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June 30, 2026
 

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Tomohiro Osaki

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Tomohiro Osaki
Tomohiro Osaki is a staff writer in the Domestic News Division. A graduate of Sophia University in Tokyo, he likes to explore under-reported realities of Japanese youth, with a tendency toward the taboo.
A lawyer representing the mother (left, blurred for privacy reasons) of a girl who died after being detained speaks during a news conference in Kobe on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 19, 2026
Japanese mother sues state over teen’s ‘hostage justice’ death
The mother of a girl who died from emaciation following detention and alleged interrogations by authorities is seeking compensation, in the latest case of “hostage justice.”
Comedian Satoru Saito poses at an exhibition themed around <i>yankii</i> (delinquents) held in Saitama Prefecture in February.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 23, 2026
Hit reality show helps rev up Japan’s delinquent youth subculture
A fighting spirit, loyalty to friends and straightforwardness are redeeming qualities often associated with Japan’s 1980s delinquent subculture, along with outlandish fashion.
The sons of late former Ohkawara Kakohki executive Shizuo Aishima during a news conference in Tokyo on Monday after suing the state
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 6, 2026
Bereaved family sues over ‘hostage justice’
It’s the latest in a series of lawsuits challenging Japan’s criminal justice system that critics say doesn’t always presume innocence and relies heavily on coerced confessions.
Sparks fly as swordsmith Akihira Kawasaki forges a katana blade with a mechanical hammer at his workshop in Misato, Saitama Prefecture.
JAPAN
Feb 12, 2026
‘Artists of steel’: Japanese swords forge new fanbase
Despite the rapidly shrinking population of blademakers in Japan, their fine steel swords known as katana are amassing a new generation of fans, particularly younger women.
Eiko Kawasaki (center), a plaintiff in a compensation case against North Korea, attends a news conference in Tokyo along with other plaintiffs and lawyers on Monday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 27, 2026
Court holds North Korea liable for ‘paradise on Earth’ program
The Tokyo District Court ruled that four plaintiffs had “most of their lives taken away” by Pyongyang.
People take Japanese language lessons at a job placement company in Hanoi. Vietnamese now make up a quarter of Japan’s 2.3-million-strong foreign workforce.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Jan 19, 2026
Vietnamese caught in Japan’s illegal worker crackdown
Many come to Japan under its Technical Intern Training Program, which is billed as a way for foreign workers to learn skills to take back to developing countries.
This year Japan sweltered through its hottest summer since records began. Hundreds of people across Japan filed the country's first lawsuit against the central government on Thursday, seeking damages over what they call “unconstitutional” inaction on climate change.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 18, 2025
Hundreds sue Japan’s central government over ‘unconstitutional’ climate inaction
The 450 plaintiffs in the landmark lawsuit say the country’s “grossly inadequate” response jeopardizes health and livelihoods.
Journalist and director Shiori Ito speaks during a stage greeting after the Japanese release of the "Black Box Diaries" in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 13, 2025
Shiori Ito’s Oscar-nominated #MeToo film finally screened in Japan
A Japanese #MeToo campaigner's documentary premiered in her homeland on Friday after months of delays, with one audience member saying she hoped it triggered a change in society.
Care worker and bodybuilder Hokuto Tatsumi helps a woman train at a care home for people with disabilities operated by Visionary in Aichi prefecture.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Oct 28, 2025
Bodybuilders find new calling in Japan’s struggling care industry
A Nagoya firm is tackling Japan’s caregiver shortage by recruiting bodybuilders — offering gym perks, protein subsidies and purpose.
Retired yakuza Mako Nishimura sorts fallen leaves during a clean-up activity at the Gifu Gokoku shrine in Gifu Prefecture on Sept. 28.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 21, 2025
Rare female yakuza walks path to redemption in Japan
Heavily inked Mako Nishimura, 58, spends her days helping other retired gangsters reintegrate into society.
A statue of young swordsman Tanjiro Kamado, the main character in the "Demon Slayer" anime franchise, is on display at a cinema in Tokyo's Ikebukuro neighborhood.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Sep 17, 2025
Japan’s box office belongs to ‘Demon Slayer’ as latest film ranks second all time
“Infinity Castle” entry has overtaken “Spirited Away,” making the franchise the undisputed king of Japan’s all-time box office.
A <i>shunga</i> work by Utagawa Toyokuni (1769-1825) is on display at an exhibition of erotic Japanese art in the Kabukicho red-light entertainment area in the Shinjuku district of central Tokyo.
CULTURE / Art
Sep 8, 2025
Traditional Japanese erotic art exhibition puts female pleasure in focus
An erotic form of ukiyo-e, shunga is often dismissed as mere pornography. An exhibition in Kabukicho aims to highlight its artistry.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in Tokyo on Friday
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 26, 2025
‘#Ishiba don’t quit’: Unlikely support grows for embattled PM
Despite Ishiba insisting that he has not discussed his resignation with members of his Liberal Democratic Party, multiple reports say that it is just a matter of time.
Atomic bomb survivor Masaki Hironaka reads as he sits among paintings by students made during an annual project to preserve the testimonies of survivors to keep the memories of the bombing in 1945 relevant for younger generations, at Motomachi High School in the city of Hiroshima, on May 29.
JAPAN
Jul 23, 2025
Hiroshima teens describe World War II atomic bombing horror through art
A high school in Hiroshima showed 15 new artworks that depicted the atomic bombing, such as a horror-stricken girl surrounded by an inferno.
A barber gives a model a haircut during the World Barber Classic at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo on Monday.
BUSINESS
Jul 15, 2025
Japan’s World Barber Classic tries to bring back business
The event is part of a bid by Japan’s struggling barber industry to attract young male clients lost in recent years to hair salons.
Tomoya Asanuma, a man who endured almost four months of detention for charges he was ultimately acquitted of in January, poses for a picture at his apartment in Tokyo in May.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 10, 2025
Trial challenging Japan’s ‘hostage justice’ opens
Campaigners argue that lengthy pretrial detention is meted out too easily in Japan, especially if suspects remain silent or refuse to confess.
Travelers in front of a flight information panel in a departure hall at Haneda Airport in Tokyo on April 26
BUSINESS
May 3, 2025
Inflation and high hotel prices curtail Golden Week travels
This year consumers in the world’s fourth-largest economy are feeling the pain of rising prices for everything from cabbage and rice to electricity bills.
A 21-month-old artist who goes by the name "Thumbelina" uses a brush to paint alongside her mother at the family's home in Tokyo.
CULTURE / Art
Apr 24, 2025
Thumbelina’s bedtime is before 8. Her exhibition runs till 5 a.m.
A toddler’s solo art show lights up Tokyo’s nightlife, even though she’s asleep before her first guests arrive.
Mori Calliope fan Taylor Jones holds a penstick as fans await entry to the historic venue Hollywood Palladium for a sold-out concert by Virtual YouTuber Mori Calliope.
CULTURE / Music
Apr 14, 2025
Digital divas: Can Japan’s virtual YouTuber craze crack America?
VTuber agency Cover Corp. recently opened a U.S. office to accelerate business in North America.
The Tokyo Detention Center in the capital's Katsushika Ward
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 13, 2025
Death penalty under renewed scrutiny in Japan
The punishment has broad public support in Japan, despite international criticism over how it is carried out.
Uruguay federation reportedly cancels charter flight after World Cup exit
Uruguay&#039;s Jose Maria Gimenez reacts after the team&#039;s loss against Spain at the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Friday.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
India’s gig workers pay the price for exposure to New Delhi’s hazardous air
Rohit Kushwaha waits for a customer as he delivers his last parcel of the day, in New Delhi in January. His work as a delivery driver has helped pay the family’s bills, but has had a significant impact on his health.
Chinese and Russian bombers and fighter jets stage joint patrol near Japan
A Chinese Air Force H-6 bomber is seen during a joint patrol with Russian military aircraft on Saturday.
U.S. missile moves in Japan send China clear message: A new era has arrived
Soldiers conduct the first Typhon midrange capability live-fire exercise outside of the continental United States, firing an SM-6 missile in July last year in Australia&#039;s Northern Territory during Exercise Talisman Sabre.
Japan’s fertility system offers few safe paths for same-sex couples
A Tokyo Pride parade participant holds a sign that says "we want to be a married couple, not a couple."
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
A French ship with close ties to Japan combines arts and sciences on the high seas
Romain Troublé, the executive director of Tara Ocean Foundation, speaks to visitors aboard the Tara during a rare port call in Tokyo in April.
In Kyushu’s far south, Senti.U sparks a culinary destination
Chef Yasuhiko Uchida was born in Saga Prefecture but has made his home in Kanoya, Kagoshima Prefecture, since 2012.
‘The colors speak for themselves’: How Japan’s chroma bible went global
“A Dictionary of Color Combinations” is meant to function as a quick-reference guide for artists, designers and anyone with a passing interest in aesthetics as a quantifiable pursuit.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

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The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
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