Japanese Café Culture (喫茶店): Coffee, Tea & the New Kissaten
A morning café stop in Japan can begin with the deep, roasted aroma of siphon coffee, continue with a precisely...
Culture
Edo Merchant Houses (町家・蔵): Japan’s Living Townscapes
A dark wooden façade, a fabric shop curtain stirring above the entrance, and the faint coolness of an earthen-floored passageway...
Tokyo Immersive Art (没入型アート): teamLab and Beyond
Tokyo’s most captivating galleries no longer always ask visitors to stand quietly behind a line. Tokyo immersive art trends invite...
Japanese Craft Revival (伝統工芸): Where to Meet the Makers
A hand-thrown tea bowl can hold centuries of knowledge: the feel of local clay, the heat of a kiln, the...
Gajumaru (ガジュマル) and Kijimunā (キジムナー): Okinawa’s Tree of Spirits
Stand beneath an old gajumaru in Okinawa and the tree seems to have more than one trunk. Roots descend from...
Kaeru (蛙): The Lucky Frog That Promises You Will Come Back
At the edge of a Kamakura shop, a small frog sits beside the doorway. Perhaps it is glazed ceramic, perhaps...
Tanuki (狸): The Lucky Trickster Outside Japan’s Bars and Its Giant Money Pouch
Outside a Japanese bar, the doorman may be made of clay. He wears a broad hat, holds a flask of...
Kappa (河童): The River Spirit That Tried to Steal a Horse in Tōno
At a stream in northern Japan, the creature came for a horse. By morning, the horse had delivered the creature...
Namahage (なまはげ): The Masked Visitors at Japan’s Door
A heavy knock breaks the quiet of New Year’s Eve. Outside, the winter air is black and cold. Then comes...
Tsukumogami (付喪神): When Forgotten Objects Awaken in Japan
What if the thing you threw away still remembered you? In Japanese folklore, an old household object can cross a...
Zashiki-Warashi (座敷童子): The Child Spirit That Brings Fortune—Until It Leaves
Imagine crossing a quiet bridge in rural Japan and meeting two unfamiliar girls. They tell you they have just left...
Tentōmushi (天道虫): The Japanese Ladybug and Its Mysterious Connection to the Sun
A speck of red reaches the end of a leaf. For a moment it stops. Then, as the first light...
