Megumi Hara– Author –

Walk past a game center in any Japanese city and the first thing that hits you isn’t a sight, but a sound. It’s an overwhelming, chaotic, and somehow harmonious wall of noise—a crashing wave of digital music, synthesized explosions, anno...

When you think of Tokyo, you probably picture the crush of Shibuya Crossing or the quiet reverence of a Shinto shrine. You think of a city defined by its density, its rules, its verticality. For most of the day, you’d be right. But when ...

You asked me why the basement of a Japanese department store is such a big deal. It’s a fair question. In most parts of the world, the basement is where you find storage, parking, or maybe a clearance section with questionable lighting. ...

You’ve probably heard of shinrin-yoku, or “forest bathing.” In the past decade, the term has blossomed in the global wellness scene, popping up in everything from yoga retreats and corporate wellness programs to scented candles and smart...

Ask anyone to sketch a picture of a Japanese professional, and you’ll likely get the same image: the dark suit, the sensible shoes, the briefcase, the unwavering loyalty to a single company from graduation to retirement. This is the sala...

If you spend any amount of time in modern Japan, you'll start noticing it. Maybe it’s a woman on the train whose tote bag is meticulously decorated with dozens of identical anime character keychains. Perhaps you’ll see a group of friends...

You’ve seen the images, I’m sure. Legions of men in identical dark suits, pouring out of train stations like a river of conformity, marching toward the gleaming towers of Marunouchi. This is the classic picture of corporate Japan, the er...

You’ve asked me why Japanese food culture seems so obsessed with seasonality, with this concept of ‘shun’ (旬). It’s a great question, because it gets right to the heart of what makes eating in Japan feel so different. It’s not just abou...

You’re standing in a Japanese garden, perhaps in Kyoto. It feels serene, meticulously composed, yet not entirely contained. Your eyes follow a line of carefully placed stones, past a sculpted pine tree, over a low, moss-covered wall, and...

If you find yourself in a Japanese neighborhood park on a summer morning, just as the sun is beginning to burn off the night’s humidity, you’ll likely hear it. A simple, almost childlike piano melody drifting from a crackling loudspeaker...

You asked me what the deal is with those immersive digital art museums you keep seeing pop up from Tokyo. You know the ones—videos of people wandering through shimmering crystal forests, wading knee-deep in projections of koi fish, or st...

I get this question a lot, usually after someone’s just watched a Studio Ghibli film for the first time. They’ll ask, “Are there really places in Japan like the ones in Spirited Away or My Neighbor Totoro? Places that feel… well, other?”...