolent war movies of the contemporary era, Nolan’s film “does not revel in realistic depictions of wartime death, with all its blood and viscera,” said Brian Eggert at Deep Focus Review. Instead, it creates an “impressive tribute to the survivors and the grand-scale efforts of the British people” during one of the country’s finest hours. (BritBox)

‘1917’ (2019)

Director Sam Mendes’ World War I drama is composed of long, unbroken shots assembled together by cinematographer Roger Deakins to give the illusion of being a “oner.” Late in the war, British Lance Corporals Will Schofield (​​George MacKay) and Tom Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman) are ordered by General Erinmore (Colin Firth) to carry a message to a British battalion warning them not to fall into a deadly trap that the seemingly retreating Germans have set for them.

Like “Saving Private Ryan,” it is essentially a road narrative, in which Schofield and Blake see the carnage of war along with the audience. A “ghost train ride into a day-lit house of horror,” the film conveys the “nihilist elation that comes with the moment-by-moment experience of survival, fiercely holding on to life with every eardrum-splitting sniper shot,” said Peter Bradshaw at The Guardian. (Netflix)

‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ (2022)

Though it divided critics, director Edward Berger’s bold, bleak and propulsive adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s groundbreaking 1929 novel more than serves its purpose as a fierce statement against war. It opens cleverly with the journey of a German uniform, stripped from a dead infantryman and sent to be cleaned, repaired and rehomed onto Paul Baumer (Felix Kammerer), an idealistic volunteer pumped full of nationalist propaganda about adventure and brotherhood and thrust instead into an unceasing and pointless nightmare of trench warfare, deprivation, suffering and death. The “vast machinery of total war has rarely been depicted as viscerally or as coldly” as in Berger’s film, which “almost wades into horror territory, helped in no small part by the booming, anachronistic synths of Volker Bertelmann’s score,” said John Nugent at Empire. (Netflix)

The capital of the wild northern island of Hokkaido, Sapporo feels like Japan’s “last frontier”, said Alex Halberstadt in Condé Nast Traveller, a place where “everyone is from somewhere else” and a newcomer can “cast off the shackles of their past and reinvent themselves”.

The city’s fabric is overwhelmingly modern and “prosaic”, and its people are chattier, more open and less bound by tradition than in, say, Osaka or Kyoto. Nowhere is this difference more evident than in its food scene, the “strangest and most fascinating” in the country.

Hokkaido’s “unspoilt” valleys and cold waters yield fabulously “flavourful” ingredients, and though Sapporo’s restaurants can’t reach the “culinary heights” of Kyoto’s “hushed kaiseki pavilions”, they are often “much more fun”, making the city worth a visit for gastronomic thrills alone.

At Cucina Italiana Magari, for instance, the food did not strike me as very Italian, but it was “delectable” even so. I loved the creamy soup (like a New England clam chowder) “loaded” with mantis shrimp, milt (cod sperm sac) and fugu (the potentially lethal blowfish you need a licence to prepare).

Also unmissable is Noa Hakobune (Noah’s Ark), for its chargrilled seafood and its weird building (designed by the British architect Nigel Coates), decorated with biblical murals. Sapporo is also known for its “hearty” street food, including ramen, which is best sampled at Menya Saimi, a restaurant reminiscent of a “school canteen”. Its noodle soup is “stunning”.

It’s worth visiting the hot springs at nearby Jozankei, where one secluded inn, Kasho Gyoen, offers in-room onsen baths and good Italian food (done straight).

The Sapporo region has Japan’s “most exciting wine scene” – but the city is also famed for its ice cream. At Gyokusuien, it is plain and buttery, and served with green tea. At Tempura Masa, it has the dense, smooth texture of ripe mango. And at Nanakamado, you can get a two-foot-high sundae called a shime parfait, with 20 elements, from rhubarb sorbet to bamboo-charcoal-flavoured mascarpone.

We think of samurai as fearsome warriors – and they were, said Neil Fisher in The Sunday Times. Yet if you visit Nomura Residence, an “elegant” house in the Japanese city of Kanazawa where generations of samurai lived, you’ll find it has delightful features, including an exquisite garden. Inside, you can see a fine piece of calligraphy – a letter written in 1566 to a samurai from his liege lord. “We appreciate that you worked so hard to kill one high-ranked soldier on the fourth of last month at the Yokokitaguchi Battle,” it says. “We are very happy that you brought us his head.”

The story of the samurai is, you realise, a “bundle of contradictions” – “elegance and formality, banality and butchery” – and that is how it is presented in the British Museum’s “blockbuster” show. It explores the role of the samurai and their pop-cultural afterlife – and in so doing, it clears up a few misapprehensions. The biggest is that the samurai were a “military sect”, when for centuries they were more “a privileged tier of society” that helped ensure the smooth running of the state. During the Tokugawa shogunate (1603-1868), “about 10% of the population counted as samurai class”, half of whom were women.

The show takes you on a “scintillating journey” through “a world of gore, power and artistic beauty”, said Jonathan Jones in The Guardian. The samurai were not the first to believe that, in battle, the warrior is transformed into something other. The Vikings had their berserkers, for instance. “But no culture has ever put quite as much creativity into blood-lust” as this one. When the samurai donned their armour – “so vital, so electric”, with their grimacing black masks – they would have seemed truly demonic. Even empty, the suits here “pulse with menace and mystery”.

There are lots of weapons on show too, and images of samurai in bloody battle – but also a painting of a warrior stopping to smell the blossom he is riding past, and another of a samurai making love to a courtesan while two other women “caress the blade of his unsheathed sword”. That perhaps encapsulates the appeal of this exhibition: the samurai were lethal but sexy, their warfare violent yet theatrical.

For samurai, who “aspired to be sophisticated courtiers and held the arts in high regard, beauty and brutality were intertwined”, said Alastair Sooke in The Daily Telegraph. Some of their armour was positively dandyish; a 19th century quiver here glitters like a disco floor. The show is in three parts. The first covers the rise of the warriors as a fighting force in medieval times; the second – and most engrossing, in my view – is about the peaceful Tokugawa shogunate, when they morphed into bureaucrats; the third explores their impact on popular culture. The effect of this section, which includes comic books and an effigy of Darth Vader, whose helmet was modelled on samurai armour, is bathetic, as if you’ve walked into a teenager’s bedroom. It’s a disappointing climax to an otherwise “riveting” exhibition.

British Museum, London WC1. Until 4 May

What happened

Japan’s conservative governing bloc claimed a historic victory Sunday in an early general election called by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi less than four months into her premiership.

Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic Party now has a higher proportion of representatives in Japan’s lower house “than any other party in postwar Japan,” after winning 316 of the 465 seats, said The Japan Times. Its coalition partner won another 36.

Who said what

The result marks a sharp turnaround for the LDP, which lost control of parliament in 2024 amid scandals and economic discontent. Takaichi, Japan’s first female prime minister, had promised to resign if she fell short.

President Donald Trump joined world leaders in congratulating her on her win. “I wish you Great Success in passing your Conservative, Peace Through Strength Agenda,” Trump wrote on social media.

What next?

Her victory gives Takaichi “broad latitude to pursue her agenda,” which includes “boosting defense spending,” said CNBC. That’s “good news for America,” said The Washington Post in an op ed. Japan should now be able to “shoulder more of the security burden for countering” the threat posed by China. Takaichi Sunday touted the “limitless” potential of the U.S.-Japan alliance as she confirmed plans to visit Washington, D.C., next month.

Located around Yokohama train station, there is an “especially unique watering hole”, specifically designed for customers who are contemplating quitting their jobs, said Japan Today.

At Tenshoku Sodan Bar, the bartenders are all trained counsellors, who offer impartial advice which you wouldn’t find from high-pressured friends and family, or unrelenting bosses who demand round-the-clock loyalty.

Though “job-hoppers” are still much less frequent in Japan than in Western countries, they are “on the rise”, said The Economist. The concept of a one-company-for-life worker – or “salaryman” – is “eroding”, as younger generations have “started to question this way of working”.

‘Resignation angst’

One “niche but increasingly popular” industry which helps workers break out from the “salaryman” cycle is “proxy quitters”, said The Washington Post. For a fee of up to ¥50,000 (£235), dissatisfied employees can hire someone to quit their job for them.

The service has boomed since the pandemic, with employees’ reasons including that they have been “bullied or harassed at work”, lack the nerve to confront their boss, or simply don’t know how to quit, as it is so rarely done. Nearly one in 10 Japanese companies have “received resignations via proxy quitters”, according to a 2024 survey by Tokyo Shoko Research.

This rise in proxy quitters has revealed a “darker side of Japan’s work culture” to the rest of the world, said CNA. Bosses often have “disproportionate power over employees”, which leads to the expectation of “long hours and unpaid overtime”. Workers are bound by the concept of “messhi hoko” – or “self-sacrifice for the public good” – which is “ingrained” in the Japanese working culture. The expectation to prioritise company needs over personal ones is often cited as one of the culprits for Japan’s declining birth rate. At its most extreme, it can “even be fatal”: the term “karoshi” refers to the phenomenon of “death by overwork”.

Proxy quitting services have emerged as a “direct answer” to these “intricacies of Japanese tradition and social conventions”, but their legality operates in a “grey area” and some employers argue they are “exceeding their authority”, said Leo Lewis in the FT. Even without legal challenges, however, the industry could peter out on its own. Predicated on “resignation angst” and a rigid workplace hierarchy, as office culture evolves, “demand will evaporate”.

Increased ‘leverage’

Evidence suggests that more and more people are defying traditional taboos and choosing to switch jobs, said The Japan Times. According to government data, around 940,000 people switched from one full-time employment to another in 2023, compared with 750,000 in 2018.

Changes in demographics are now working to young people’s favour, said The Washington Post. With a falling birth rate, “rapidly aging” population and “shrinking” workforce, employees wield considerably more leverage. Younger generations are less accepting of the excessively long days which are a “hallmark of Japanese corporate culture”. What was once the “revolutionary idea” of quitting for better terms is now a much more frequent possibility.

The numbers support this, said CNA. In the annual survey undertaken by the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 26.4% of young employees said they would “change jobs if given the chance”, while 7.6% planned to be self-employed in future.

Younger workers are also now more likely to claim the benefits which their employers are legally obliged to provide, said The Economist. “The share of men taking paternity leave has jumped from 2% of those eligible a decade ago to 30% in 2023.” More labour fluidity has caused Japan’s rigid payment structures to loosen, with salaries catching up with the rest of the world due to workforce demands. Though employers may be bracing for the impact of an influx of young, empowered workers, it could also “inject dynamism into Japan’s ossified institutions”.

The 2011 Fukushima meltdown was a nightmare that all but shut down Japan’s nuclear power industry. But things change, and the country has now restarted the world’s largest nuclear power plant over the objections of neighbors who fear another calamity.

Restarting reactor No. 6 at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant northwest of Tokyo is a “milestone in Japan’s slow return to nuclear energy,” said The Guardian. Japan’s government wants to reduce the country’s carbon emissions and increase its energy security without relying on fossil fuels. But many of the 420,000 people living near the plant say the restart is “fraught with danger.” That makes the move a “human rights issue,” said resident Ryusuke Yoshida. Authorities refused calls to hold a referendum on the plant’s future, said The Guardian, but polls show “clear opposition to putting the reactor back online."

Japan shut down all 54 of the country’s reactors following the Fukushima incident, and has since restarted 14 of the 33 that remain operable, said CNN. The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa restart, though, is seen as a “watershed moment in the country’s return to nuclear energy,” said Reuters. Tokyo Electric Power Co., which also operated the Fukushima plant, said it has a host of new safety measures. The company has learned the lessons of the earlier disaster, officials say. “We remain firmly committed to never repeating such an accident,” a TEPCO spokesperson said.

What did the commentators say?

"Japan’s big nuclear restart is an economic inevitability,” said Yuriy Humber at Nikkei Asia. Restarting reactors can “help lower electricity bills” in a country still experiencing high inflation. A dormant nuclear plant, meanwhile, “still costs tens of millions of dollars a year to maintain,” while an operating plant can bring hundreds of millions in profit. Shifting dependence to liquid natural gas and coal would be “neither cheap nor sustainable.” All of this has long been true, but the trauma of Fukushima forced officials to take a path that is “slow, deliberate and shaped as much by psychology as by policy.”

The nuclear power industry in Japan “cannot simply be switched on again,” said Tadahiro Katsuta at Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Reactors once supplied 29% of the country’s electricity, but that number has dipped to 5% in the years since Fukushima. Renewable energy has started to fill the gap, and is expected to fulfill 40% or more of Japan’s energy needs by 2040. The bottom line, though, is that the Fukushima incident demonstrated the “claimed inherent safety of nuclear power is a myth.”

What next?

The return of Kashiwazaki-Kariwa’s reactor was delayed by a day. The restart was “originally scheduled to resume” on Jan. 20, said Bloomberg, but was put on hold “following an issue with an alarm.” The issue was not serious, a company spokesperson said to The Japan Times, but safety demands that TEPCO “respond sincerely whenever issues are identified.” The reactor went online on the morning of Jan. 21.

Far from the neon lights of Tokyo, temples and shrines of Kyoto and the Osaka street food scene is Okinawa, Japan’s southernmost — and westernmost — prefecture. Here, expect a slower pace, where the hardest decision you’ll make is which beach to visit.

What to know about Okinawa

Okinawa is Japan’s sole subtropical region, attracting visitors seeking white sand beaches and swaying palms. Of the 160 or so islands, about 40 are inhabited, and the prefecture comes by the nickname “Caribbean of the Sea” honestly, said Travel and Leisure.

Popular spots include the jungle-filled Iriomote Island and Miyako Island, where travelers can swim and kayak through the turquoise waters. Going island hopping is easy, thanks to ferries and flights that connect through Naha Airport. Pack light and consider leaving the jacket at home — the weather is warm and humid year-round, comparable to Hawai‘i and Miami.

While most visitors come to Okinawa for the scenery and activities, some also want to learn more about its status as a Blue Zone. These areas have the highest proportions of centenarians and lower rates of diseases like cancer, diabetes and dementia. Two practices that may be linked to Okinawan longevity are hara hachi bu, which means eating until 80% full, and being part of a moai, a social support group that typically forms during childhood and continues through life.

Hit the beach and appreciate local art

Many activities in Okinawa “revolve around water,” making it a paradise for scuba divers and snorkelers, said Travel and Leisure. The underwater sights are “incredible,” thanks to coral reefs “known for their biodiversity,” arches, caves and wildlife like manta rays and sea turtles.

Aharen Beach and Tokashiku Beach on Tokashiki Island are two of the “most sought-after” spots for diving because of the marine life, said Travel and Leisure. Cape Higashi Henna on Miyako Island is where the Pacific Ocean meets the East China Sea and boasts more than 200 plant and flower species and views from its lighthouse that will "take your breath away,” the BBC said.

History is everywhere in Okinawa, which from 1429 to 1879 was the Ryukyu Kingdom, a tributary state under China’s Ming and Qing dynasties. Bingata, a traditional dyeing technique going back hundreds of years, “reigns supreme” in Okinawa, and this “endemic craft is also a key to its identity,” said Condé Nast Traveler.

Artisans — including some whose families have been perfecting the labor-intensive process for centuries — create “intricately patterned” bingata kimonos, handbags, cushions and tea towels. Workshops dot the islands, and items can also be purchased in many of the souvenir shops.

The epicenter of Okinawan pottery, called yachimun, is Tsuboya Yachimun Street in Naha. Explore the shops that line the road on a tour or solo (many open their studios to the public), and look up to see yachimun shisa dogs peering down from building entrances and roofs; these figures, found across Okinawa, are believed to offer spiritual protection. For a crash course on all things yachimun, and to see early examples of the earthenware, check out the Naha City Tsuboya Pottery Museum.

Dive into the dining scene

Seafood is fresh and plentiful, with skipjack tuna, tiger prawns and sea grapes (green caviar) regularly appearing on menus alongside Okinawan staples like goya champuru, a stir-fry containing bitter melon, and rafute, or braised pork belly. The “iconic” Okinawan taco rice was created in the kitchen of King Tacos, a chain specializing in “hybrid cuisine born out of the long intermingling of American, Japanese and Okinawan culinary traditions,” said The Wall Street Journal. Consisting of “liberally seasoned” minced beef, tomatoes, shredded lettuce and cheese on top of white rice, the dish’s reach has extended beyond Okinawa and can now be found in restaurants across Japan.

“As anime rises in the box office ranks, Middle Eastern and American investors are circling the industry like sharks,” said The Telegraph.

With a sizeable Gen Z and Gen Alpha following, as well as booming merchandise opportunities, anime is an increasingly lucrative market for countries like Saudi Arabia, who are looking to invest in cultural soft power.

‘Strip-mining’ IP

Much of the interest in the industry stems from the Saudi Vision 2030 programme. Launched in 2016, the programme aims to build economic growth through means other than oil and establish the kingdom as a global leader in multiple sectors, including entertainment.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s sovereign wealth fund has “set aside $1 billion” to launch Arena SNK Studios, the main purpose of which is “strip-mining the worlds of anime and video games” for new intellectual property. Meanwhile, state-backed studio Manga Productions has gone from licensing to “co-producing original content” with “major Japanese partners”, said Variety.

Anime is particularly loved in Saudi Arabia, where it “has been a significant part of Saudi youth culture since the 1980s”, said Arab News. A report by digital media agency Dentsu MENAT in October found that around 30% of Saudi anime fans “watch content daily”. The agency’s CEO, Tarek Daouk, said that Vision 2030 was a chance to turn Saudi Arabia from a “consuming community” into one with the “opportunity to produce” anime of its own.

‘Cultural asset and soft power’

Despite the Crown Prince reportedly being a “keen fan of anime” himself, many are cynical of the Saudi programme, said The Telegraph. Critics point to two main objectives of the kingdom's investment in anime (“and ‘making great art’ is neither”): to “speed-diversify a national economy”, and to “win over all the international ‘feel-good industries’” in the hope that regime’s human rights abuses will be “politely forgotten”. “What the Saudis are doing now isn’t that different from what the US did exactly a century ago: win over the world by becoming its pop culture crucible”.

The numbers support anime’s value as a “cultural asset and soft power”, said The Diplomat. The industry reached a significant milestone in 2023, generating a “record-high” 3.3 trillion yen (£15.4 billion) in revenue, with “overseas revenue surpassing domestic revenue for the first time”. That explosion in global popularity means Japanese studios “need to take into account not only domestic but also overseas audiences”, as they “face challenges from both domestic and international competitors”.

Japan, however, is welcoming investment from the Middle East, said The Japan Times. Specifically “mentioning the popularity of Japanese manga and anime”, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told a Saudi Arabia-led international financial conference in December that she was “accelerating efforts to promote supply chain cooperation between Japanese and Saudi enterprises”. Takaichi then quoted a famous line from the manga series “Attack on Titan”: “Just shut your mouths. Invest everything in me!”

Japan stands torn between tradition and the future, as Princess Aiko, the only child of Emperor Naruhito, finds herself at the center of a growing movement to change the country’s patriarchal rules of royal succession. Treated like a pop star by many in Japan, the 24-year-old princess’ rocketing popularity comes at a fraught time for the royal family and Japan’s traditionally patriarchal society. As Japan’s shrinking royal family forces uncomfortable questions about the future of one of the world’s oldest monarchical lines, is Tokyo ready for change?

‘Rising prestige’ and a reopened debate

After having “impressed with her maturity and clear sense of duty” during her first state visit to Laos last month, Aiko’s “huge popularity” domestically will only further raise questions about why she is barred from taking on a “more prominent royal role going forward,” said Tatler. Questions about Aiko’s inability to assume her father’s throne come amid Japan’s “so-called ‘succession crisis,’” where “strict, male-only succession laws” established in 1947 mean that Prince Hisahito of Akishino, Aiko’s first cousin, is often “touted as the future of the Japanese royal family.”

Aiko’s “rising prestige” has “reopened the debate” about male-only royal succession in Japan’s “patriarchal and traditionalist society,” said El País. That debate comes after Japan “broke with gender prejudices” by electing conservative Sanae Takaichi as its first woman prime minister in October. There is also “strong public support” for the notion that Aiko, or “any other woman in the future,” could be made royal successor, which has led to a grassroots effort to readdress the rules.

Cartoonist Yoshinori Kobayashi has authored comic books pushing for a rule change, which “supporters keep sending to parliamentarians” to raise the issue, said The Associated Press. Other advocates have “set up YouTube channels and distributed leaflets.” But while there is public support for updating the succession rules, “conservative lawmakers,” including Takaichi, “oppose the change.”

‘Kicking the can down the road’

Even members of Japan’s royal family acknowledge the monarchy’s dwindling numbers and clout. “Nothing can be done under the current system,” said Crown Prince Akishino, 60, to the AP. “I think all we can do right now is to scale back our official duties.”

Japan’s royal succession debate has gone on “for decades,” particularly after a 2005 government panel recommended the crown be passed to the oldest child “regardless of their sex,” said the Japan Times. But while that recommendation “appeared to pave the way” for Aiko’s “rise to the Chrysanthemum Throne,” the birth of Hisahito the following year “silenced the debate.” Following the arrival of a young, male heir, Japanese politicians are “kicking the can down the road” when it comes to changing the rules, said Kenneth Ruoff, the director of Portland State University’s Center for Japanese Studies, to the Japan Times.

Late last year, the United Nations’ Human Rights Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women criticized Japan’s male-only rules of succession, prompting the Japanese government to withhold its voluntary funds for the commission. “The right to succeed the Imperial Throne is not included among basic human rights,” said Japan Foreign Ministry spokesperson Toshihiro Kitamura in a statement. “Therefore, it does not constitute as discrimination against women.”

Hisahito is “likely to become emperor one day,” said Al Jazeera. “After him, however, there is nobody left” unless the succession rules change.

With its “waist-high powder” and “slick” infrastructure, it’s little surprise Japan's Niseko ski region has become so “popular”, said Annabel Grossman in The Independent.

Skiers and snowboarders around the world have “felt the lure of Japan’s mountains”, and are increasingly “swapping European and North American resorts” for “the peaks of east Asia”. Niseko, on Japan’s northernmost island of Hokkaido, is a “far cry from the charming chalets of the French resorts” but it has its own “very special appeal”.

The region spreads between four resorts dotted around the Annupuri mountain: Hanazono, Grand Hirafu, Niseko Village and Annupuri. All are linked by a convenient shuttle bus and “well connected, modern lifts”. There are far fewer crowds here than at most European resorts, so you’re unlikely to have to queue for the gondolas.

On-piste, the “thick, fluffy” snow is a “dream to ski” and “the off-piste by the slopes” has “shorter sections, allowing less experienced skiers to take advantage of the legendary powder”. There is also “plenty of challenging back country for advanced skiers”.

Perhaps one of the biggest draws is night skiing. While most pistes in Europe close relatively early, a few long pistes in Niseko are open “long into the evening”. There is something “magical” about skiing on “near-deserted” slopes “below the soft glow of the piste lights”.

Niseko’s four resorts aren’t as big as those in France or Switzerland, said Damien Gabet in The Telegraph. “But a lack of acreage is offset by a skiing experience entirely novel to the European veteran”: less peaks and ravines; more “shallow valleys and sweeping tree-runs”. The sprawling Strawberry Fields powder run in Hanazono has breathtaking views of Mount Yōtei between “comfortably spaced conifers”.

And the après-ski is “incomparable”. Instead of “shots at the bar”, expect “seated sake and real-deal dining experiences”, including yakitori and sushi joints, and Michelin-starred restaurants. As for accommodation, if you really want to push the boat out, consider checking into the five-bed Tsubasa Chalet. “Few properties merit the Bond-villain-lair cliché more.”

After a long day on the slopes, Niseko’s onsens – steaming indoor and outdoor pools filled with water from geothermal springs – are “perfect for an after-ski dip”, said Aja Ng on Culture Trip. Relaxing in the “therapeutic waters” will soothe away any post-piste aches and pains: it is an experience “not to be missed”.

China and Japan exchanged angry words in recent days after Japan’s new prime minister said her country would regard an attack on Taiwan as an “existential threat” to security in the region. The two countries are in a “furious diplomatic spat” over the comments, said NBC News. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s “unusually explicit" remarks suggested Chinese military action against Taiwan could force an armed response from Tokyo.

Japanese leaders have usually been vague about their commitments to Taiwan, just 70 miles from their country's territory. But China regards the self-ruled island of Taiwan as its possession, and officials responded with angry demands for a Japanese retraction. “The dirty neck that sticks itself in must be cut off,” said Xue Jian, a Chinese diplomatic official, on X. (The post was later deleted.)

Other Chinese leaders were less colorful but still pointed in their comments, said Reuters. Japan would suffer a “crushing defeat” if it intervened in Taiwan, said Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Jiang Bin. The grievances are rooted in a long and contentious history, said Reuters. There is “ongoing tension” between the two countries lingering from the Japanese invasion of China during World War II.

What did the commentators say?

Some observers see China’s angry response to Takaichi as a return to its “wolf warrior” days of the early 2020s, Jessie Yeung said at CNN. That is when Beijing officials would “hit back directly — and often colorfully” at criticisms of their country. That aggressive approach receded as Communist officials sought to “win back lost goodwill among Western nations.” But there is a “significant streak of anti-Japanese sentiment” in China, and the prime minister’s comments have prompted “state media and other prominent voices” to fan outrage against Tokyo.

The dispute illustrates the “essence of Japan’s strategic dilemma,” said Zheng Zhihua at The Diplomat. Tokyo wants to “signal deterrence” and send a message of solidarity with its U.S. ally. But it must also do so within the “constitutional limits of its pacifist defense policy.” Japan has also attempted to balance its relations with China with “unofficial” contacts with Taiwan, a “dual track” policy that allows it to “avoid direct confrontation with Beijing while supporting Taiwan’s stability.” The question now is whether Japan can maintain its “maneuvering space” or if the spat “hardens public attitudes on both sides.”

What next?

China “escalated its diplomatic feud” on Sunday, said The New York Times. It sent ships to patrol uninhabited islands that “both countries claim” while also warning Chinese students in Japan about unspecified threats to their safety. On Monday, Japan said it scrambled warplanes after detecting a suspected Chinese drone near the island of Yonaguni, said CBS News. “We are trying not to escalate the situation,” said one Japanese official.

The growing tensions have raised fears of a “rupture in Japan-China ties,” said The Japan Times. There may be more escalation to come. Beijing is prepared to “carry out substantial countermeasures against Japan,” a social media account run by state media said on Sunday.

The government aims to quadruple nuclear capacity by 2050, taking it to 24 gigawatts (GW), about a quarter of projected UK annual electricity demand. This year, No. 10 has made a flurry of announcements to show that it is serious about meeting this pledge.

In June, it announced £14.2 billion in funding for the new Sizewell C nuclear plant on the Suffolk coast – in addition to the £3.6 billion committed by the Treasury in the past two years. A month later, investment was finalised, with the government as the largest shareholder. (Meanwhile, Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in Somerset is set to come into service around 2031.) Another £2.5 billion has been allocated to help the development of small modular reactors. Energy Secretary Ed Miliband claims that Britain is about to enter a “golden age” of nuclear power.

Why the urgency now?

Energy use is set to soar, thanks partly to electric vehicles and AI, perhaps doubling by 2050. At present, Britain’s energy costs are some of the highest in Europe, particularly for industry, which is a major drag on the economy. This is partly caused by our dependence on gas, which provides about a third of electricity; ministers want to reduce gas to less than 5% of it by 2030.

Crucially, the government also sees low-carbon nuclear as a way of meeting its target of net-zero emissions by 2050. Wind and solar power are of course intermittent; nuclear power can provide vast amounts of constant “baseload” capacity. Hinkley Point C alone will provide 3.2GW, enough for six million homes, or 7% of current demand.

The trouble is that Britain is running out of time. In 1997, there were 16 nuclear power stations in operation, which together provided 27% of the UK’s electricity; today, only five of our ageing nuclear power stations are still in operation, providing 15% – and four of them are scheduled to close by 2030.

Why has progress halted?

Britain was once a global leader in nuclear power. In 1956, the world’s first commercial nuclear power plant, Calder Hall, opened at Sellafield in Cumbria. Two more opened in 1962. By 1988, the UK had 18 reactors. But most were designed with a maximum lifespan of about 40 years; and the impetus to renew them was lost during Britain’s “dash for gas” in the 1990s.

Meanwhile, high-profile disasters heightened concern over the safety of nuclear energy. And the costs of reactors kept rising: the International Energy Agency has found that nuclear plants built in the US and Europe since 2000 have been on average eight years late, and two-and-a-half times over their original budget; Hinkley Point C’s has ballooned from £18 billion to £46 billion. Britain’s newest reactors now cost four times South Korea’s.

Why are they so expensive?

The UK has struggled to deliver large infrastructure projects within budget for decades now, and nuclear projects are particularly large and complex. They require long-term investment, and both capital and building materials have risen sharply in price. Before Hinkley Point C, no plant had been built since 1995, so skills and supply chains had been lost.

The UK’s planning and regulatory regime is also particularly onerous: at Hinkley Point, 7,000 design changes had to be made to meet regulatory requirements, with the result, its management claims, that the plant will use 25% more steel and 35% more concrete than planned. Plants are required to meet very stringent safety standards; that “there is no safe level of radiation” is an iron rule of the industry. Hinkley Point’s environmental impact assessment ran to 31,401 pages: developers will install underwater loudspeakers (dubbed the “fish disco”) to deter salmon from being poached in the reactor cooling intake.

How do ministers plan to fix this?

Through a combination of planning reforms, regulatory streamlining, investment and the promotion of new technologies. The government has unveiled plans to block campaigners from “excessive” legal challenges to major infrastructure projects, such as nuclear power stations.

It also wants to expand the current list of just eight favoured sites for large nuclear schemes. The expiry date on nuclear planning rules is to be removed, so new projects are no longer “timed out”. And a new Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce is to be set up to improve the regulations. No. 10 hopes these reforms will “clear a path” to allow small modular reactors (SMRs) to be built in locations across the UK.

What are SMRs?

They’re “mini” nuclear power stations, about the size of two football pitches. Their capacity will be about 0.5GW, compared with about 3.2GW for Hinkley Point C. And unlike conventional plants, which are built in situ over years or even decades, they will be built in factories, and then assembled on site.

Rolls-Royce has been chosen by the government to produce the first SMR, by the mid-2030s. It hopes to establish an efficient and relatively cheap production line, allowing power stations to be built in just four years, producing power at about a third of the price of reactors such as Sizewell.

Will all this actually happen?

It will certainly be difficult. Nuclear power’s high upfront costs, poor track record on delivery and spiralling budgets mean that many are sceptical. The planning process will be difficult, and communities affected are likely to resist vociferously. The issue of how to dispose of nuclear waste remains unresolved.

But reliable low-carbon power is needed; and reactors such as Sizewell, though expensive to build, will run for 60 years with relatively low fuel costs. In theory, SMRs could bring prices down – and provide the UK with a significant industry. At any rate, this government is clearly committed to expanding nuclear power. The first SMR site will be announced later this year.

How safe is nuclear power?

A series of high-profile accidents over the years have undermined nuclear power’s safety credentials. In 1957, a reactor caught fire at the Windscale nuclear plant, now known as Sellafield, releasing radioactive material across the UK. In 1979, a reactor at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania went into partial meltdown following a cooling malfunction. In the Chernobyl disaster of 1986, a reactor exploded at a plant in Soviet Ukraine. And in 2011, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake triggered a meltdown at the Fukushima power plant in Japan; it will take up to 40 years to decontaminate the area.

Nevertheless, the weight of scientific opinion holds that nuclear power is a safe form of power generation. There were no confirmed deaths from Windscale or Three Mile Island, and only one from Fukushima (though all may have caused cancer deaths in the long term). Chernobyl caused perhaps 4,000 deaths, in total. As Tim Gregory, a nuclear chemist at the UK’s National Nuclear Laboratory, notes in his book “Going Nuclear”, nuclear energy accounts for about 0.03 deaths per terawatt hour of generation – equivalent to wind and solar, and far lower than gas or coal. Likewise, “deep geological disposal” is now thought to be a safe solution to the problem of radioactive waste.

Donald Trump has begun a whistle-stop tour of Asia that will culminate in his first face-to-face meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping for six years. It is “the most important week of diplomacy” for Trump “since he returned to office”, said The Economist.

The US president landed in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, just in time to oversee the signing of a US-brokered ceasefire agreement between Thailand and Cambodia. He then attended the Asean summit of Southeast Asian nations, before heading to Japan. The final stop of his whirlwind tour will be South Korea, where he is due to sit down with Xi on Thursday.

What did the commentators say?

Trump’s visit to Southeast Asia offers “a glimmer of hope for the region, whose stocks have been among the worst-performing” among emerging markets economies, said Bloomberg. The bloc faces “some of the highest” US tariffs, and Trump’s attendance at Asean is “raising expectations” for deeper engagement on trade deals.

“Southeast Asia was one of the biggest winners” from Trump’s trade war with China in 2018 but, seven years on, “finds itself in a very different situation” as it “gets squeezed by the world’s top two economic powers”, said Erin Hale on Al Jazeera. Countries in the region have been “trying to walk the tightrope and do a balancing act of not picking sides between the US and China”, Jayant Menon of the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, told the media network.

On Tuesday, Japan’s new prime minister Sanae Takaichi “faces the first real test of her diplomatic and personal skills” when Trump arrives in Tokyo, said Justin McCurry in The Guardian. Their meeting will “set the tone” for Japan’s relationship “with its important and increasingly unpredictable ally”.

Few expect her to win major concessions from Trump on trade this week, as he has already lowered tariffs on Japanese cars from 27% to 15% in return for $550 billion (£412 billion) of Japanese investment in the US. On security, Takaichi “shares Trump’s suspicion of Chinese military activity in the Asia-Pacific”, and the US president will have been “encouraged” by her “determination to accelerate Japan’s biggest military build-up since the Second World War”.

Trump‘s “top priority” this week, though, is his meeting with Xi, said the BBC’s Anthony Zurcher. He will want to convince the Chinese leader to resume imports of American agricultural goods, “loosen recent restrictions” on access to rare earth materials, “give US companies greater access to the Chinese market and avoid a full-blown trade war. For Trump, as the saying goes, that’s the whole ballgame.”

What next?

Xi will be “a tough leader to sit across from at a negotiating table”, said The Economist. In the six years since he and Trump last sat down together, he’s become “more assured and less tentative”. He’s “at the top of his game”.

Trump has talked about agreeing a “complete deal” with Xi but “both the US and China are trying to get what they need in the short term while preserving their long-term self-sufficient strategies”, said Miquel Vila on UnHerd. This means any agreement, including a pause on new tariffs or the relaxation of mutual export controls, will be “symbolic and likely short-lived”.

“The reality is that, despite the negotiations, the deeper trend towards decoupling will continue.”

Grab “the popcorn”, said William Pesek in Asia Times (Hong Kong): Japan’s next prime minister, and its first female premier, is set to be the self-described “Iron Lady”, Sanae Takaichi – a hardline, Margaret Thatcher-idolising right-winger and long-time China critic who has vowed to stand up to Donald Trump on tariffs. Takaichi, 64, is expected to be confirmed by parliament after defeating four other candidates to head the governing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

Complicated milestone

And it was a polarising choice, to say the least, said The Asahi Shimbun (Tokyo). Described by some as an ultranationalist, Takaichi wants to loosen constitutional restrictions on the size of Japan’s self-defence forces, and is a regular visitor to the Yasukuni Shrine, home to 13 WWII “class-A war criminals”. In her victory speech, she vowed to abandon a “work-life balance” in her bid to turn round Japan’s ailing economy. “I will work, work, work and work,” she said.

In theory, the arrival of Japan’s first female PM should be a cause for celebration, said The Mainichi Shimbun (Tokyo) – particularly in a country with one of the world’s worst gender gaps. But even that milestone is complicated by Takaichi’s “old-fashioned” views on women. She “supports the imperial family’s male-only succession”, and opposes a revision to a 19th century civil law that would allow women to keep their surname after marriage. (Takaichi has been married twice, to the same man: the first time, she took his surname; the second time, he took hers.)

Sanaenomics

And while Takaichi wants to be Japan’s answer to Thatcher, “some fear she might be its Liz Truss”, said Gearoid Reidy in The Japan Times (Tokyo). Under her economic vision of “Sanaenomics”, she advocates higher government spending yet lower taxes – a combination that caused mayhem in the UK markets when Truss tried it.

And during an increasingly xenophobic leadership race, Takaichi made off-the-cuff and often rambling accusations against foreigners – accusing tourists of “harassing deer” in Nara Park, and claiming that police have been unable to charge foreign criminals because of a lack of interpreters.

All things considered, “there’s a certain recklessness about her that’s a worry”. Takaichi’s first real test will come with the visit of Trump at the end of the month, said Pesek. Will she actually clash with the hotheaded US leader over his 15% tariff on Japanese goods? Or will she follow the playbook of her late mentor, former PM Shinzo Abe, who “perfected the art” of Trump flattery? “Time will tell.”

A far-right populist party in Japan is courting allies of Donald Trump as it builds on its recent electoral gains.

Sanseito uprooted Japan’s political foundations when it won 14 new seats in the House of Councillors election in July, “shattering the long-standing belief that modern Japan is immune to populism”, said news agency Anadolu.

Now hardline nationalist leader Sanae Takaichi has won the leadership election for Japan’s ruling party the Liberal Democratic Party, paving for a possible pact between the ruling party and Sanseito. But the Maga-inspired party “faces a distinctly Japanese quandary of how to upend the status quo in a society that prizes politeness and consensus”, said Reuters.

Spooking the mainstream 

Sanseito was one of the election’s “biggest winners”, and it now has 15 lawmakers in the 248-member house. This is “not a huge number”, but it’s “enough to spook Japan’s mainstream conservatives”, said Project Syndicate. A poll by public broadcaster NHK last month found Sanseito is now the most popular opposition party.

Japan has “long prided itself on social harmony and relative political moderation, avoiding the deep partisan trenches of US politics”, said the East Asia Forum, but the recent election “exposed a truth that can no longer be ignored”: the nation’s “divisions are real, complex and growing, and Sanseito has skilfully turned these fractures into political capital”.

The value of that capital can be seen in Takaichi’s assent to power, “echoing Sanseito’s warnings about foreigners”, said Deutsche Welle. Takaichi kicked off her first official campaign speech with an anecdote about tourists reportedly kicking sacred deer in her hometown of Nara, without providing evidence.

Indeed Takaichi’s relationship with Sanseito leader Sohei Kamiya “will be interesting to observe”, said Philip Patrick on UnHerd, and there is “something of the Tory-Reform UK dynamic to the relationship between the two Japanese parties”.

Not going ‘wacky’

Although the wider populist movement in Japan has latched onto “some common themes” with its international counterparts, like vaccine scepticism, nationalism, and opposition to “woke” social justice initiatives, they’re a “little different from far-right parties in other countries and from the older extreme right in Japan”, said Project Syndicate.

In the past, Japan’s far-right “traded mostly in nostalgia”, driving “noisy sound trucks, blaring wartime patriotic songs and bearing young ruffians in quasi-military gear”. They “longed for Japan’s imperialist past”, and pointed the blame at the “United States, Japanese leftists, and Communist China” for “robbing” the nation of its “martial spirit”.

In contrast, the topic that “excites” today’s populists most is the “increasing number of foreigners in Japan – immigrants, workers and tourists”. “Like Trump, Kamiya has stirred controversy with his remarks” on ethnic minorities, said Reuters. An outspoken critic of immigration, on one occasion the Sanseito leader “used a slur against Japan's ethnic Korean population – a comment for which he later apologised”.

But Sanseito “are not Trump worshippers” and won’t push “wacky” policies like those embraced by the US president, Kamiya told the news agency. The Japanese “value harmony and place an importance on getting broad, gradual consensus”, he said, before adding: “I do, too”.

What happened

Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party elected former Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi, a hard-line conservative, as its new leader, putting her on track to become the country’s first woman prime minister later this month. Takaichi, an acolyte of the late former leader Shinzo Abe and admirer of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, beat out four male rivals in the second round of voting in Saturday’s leadership election.

Who said what

Takaichi’s rise “reflects an eagerness for change” in the LDP after a series of losses put her party in the “unusual position of being a minority in both houses of parliament,” The New York Times said. But while she is on the cusp of breaking a major gender barrier, her “own views on women’s rights are complicated.” Takaichi “opposes same-sex marriage and allowing married couples to have separate surnames, an issue that has broad public support in Japan,” Reuters said. But as a “drummer and a fan of heavy metal,” she is “no stranger to creating noise.”

Takaichi “will have to contend with a sluggish economy,” inflation and slow wage growth, the BBC said, and “navigate a challenging U.S.-Japan relationship,” starting with a potential summit with President Donald Trump later this month. But first she “faces an immediate hurdle,” the Times said: She must win enough votes in parliament to become prime minister.

What next?

The LDP needs to add another party to its minority government, The Associated Press said, but Takaichi’s “ultra-conservative politics,” especially her hawkish “revisionism of wartime history and regular visits” to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine, have put her “on the verge of losing her party’s long-time coalition partner, the Buddhist-backed dovish centrist Komeito.”

This article appeared in History of War magazine issue 151.

On 2 September 1945, Japanese forces officially surrendered to the Republic of China, ending the brutal occupation which began in 1937. Since the end of the subsequent Chinese Civil War, this victory has been marked separately by the People's Republic of China, and the Republic of China (Taiwan).

In mainland China, the communist government's role in the victory over Japan has been largely overemphasised over the decades, while the nationalist contribution has been downplayed or even extinguished from commemorations.

However, it was the nationalist government, the Kuo-min-tang (KMT), under Chiang Kai-shek, that led the main military campaigns of resistance against the Japanese and formally accepted their surrender in 1945.

Dissonance over who fought the Japanese harder, the KMT or the communists, or who is properly honoured in war memorials, now extends to the Taiwan question. Since the 1990s the island nation's politics has drifted away from the militaristic KMT and the Democratic Progressive Party now sees Japan as a diplomatic ally.

Meanwhile, China's state-owned media and its adjacent entertainment industry have fused the historical narrative of the war into a unified struggle that echoes the brief accommodation the communists and nationalists reached by 1938.

This has resulted in modern China marking the beginning of the war from 1931, when Japan seized Manchuria, until 1945 – labelling this a 'Chinese people's war of resistance' greater in scope than the previous 1937-1945 framing.

As far as the mainland is concerned, all of China was swept by the terrible ordeal and Japan's crimes are a timeless evil that sullied the course of Chinese history – never mind who was in charge of the government at this time.

The end of Japanese occupation

It took three weeks for the KMT to formalise the total surrender of all Japanese forces and civilians in 1945. Although Tokyo announced its decision to the allies on August 10 it was not until September 3 that Japanese soldiers in China were ordered to lay down their arms and a few more days passed until a formal agreement was smoothed out.

To mark the occasion a nationalist general with a sizeable retinue was sent to the former capital Nanking, still occupied by 70,000 Japanese soldiers. The venue itself was emblematic of modern China's statehood, being a war college for nationalist officers.

The once unrepentant General Yasutsugu Okamura and his staff were seated along a table and signed the act of surrender that was delivered to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek on the same day: September 9, 1945.

Japan's capitulation in China was far from straightforward. By Chiang Kai-shek's reckoning there were 1.3 million enemy soldiers left in the mainland. When the Soviet Union invaded Manchuria in early August it quashed and captured the million-strong Kwantung Army.

An estimated one million Japanese civilians were scattered among China's ravaged cities and 170,000 more soldiers were garrisoned in Formosa. Annexed by Japan in 1895 and subjected to a brutal ethnic cleansing, the fate of this island known today as Taiwan was decided at the Cairo Conference in 1943 when Chiang himself agreed on post-war territorial arrangements with Prime Minister Churchill and President Roosevelt.

The calamity of the war against Japanese aggression, which is how China recognises the conflict from 1937 until 1945, took such a severe toll on the country's population, that there was little to no relief once the Japanese left.

Impact of WWII on China

China began sliding toward a new crisis soon after the KMT finalised a treaty of friendship with the Soviet Union, while allowing 50,000 U.S. marines to land in the north and help repatriate Japanese POWs home.

The economic and humanitarian cost to China during WWII was immense, with 2 million soldiers perishing along with 14 million civilians. Contemporary historians now revise the death toll as high as 18 to 20 million (according to the Library of Congress Asian Reading Room), on par with the Soviet Union's losses during the war. Nonetheless, as soon as the mutual enemy was defeated, the civil war between the communists and nationalists simmered anew.

The communist leader and firebrand Mao Zedong shredded the KMT's tepid announcement of Japan's defeat in mid-August. Rather than the generous reassurance that China would not seek revenge on Japan, as uttered by Chiang himself, Mao blamed the KMT for their lack of co-operation and constant intrigues.

According to Mao, it was the communist forces who kept the Japanese divisions away from southern China's 'free' heartland where 200 million Chinese were spared the horrors of conquest.

This was a bizarre claim to make. In fact, the communists had fought short-lived campaigns against the Japanese in the early 1940s, which mostly took place in central China and the northeast.

Furthermore, the Imperial Japanese Army had reached the southern coast of China by late 1944 and even Hong Kong and Hainan island were seized as early as 1941 and 1939, respectively.

By 1947 the civil war was once again in full swing, despite heroic attempts by the U.S. envoy Gen. George C. Marshall to organise a coalition government.

In circumstances that echo current world politics, the United States was trying to solve the China question by bringing together two irreconcilable factions. Once the communists triumphed, and Mao Zedong and his circle were ensconced in Peking (Beijing) by October 1949, the entire fabric of China's national politics was in tatters.

The reeling nationalists of the KMT rebuilt their state on Formosa and organised a string of small garrisons on outer islands facing the Chinese coast as a primary line of defence for a coming invasion.

In supreme irony, by the early 1950s as the U.S. was extending support for the KMT in Taiwan, retired Japanese army generals were visiting Taipei incognito for briefings with their temporary secret allies.

The coming decades made the Peking-Taipei-Tokyo axis a complicated one. In his final years even Mao Zedong revised his views on Japan and welcomed a restoration of diplomacy. So did his successors, despite constant efforts in China to memorialise Japanese atrocities during the war of aggression, including the controversy surrounding 'comfort women' or the enslavement of women in Japanese-occupied areas.

Since the 1990s, immense monuments and exhibitions have emerged chronicling this painful and dark history, while at the same time Japan became the most reliable foreign investor in the mainland.

This article originally appeared in History of War magazine issue 151. Click here to subscribe to the magazine and save on the cover price!

There are two sides to Japan. Travelers marvel at the advanced technology and infrastructure — it's often said the country is "living in the future" — but this is also a place bound by tradition and formalities. Experience it all by traveling to Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and other major cities while also visiting spots with a slower pace, like Okinawa and Hakone. Here are eight hotels to check out in the center of both worlds, including capsule properties and historic ryokans.

Asaba Ryokan, Shuzenji

For more than five centuries, the Asaba family has welcomed guests to its ryokan, a traditional Japanese inn. Service here is rooted in the concept of omotenashi, or the "spirit of selfless hospitality," said The Japan Times, and there is a "profound sense of place." All rooms have hot spring baths, sliding doors made of wood and washi paper and tatami mat floors, with 10-course kaiseki dinners served every evening. Outside there are gardens, ponds and a floating Noh stage, where traditional performances like bunraku puppetry and shinnai musical storytelling take place.

First Cabin Tsukiji, Tokyo

First Cabin, a chain of 11 properties across Japan, is "redefining the capsule concept," said CNN. The goal is to "create a feeling of being in the first class cabin of an airplane," and a themed bar and reception area and "surprisingly spacious" capsules make each hotel "more luxurious" than similar lodging. Capsules are "cozy," containing a bed and flatscreen TV with headphones, and guests share showers and bathrooms.

Hakone Gora Karaku

Hakone is two hours from Tokyo, but can feel like a world away. Hakone Gora Karaku offers the "perfect hideaway" from the big city hustle and bustle, blending "contemporary elegance" and "time-honored Japanese hospitality," said The Michelin Guide. Guests choose between equally stylish Japanese and Western-style accommodations, with everyone able to enjoy their own in-suite mineral baths and a communal onsen, along with incredible views of the mountains, the town of Miyanoshita and Sagami Bay.

Halekulani Okinawa

Live like a local at the serene Halekulani Okinawa. It starts at breakfast, when guests enjoy bites like soba noodles and Okinawan pork sausage. From there, become immersed in cultural activities, including a guided meditative experience through Yambaru National Park and kayaking on Lake Fukugami. Okinawa is a Blue Zone, meaning residents on average live longer, and the hotel offers wellness-focused retreats exploring longevity. This is a "unique opportunity" to learn about Okinawan culture and "better understand how to live a healthier lifestyle," said Travel and Leisure.

Hotel The Mitsui Kyoto

Staying at Hotel The Mitsui Kyoto gives visitors the chance to see "old Kyoto through a fresh prism," said Condé Nast Traveler. There is a "hint of history" as you enter the property through an "ornate" wooden gateway, and the "sleek" rooms feature wabi-sabi bowls and other local artisan touches. Sign up for curated experiences, like a private tour of three UNESCO World Heritage temples or visit to the ceramic studio of a master Kiyomizu potter, and make time for a visit to the onsen and complimentary tour of the hotel's art collection.

Onyado Nono Asakusa Bettei, Tokyo

The little touches count at Onyado Nono Asakusa Bettei. Guests take off their shoes upon arrival and slip on socks given by the hotel, a "ritual that makes the experience feel like staying in a Japanese home," said Afar, and rooms come equipped with tatami mat flooring and plush futons. When the mood for relaxation strikes, there is a downstairs onsen with "striking" black mineral water, a sauna and a cold bath.

Roku Kyoto

Roku Kyoto sits on the site of a former artists' colony established by celebrated potter and calligrapher Hon'ami Koetsu, and pays homage to the past by ensuring its rooms and public spaces are "graced with traditional Japanese artworks and crafts," said The Points Guy. Guests can also get creative themselves, participating in workshops on how to make porcelain (using soil from the property) and the art of the tea ceremony. For the "quintessential Kyoto experience," take a swim in the outdoor thermal pool and soak up the gorgeous foliage and foothill views.

Waldorf Astoria Osaka

The new Waldorf Astoria Osaka spans the top floors of the South Park Tower skyscraper, and its "generously-sized rooms and suites" are "perfectly positioned" to "capture the city's dynamic skyline," Time Out said. The views are gorgeous inside and out, with the decor a blend of art deco touches and traditional kumiko screens, painted washi paper panels and shoji lampshades. Go for a swim on the 30th floor then indulge in afternoon tea or a cocktail at the Peacock Alley lounge.

Tokyo is a riot of sound and motion, neon lights and dense crowds. The contrast of its bustling streets with The Bulgari Hotel Tokyo couldn't be more stark – or, when I visited during an unseasonal May heatwave, more welcome.

The Bulgari is a cool urban retreat of understated chic, a shaded cathedral of high style. It seamlessly blends Italian and Japanese style with a smattering of Bulgari bling, including jewels in display cases and shimmering mosaic walls that evoke the fan-shaped 'Diva' design by the iconic jewellery brand with its origins in Italy. When Bulgari Hotel Tokyo opened in 2023, it became only the company's eighth hotel (increasing to 11 next year), a clear statement of the brand prizing exclusivity over quantity.

Why stay here?

Staying here is as much of an event as touring Tokyo. Occupying floors 40-45 of the new Tokyo Yaesu Midtown skyscraper in the Marunouchi business district, the Bulgari's 98 rooms offer a gasp-inducing view of the city stretching to the horizon. Every time I entered, the panorama stunned me anew, particularly its view of the Imperial Palace. Along with a two-floor spa, top-notch food and an army of discreet staff dedicated to service, it offers all you need to experience the apex of indulgence.

The rooms

Rooms are havens in restful greys and russets. Sleek black Italian furniture is softened by sumptuous silk headboards and a hand-painted gold ceiling. Pops of orange wallpaper add pizzazz. A shoji-style sliding door gives way to a masculine statement bathroom with a bathtub in signature Bulgari black granite, with a vast walk-in rainfall shower and Japanese super-loo.

Crisp linen pyjamas are on offer in the spacious dressing area alongside yukata (simple kimonos) and towelling robes. The latter were handy for a trip to the two-level spa accessed by a special elevator, enabling spa-goers to avoid encountering other guests.

The spa is a big draw. Not the usual below-ground urban grotto, but an oasis bathed in natural light, it provides a sunny showcase for its 25-metre pool of glistening emerald-green mosaic tiles that sparkle like jewels. The bling continues with a giant hot tub backed by a bright mosaic mural of green and gold.

Cabanas with floaty curtains dot the poolside and outdoor terrace, offering beach-style relaxation in the heart of the city. At 1,800 square metres, the spa never feels overcrowded. On the floor below are nine treatment rooms, the only place in Japan entitled to use the luxury German skincare brand Augustinus Bader.

Eating and drinking

Rome meets Tokyo in the food department, ensuring no one leaves disappointed. Breakfast is served in the dramatic curved-ceilinged salon that doubles up nightly as the Michelin-starred Il Ristorante – Niko Romito.

For breakfast, my partner opted for Japanese cuisine, a bento box of succulent tidbits including salmon roe, beef with mixed vegetables and miso soup, while I went for the Italian breakfast of homemade breads and pastries one day, and the hearty American breakfast of bacon, eggs and French toast the next. The Chinese breakfast and health-focused Gymnasium breakfast complete the offerings.

At night, the Michelin-starred Il Ristorante elevates traditional Italian fare by using local ingredients to create spaghetti alle vongole with Japanese clams and risotto alla Milanese with Japan's famous Akaito saffron. Hidden behind a curtain is Hoseki, an eight-seat counter overlooking a peaceful Japanese garden where delectable hand-crafted sushi is served.

The rooftop Bulgari Bar offers sweeping vistas, a buzzing atmosphere and strong cocktails; the mixologist explained which Japanese whisky he chose for my partner's delectable Old-Fashioned. The snacks kept coming to our table, and other revellers were feasting on lobster salad and focaccina with burrata and anchovies.

Things to do

Just steps away from the hotel is the Imperial Palace, home of the emperor, set in 1.3 square miles of parkland and surrounded by an imposing moat. The Inner Gardens are generally closed to the public but the three Outer Gardens offer a peaceful pit-stop after the buzz of the big city.

Ancient Shinto and Buddhist temples offer culture in this city of steel and glass: the imposing Senso-ji Temple in the Asakusa district is approached by a bustling walkway of street-food vendors and bouji shops. Zenkoku-ji Temple in Kagurazaka district comes alive with crowds during festivals, but my favourite was Meiji-jingu Shrine near Harajuku Station, honouring the modernising Emperor Meiji, set in a gorgeous forest of more than 100,000 trees from all over Japan.

Give your credit card a workout in the nearby Ginza district. The Ginza Six is a new temple of shopping in which 241 high-end shops and restaurants (including Bulgari) vie for custom, with a rooftop garden, Noh Theatre and enjoyably bizarre art installation in the atrium of inflatable cats dressed as astronauts.

Also in Ginza, department stores Matsuya and Wako offer luxury goods, and for refreshment, savour green tea at the venerated Uogashi-Meicha Cha Ginza tea shop, open since 1931, or stop at the Miyazawa Café for its famous egg sandwiches.

The verdict

The Bulgari Hotel seamlessly mixes two cultures in high style, with tasteful touches of Bulgari sparkle. Hovering near the clouds in Tokyo's business district, it offers endless vistas, high-end luxury and a peaceful retreat from the bustling big city.

Gabriel Power was a guest of The Bulgari Hotel Tokyo.

Seeing the sights from the back of a bike is one way to become fully immersed in a new place and get your heart pumping. These five exhilarating bike tours will have you gliding by beautiful scenery, enjoying the sunshine and fresh air.

Tour France, Germany and Luxembourg along the River Moselle

Follow the River Moselle for a biking adventure through three separate countrysides. There are "beginner-friendly" bike paths on both sides of the water, and because of the Schengen Agreement, you can "dip in and out" of France, Germany and Luxembourg "without ever showing a passport," said the BBC. On the Cochem to Metz eight-day excursion with Boat Bike Tours, cyclists spend their days stopping at vineyards and exploring historic towns like Cochem, Germany, home of the ancient Reichsburg Castle. At night, you hop on a barge that serves as a floating hotel.

Tackle the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia

Running for 172 miles from Torquay to Allansford, the Great Ocean Road hugs one of the "most dramatic coastlines in the world," said Architectural Digest. This is a "must-do" for any seasoned biker, and Roar Adventures' Great Ocean Road Cycle Tour takes travelers along the full length of the route in four days. Highlights include seeing natural wonders like the Loch Ard Gorge and Twelve Apostles sea stacks and visiting Bells Beach.

Travel from onsen to onsen in Kyushu, Japan

Onsens are soothing hot springs, and the perfect spots to rest while cycling through Kyushu, Japan's third-largest island. On Spice Roads' Onsen to Onsen tour, bikers spend six days riding along rivers and rice fields, past temples and up mountain passes, with a stop in Beppu, a beloved center of onsen culture. Kyushu's "beautiful" roads and paths make it "ideal" for both "amateur and serious" riders, said Travel and Leisure.

Take the Jordan Trail to Petra

Jordan's stark desert landscapes look even more stunning when viewed from the back of a bike. Much Better Adventures' Jordan Trail to Petra: The E-Bike Edition tour starts in the Dana Valley and includes stops at Wadi Rum, the Dead Sea and Petra, where you will hop off your bike and hike into the ancient site. One of the New 7 Wonders of the World, Petra is filled with "magnificent monuments" made of pink sandstone, said Lonely Planet, including the "astonishing" Treasury, the 2,000-year-old tomb of Nabataean King Aretas III. On two of the nights, travelers will sleep under the stars in a Bedouin-style camp.

Explore Missouri on the Katy Trail

A ride on the Katy Trail gives visitors the chance to see everything the "Show Me State" has to offer. This is the longest rail trail in the U.S., stretching 239 miles past limestone bluffs, fields, forests and historic places like Marthasville, one of the oldest towns in Missouri, and Rocheport, a "gem" on the banks of the Missouri River that is "chock-full" of art galleries and antique shops, St. Louis Magazine said. Because it is mostly flat, paved and car-free, beginners and experts alike enjoy riding along the trail. Adventure Cycling's Katy Trail tour breaks up the route over eight days, giving cyclists the opportunity for a more relaxing ride with plenty of time for stops.

Some countries, like Greece and Indonesia, are known for their islands, but for every Santorini and Bali, there is a lesser-known haven like Kastellorizo or Lombok. These quieter islands are as stunning as their famous kin — but without the crowds. Here are eight of the finest.

Isla Robinson Crusoe, Chile

There is no place like Isla Robinson Crusoe. This island is remote, taking two hours to fly there from Santiago. It is covered in "unique flora, two-thirds of which is found nowhere else on Earth," Lonely Planet said, and it is "not uncommon to experience four seasons in one day." There is one town to visit, San Juan Bautista, and ample opportunity to go swimming, diving, hiking and learn about the castaways who inspired Daniel Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe."

Kastellorizo, Greece

Kastellorizo sits one mile from the Turkish coast, "where Europe ends and Asia begins," said Condé Nast Traveler. Because of this, the island "packs in a heady cocktail of cultures," with travelers able to visit ancient churches, tombs, monasteries and the Kastellorizo Historical Collection, housed in a mosque. There is "no nightlife to speak of" but plenty of natural beauty, including the Blue Grotto sea cave where you float "inside a dome of liquified blue light."

Lombok, Indonesia

Tranquil Lombok "feels like what Bali was three decades ago," said the Observer. Because it is "relatively undeveloped," visitors can settle in on their "own stretch of beach" and enjoy a day of looking at Lombok's "untouched beauty." Serious hikers should plan on climbing to the top of Mount Rinjani, an active volcano. While the trek is "not for the faint of heart," you will be rewarded with "beautiful panoramas."

Lummi Island, United States

Washington's Lummi Island is a "bucolic" slice of the Puget Sound, where creatives and nature lovers live in harmony, said Afar. Artists "find inspiration in the serenity," offering workshops and putting their wares on display during open studio tours held three times a year. Those who prefer being outside can hop in a kayak and forage for kelp or take a hike through the island's nature preserves.

Mafia Island, Tanzania

Often described as Tanzania's "best-kept secret," Mafia Island is the quintessential tropical destination, with "powdery white sand and diamond-clear waters," said Lonely Planet. Mafia Island Marine Park draws visitors who want to look at pristine mangroves, dive and snorkel by coral reefs and hopefully spot a whale shark (aka the world's biggest fish). You can try to see these "harmless giants" off the shores of Utende, Juani, Kitoni and Bweni beaches.

Sado Island, Japan

Once an isle for political exiles, Sado Island is now known for the annual Earth Celebration music festival, hosted by the Kodo taiko drumming group. It is also home to the Sado Island Gold Mines, one of UNESCO's newest World Heritage Sites. Dating back 400 years to the Edo period, these were "once Japan's largest gold and silver producers," said Afar, and visitors can explore two tunnels with displays on what life was like at the mine and different mining techniques.

Senja, Norway

Senja is the second-largest island in Norway, where "mountains plunge vertically into fjords" and "picturesque" fishing villages dot the coastline, CNN said. Depending on the season, visitors can hike, fish, ski and cycle, with the Northern Lights often appearing between September and April and the midnight sun shining through the summer. For the best views of Senja, hike to the top of Husfjellet mountain and soak up the stunning scenery.

Taveuni, Fiji

They call Taveuni the Garden Island for a reason. This is the "prettiest" of Fiji's isles and an "eco-tourist's wildest dream," said the Sydney Morning Herald, filled with waterfalls, tropical flowers and verdant vegetation. Surfers flock here for the waves, and scuba fans enjoy exploring the soft coral reefs and some of the "best dive sites" in the South Pacific.

A pioneering new drug that could eventually help people regrow missing or damaged teeth has begun clinical trials in Japan.

If successful, the "groundbreaking medication" may be a "game-changer for the entire field of dentistry", said Japanese daily The Mainichi.

'A third set'

Unlike many species such as reptiles and fish, humans grow only two sets of teeth in their lifetime: the first as a baby and then a second permanent set for adulthood. The premise of the new drug is that "humans once had the ability to grow a third set" and "still possess the buds" necessary to regrow them, reported Discover Magazine.

The team, led by Katsu Takahashi, head of the dentistry and oral surgery department at the Medical Research Institute Kitano Hospital in Osaka, identified a protein called USAG-1 which was found to limit tooth growth. A new antibody medicine that blocked the protein's function was tested on mice in 2018, with hugely encouraging results.

A trial is now under way to test whether the drug is safe and effective for use on humans. It will initially be aimed at treating children aged two to six with anodontia, a hereditary condition believed to affect around 0.1% of people, which causes wide gaps between teeth that make it hard to chew food. Researchers hope to roll the drug out to the wider public by 2030.

'Filling in the gaps'

Nearly 7% of people over the age of 20 worldwide have lost all their teeth, rising to 23% of those over 60, according to the World Health Organization. For these people, right now the "options are pretty much the same as they have been for millennia: artificial replacement", said New Scientist. But "it turns out there are a few ways to successfully regrow a lost tooth".

One method, developed at Tufts University, Massachusetts, uses a cotton wool-like "scaffold" to seed a mix of dental cells from humans and pigs, reported the journal Stem Cells Translational Medicine. Cultivated in a lab, these could be implanted to fill a gap left by a lost tooth "within 20 years", said The Telegraph.

Another method involves trying to trick cells into behaving like embryonic stem cells. In 2023, scientists from the University of Washington School of Dentistry succeeded in creating proteins that form dental enamel. Professor Hai Zhang, co-author of the study, called this a "critical first step" in the development of stem cell-based dental treatments, said science news website EurekAlert!.

Earlier this year, scientists from King's College London managed to grow a tooth under laboratory conditions. Xuechen Zhang, a final-year PhD student at the Faculty of Dentistry, Oral and Craniofacial Sciences, said lab-grown teeth "would naturally regenerate, integrating into the jaw" in the same way as real teeth. "They would be stronger, longer lasting, and free from rejection risks, offering a more durable and biologically compatible solution than fillings or implants."

Although this breakthrough may still be a "long way from filling in the gaps in anyone's mouth, researchers say it is filling in the gaps in research", reported the BBC.

What happened

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has vowed to remain in office, despite exit polls indicating that his Liberal Democratic Party's ruling coalition has lost its majority in the country's upper house. The LDP-Komeito coalition surrendered its majority in the lower house last year, and defeat in Sunday's tightly-contested election could further undermine its influence.

Who said what

There is "frustration" with Ishiba, the LDP and Komeito over rising prices, inflation, a "string of political scandals" and the "threat of U.S. tariffs," said the BBC. The election "exposed a growing generational fissure" in Japan, with the "biggest gains" going to a "gaggle of new parties that drew younger voters with stridently nationalist messages," said The New York Times. The "fringe far-right" Sanseito party made gains with its "Japanese First" campaign, said Reuters.

What next?

Ishiba said he "solemnly" accepted the "harsh result." He vowed to "deal with" the "many issues" facing the country, including reaching a trade deal with the Trump administration. A new leader now would "almost certainly unleash political drama," said the BBC, and "destabilize Japan's government at a pivotal moment in U.S.-Japan trade negotiations."

Entering Hotel Sowaka in Kyoto's famous Gion district feels like stepping onto the set of the Disney+ series "Shōgun". Guests leave their shoes – and any expectations of a typical hotel stay – at the front door and enter an establishment where old-world Japanese charm meets modern boutique hotel.

The building is 110 years old and for its first century housed a tearoom. When the Sowaka was opened in 2018 (and its annexe in 2019), the tearoom's outdoor cooking stoves and well were preserved – a symbol of the current owners' regard for its history. A low-ceilinged hallway of Japanese plaster and varnished dark wood lead to a lounge with tatami mat floor, wooden beams and stylish contemporary furniture that lets the building do the talking.

Traditional shoji (rice paper) doors and original sliding windows abound, whisking guests back in time – much of the edifice and its magnificent Japanese garden of maple and zelkova trees are original.

Why stay here?

Despite its traditional look, the hotel offers most modern amenities expected from a five-star hotel, including European mattresses rather than futons, bathrooms with walk-in rainfall showers and wifi. A glaring absence is no TV. Instead, you'll find a meditation corner with a low chair and bell, encouraging guests to find their zen.

My deluxe suite was in the annexe, with traditional tatami surrounding the giant bed but modern hardwood floors under the lounge area. There, sofas and a table offered a perfect spot for lounging between sightseeing trips. Complimentary soft drinks and beers in the fridge are welcome, and a wall of glass overlooking a mini-courtyard floods the room with light and provides a restful oasis.

The bathroom is minimalist modern in dark grey with double sinks, aforesaid rainfall shower, and one of those smart toilets with bells and whistles like a bidet. The Sowaka's nod to old Japan is a delightful cedar wood bath rather than an ordinary tub; compact but deep and overlooking the restful private courtyard, it gave off the most delicious wood scent as I soaked my aching limbs.

Eating and drinking

Meals at the Sowaka are served in the restaurant Gion Loka, an intimate space with a long bar made from a polished tree trunk – a perfect perch for breakfast – and a selection of tables. I recommend the Japanese breakfast, an Instagrammable bento box of about 30 delights, quite a few of which I couldn't name but which were a taste sensation – morsels of fresh fish and pickled vegetables and tofu, packed with umami flavours. Once the sun sets, dinner brings traditional Japanese food elevated to innovative new heights with temptations such as grilled black cod with Saikyo miso, deep-fried pork cutlets and succulent Wagyu fillet steak.

For dinner on the town, head to Pontocho Alley, a car-free thoroughfare near the river lit with colourful paper lanterns and packed with traditional buildings housing restaurants and bars. After queuing for a table at Sushi Kizaemon, we were rewarded with a feast of melt-in-the-mouth smoked eel, prawn and salmon sushi. A few steps further on, we found a delightful hole-in-the-wall okonomiyaki restaurant, Kiraku, where health and safety were cast aside as we fried up fresh pancakes of cabbage and prawns on a red-hot griddle at our table.

What to do

Japan's ancient capital, Kyoto, was deliberately spared Allied bombing during the Second World War to preserve its cultural landmarks. In stark contrast to Tokyo's neighbourhoods of glass and steel, Kyoto's historic areas – particularly Gion, where the Sowaka is located – feature streets of historic low-rise wooden machiya houses, originally home to artisans and merchants. As Kyoto's most famous geisha district, these distinctively dressed women (as well as tourists dressed in rented geisha outfits) are highly visible. Stroll through the charming Higashiyama area, where sloping streets are lined with classical buildings turned into cafes and restaurants and shops selling pottery, spices and jewellery.

Hop on a local train to the Fushimi Inari Shrine in southern Kyoto, 1,300 years old and famous for its thousands of vermilion torii gates that visitors walk through as they wind through a wooded forest to the summit of Mount Inari (though you can take shorter routes, as we did). Dedicated to the Shinto god of rice for prosperous businesses and bountiful harvests, it's a one-of-a-kind sight.

You could spend days visiting all of Kyoto's eye-catching ancient temples. My favourites were the Yasaka Pagoda (also called Hokan-ji Temple), which dominates the Higashiyama district's skyline and is an intricate five-story wooden temple occasionally open to the public and particularly striking when lit up at night. Another head-turner is the red-and-white Yasaka Shrine in Gion, 1,350 years old and comprising an offering hall and inner sanctuary. It comes alive at night thanks to strings of bright lanterns.

The verdict

A stylish fusion of old and new Japan awaits you at Sowaka. With just 23 rooms plus a cosy lounge, tea room and restaurant, this boutique hotel offers an upmarket antidote to bigger hotel chains.

Gabriel Power was a guest at Sowaka Hotel

It is a question many couples wrestle with when getting married. Do they take their partner's surname or keep their own?

But while it is common in many countries for couples to take a single surname after marriage, in Japan it is a legal requirement. The law, dating from Japan's Meiji era, which ended in 1912, does not explicitly state that a woman must take her husband's name, rather than a man taking his wife's, but 95% of women do.

'A human rights issue'

Japan's largest business lobby, Keidanren, has said the law "hinders women's advancement".

As women "rise in the workplace" the status quo is causing "resentment", said The Economist. "Name changes are a pain for people who have toiled to build a strong reputation" and while using one for legal documents and another for work is "doable", it "invites confusion".

It is also claimed that the law contributes, in part, to Japan's low birth rate. A survey conducted by Asuniwa, an NGO which advocates for a selective dual-surname system, reported in The Japan Times, found almost 30% of people in "de facto" marriages would legally tie the knot if the law changed. This number could be as high as 590,000 people, so in a country where having a child out of wedlock is still taboo this would lead to more births, the argument goes.

Naho Ida, head of Asuniwa, said the impact of forcing couples to share a surname should "be seen as a human rights issue".

Campaigners also say a change in the law will stop uncommon surnames from dying out, with one study suggesting that over time everyone in Japan will end up being called "Sato", the country's most common surname.

'Confuse kids and loosen family bonds'

"Much as abortion rights have become a litmus test in American politics" so the surname requirement has "come to symbolise Japan's status on a constellation of women's rights", said The New York Times.

Polls in recent years indicate between a half and two-thirds of the public favour scrapping the law. So do many politicians.

In May, lawmakers discussed a bill put forward by opposition parties – the first time the Diet had debated the law in 28 years according to Japanese daily The Mainichi – but it was ultimately blocked by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

The problem, said The Economist, is that reformers in the LDP are "loth to challenge the hard-right flank of their party, particularly ahead of an upper-house election in July".

"The issue has become totemic for a chunk of the Japanese political right", with conservative hardliners arguing a change in the law would "confuse kids and loosen family bonds". One speaker at a recent gathering of the ultra-conservative Nippon Kaigi group said efforts to change name rules were part of a "Communist plot" to "tear apart traditional values and destroy the country".

The man widely considered to be the greatest sumo wrestler in history has resigned, compounding a bruising few years for Japan's ancient sport.

Last week Hakuho Sho left the Japan Sumo Association (JSA), the sport's governing body, the latest in a series of resignations among yokozuna, the highest-ranking wrestlers. Now, only four of the 10 most recently retired grand champions are still in the JSA.

"It's a significant loss of high-level experience and one that hurts sumo's efforts to both find and keep young talent in the sport," said The Japan Times. And the resignation of Hakuho – the most decorated wrestler in sumo history "by a significant margin", as well as a "major recruiter of talent" – is the "biggest blow of all".

'Sullied' samurai values

The origins of sumo date back more than 1,000 years, but Japan is the only place where it is "contested on a professional level", said The Independent. It is widely considered Japan's national sport, with many "ritual elements" connected to the indigenous religion, Shinto. Sumo is "highly regimented"; many wrestlers live in training facilities where "food and dress are controlled by ancient traditions".

Sumo "prides itself on being a repository of the samurai values of courage, determination and loyalty", said The Times. But that image has been "sullied" in recent years. The sport has been "plagued" by scandals involving "violence, match-fixing and mismanagement". Japan's dramatically falling birth rate has also "hurt sumo". According to government data released this week, Japan's birth rate dropped by 5.7% between 2023 and 2024. Last spring only 34 people applied to become wrestlers – known as rikishi – down from 160 at the peak in 1992. To "lure young recruits", the governing body relaxed the minimum standards for height and weight.

One wrestler's ascendance is seen as a "chance to increase the sport's popularity", and distance it from its controversies. Sumo may have its "smiling 30-stone champion": Onosato.

Onosato was promoted to the rank of yokozuna last month, "completing a meteoric rise to the summit" of sumo in a record span of just 13 tournaments, said The Guardian. Born Daiki Nakamura, he is the 75th yokozuna in sumo's history, and at age 24 the youngest since 1994. He's also the first Japanese-born sumo wrestler since 2017; in recent years Mongolian-born athletes like Hakuho have "dominated". His rise has been "widely hailed both for its symbolic significance and his calm, composed style".

"I hope he leads by example and lifts the entire world of sumo," said Nishonoseki, Onosato's stablemaster, who competed as Kisenosato.

A few big buts

But wrestlers who exert "total dominance" inside the ring often struggle with the strict rules and conventions of sumo, said The Japan Times. They are regularly "chastised".

Still, official censure or "condemnation by the media" is "easier to handle when you are top of the world and raking in trophies and prize money". But "it's a completely different situation when the limelight and all the perks are suddenly gone".

For wrestlers such as Hakuho, sumo is all they know. There are "few, if any, opportunities to develop the kind of skills and mechanisms needed to cope with the emotional turmoil that comes from such a sudden shift".

What makes the adjustment even harder is the "rigid nature of life" after retirement from sumo. For those who choose to remain with the JSA as coaches or stablemasters, there is "still little freedom in how they choose to live their lives day to day".

Now, after Hakuho's resignation, the future of his namesake event is unclear. The Hakuho Cup is "arguably the most important sumo tournament in the world" for children and adolescents.

For Onosato, like numerous current wrestlers, the cup was a "major milestone and motivator". It provides "invaluable experience for children from numerous countries", and was a link between amateur and professional sumo.

The JSA will "continue to survive and thrive", but it's hard to argue that "sumo hasn't been lessened without its most decorated champion". For the sake of its future, sumo should "figure out a way to stem the tide of such high-profile departures".

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Think of cheerleaders, and the usual image that springs to mind is that of pom-pom-wielding young women pulling off acrobatic flips and spins in colourful costumes.

However, in Japan, an entirely new demographic is entering the female-dominated ranks of cheerleading: male office workers. During the week, the members of Cheer Re-Man are "quintessential" Japanese salarymen, said Reuters, squeezing onto "crowded trains" to work behind a desk – but come the weekend, they transform into something quite different.

'Eye-popping' performances

Formed in 2023, Cheer Re-Man's – a hybrid of "cheerleading" and "salaryman" – is made up of alumni from the elite Waseda University's male cheerleading squad. From Monday to Friday, they work in sectors like real estate sales and marketing and they "balance their professional lives" with a "passion for cheerleading".

For rehearsals, the group "borrows half the gym" from a female college cheerleading team "in exchange for biscuits". The ethos of the group is "all about spreading cheer", spending their weekends at shopping malls and other venues to entertain and inspire crowds with "eye-popping" acrobatic performances.

They "find joy" in cheerleading, said the South China Morning Post, and thanks to their thrilling performances, they're "injecting some high-flying excitement into Japan's typically buttoned-down" business world.

If you think you recognise them it could be from this year's "Britain's Got Talent" series, where the "suave bunch" were "suited and booted" for their "truly gravity-defying performance", said ITV. They came third in their semi-final.

Chasing their dreams

Japanese sporting culture has its own "cheer" tradition, in the form of the mostly-male "leadership sections" who dress in military-style uniforms to lead fans in chants, "bang taiko drums and thrust their fists in rigid, martial moves", said AFP. But "American-style" cheerleading has been heavily female-dominated.

"If we, Japanese salarymen, can do what we're passionate about, then everyone else can keep chasing their dreams too," squad member Soichiro Kakimoto, a 23-year-old who works in software development, told Reuters. "On weekdays, I use my brain and on weekends, I use my body", so "even if one isn't well, the other might be, and that's contributing to my overall mental health".

A 61-year-old housewife called Yasuko Yamaki, became a fan after hearing about the group on social media. "In Japan, we're all going through a lot," she said, but watching them "putting in so much without giving up makes me cry". "It's so inspirational."

Although the Cheer Re-Man's cheer squad is a hobby for its members, the "unusual sight" of these Japanese "corporate warriors being launched seven metres into the air" has earned them at least one paid gig: advertising the Uniqlo suits they wear for their performances.

Summer is one of the busiest travel times of the year, but some people who have upcoming itineraries in Japan may be rethinking their plans. The reason: a Japanese comic book, or manga, that warns of a devastating natural disaster set to befall Japan.

This might sound like a bizarre reason to cancel an upcoming trip, but reports have indicated that many Asian travelers are wary because the book and its author have seemingly predicted disasters in the past. Now, people are concerned that the manga will be correct again.

What is predicted in this manga?

The manga, "The Future I Saw," was republished in 2021 after first being written in 1999. The 2021 version claims that a massive earthquake will hit Japan in July 2025. Some people are concerned because the book seems to have been correct before; the 1999 version "warned of a major disaster in March 2011, a date which turned out to coincide with the cataclysmic quake that struck Japan's northern Tohoku region that month," said CNN. The republished manga warns that on "July 5 this year, a crack will open up under the seabed between Japan and the Philippines, sending ashore waves three times as tall as those from the Tohoku earthquake."

The manga's author, Ryo Tatsuki, has a "significant following in East Asia," and her fans "often believe she can accurately see future events in her dreams," said CNN. Her "2011 quake prediction — or coincidence — made Tatsuki famous not just in Japan but also in other parts of Asia like Thailand and China." The author has allegedly predicted other world events, including the death of Princess Diana and the Covid-19 pandemic.

But "The Future I Saw" is not the only predictive device that has tourists worried. Many "online rumors warning that a huge earthquake will soon strike Japan" have been circulating, said AFP. At least one "Facebook group that claims to predict disasters in Japan has over a quarter of a million members." One viral YouTube video "featuring a feng shui master urging viewers not to visit Japan, published by local media outlet HK01, has been viewed more than 100,000 times."

What effect is this having on tourism to Japan?

Many tourists, especially people from Hong Kong, are reportedly canceling or changing their trips to Japan. Residents of the Chinese city "made nearly 2.7 million trips to Japan in 2024," said AFP, but the "earthquake prophecy has absolutely caused a big change to our customers' preferences," Frankie Chow, the head of Hong Kong travel agency CLS Holiday, told the outlet. Chow's company this year reportedly "received 70-80% fewer inquiries about traveling to Japan than last year."

Flight reservations are also being impacted. The Hong Kong-based Greater Bay Airlines "expected around 80% of the seats to be taken, but actual reservations came to only 40%," Hiroki Ito, the general manager of the airline's Japan office, told Japan's Asahi newspaper.

Amid the tourism issues, Japan's government has taken steps to reassure people that the country is safe — even as the Chinese embassy "cautioned citizens visiting or living in Japan to take precautions against natural disasters," said the South China Morning Post. It would be a "major problem if the spread of unscientific rumors on social media had an effect on tourism," Yoshihiro Murai, the governor of Japan's Miyagi prefecture, said during a press conference.

There is "no reason to worry," Murai added, noting that Japanese citizens are not fleeing to other countries. "I hope people will ignore the rumors and visit."

China's marriage rate may have plunged to a record low last year, but at least some of the country's singles are saying yes – albeit to a different type of arrangement.

A small but growing number of young people are "marrying their best friends", said the South China Morning Post. The so-called "friendship marriage" trend involves two people becoming legal spouses, often living together in a relationship based on "shared values and interests" – but without ties of romantic love or sex.

Friends with platonic benefits

Faced with a "plummeting birth rate and an ageing population", the Chinese government is overtly encouraging its record number of single people to get married, said The Associated Press. In a speech in 2023, President Xi Jinping called for a "new type of marriage and childbearing culture". So for many singles wanting to "escape family pressure and societal prejudice", said the SCMP, a friendship marriage helps. "Women my age are all getting married and having kids," 33-year-old, Chloe, told the publication. "A friendship marriage helps avoid gossip."

Sexless marriages are also on the rise in Japan and are "among the reasons cited for the low birth rate", said The Times. But for a growing number of people, that sexlessness is "an integral part of a marital union". They appeal to those who "want the benefits of marriage" – legal and financial, or perhaps to raise a child – without intimacy.

That's especially true of gay and asexual people, for whom traditional marriage might be "at odds" with their sexual orientation. Like China, Japan does not recognise same-sex marriage, and remains socially conservative in attitudes towards non-traditional families. Friendship marriages have "filled the gap to some extent".

Colorus, one of many matchmaking agencies specialising in friendship marriages, claims 80% of its male clients are gay and 90% of women on its books identify as asexual. "We offer an option to those who cannot fall in love or have sex with the opposite gender," Arisa Nakamura, the director, told the newspaper.

In the US, many platonic "couples" aren't "open about their situation", but anecdotal evidence from online messageboards suggests it could be "a larger portion of the marriage population than numbers portray", said The New York Times in 2021. It "probably happens a lot", said Nick Bognar, a marriage therapist.

'An oddity in human history'

Platonic unions have been "prevalent since marriage became an institution", said the newspaper. Historically, marriages were an "economic proposition". It is marrying for love that is "more of an oddity in human history". Now spouses are expected to fulfil all of each other's needs: "social, psychological and economic".

Growing numbers of young people are realising that there are "other benefits to marriage other than romantic love," one woman told the daily. "I mean, isn't the point to marry your best friend? In other words, why can't it be your "literal best friend"?

But there are risks in saying "I do" to a friend, said law fellow Nausica Palazzo on The Conversation. In the US, for example, it's "pretty easy for two friends to get married" – as long as they don't admit they're only friends. "Legally speaking, it could be seen as a sham marriage", something akin to a green card union.

It would be extremely difficult to prove, but the couple could risk "criminal sanctions and civil penalties". They could end up being denied the very financial benefits, such as tax breaks, that attracted them to marriage in the first place.

Friendship marriages don't work for everyone as an "escape from reality," Pan Lian, a family relationship consultant in China, told SCMP. They are a "temporary solution to societal pressures" that may fade should "affordable housing and single benefits improve."

For hundreds of years, Japan was notorious for being closed off to foreigners.

But over the past decade the country has been forced to start opening up to immigration, in need of foreign workers to plug the labour shortages caused by its plummeting birth rates and ageing population.

Now, Japan is increasingly struggling to accommodate the newcomers – in particular, the growing population of Muslims.

'A tatami welcome mat'

The "yokoso" (welcome) sign at Tokyo's Narita Airport is "clearly provisional and time-limited", said Philip Patrick in The Spectator. Japan puts "social cohesion and societal harmony well ahead of any desire for diversity".

But there has been a "major shift in policy". In the past few years, "radical" changes to visa and work-permit requirements have amounted to "a door being flung open and a tatami welcome mat being rolled out to the world". Why? "Japan has no choice."

Japan is still "often painted as hostile, if not downright xenophobic", said The Japan Times. But the number of overseas workers has "more than doubled" over the past decade, The foreign community, including students, has increased 50%. In 2023, then Prime Minister Fumio Kishida expanded the visa allowing foreign workers and their families to stay in Japan indefinitely, from just two industries to 11. Now, foreigners account for about 2.4% of the population.

These reforms have not sparked "the populist backlash seen in European countries experiencing shrinking populations", said the Harvard International Review. So far, most Japanese people "appear content" with the changes.

Foreign workers are mostly permitted in industries like agriculture and nursing care, fields in which the Japanese generally aren't keen to work. But the country has "prioritised immigrants based on their usefulness", and focussed less on their integration – "leaving newcomers to face language, cultural, and social barriers alone".

There are also inklings of a backtrack. The government has been planning an electronic authentication system to strengthen checks on visa-waivered foreigners entering the country – the Japanese version of the US's ESTA – to prevent them from overstaying their welcome.

It had aimed to introduce the system by 2030, but on Wednesday, 23 April, Justice Minister Suzuki Keisuke said that the process needed to be "accelerated" by two years, according to NHK World – due to the increase in foreigners.

'Still far from a multicultural society'

The increase in migrants has also sparked a growing demand for an unexpected product: graves. In Japan, almost everyone is cremated – which Islam strictly forbids.

But Muslim migrants and converts "face opposition" when it comes to building cemeteries that can accommodate an Islamic burial, said South China Morning Post. Some community leaders have raised objections over "sanitary concerns".

The Muslim population in Japan is about 350,000: more than three times the number in 2010, according to Hirofumi Tanada, professor emeritus of Waseda University's Faculty of Human Sciences, and expert on Muslim affairs in Japan.

There are still only about 10 "major locations with burial sites" with religious affiliations in Japan, including Christian sites. Almost all cemeteries still only perform cremations. Muslims considering staying in Japan indefinitely say the limited number of burial plots "makes them anxious about their future".

The availability of halal food is increasing, but the "rapid increase" in Muslims, mostly from Indonesia, means finding places for group prayers is "a struggle", said Nikkei. There are also challenges in education and health care, as most Japanese are unfamiliar with Islam.

"As Japan continues to bring in foreign workers, its Muslim population is sure to grow," said the news site. "But Japan is still far from becoming a multicultural society that fully accommodates Muslims, whose religious and daily customs differ significantly from Japanese ones."

Gawr Gura, the most popular VTuber in the world, has officially announced her retirement. A computer-generated cross between a girl and a shark, Gawr Gura acted as a "torchbearer" of this fast growing internet subculture, said The Gamer.

VTubers, or virtual YouTubers, use face or body tracking to "puppeteer a digital avatar" anime character and sing, stream and speak often to massive audience bases, said Polygon.

The online community, which started in Japan, has "exploded in popularity" in the past few years and is now gaining fans across the world. Entertainers' real faces and voices never appear online – instead, fans follow the avatars, the majority of which "derive their visual style from anime".

With millions of subscribers, Gawr Gura decided to retire due to issues with her agency – the largest of a handful that "recruit and foster talent to become virtual entertainers", said Polygon.

The VTuber's decision feels "bittersweet" to long-time fans, said The Gamer. "They weren't just cheering for a cute anime shark girl, but the voice, personality, and presence they had come to know."

Anime streamers

VTube was first taken mainstream by Kizuna AI, an avatar brought to life by Japanese company Activ8 nearly 10 years ago. Since then, agencies have capitalised on the growing market, building up bases of avatar talent. Cover Corp, the agency that managed Gawr Gura, is the largest, handling dozens of creators and facilitating about a quarter of all VTube views.

VTubers, managed by an agency or not, take to streaming services like YouTube and Twitch to connect with their fans. Masquerading as their character and often taking on a signature, high-pitched anime voice, creators put on performances or simply chat – and people tune in by the millions.

Fans of VTubers often develop parasocial relationships with their favourite entertainers, becoming attached to the real people behind the avatars. In many ways, the community mirrors Japan's "idol" culture, in which singers and entertainers are intentionally marketed to fans as role models, friends, or even potential romantic partners.

Motoaki Tanigo, CEO of Cover Corp, said that despite visual comparisons to artificial intelligence, fans might become confused or disconnected if VTube creators started to use AI in their videos. "This whole business is based on fans' desire to support someone because of their extraordinary artistic talent," he told The Japan Times.

Hitting a home run in LA

Viewership of VTube is growing, and it is slowly "becoming a staple of live content", said Esports Illustrated. Last summer, even more people were exposed to VTube when Cover characters made some special appearances at a Los Angeles Dodgers baseball game.

The avatars took to the jumbotron, were found in photo spots as cardboard cutouts and sold special merch, like t-shirts and baseball cards. "Gura even went viral for her rendition of Take Me Out to the Ball Game in the 7th inning," said Esports Illustrated.

Baseball and VTube may seem like an unusual combination, but "the collaboration was a success" even before the Dodgers took home the World Series in October. The sport is incredibly popular in Japan, and the Dodgers with "superstar Shohei Ohtani on the roster" gave the collaboration plenty of momentum.

The agencies behind VTube aren't slowing down anytime soon. For Cover, "the Dodgers' promotion is one step in a campaign to broaden the appeal of VTubers beyond the fervent core" of young men in Japan, said the LA Times.

The company has since launched Cover USA, opening an office in Los Angeles, said Esports Illustrated. And alongside its expansion, Cover has introduced "its VTuber talent" to anime conventions and concerts, hoping to "spread awareness of its creators and brand in the English market".

The world has few such serene places as Japan's traditional gardens. Each is a "meticulously crafted universe", said Danielle Demetriou in The Telegraph – a "near-sacred" space that invites you to savour the "stillness" of things. And of the many to be found across the country's main island, Honshu, three in particular stand out – the Nihon Sanmeien, or Three Great Gardens of Japan.

They are centuries old – "the stuff of Japanese landscape legends" – and each lies in a different prefecture, three or four hours apart by train. As overtourism increasingly plagues Japan (last year brought a record 34 million visitors), they could form the basis of an alternative itinerary – a journey into "the Japan of dreams", far from the tourist crowds.

Head first for the "achingly scenic" Korakuen, which sits beside the striking black castle in Okayama, a culture-rich city overlooking the Seto Inland Sea. Like the other gardens, Korakuen was commissioned by a local feudal lord, to offer pleasures including tea ceremonies, poetry gatherings and cherry-blossom appreciation. As in the other gardens, its winding paths flow around ponds to reveal a series of "carefully choreographed" views. Completed in 1700, it changes exquisitely with the seasons, from the camellias of winter to early-spring daffodils, early-summer irises and autumn's "flame-toned" momiji maple leaves.

Next comes Kenrokuen in Kanazawa, one of Japan's most picturesque historic cities, known for its geisha heritage and rich craft traditions. Dating back to the 17th century, the garden offers a series of "iconic" views, and also has a wonderful teahouse- style restaurant with modern interiors by Kengo Kuma, perfect for a post-stroll treat.

Finally, there is Kairakuen in Mito city, north of Tokyo, a mid-19th century garden with 3,000 blossoming plum trees in 100 different varieties, which burst into "a symphony of pinks and whites" from late February to March.

The noctourist is just getting started when other travelers are ending their days. Noctourism, or nocturnal tourism, is about enjoying experiences after dark, when temperatures are cooler, crowds thin and new opportunities arise. Moonlight moments can include traditional options, like viewing the northern lights, or a more adventurous move — think after-hours African safaris and truffle hunting in Italy.

Stargaze in Chile's Atacama Desert

Its high altitude, low humidity, little light pollution and frequent cloudless nights make the Atacama Desert a prime destination for stargazers. Conditions are especially clear here from June to August, and guests staying at Nayara Alto Atacama can see the Milky Way shine from their private terraces or the property's open-air observatory. There, an astronomy guide is on hand to identify constellations and discuss local Indigenous group's beliefs about the solar system. Nayara Alto Atacama blends "seamlessly" with its "otherworldly" surroundings, the Michelin Guide said, making it "one of the most visually striking hotels on the planet."

Watch the fireflies in Okinawa, Japan

When the sun goes down, the magic begins in Okinawa. Half of Japan's 50 firefly species can be found here, and the Halekulani Okinawa offers guests a chance to see them with its Discover the Island's Glow adventure. At sunset, a naturist guides participants through Yambaru National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and into a mangrove forest. From there, the group emerges in a clearing to "witness thousands of fireflies lighting up the night sky," Forbes said. The night ends with the guide playing soothing songs on a sanshin, a three-stringed instrument that originated in Okinawa.

Hunt for truffles in Piedmont, Italy

Truffle hunters in the know always set out at night, as "fungus-sniffing dogs have fewer distractions" and soil aeration makes the delicacy "more fragrant," Vogue said. In Piedmont, where white truffles are the hot commodity, you are allowed to forage in the moonlight, with the best odds of finding the white-hot goods in November and December. Visitors can arrange an after hours excursion through the Italian Truffle Hunting Association.

See the Penguin Parade on Australia's Summerland Beach

You can set your watch on this one. Every evening "like clockwork," hundreds of little penguins waddle their way from the water to "sandy burrows" on Summerland Beach, where they rest for the night, Vogue said.

From a "minimally lit" grandstand, visitors can observe this "adorable ritual" without disturbing the "pint-sized birds" (little penguins are the world's smallest penguin species). Tickets for the parade are required, with proceeds funding penguin conservation efforts.

Explore the Shilin Night Market in Taipei

Taiwanese delicacies await at this "hugely popular" night market, where visitors are treated to a "carnival of street-side snacking, shopping and games," Lonely Planet said. Outside, there are "lanes and lanes full of food stalls," with toys, clothes and games inside a covered market. Come hungry so you can try oyster omelettes, pineapple cakes, stinky tofu and bubble tea before the stalls close at midnight.

Go on a night safari in Zambia

Night safaris have a different feel than their daytime counterparts. After hours, the excursion is about seeing and also "listening, which is a less appreciated part of the safari experience," Stephanie Vermillion, the author of "100 Nights of a Lifetime: The World's Ultimate Adventures After Dark," said to the BBC. Many animals are more active at night, and to "see a leopard stalking around" and "hyena circling a lion, trying to steal its prey" is nothing short of "incredible." Zambia is filled with spaces to see "big cats, elephants and other remarkable creatures," including South Luangwa National Park, Lower Zambezi National Park and Kafue National Park.

"Rice is everything" in Japan, according to Firstpost, but consumers are facing a crisis: the country is running out of supplies and the price is rocketing.

Extreme shortages throughout the country have led to the Japanese government auctioning off its emergency rice stockpile for the first time. The debut auction in March saw 142,000 tons of grain up for offer at a cost of 21,217 yen (about £113) per 60kg, reported Business Insider.

The move came after prices nearly doubled year-on-year and stores began limiting the number of bags shoppers could buy.

Long-term decline in rice farms

Japan's rice production is a "complex system", said First Post, with limits placed on how much can be produced in order to keep prices high and support farmers. In addition, the distribution method involves several steps: the farmers sell to collecting agents, who pass it on to wholesalers, who supply shops and restaurants. Any "slight hiccup" in this chain can cause major problems.

Today's crisis has its roots in 2023, added the site, when extreme heat hit that year's rice harvest, which reduced the amount available for distribution. Shortages in the supermarkets began last summer, exacerbated by warnings about a possible major earthquake along the Nankai Trough that led shoppers to stock up in fear.

As a result, prices shot up to around 23,350 yen (£124) per 60kg bag – a 55% increase on the year before – and have continued to rocket as customers bulk buy in the expectation of further increases. At the beginning of March 2025, a 5kg bag of rice cost an average of 4,077 yen (£22).

Adding to the situation is the long-term decline in Japan's traditional small-scale family rice farms. Japan's network of agricultural cooperatives, JA, which plays a key role in rice production and distribution, says the number of rice-farming households has "steadily shrunk" from about 4.66 million in 1970 to roughly 700,000 in 2020, reported The Japan Times.

"Parents tell their children, 'You're better off becoming an office worker,'" farmer Genki Sakurai told the newspaper.

Conspiracy theories and greedy tourists

Distributors and retailers are also accused of holding back supplies. Around 180,000 tons more rice was collected in the 2024 harvest compared to the previous year, but in December, the distributors said they were down by 210,000 tons. Government agencies are unable to explain the discrepancy, leading to conspiracy theories that speculators are hoarding rice to make bigger profits.

"There is definitely rice," farming minister Taku Eto said in February. "If you look at distribution as a whole, there's a quantity that's been stacked away and hidden somewhere, so that is causing a shortage."

Another culprit being blamed is Japan's rising number of "sushi-hungry tourists", said CNBC. Visitors to the country ate an estimated 51,000 tons of rice between July 2023 to July 2024, up from 19,000 tons for the 2022-23 period, analyst Oscar Tjakra, from global food and agriculture bank Rabobank, told the site.

While that pales in comparison to the amount eaten by the Japanese themselves, rice consumption in the country has been dropping, said The Japan Times. In 1962, the amount the average person consumed hit a peak of 118.3kg per year. This had fallen to 50.8kg in 2022.

Nevertheless, the rising prices have "rippled" through society, with shoppers, sake brewers and restaurant owners alike "furious", said Bloomberg. Many are blaming the government, with the situation said to be a factor in the ruling Liberal Democratic party losing seats in last year’s election.

Some feel the situation is unlikely to get better and the uncertainty is "disquieting", said The New York Times. One shopkeeper was told in January that his distributor had already run out of rice for the year. "Rice is an integral part of Japanese people’s lives," he told the site. "Japanese people are worried right now."

Japanese journalist Shiori Ito's debut documentary "Black Box Diaries" is not only one of the most acclaimed films of the year, but also a high point in Japanese cinema. Nominated for Best Documentary at this year's Academy Awards — a first for any Japanese director — Ito's harrowing adaptation of her 2017 memoir "Black Box" has been praised for its depiction of her alleged sexual assault at the hands of a high-profile Japanese journalist, and the ensuing fight for legal justice. But while "Black Box Diaries" continues to rack up an impressive list of plaudits, Ito's film has been conspicuously absent from theaters in Japan.

Why won't Japanese theaters screen the film?

Ito's "advocacy" in the face of "Japan's society norms toward sexual assault" made her the "face of Japan’s #MeToo Movement," said The Diplomat. At the same time, her film's "portrayal of sexual violence and use of contested footage" has put its Japanese theatrical release in "limbo." Japanese theaters are "refusing" to screen "Black Box Diaries" due to "legal concerns" stemming from allegations by Ito's former legal team that she'd used "unauthorized security footage and audio in her film," Japan's Kyodo News said. The unauthorized material has been a "source of friction" between Ito and the legal counsel that helped her win a civil case against prominent Japanese journalist Noriyuki Yamaguchi, whom Ito alleges raped her in 2015, the BBC said. Yamaguchi has denied the allegations. Ito's onetime attorneys claim that her using certain hotel CCTV footage not only "violated trust and put her sources at risk," but happened after the filmmaker vowed "not to use it outside of court proceedings."

Now that footage has become an "impediment" to getting the film screened in Japan, Deadline said. Distributors and theaters "in this case are more risk averse in Japan than, for example, the States," said "Black Box Diaries" producer Eric Nyari to the outlet. Not only do they feel "vulnerable to [legal] claims and trouble," but "a lot of these theaters are not only owned by large corporations, they're owned by large corporations that also own hotels," making this a "particularly sensitive case for them."

Do Japanese cultural taboos play a role?

Ito maintains that the reason her film has struggled to find distribution in her home country is largely connected to the movie's subject matter, and Japan's ongoing taboos around addressing sexual assault against women by powerful men. "They know it's no legal issue," Ito said to Deadline. "They're more scared about the public voice." Ito has also claimed Japan's reluctance to address #MeToo allegations prompted her to use the contested footage in the first place. Given that there are "people in society who continue to deny sexual violence," Ito said in a statement regarding the controversy, she came to the conclusion that "to convey the reality of sexual violence that has been locked away in a 'black box,' this footage was essential."

In part, Ito's willingness to address the issue head-on comes from the fact that she grew up an "outsider in this society," and has a "very international" and "very different" perspective, said Nyari to The Japan Times. "Particularly on the issues that surround the film: sexual violence, the institutions around it, the laws."

While there has been no "official explanation" for the lack of in-country distribution, and it "remains unclear" how much of those challenges are based on the legal issues with the film's footage, Ito insists that ultimately "Japan is still not ready to talk about [it]," said the BBC.

As many people know, after-work drinks can occasionally get embarrassingly out of hand. But for two government employees in Japan, a night on the tiles resulted in the loss of files containing information about an ongoing drug-smuggling investigation.

Booze-fuelled blunders involving delicate personal data have sparked debate in Japan over alcohol's place in its work culture, as well as the country's stubbornly analogue bureaucracy.

'Astonishing blunder'

During a night out with colleagues this month, a Japanese finance ministry employee drank nine glasses of beer over a five-hour session and then lost a bag containing the personal data of people suspected of drug smuggling.

The lost files included the names and addresses of 187 suspected drug smugglers and recipients of cannabis seeds. The bag also contained business laptops.

It may sound like an "astonishing blunder", said CNN, but it's "not the first time something like this has happened". In 2022, another government employee lost a USB flash drive containing the personal details of every resident of the city of Amagasaki after boozing with colleagues and then falling asleep on the street. When he woke up, the bag containing the flash drive had vanished.

The drive held the names, dates of birth and addresses of more than 450,000 people and sensitive information including tax details, bank account numbers and those households receiving childcare payments and other public assistance. Police officers were able to retrieve the USB drive when the bag was found outside an apartment building.

'Chugging beer'

Alcohol has "been seen as a social lubricant" in Japan for thousands of years, said the BBC. Business deals and difficult issues are often "discussed over bottles of beer and sake", because it's thought that alcohol creates "a more relaxed environment for such discussions".

It's not unusual to see groups of men in business suits "chugging beer" late into the evening or "slumped in the middle of the street" following "marathon drinking sessions" that are designed to "secure deals" and "curry favour in the workplace", said CNN.

When you "combine that drinking culture" with Japan's "particularly old-fashioned preference" for "analogue technologies" over cloud storage, there's an inevitable danger of sensitive data "going astray".

The nation's "bureaucratic systems" are "famously slow to change". They rely on technologies and practices that are "obsolete" in many other parts of the world, favouring the use of hard drives, paper documents and "other easily-lost items".

Staying sober is not always enough to mitigate the risk. Last April, officials in Aichi prefecture issued an apology after a gust of wind blew away paper files that were being transported on a trolley. "Frantic efforts" ensued to gather up "reams of paper strewn across the road by the wind", said AFP, but three sheets were lost, containing personal data relating to 121 households.

There are endless urban centers to visit in Japan beyond Tokyo and Kyoto. To shift in a different direction from those two heavily touristed cities, head southwest to the island of Kyushu and its biggest metropolis, Fukuoka.

The city is the sixth-largest in Japan, and its population lands at a cool 1.6 million. Substantive, but not extreme like Tokyo's 14 million. Fukuoka "consistently ranks as one of Japan's most livable cities, with an exploding startup scene and a young, creative energy that's reshaping its future," said Travel & Leisure Southeast Asia. It beats like the heart of a Japanese city, but, unlike in Kyoto and Tokyo, you might go your entire trip to Fukuoka without seeing another gaijin (foreigner).

Wander

Multiple rivers, including the Naka, Mikasa and Hakata, converge in Fukuoka and connect to Hakata Bay on the northwestern edge of the city. To see how Fukuoka comes alive when the sun dips below the horizon, visit the "more than 150 yatai food stalls, or mobile food carts," located on the north bank of the Naka River, said Afar. Dine on gyoza, yakitori and oden (hot pot). At the stalls, "the seating arrangements are so intimate, you're bound to make friends."

The ancient coexists with the modern in Fukuoka. The Kushida Shrine, a Shinto temple built in the 8th century, has been "Fukuoka's spiritual backbone for over a thousand years," said Travel & Leisure Southeast Asia. And high on a hill in Maizuru Park is Fukuoka Castle, with its immense concentric walls. It was once home base for Fukuoka's feudal lord, Kuroda Nagamasa, during the early 1600s.

For one-stop shopping, the Kawabata Shopping Arcade has more than 130 stores. You can find Fukuoka-specific textiles like hakata-ori, a patterned fabric often used for obi (the waist ties for kimonos). These days, the textiles are also transformed into handbags and other accessories.

Eat

Americans in cities like Los Angeles and New York City have become hypnotized by the rich, porky allure of Hakata ramen, a style that demands a milky, intense tonkotsu (pork-bone) broth. You will find both solid and sublime versions of tonkotsu ramen across Fukuoka. As Junot Díaz said in Condé Nast Traveler, "what counts as outstanding in a ramen periphery like New York would only rate as pretty good in a ramen metropole like Fukuoka."

Bekk is worth a day trip to Kitakyushu, an hour by train northeast of Fukuoka. Its chef-owner, Koji Suganuma, melds Italian and Japanese cuisines into a bombshell hybrid. The menu at Bekk rolls with the microseasons. Fresh ginkgo nuts might appear in a rice-flour tartlet to start, followed by a sequence of deftly handled local fish and pork, pasta and an airy rice tiramisu with figs to finish. Comforting and reviving, Bekk is the kind of restaurant you would want to visit monthly — if you lived around the corner rather than a few oceans away.

Sleep

The Ritz-Carlton's outpost in Fukuoka opened in 2023, a "smart, understated new property," said Condé Nast Traveler, built on the site of a former elementary school and located in the "chic, upscale Hakata neighborhood with its wide, tree-lined streets through which a network of canals lazily winds." The hotel is the "definition of quiet luxury, impressively balancing simplicity and sumptuousness" with the smallest suites being "massive, with four rooms that can be shut off with traditional Japanese sliding screen doors."

The Japanese car industry was once ascendant. Now it appears ready to consolidate in the face of challenges from Chinese EV makers like BYD: Nissan and Honda are in talks for a possible merger.

The two companies are looking to "combine resources in order to remain competitive" in the face of China's powerhouse auto industry, said CNN. But the need is particularly acute for Nissan, which saw its strategic alliance with French automaker Renault "collapse" in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. That left Nissan in "desperate need of a larger merger partner." How much trouble is Nissan facing? Profits for the six-month period ending in September "plunged" 94%, said CNN. Some observers suspect that left alone, Nissan "could face bankruptcy as soon as 2026."

Nissan was "once a symbol of Japan's carmaking prowess," said The Wall Street Journal. In recent years, though, it has stumbled. The company has been "slower than rivals in refreshing its lineup" and has fallen behind in the race to build electric vehicles. Nissan also "has yet to fully recover" from the 2018 arrest of former executive Carlos Ghosn for financial crimes. (He ultimately fled Japan in a private jet.) But talks of a merger have some American auto dealers hopeful. "Honda is a better-run company than Nissan," said Adam Lee, whose Maine company includes two Nissan outlets and a Honda dealership, to the Journal.

Losing ground in China

The Honda-Nissan talks are a sign of the "existential threat of Chinese EVs to Japan," Kantaro Komiya and Yoshifumi Takemoto said at Reuters. Both companies have lost ground in China as BYD and other domestic carmakers capture that rising market. That's not just bad for Honda and Nissan — it's a threat to the Japanese car industry, which is "the strongest sector in the world's fourth-largest economy," Komiya and Takemoto said. "If the auto industry doesn't improve, then the whole of Japanese manufacturing will not get better," said Takumi Tsunoda, an economist at Shinkin Central Bank Research Institute.

Keeping pace with Chinese automakers means "rolling out electric vehicles" while also selling the "petrol cars that will finance the shift," said The Economist. The problem for Nissan: Investors are "unconvinced that it has a clear strategy for EVs or hybrids." A company containing Honda and Nissan together "could invest more in technology to catch up with rivals," said The Economist.

'Egos and infighting'

The challenge? Carmaker mergers "often falter," said The New York Times. That's because the process of combining two large manufacturing companies requires "reconciling different technologies, models and approaches to doing business." The 1998 merger of Chrysler and Daimler shows that it's difficult to smooth those differences when hundreds of thousands of jobs are on the line. "You try to put two of them together and you run into a lot of egos and infighting," said Thomas Stallkamp, a consultant who was involved in that merger.

"A merger, should it take place, won't be a magic fix for either company," Rob Stumpf said at InsideEVs. The process of joining the companies together could take up to five years, according to one analyst, and "that leaves a lot of time for the competition to sprint ahead of both brands."

What happened

President Joe Biden has decided to block the $14 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel by Japan's Nippon Steel, citing national security concerns, The Washington Post and The New York Times said Friday morning.

Who said what

Biden's move deals a "probably fatal blow to the contentious merger plan," Reuters said, especially since President-elect Donald Trump has also "vowed to block the deal." Opposition to Nippon Steel's purchase of America's No. 3 steelmaker "blended election-year politics, nostalgia for a vanished era of American industrial supremacy" and competition with China, the Post said. The United Steelworkers union opposed the deal, but some of Biden's senior advisers "warned that rejecting a sizable investment from a top Japanese corporation could damage U.S. relations with Japan," a key ally.

Blocking the deal "would be an extraordinary use of executive power," especially for an outgoing president, the Times said, and the "departure from America's long-established culture of open investment" could have "wide-ranging implications for the U.S. economy."

What next?

Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel have "vowed to pursue legal action" if the government blocks the deal, the Post said. U.S. Steel could also "resume its search for a buyer," like No. 2 U.S. producer Cleveland Cilffs, or it could "opt to proceed as a stand-alone company."

In every corner of the globe, cultures and communities have their own special New Year's Eve traditions they believe will usher in 365 days of health, wealth or good luck. Experiencing these rituals where they originated is a treat, but you can also learn about and appreciate them from afar, celebrating the ones that resonate from the comfort of home.

Burn something

Setting things on fire is a common New Year's Eve ritual. Some believe it allows you to let go of painful things that happened during the year, others see it as an act of purification that will prepare you for what is ahead. In Ecuador, people burn photos they no longer want to exist or turn "sawdust-filled dummies" into politicians and "pop-culture figures" and set them alight at midnight as a "sort of cleansing ritual," Good Housekeeping said. To rack up "extra good-luck points," participants attempt to "jump over the flames 12 times, once for every month."

Across the world in Fort Kochi, India, an old man effigy known as Pappanji is burned at midnight. This symbolizes the end of a year, and there are two schools of thought on how this tradition started. Some think it dates to Christmas celebrations the Portuguese held while ruling the area during the 1500s and 1600s, but others believe it is linked to the Jewish community that lived in the area 2,000 years ago.

Eat 12 grapes

At midnight, revelers in Spain and Latin America stop what they are doing and start "stuffing 12 green grapes in their mouths," Atlas Obscura said. Uvas de la suerte, or the 12 lucky grapes, may have started in the 1880s, when Madrid's "bourgeoisie" put their own spin on the "French custom of drinking Champagne and eating grapes on New Year's Eve." Another story says that in the early 1900s, grape farmers in Alicante, Spain, "cannily suggested the idea" as a way of getting rid of surplus harvest.

To participate, have your grapes washed and ready, and as soon as the clock strikes 12, eat a grape for each chime. One grape represents one month of the upcoming year, and if you make a wish for every grape, it "guarantees you a lucky year." If you are unable to finish all 12 in time, "you'll face misfortune." Be careful when trying this at home, and remember to chew.

Enjoy a bowl of soba

Most New Year's Eve menus in Japan will include toshikoshi soba, with diners enjoying a bowl as they look back at the year that was and ahead at the year to come. The length of the soba noodles symbolize a "long life," Reader's Digest said, and the buckwheat flour they are made of "brings resiliency." When eating, slurping is a must, because if you "break or chew the noodle" you will not have good luck.

This tradition dates to the 13th or 14th century, Just One Cookbook said, but gained prominence during the Edo period between 1603 and 1867, when the "common class developed customary religious and superstitious rituals." When making toshikoshi soba, it is just as important to have delicious dashi (stock made with dried fish and kelp) as it is to make good noodles.

Hop over seven waves

On New Year's Eve, Brazilians head to Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro to wade into the water and jump over seven waves. With each leap, "you're supposed to make a wish," Cosmopolitan said. This tradition stems from Umbanda, an Afro-Brazilian religion that blends African and local Indigenous beliefs with aspects of Catholicism. People wear all white, which symbolizes peace, and hope that the goddess of the sea, Iemanjá, "will make those wishes come true."

Many Umbanda worshipers come to Copacabana a few days ahead of New Year's Eve to bring offerings to Iemanjá, "one of their most important gods," The New York Times said. They put flowers and sparkling wine in boats they release into the sea, and when the vessels capsize, it is a "sign to the followers that Iemanjá has taken the offering."

Make a loaf of bread (then bang it on the wall)

This Irish custom starts at Christmas, when an extra loaf of bread is baked so it is stale by New Year's Eve. Then that night, you beat the bread against the walls and doorways of your home, as this is "supposed to chase any bad spirits out" and lets you "start the new year off with a clean slate," Good Housekeeping said.

There is no specific type of bread that has to be used, so make whatever kind you would like or go down to the local bakery and pick up a day old loaf. When the bread banging is over, expect lots of crumbs on the ground, but do not despair. Instead, get started on another "centuries old custom," the Irish Post said: deep cleaning your house so it is spotless.

Throw plates at your neighbor's house

In Denmark, tossing dishes at the doorsteps of friends, family and neighbors is "lowkey a popularity contest," Cosmopolitan said. This is because the belief is that the "more shards there are in front of your home," the "luckier and more well liked you are," explained Good Housekeeping.

While you could clean out your china cabinet to show your loved ones how much you care, consider a more recent Danish New Year's tradition instead: At midnight, jump off of a couch or chair, symbolizing your leap into the next year.

The Japanese portfolio of luxury hotel brand Aman is full of head-turners – from the sleek, sky-brushing minimalism of Aman Tokyo, perched high above the city's electric bustle, to the hushed, lantern-lit elegance of its Kyoto sibling, resting in secret, moss-laden gardens.

But it's Amanemu – a quieter, lesser-known retreat tucked deep into the pine-cloaked hills of Ise Shima National Park, near Nagoya – that feels like Aman's most heartfelt love letter to Japan, and perhaps even its best-kept secret.

True to its name – meaning "peaceful joy" – the hotel's design is a contemporary ode to Japan's traditional ryokan inns. Soaring timber ceilings and pale wood panels bask in natural light, with low-slung beds, tatami-inspired accents and minimal furnishings amplifying the tranquil vibes.

Yet Amanemu's setting is as sacred as it is serene. Just a short drive from Ise-Jingu – the holiest Shinto shrine in Japan – and the ancient pilgrimage trails of Kumano Kodo, the resort sits at the heart of a region teeming with spiritual significance.

For centuries, travellers have journeyed to the area's forested hills to seek renewal, their footsteps tracing paths through pine-draped ridges and cedar groves to shrines on the glinting, oyster-dotted waters of Ago Bay.

At Amanemu, a four-hour, two-train journey from Tokyo or a 25-minute helicopter hop from Chubu Centrair International Airport, that sense of pilgrimage continues – albeit with a hearty layers of luxury.

Why stay here?

Aman has always been more than just a hotel brand; it’s a lifestyle whispered about in the hush-hush corridors of the celebrity elite. Since its humble beginnings as a single villa in Phuket in the 1980s, it can count Bill Gates, David Beckham and the Kardashians among its devoted celebrity fans.

These days, you'll find Aman's name lighting up city skylines in New York and Tokyo, or attached to upcoming picture-perfect resorts in the Maldives and Dubai.

But Amanemu – perched quietly in Japan's Mie Prefecture – represents the brand in its truest form: a focus on off-the-beaten-track beauty, seemingly magical service and spacious, understated design that draws you deeply into the spirit of the local area.

The rooms

Amanemu's 24 suites and eight villas – designed by the late Kerry Hill and channelling a modern ryokan vibe – are scattered across the hillside, their verandas peeking out over manicured gardens and spectacular views of Ago Bay.

In our Nagi Suite, soaring timber ceilings create a generous sense of space, while blonde wood panelling, woven shutters and sleek, black stone details bring the design into harmony with its natural surroundings.

Blurring the line between inside and out, traditional screens ease open to drench the space in soft, golden light, while low-slung furniture keeps the focus on the tranquil landscape beyond.

Dark stone bathrooms feature deep onsen baths that pull steaming, mineral-rich water straight from the nearby hot springs. A soak here, as the evening light filters through the screens, feels more like a ritual than a routine.

Service, as you'd expect from Aman, is deeply intuitive. Yukata pyjamas appear neatly folded after turndown, along with thoughtful nightly pillow gifts. The minibar – stocked with complimentary soft drinks and crisp, savoury cookies – is a welcome touch, while heated floors keep toes toasty on cooler mornings.

Eating and drinking

Beneath a high, ribbed ceiling sits Amanemu's thickly carpeted main dining room, cocooned by walls of fragrant hinoki wood, and flooded with light from the sweeping glass windows that frame stellar views of Ago Bay.

Chef Katsutoshi Kitahara's menu is a celebration of the region's seasonal bounty. Delicate sashimi features spiny local lobster and tender abalone, while Matsusaka Wagyu beef is served in salt-baked crusts, finely sliced sashimi and steaming bowls of dan dan noodles. The signature truffle soba is a pile of silky noodles, topped with a delicate quail egg, which collapses at the slightest nudge to coat everything in a rich, golden gloss.

If you're after something more casual, the restaurant also offers bubbling hot pots, and an extensive nigiri selection that's a particular favourite with Asian guests. There's even a dedicated vegan menu – a surprising find in this famously carnivorous corner of the world – and, for the less adventurous, a selection of Italian pastas and sandwiches.

Breakfast (included with all room rates) is served in the cosy poolside lounge, just across the hotel's main pavilion, where morning sunlight glimmers off the water. The four-page menu caters to all tastes but the Japanese breakfast set is a highlight, featuring a platter of fresh sashimi, rolled omelette, tofu, congee, miso soup and assorted appetisers. Too relaxed to leave your room? They'll happily deliver it for a small fee.

As day turns to evening, the lounge transforms into a lively but refined gathering spot. Here, you can sip Japanese craft beers or house cocktails infused with regional fruits and herbs – the perfect cap to a day exploring Amanemu and its serene surroundings.

The spa

It's worth checking into Amanemu for the spa alone. Sprawling across 2,000 square metres and rooted in Japan's sixth-century onsen tradition, the space – with its shallow, stone-lined outdoor baths – feels like a sanctuary within a sanctuary.

Low timber-framed pavilions encircle a steaming thermal spring garden, where daybeds lie under open-latticed cabanas, exposed to the crisp mountain air.

The spa treatments draw on kampo, Japan's herbal healing discipline rooted in Chinese medicine, with expertly blended formulations using seaweed, pearl powder, and seasonal herbs to rebalance body and mind.

And, in the Aqua Movement Suite, there are water-based therapies that float you gently back to equilibrium, as well as a a dry sauna and steam room, to elevate the overall experience.

Things to do

Beyond the resort's steaming onsen baths and sprawling grounds – which can be explored on bicycles borrowed from reception – there's plenty to see and do in the local area.

Ago Bay is the heartland of Japan's legendary ama divers – generations of fearless women who, for thousands of years, have held their breath and plunged to the seabed in search of scallops, abalone, sea urchins and sea snails. Amanemu offers a rare insight on this vanishing world, with the concierge able to line up private lunches or barbecues with an ama in a hut on the water's edge, where fresh catches sizzle over open flames.

A short drive away is Ise Jingu, the most revered Shinto shrine. Accompanied by an expert local guide, guests can explore the tranquil grounds, which are ritually rebuilt every 20 years to embody the impermanence and renewal at the heart of this belief system.

After a two-hour tour around the inner and outer shrines, you can meander among the charmingly old-world, timbered shopfronts and lantern-lit alleys of nearby Oharai Machi and Okage Yokocho. Here, fragrant food stalls offer sizzling meat skewers and plump flavoured mochi balls, while artisans craft wares using techniques honed and handed down through generations.

Other activity options include teeing off at nearby golf clubs, hiking through local woodlands, and kayaking or fishing on Ago Bay – all can be easily arranged with a quick call to the hotel's concierge.

The verdict

Amanemu is a place where the world quietly slips out of focus, but the luxuries never do. The gentle rustle of pine trees swaying in the breeze, the soft curl of steam rising from hot natural springs, the golden glow of the sun slipping into Ago Bay all combine to create a meditative bliss.

It's the kind of peace you don't realise you've been craving until you're here: a moment to pause, exhale and leave the outside world waiting a little longer.

Scott was a guest of Amanemu. Rooms start from $1350 (about £1080) a night, based on double occupancy and including taxes, daily breakfast and transportation from Kashikojima station.

What happened

Honda and Nissan said Wednesday they are exploring merging their companies, deepening a collaboration between Japan's No. 2 and No. 3 automakers that started in March. Both companies are losing ground in China, the world's largest auto market, and struggling to keep up with Tesla and China's BYD in the global race to produce affordable electric vehicles.

Who said what

In a joint statement, Honda and Nissan said they were "considering various possibilities for future collaboration, but no decisions have been made." A combined Honda-Nissan would be the world's third-largest automaker by production, sales and market capitalization, after Toyota and Volkswagen.

A merger would allow Honda and Nissan to "seek synergies in purchasing and technology development, but it would also present challenges for two companies with different cultures and partly overlapping vehicle lineups," The Wall Street Journal said. Honda "has long pursued a go-it-alone approach," The New York Times said, but the high investment costs in pivoting to battery-powered vehicles has "led it to seek partnerships."

What next?

Nissan and Honda were "expected to sign a memorandum of understanding within the next week to formally begin discussions of partnership-broadening steps," the Times said, "including the details of a potential merger."

Those who know, know: A good kitchen knife is an investment that betters your today and alters your future. Cooking becomes easier; a slicing accident becomes rare. It was once a prolonged adventure finding a high-quality knife. These days, encountering a suitable knife is a click away. Gift one for your people who love to cook — or who want to cook more. Or treat yourself. A new knife always inspires.

Bernal Cutlery, San Francisco

Vintage cooking tools murmur with history and allure, and Bernal Cutlery has a soft spot for the antique. The holidays are encroaching, so maybe a vintage carving fork and knife for that end-of-November bird or that end-of-December ham? If newness is your game, select unused knives from Japan, France and the United States, of course, but also Spain, Sweden and Turkey.

Carbon Knife Co., Denver

More than 10 Japanese knifemakers are the stars of Carbon Knife Co.'s blade stock. The knifes range from the wee (petty and paring knives) to the grand (cleavers and vegetable knives). Surround those new knives with well-made accessories like a pocketed canvas apron from Blue Cut and a plastic cutting board from Hasegawa.

Coutelier, New Orleans

Japanese knives are also the focus of Coutelier, and the stock features both single-beveled and double-beveled knives from a range of Japanese makers, including legendary, multi-generational bladesmiths like Moritaka. There are American knifes, too, from companies such as Town Cutler, Middleton Knives and Jamison Chopp. And books, bar tools and tea accessories. If it is durable, beautiful and lives in the kitchen, Coutelier just might sell it.

District Cutlery, Washington, D.C.

The world of Japanese knives can be overwhelming. There are endless styles and only an expert knows their gyuto (long, pointed chef's knife) from their santoku (round-tipped chef's knife). District Cutlery's website cracks the confusion by organizing their selection by style rather than by bladesmith. That way, you can see what style of knife you want before you start filtering through the maker options. The company also sells a range of folding knifes, including ones from bladesmiths in the States and China.

Korin, New York City

The stalwart, in many ways, of the good-knife retailers in the United States, Korin has been around since 1982. Long before Japanese-made kitchen knives became a cultish purchase. Over its 40-plus years of existence, the store's offerings have multiplied, as you might expect. You can order everything from a range of grit-grades of sharpening stones to ramen supplies, like bowls and spoon, or for the hardcore enthusiast, a high-end Yamato ramen noodle-making machine.

What happened

Japan's longtime ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its governing partner, Komeito, lost their majority in the lower house of parliament in snap elections Sunday, striking a blow to new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. The LDP coalition won about 215 seats in the 465-seat House of Representatives, down from 279 seats and far short of the 233 needed for a majority. The LDP still corralled a plurality of seats, but opposition parties, led by the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP), won 235 seats.

Who said what

"The results so far have been extremely severe, and we take them very seriously," Ishiba said. His decision to call elections right after being chosen as party leader was a "political gamble," Shaimaa Khalil said at the BBC, "and it backfired." Ishiba has seen his popularity plummet as he dropped bold campaign promises and failed to clean up the party's tarnished image.

The results were a "punishment by voters' outrage over the governing party’s extensive financial scandals," but a "change of government is not expected," The Associated Press said. CDP leader Yoshihiko Noda said he will try to lead a coalition government, but the most likely scenario is a weakened LDP-led coalition including the centrist Democratic Party for the People or the conservative Japan Innovation Party.

What next?

Japan is "heading for a time of political instability," Shimada Yukiko said on Japan's public broadcaster NHK. The first question is whether Ishiba "will survive as prime minister," The New York Times said. If he does not, Japan "might return to the kind of revolving-door leadership" of years past. And "we don't want such trouble again," said Tsuneo Watanabe at Tokyo's Sasakawa Peace Foundation.

This year's Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to a Japanese organisation of atomic bomb survivors.

Nobel Committee chair Berit Reiss-Andersen praised the "extraordinary efforts" of the Nihon Hidankyo group, saying its activities have "contributed greatly to the establishment of the nuclear taboo".

How is the prize chosen?

This year, there were 286 nominations for the peace prize – comprising 197 individuals and 89 organisations. The selecting committee sends out nomination forms or invitations for proposals to "qualified nominators", and the deadline for their nominations is the end of January.

The list of people who can nominate is "long – very long", said Al Jazeera. They come under several category heads, including members of national assemblies, governments of sovereign states and current heads of state. Other nominators include officials with international peace organisations; and university professors of history, social sciences, law, philosophy and religion. Former recipients can also nominate.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee, the five people chosen by Norway's parliament to select the winner, says the large number of potential nominators ensures a "great variety of candidates", but it does not reveal the nominees or those who nominated them until 50 years later, though people can "self-report their submissions if they choose", said The New York Times.

Why has it been controversial?

Previous winners include Kailash Satyarthi and Malala Yousafzai (2014); Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk (1993) and Mother Teresa (1979), but some recipients have proven more controversial than others.

When the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Barack Obama, many commentators questioned the choice, as he had become president just 12 days before nominations had closed. The award was "not for anything he's actually done", wrote Michelle Malkin, a conservative commentator, "but for the symbolism of what he might possibly accomplish sometime way off in the future".

Joseph Stalin, Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler have all been nominated in the past, although the latter nomination was meant satirically. None of them won. Meanwhile, Mahatma Gandhi was nominated five times but never actually won either, an omission that is often remarked upon.

Who is this year's winner?

The "grassroots movement" of atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki was chosen "for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons" and for "demonstrating through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again", said the committee.

The group is the only nationwide organisation of atom-bomb survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Its website states that its main objectives include "the prevention of nuclear war and the elimination of nuclear weapons", including "the signing of an international agreement for a total ban and the elimination of nuclear weapons".

The Nobel committee said the organisation's members "help us to describe the indescribable, to think the unthinkable", and "to somehow grasp the incomprehensible pain and suffering caused by nuclear weapons".