All About Japan

Creepy, Crawly... Human Caterpillars?

Inch your way across the court in Caterpillar Rugby, a game that allows people with physical disabilities to participate on the same level as able-bodied people.

Shared Office Designed Around Food & Community

STOCK offers a 15-meter kitchen, two floors of storage and a community vibe starting from ¥18,000 per month.

Japan Sports Agency Commissioner Daichi Suzuki

Highlighting Japan spoke with the commissioner of the newly-formed agency about the development of sports policy in Japan.

The Art of Any Tokyo

Any Tokyo is an exhibition bringing “tomorrow’s applied design and ideas together under one roof.” Now in its third iteration, the 2015 event runs from October 24 to November 3 at Zozo-ji Temple.

Hot Gear from the 2014 Good Design Awards

Every year since 1957, Japan’s Good Design Awards have honored products that are designed in such a way to have a positive impact on people’s lives.

The Tumbler Bento: Pure Genius!

YouTuber Ochikeron assembles three very different bento-style lunches in plastic travel tumblers. What a great idea!

The Technology of Artificial Spider Silk

With more than 30,000 species of spider in the world—and a single spider using more than seven different kinds of silk—it became nearly impossible for Spiber researchers to define what constituted spider silk at all.

Sharp & 7-Eleven Offer Evangelion Smartphone

30,000 phones planned for production—at ¥84,240 a pop!

Akira Fans Eat Your Heart Out

ZecOO, an electronic motorcycle company, has just come out with a smart, futuristic motorbike that will make you think you're on the set of the Akira movie.

Swipe Your Phone with a Happy Cat Tail

These smartphone gloves will keep your fingertips as happy as a kitty getting a chin rub.

Osaka Vending Machines Offer Umbrellas

DyDo offers free "rental umbrellas" at 60 vending machines in Osaka's Nishi Ward.

A Japanese Bento Box In New York

A variety of New York-based businesses—from small-scale entrepreneurs to multinational brand names—are gradually succeeding in introducing Japanese bento culture to the world.

4 Businesses Inspired by the Bento Box

The bento’s sleekness, compactness, balance and visual appeal have spurred ideas for various businesses in Japan and beyond.

Programmable Idol Robots Dance to Your Design

The robot revolution is coming, and when it arrives, they’ll have an awful lot to be mad about. Like making them dance for our amusement. Thanks, DMM.

Katana Scissors Inspired by Real Samurai

Nikken Cutlery has three types of katana scissors for your slicing needs, including one inspired by Oda Nobunaga’s sword and featuring a gold-tipped “scabbard.”

Lost Fukushima Wolf Deity Images Recreated

When Yamatsumi Shrine burned down in 2013, along with the structure itself went 240 images of a wolf deity that had watched over Iitate Village for nearly 1,000 years.

How to Create Halloween in Elementary School

With a little (okay, a lot of) preparation, an enthusiastic teacher can make Halloween real in a way no explanation could ever hope to match.

Outerwear Made from Synthetic Spider Silk

For the past 11 years, a Japanese company has been attempting to harness the strength of spider silk to create a new type of material with unprecedented versatility. They’ve now unveiled their working prototype: the Moon Parka.

How a Bento Manga Changed the Rules for Women

When “Nonchan Noriben” was published in 1995, the idea of a divorcée trying to pick up her life as a single mother was still taboo in Japan.

Breaking Olympic Records with Prosthetic Limbs

Ken Endo returned to Japan in 2012 after researching robotic prosthetics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He now aims to help a Paralympic sprinter shatter the Olympic speed record.

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