Ohtani-mania: How a rural Japanese city honors their hometown hero

Shohei Ohtani’s rural hometown, Oshu City in northern Japan, is bursting with pride for its superstar son. Once known for Maesawa beef...

Japan’s richest man donates $31 million to UCLA humanities program

Japanese executive and philanthropist Tadashi Yanai has donated $31 million to University of California, Los Angeles’s College Divisio...

Japanese companies tap AI start-up to translate 50,000 manga into English

Japanese companies are investing in artificial intelligence (AI) to revolutionize the translation of Japanese manga into English, aiming for...

Thai village uses Doraemon plushy in prayer tradition for rainfall

Residents of a village in Thailand’s Nakhon Sawan province have revived their traditional rain-calling ritual using a Doraemon plush t...

Shohei Ohtani pranks Dave Roberts with ‘Porsche’ as he breaks manager’s home run record

Shohei Ohtani pranked Dodgers manager Dave Roberts by giving him a toy Porsche car after breaking his home run record for the Dodgers. Key p...

NewJeans collaborates with Takashi Murakami for new music video

South Korean pop group NewJeans is collaborating with Japanese contemporary artist Takashi Murakami for the visuals to their upcoming music ...

‘The Boy and the Heron’ will be Studio Ghibli’s first film released in 4K

Oscar-winner “The Boy and the Heron” is set to become Studio Ghibli’s first movie to be released in 4K Ultra HD (UHD) as distributors unveil...

‘Godzilla’ destroys Tokyo government building in celebration of 70th anniversary

A 100-meter (328-foot) “Godzilla” was projected “destroying” a government building in Tokyo over the weekend, as the long-runnin...

Blue Jays pitcher shares $3,000 bottle of Japanese whisky after every win

Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Yusei Kikuchi has introduced a new tradition to the team’s clubhouse by sharing a bottle of expensive Jap...

Family’s tough search for marrow donor highlights mixed Asian and white health challenges

An 18-year-old college student from Utah needs a bone marrow transplant donor, but her mixed Japanese and white ethnicity makes finding one ...

Shohei Ohtani breaks Hideki Matsui’s MLB home run record

Shohei Ohtani has broken Hideki Matsui’s record for most home runs by a Japanese-born player in MLB history, just days after reaching ...

Ex-manga piracy website ordered to pay largest compensation amount in Japan’s history

A Japanese court has ordered the former operator of the now-defunct popular piracy manga website Mangamura to pay around 1.7 billion yen ($1...

Modern Japanese people descended from 3 ancient groups, study suggests

The modern Japanese people descended from three ancient groups instead of two, a new DNA study suggests.  Key points: ...

Feds accuse Shohei Ohtani’s ex-translator of stealing $16 million

Federal investigators have charged Shohei Ohtani’s former translator, Ippei Mizuhara, for allegedly unlawfully wiring approximately $1...

Kaori Sakamoto makes history with figure skating world title three-peat

Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto made history in Montreal on Friday by clinching her third consecutive world title in figure skating, becoming the fir...

KFC disposes of ‘Curse of the Colonel’ statue in Japan

KFC Japan has announced the disposal of a giant plastic statue of the fast-food chain’s iconic founder, Colonel Harland Sanders, which...

Massachusetts family helps return looted artifacts found in later father’s attic to Japan

A Massachusetts family called the FBI for help in returning the nearly two dozen looted Japanese artifacts they discovered while sorting thr...

Shohei Ohtani surprises fans by announcing he is now married

Los Angeles Dodgers two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani announced he is now a married man. Shocking the baseball world: On Thursday, Ohtani, 29,...

Shohei Ohtani shines in spring debut for Dodgers

Baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani debuted in a big way on Tuesday by hitting a home run during the Los Angeles Dodgers’ spring training game ...

Seiji Ozawa, Boston Symphonic Orchestra’s longest-tenured director, dies at 88

World-renowned conductor Seiji Ozawa, who served as a director in the Boston Symphonic Orchestra (BSO) for 29 years, has died at 88. What ha...

Naomi Osaka advances at Qatar Open after 1st back-to-back victories in 23 months

Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka has advanced to the next round at the WTA 1000 Qatar TotalEnergies Open after defeating Croatian tennis pla...

Japanese is most desired Asian language to learn among Americans: study

A recent study conducted by LTL Language School has revealed that Japanese is the most desired Asian language to learn among Americans.  The...

‘Kiki’s Delivery Service’ is getting its own Studio Ghibli cookbook

Studio Ghibli is set to release a cookbook featuring some of the mouthwatering dishes featured in its classic movie “Kiki’s Delivery Service...

Shohei Ohtani thanks Angels, Dodgers in rare English speech for MVP award

MLB superstar Shohei Ohtani thanked his former and current teams while accepting his 2023 American League MVP award at the 99th Baseball Wri...

Leonardo DiCaprio shares the Studio Ghibli films he introduced to Martin Scorsese

Leonardo DiCaprio recently revealed he brought Martin Scorsese into the world of Studio Ghibli. How it happened: DiCaprio, 49 and Scorsese, ...

Number of Japanese seniors looking for jobs doubled in 10 years: report

The number of Japanese people aged 65 and above looking for jobs has more than doubled in the past decade, according to a new report. Not re...

Japanese artist calls out Beyonce over robotic look in ‘Renaissance’ tour

Japanese artist Hajime Sorayama has called out Beyonce for her visuals in her “Renaissance” tour, raising speculations that he is accusing t...

Japanese man who spent $16,000 to become a dog ‘fails’ agility test

The Japanese man who made headlines throughout the year for chronicling his journey as a “dog” has apparently flunked an agility course. Wha...

Korean now 6th most popular language studied on Duolingo: report

Korean has climbed up the global rankings of the most popular languages studied on Duolingo in 2023, the company revealed in its annual repo...

Japanese billionaire rents Sicilian city for luxurious 4-day birthday bash

Japanese billionaire Kaoru Nakajima has drawn both admiration and criticism in Sicily, Italy, for hosting an extravagant three-day birthday ...

Fan-made live-action ‘Nausicaä’ film earns big praise from Japanese viewers

Brazilian director Chris Tex’s live-action adaptation of Hayao Miyazaki’s “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind” film has garnered praise from...

Japanese ‘sugar baby’ accused of scamming man out of $180K on dating app

A 25-year-old Japanese sugar baby was recently slapped with an arrest warrant after authorities accused her of scamming a man out of million...

‘Trans-age’ Japanese man born in 1984 identifies as 28-yr-old

A 39-year-old Japanese man is making headlines for identifying as a “trans-age” individual and claiming to be 28 years old. Embr...

Video: Japanese women give their thoughts on whether paying for sex is cheating

A Japanese YouTuber has gone viral for asking Japanese women about whether they think paying for sex is the same as cheating or not. About t...

Angels confirms Shohei Ohtani’s season over due to injury

Los Angeles Angels superstar Shohei Ohtani will be missing the rest of the 2023 regular season due to an oblique injury he suffered during b...

Japanese bird scientist’s unconventional research tactic goes viral

The anonymous researcher resorted to wearing a pigeon mask for an entire year in a bid to blend in ...