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June 30, 2026
 

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CULTURE

Music

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Trooper Salute marches to its own beat on dazzling debut album
CULTURE / Music
Trooper Salute marches to its own beat on dazzling debut album
The quintet’s debut album “Tomogachi Ga Imashita,” released on June 17, features an impressive array of styles drawn from the band members’ wide-ranging influences.
CULTURE / Music
Music Awards Japan levels up and looks ahead
Japan’s largest music award ceremony moved to Tokyo for its second year, with a night of electric performances and artists honored in 78 categories.
CULTURE / Music
TV Tairiku Ondo channels the chaotic creativity of youth
After going viral with a 90-second track in 2024, the rock quartet from Hokkaido has been hitting stages big and small and working hard on a debut album.
Pioneering hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan's mythology has drawn heavily from East Asian imagery and martial arts films since its inception.
CULTURE / Music
Jun 1, 2026
Wu-Tang Clan’s final tour stop highlights enduring Asian influences
By Kim Kahan
Wu-Tang Clan built its mythology on martial arts films and Asian iconography — and Yokohama finally got to witness that legacy live on the group’s farewell tour.
Japanese rock band Sakanaction gained belated attention worldwide after its 2012 song “Yoru no Odoriko” was paired with a viral video of an Indonesian preteen’s dance.
CULTURE / Music
May 29, 2026
Sakanaction’s overseas breakthrough came from a viral dance meme
By Patrick St. Michel
A video of an Indonesian preteen dancing on a boat became the unlikely springboard for Japanese rockers Sakanaction to gain global attention.
Seven-member group Hana kicked off California music festival Zipangu with a high-energy performance showcasing the act’s wide-ranging sound.
CULTURE / Music
May 28, 2026
Girl group Hana channels positivity into every performance
By Patrick St. Michel
Before joining Hana, the group’s members were told “no” by the entertainment industry. Now they’re part of one of Japan’s most talked-about new acts.
At music festival Zipangu’s inaugural edition, headliner Ado performed original songs as well as classic J-pop hits such as Miki Matsubara’s 1979 track “Mayonaka no Door: Stay With Me.”
CULTURE / Music
May 28, 2026
Music festival Zipangu offers a glimpse of J-pop’s future beyond anime
By Patrick St. Michel
Ado, Chanmina, Atarashii Gakko!, Yuki Chiba and more turned a Pasadena golf course into a showcase for the breadth of Japanese music and its growing appeal abroad.
Anri says younger overseas listeners first surprised her during a 2023 performance in Los Angeles, where most of the audience was in their 20s. Nearly five decades after her debut, songs such as “Last Summer Whisper” and “I Can’t Stop the Loneliness” continue finding new fans.
CULTURE / Music / Longform
May 18, 2026
Before city pop went global, there was Anri
By Patrick St. Michel
Long after city pop became an online phenomenon, the singer continues to find new fans worldwide.
Musician Masashi Sada has written roughly 650 songs over a career spanning five decades.
CULTURE / Music
May 14, 2026
Masashi Sada still believes music begins with melody
By David McNeill
The veteran singer-songwriter discusses fame, artistic independence and why he never chased musical trends.
Noriko Sekiguchi launched Poison Girl Friend in the late 1980s, crafting melancholy, club-influenced pop with multilingual lyrics. Her music is now being rediscovered by younger listeners through streaming services and a renewed interest in ’90s trip hop.
CULTURE / Music
May 8, 2026
Poison Girl Friend was early. Now it makes sense.
By Patrick St. Michel
A once-overlooked project returns as younger listeners rediscover its melancholic sound and understated influence.

Uruguay federation reportedly cancels charter flight after World Cup exit
Uruguay's Jose Maria Gimenez reacts after the team'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's Northern Territory during Exercise Talisman Sabre.
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.
LGBTQ+ families are building lives Japanese lawmakers still struggle to see
Haru Ono founded Nijiiro Kazoku in 2010 after forming a same-sex stepfamily. She said the impetus for founding the organization was that she couldn’t find much reliable information out there for families such as hers in Japan.
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’

Longform

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

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