Juhyo: The Snow Monsters on Japan’s Mount Zao
Winter conditions at the summit of Mount Zao, a volcano standing between Japan’s Yamagata and Miyagi prefectures, can conjure up “creatures” of snow and ice, built up over tree trunks and branches.…
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Articles from www.theatlantic.com
Browse articles from www.theatlantic.com in the Akihabara archive.
The Quest to Genetically Engineer the 2020 Olympics Mascot
In the background are a handful of sunflowers and, woven through them, a spatter of morning glories. In a wave of nostalgic, nationalistic sentiment, social clubs devoted to raising mutant morni…
The Uneven Historical Horror of The Terror: Infamy
The supernatural horror of Infamy comes mostly from an otherworldly antagonist named Yuko (played by Kiki Sukezane), who is introduced in the first episode. This isn’t to say that Infamy must de…
Japan’s Fiery Toyohashi Gion Festival
In central Japan, near Mikawa Bay, the Toyohashi Gion Festival—during which local men set off large handheld fireworks as part of a Shinto ritual—has taken place annually for more than 350 years. Acc…
Japan's Endless Search for Modernity
One hundred and fifty years after the Meiji Restoration, several generations of growth and development have not erased the feeling that Japan remains in the midst of a transformation pitting traditio…
The Booming Japanese Rent-A-Friend Business
Money may not be able to buy love, but here in Japan, it can certainly buy the appearance of love—and appearance, as the dapper Ishii Yuichi insists, is everything. As a man whose business involves b…
Gun ownership in Japan
With statestics of last year's gun crimes and homicides rolling out in many countries, I saw this topic being discussed on a Japanese TV channel. In Japan, gun crime is basically low because gun…