How healthy is sushi?
Sushi is even more popular outside of Japan than in Japan, and it's pretty popular there too. Traditional sushi is stuffed with fresh fish and vegetables, ingredients usually praised for their health profiles. “Sushi has this halo of being healthy,” says Katherine Zeratsky, a professor of Read More...
Rare white wallabies get their color from viral DNA
Wallabies are adorable marsupials with an appetite for greens and veggies. The majority of these animals can be found hopping around Papua New Guinea or Australia and naturally have a brown or gray coat, enabling them to blend in with their surroundings and avoid predators. While brown Read More...
Weird species of worm named after Godzilla’s enemy
We love sharing the uncovering of the vast biodiversity of our world with our readers. In 2020 alone, 503 new animal species were discovered. From the Popa langur monkey, to nine new snake species and the highest living bumblebee Bombus tibeticus. It is inspiring and exciting to see the wide range Read More...
Stay-for-Free initiative for homeless in Osaka reaches 10,000-guest milestone
Over two decades ago in Osaka’s Nishinari Ward, a group of hostel owners and some others decided to start a “Stay-for-Free” volunteer movement to help the masses of homeless day laborers. Just last month, the altruistic community project hit its 10,000-guest milestone. Back in the 1970s, Read More...
World's oldest person Kane Tanaka celebrates 119th birthday
This past Sunday, the world’s oldest person, Kane Tanaka, celebrated her 119th birthday in Japan at the nursing home where she lives in Fukuoka prefecture in southwest Japan. Tanaka, whose status as the world’s oldest person was recognized by The Guinness Book of Records in March 2019 when Read More...
Tokyo becomes biggest city in Japan to recognize same-sex partnerships
In March of this year, we shared the news that in Sapporo, Japan, the district court ruled that the government’s failure to recognize same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, which was viewed as a symbolic victory and a huge step forward for the LGBTQ+ community in Japan. Now, more steps have Read More...
Earth's deepest earthquake finally explained
An earthquake recorded in the Bonin Islands off mainland Japan in 2015 caused a minor aftershock. No damage was done, and no one even noticed its occurrence. Little did residents know the deepest earthquake ever recorded had just happened below. For years after the event, scientists were left Read More...
This Japanese vending machine gives free drinks to get people talking again
Last week, Japanese beverage maker Suntory Beverage & Food Ltd. unveiled its new workplace vending machine that is designed to nudge corporate consumers towards social interactions within the workplace—something that many of us are out of practice with thanks to the Covid-19 health Read More...
Japan strives to harness the incredible power of typhoons
In the last week of September, the metropolis of Tokyo, Japan, along with the country’s chain of small offshore islands, was narrowly missed by Mindulle, the third super typhoon to form in the Western Pacific this year. The storm, which originated close to the island of Guam, had powerful wind Read More...
9-year-old stumbles upon 37-year-old message in a bottle
In 1984 and 1985, students from the natural science club at Choshi High School in the eastern prefecture of Chiba in Japan released 750 glass bottles into the ocean as part of a project to investigate ocean currents. This past June, 37 years later, nine-year-old Abbie Graham discovered one of Read More...