Many closed-down “sento” public bathhouses across Japan have been reborn as cafes or even “izakaya” pubs. But a few are now being used for welfare services while maintaining the original association ...

While “sento” public bathhouses continue to shutter nationwide, a long-established operator is planning to open its second location in the heart of Tokyo’s hip Harajuku district. The second bathhouse ...

Fighting games are communal by nature, and the broader Fighting Game Community (FGC) and the many pockets of it that pop up around different games regularly create and participate in events based on ...

Public bathhouses, or sento, as they’re known in Japanese, used to be a thriving business back in the day, when people didn’t have baths or showers installed at home. These days, there’s not a lot of ...

Wim Wenders’ latest film, Perfect Days, is a languid sketch of a typical Tokyo toilet cleaner’s life. It shows the minutiae of the working-day rituals of its protagonist, Hirayama: wiping toilet bowls ...

Onsen (hot springs) have been part of Japanese culture for centuries, but they’ve been seriously surging in popularity over the past 20 years. At the same time that there’s an onsen renaissance going ...