Sports & Events Bon Odori: Japan’s Summer Dance That Locals Join and Tourists Only Watch
Every summer, neighborhoods all over Japan set up a wooden tower in a park or school playground, hang it with paper lant...
Sports & Events 
Getting Around Japan’s Most Crowded Train Line Isn’t the One You’ve Heard Of — And It Loses Money Anyway
If you had to guess Tokyo's most crowded train line, you'd probably name one of the famous rush-hour lines that show up ...
Getting Around Two Trains Leave Haneda Airport for Downtown Tokyo. Locals Pick Differently Depending on the Hour.
Land at Haneda Airport and you're faced with a choice most first-time visitors don't even realize they're making: Tokyo ...
Food & Dining In Most Countries, the Freezer Aisle Is About Vegetables. In Japan, It’s About 7 AM.
In this series, I've already written about the souzai corner and the bread aisle in Japanese supermarkets. This time it'...
Getting Around Tokyo’s Last Streetcar Isn’t a Nostalgic Tourist Ride — It’s How Grandma Gets to the Hospital
Tokyo once had an extensive streetcar network. Today only one line survives — the Toden Arakawa Line, now branded "Tokyo...
Getting Around Tokyo Has a Massive Bus Network. Almost No Tourist Ever Steps Onto It.
Ask about getting around Tokyo and "bus" almost never comes up before "subway" or "Yamanote Line." But the Toei Bus netw...
Local Life & Culture The Workwear Store in Ueno Built for Construction Sites Is Now a Tourist Magnet From Taiwan to Spain
Bic Uniform's Ueno store sells the unglamorous stuff of Japanese construction sites — coveralls, safety boots, hi-vis ve...
Local Life & Culture The 25-Square-Meter Denim Shop Hiding Inside Tokyo’s Cheapest, Most Chaotic Market
Ameyoko is where Tokyo goes for cheap dried snacks, knockoff sneakers, and army-surplus jackets — not, on paper, a fashi...
Shopping & Items Japan’s Eyewear Chains Are Faster and Cheaper Than You’d Expect
If you wear glasses and you're planning a trip to Japan, you might not realize that some of the most convenient — and ch...
Food & Dining In Most Countries, Bread Is a Side Dish. In a Japanese Supermarket, It’s an Entire Meal.
In part one of this series, I wrote about the souzai (prepared-food) corner in Japanese supermarkets. Right next to it s...