Fighting games are communal by nature, and the broader Fighting Game Community (FGC) and the many pockets of it that pop up around different games regularly create and participate in events based on ...

Many closed-down “sento” public bathhouses across Japan have been reborn as cafes or even “izakaya” pubs. But a few are now being used for welfare services while maintaining the original association ...

Wim Wenders’ latest film, Perfect Days, is a languid sketch of a typical Tokyo toilet cleaner’s life. It shows the minutiae of the working-day rituals of its protagonist, Hirayama: wiping toilet bowls ...

Onsen (hot springs) have been part of Japanese culture for centuries, but they’ve been seriously surging in popularity over the past 20 years. At the same time that there’s an onsen renaissance going ...

From the moment 4-year-old Cameron first stepped out into Glimmer in Spyro 2, he knew video games were going to play a central role in the rest of his life. Though he never planned to make it the ...