Tag - sumida-ward

 
 

SUMIDA WARD

As Tokyo's public bathhouses age, many are embracing more contemporary aesthetics to stay relevant for a younger class of customer.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Apr 13, 2026
Where Tokyo goes to sweat and soak
To stay relevant and attract new customers, public bathhouses and saunas are trading weary grandeur for contemporary cool.
Outside, at the western entrance of Edo-Tokyo Museum, one of the spaces redesigned under architect Shohei Shigematsu, is an installation of torii gate-inspired structures.
CULTURE / Art
Mar 27, 2026
What’s new (and what’s not) at the reopened Edo-Tokyo Museum
After four years, the extensive history museum reopens with new large-scale models, digital screens and some finer tune-ups.
Tokyo Skytree, in the capital's Sumida Ward, reopened to visitors Thursday following an incident that saw people trapped in an elevator in the tower.
JAPAN
Feb 26, 2026
Damaged cable led to Tokyo Skytree elevator incident
Officials said the cable was damaged after being caught in the roller of a device that limits the shaking of the elevator car.
Tokyo Skytree in November 2025. One of its elevators came to a standstill on Sunday around 8:15 p.m. All of its passengers were rescued about six hours later, close to 2:00 a.m. on Monday.
JAPAN
Feb 24, 2026
Tokyo Skytree shuts down after 20 people trapped in elevator for six hours
The Skytree is closed on Monday and Tuesday for a safety inspection as officials work to determine the cause.
Rei Obara, a 22-year-old employee of a dispatch-style sex business in Sumida Ward, Tokyo, was arrested Thursday on suspicion of dismembering and abandoning the body of her infant.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 19, 2025
Tokyo police arrest 22-year-old woman on suspicion of dismembering her baby
The woman is believed to have dismembered the infant’s body around March and stored the remains in a shared refrigerator until their discovery earlier this month.
Police officers investigate the area around a building in Tokyo's Sumida Ward where an infant's head and limbs were found in a refrigerator on Saturday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 7, 2025
Infant’s head found in fridge in Tokyo
The body parts are believed to be those of an infant around a few months old, but the gender is unknown.
Students from Agatsuma’s butoh workshop, also part of Sumi-Yume, will be joining her and professional butoh dancer Tomoshi Shioya for this weekend’s shows.
CULTURE / Stage
Nov 8, 2024
Butoh dances to the sounds of Hokusai’s hometown
Performances of the avant-garde dance form are part of a program dedicated to the revered artist and celebrating the local community in Sumida Ward.
Seven Magellanic penguins evacuated from Notojima Aquarium in Ishikawa Prefecture were shown at Sumida Aquarium in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN
Aug 27, 2024
Penguins evacuated from quake-hit Noto shown at aquarium in Tokyo
The penguins arrived at Sumida Aquarium in Tokyo from Notojima Aquarium in the city of Nanao on Feb. 1, one month after the 7.6-magnitude temblor.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 28, 2023
Tokyo hospital hopes to launch baby hatch next year
San-ikukai Hospital is preparing to set up a baby hatch next spring or later, along with a system to allow women to give births confidentially.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / JAPAN TIMES GONE BY
Mar 5, 2023
Japan Times 1998: Sumida most vulnerable if big temblor hits Tokyo
When there hasn’t been a big earthquake for a while, people start to worry and prepare. That seemed to be the case in 1998.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 18, 2019
Friends in high places: Tokyo Skytree’s window washers
How would you like to spend an afternoon dangling 450 meters above the ground in a metal basket with room for only two people?
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 3, 2019
Tokyo’s Pet Loss Cafe offers a place to grieve and heal
Ritsuko Shimazaki, 58, occasionally takes a 70-minute train ride to visit one coffee shop in particular near the upscale district of Omotesando in Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 1, 2019
Tokyo welcomes Japan’s new Reiwa Era in festive mood with countdowns and marriages
Midnight countdowns, marriage registrations and celebratory events: People welcomed the dawning of the new imperial era, Reiwa, at various locations in Tokyo with a festive mood.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 26, 2019
Foreign-born candidates discuss challenges and prejudice on the Tokyo campaign trail
In a nation where there are few foreign-born politicians in local assemblies or in the Diet, the sight of a candidate openly touting his or her foreign background through loudspeakers on the campaign trail can come as a surprise.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Sep 10, 2018
Let’s discuss Noemi Inoue, Bolivia-born Tokyo councilor
Bolivian-born Noemi Inoue felt it was necessary to naturalize to feel fully integrated in Japanese society and to become the first non-Japan-born person to serve as a city councilor in Tokyo’s Sumida Ward.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Aug 29, 2018
Wanting to make a difference, Bolivia-born Noemi Inoue turned Japanese and entered politics
Shocked by gender inequality and wanting to do something about it, Noemi Inoue decided to naturalize and stand for her local council.
LIFE / Language / NEWS IN NIHONGO
May 29, 2017
Tokyo Skytree tallies fifth anniversary
People flock to an event to celebrate the world’s tallest broadcasting tower.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
May 2, 2015
Investigating ‘impurity’ in Tokyo’s marginalized leatherwork districts
Because of irrational fears of contamination, Japan’s hibakusha — the survivors of the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki — suffered discrimination. Try to imagine having an atom bomb dropped on you by a foreign enemy, then to have your own people turn against you. There is another group...

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