Famous in Japan

By Emma Lin, Intern 2026 Today, basketball is played all over the world. From the crowds that flock to TD Garden to watch the Celtics play, to Japan’s B.League, the sport has grown to be a global phenomenon; but it wasn’t until December 21, 1891 that basketball was even in existence. In the early days, there were no professional teams, no hall-of-famers, and definitely no neighborhood rounds of HORSE—it was a barebones, brand new game invented by a phys-ed instructor in Sprin

By Danielle Cochran, Volunteer Keigo Higashino in Tokyo (Photo by JIJI Press / AFP via Getty Images) / Japan OUT With over 100 titles to his name, Keigo Higashino was one of Japan's top mystery authors. Despite the volume of works, being an author wasn't what he first set out to do in life. Born in Osaka City in 1958, Higashino wasn't fond of reading as a child. In an interview discussing the 1970s setting of his novel Tokio, he was asked what kind of reading he did during th

By Gavin Marr, Intern 2026 Photo of Shuetsu Sato at Shinjuku Station in front of two of his signs: Satou, Hidenori [佐藤英典]. "新宿駅の「ガムテープ案内表示」を作りだした佐藤修悦さんインタビュー ！『修悦体』はこうして生まれた" RocketNews24, September 13, 2016. https://rocketnews24.com/2016/09/13/798848/ Whether encountered through broad-stroke research before a trip or experienced firsthand in the herd-like nature of Tokyo rush hour, navigating Shinjuku Station is, to put it lightly, a daunting task. Its labyrinthine nature ca

By Danielle Cochran, Volunteer Kobayashi, Kiyochika. Lady Sei Shōnagon, 1897, Triptych; color woodblock prints, embossing. Written around the same time as The Tale of Genji, The Pillow Book is often considered its companion that details court life during the Heian Era (794 to 1185 CE). While the former is a work of fiction that one is to make inferences about the time it was written, the latter was written almost like a diary and gives a firsthand viewpoint of its author, Sei

By Isabel Hurwitz, Intern Spring 2026 “The Son Also Roses” from King of the Hill - Season Seven, Episode Six –“This one’s pretty.” –“Not according to the book.” –“But I like that mine’s a little off-center, it’s got wabi-sabi.” Is natural imperfection beautiful? For some time now, an audio clip from the animated series King of the Hill has been taking over platforms like TikTok, mentioning wabi-sabi as a part of an argument about beauty. The audio became so popular that it sp