January 11, 2020
As a teen, Shin-ya Narusawa became a reclusive shut-in for 6 years, until a cosmic event rekindled his interest in astronomy. Now,...Read more
January 18, 2020
Paralyzed in his lower legs and hands, Takeshi Kukizaki, 68, grows azaleas and runs an azalea garden in Kagoshima City, southwest ...Read more
February 2, 2020
On weekends, customers flock to this traditional restaurant in Murayama city in northeast Japan for a unique taste of soba noodles...Read more
February 15, 2020
Japan's indigenous Ainu people, many of whom live on the northern island of Hokkaido Prefecture, have passed down crafts inspired ...Read more
February 29, 2020
The 2011 tsunami devastated the fishing industry in Sanriku, in northeastern Japan. Like others, seafood processor Kenichiro Yagi ...Read more
March 14, 2020
In the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, the town of Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture lost 30% of its civil servants, the highest propor...Read more
April 4, 2020
At altitudes of more than 2,500 meters in the mountains of central Japan, a 72-year-old ornithologist, Nakamura Hiroshi, takes on ...Read more
April 18, 2020
For Japan's aging apple farmers, finding someone to succeed them is a struggle. In Hirosaki City, a community in Japan's leading a...Read more
May 16, 2020
In the northern Japanese town of Oma, seasoned fishermen compete to land prized bluefin tuna. Among them is a 57-year-old novice, ...Read more
May 23, 2020
A man bedridden by a genetic disorder. Another paralyzed by a fall. For such people with severe disabilities, avatar robots are op...Read more
June 6, 2020
A hospital near Tokyo gets many patients from abroad, including tourists, local workers and even people in Japan illegally. Dr. As...Read more
June 20, 2020
A father and son team of strawberry farmers in northeastern Japan faces tough times after the March 2011 tsunami devastates their ...Read more
July 4, 2020
Onagawa town in northeast Japan was devastated by the 2011 tsunami. The town's only supermarket, which goes back 100 years, has no...Read more
July 18, 2020
On the small Japanese island of Tokunoshima, 18-year-old Nao Suzuna has dedicated herself to Japanese bullfighting, or "togyu." Ev...Read more
August 8, 2020
Right after the atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki in August 1945, Japanese Red Cross Society nurses, mainly in their late teens ...Read more
August 15, 2020
Glittering flames swirling up into the sky. The unforgettable eyes of a girl trapped by fire. An abandoned corpse on the road. The...Read more
September 5, 2020
For nearly a century, Yawatahama Shimbun reported local news in the small town of Yawatahama in southern Japan. The paper was prod...Read more
September 19, 2020
In October 2019, Mitsuishi Takae and her husband, Kazumasa, worry that torrential rain from a powerful typhoon could cause a river...Read more
October 10, 2020
Businesses in Izumo City have welcomed scores of Brazilian workers in recent years. But due to US-China trade tensions, they're cu...Read more
October 17, 2020
Yakata Miki, a former pop idol, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2018. After surgery to remove her left breast, Miki kept a vid...Read more
November 8, 2020
A charter bus company had lost its major source of income - international tourists - in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The CEO...Read more
November 15, 2020
Toyama Bay, in central Japan, is known as a source of abundant seafood such as firefly squid and Beni-zuwai crab - specialties fro...Read more
December 6, 2020
In 2020, an annual manga comic championship for high schoolers goes online for the first time due to COVID-19. The virtual format ...Read more
December 20, 2020
Aoki Mariko, from northeast Japan, shot to fame after winning one of Japan's prestigious gardening contests in 2018 while still in...Read more