Not so long ago, we found out that Tokyo’s Akihabara Station has a bank of vending machines stocked with a huge array of delicious milk-based drinks, with all sorts of fruit, tea, and coffee flavorings to tempt you. But while those are great for quenching your thirst or satisfying your sweet tooth, what about when you’re feeling hungry?

Japan’s National Theatre has risen to the occasion after the cancellation of Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura (Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees), which was originally scheduled to open for audiences in Tokyo on March 3 of this year. Instead, the performance, sans audience, will be posted to the theatre’s online YouTube channel. In fact, the play, split into three videos, is available for viewing right now, and will be free to watch to your heart’s content until April 30, 3:00 p.m. JST.

Japanese language exercises aimed at school children but also great for non-native learners like me. For me it didn't work in Firefox, which is my preferred browser, but this could possibly be because of my paranoid privacy-enhancing browser extensions.

It is one unintended consequence of the Fukushima nuclear disaster almost a decade ago, which forced Japan to all but close its nuclear power program. Japan now plans to build as many as 22 new coal-burning power plants — one of the dirtiest sources of electricity — at 17 different sites in the next five years, just at a time when the world needs to slash carbon dioxide emissions to fight global warming.

The Kabuki Play Guide provides synopses and highlights of major works in the Kabuki canon for those interested in learning more about Kabuki theater.

A handy dictionary of kabuki terms, plays and characters from the Japan Arts Council.

Saw my first live kabuki performance today in Tokyo and absolutely loved it.

According to numbers provided Monday by the Fisheries Agency, 25 sei whales, 52 minke whales, and a staggering 150 Bryde’s whale are permitted to be caught through the end of the year—227 total whales over a mere sixth-month span. The IUCN Red List categorizes sei whales as endangered.

What should have been a heart-wrenching meeting with plans to make changes for the future instead ended up boiling down to one poor choice of words on behalf of the superintendent.

At some point during the conversation with the boy’s father, the superintendent asked: Omae mo hogoshakai ni kuru ka? (お前も保護者会に来るか).