<![CDATA[EL PAÍS]]>

<![CDATA[EL PAÍS]]>https://english.elpais.comWed, 03 Jun 2026 16:53:14 +0000en1hourly1<![CDATA[Takeshi Yoro, anatomist: ‘In Japan, we don’t see a robot as a threat: it’s simply another form of presence in the world’]]>https://english.elpais.com/science-tech/2026-05-16/takeshi-yoro-anatomist-in-japan-we-dont-see-a-robot-as-a-threat-its-simply-another-form-of-presence-in-the-world.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/science-tech/2026-05-16/takeshi-yoro-anatomist-in-japan-we-dont-see-a-robot-as-a-threat-its-simply-another-form-of-presence-in-the-world.htmlSat, 16 May 2026 04:00:00 +0000Anatomist Takeshi Yoro is 88 years old and spent 30 of those years performing autopsies at the University of Tokyo. When he retired from teaching in 1995, he turned to studying the human brain and its relationship with the body — and to collecting insects.

]]>IRWIN WONG<![CDATA[Following attacks, Japan approves the hunting of 10,000 bears this year ]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-04-18/following-attacks-japan-approves-the-hunting-of-10000-bears-this-year.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2026-04-18/following-attacks-japan-approves-the-hunting-of-10000-bears-this-year.htmlSat, 18 Apr 2026 04:00:00 +0000Japan is in a state of emergency due to a wave of bear attacks against humans, which in 2025 produced a record 230 incidents around the country, 13 of them fatal. The country recently presented a five-year plan that proposes hunting more than 10,000 of the animals this year. The so-called “Roadmap for Managing Damage Caused by Bears” is being spearheaded by the Ministry of the Environment, with the participation of the Ministry of Agriculture and the National Police Agency.

]]>Muneyoshi Someya<![CDATA[Smaller pizzas, a wooden Starbucks logo and tatami in Zara: The demands of the Japanese market]]>https://english.elpais.com/economy-and-business/2026-03-21/smaller-pizzas-a-wooden-starbucks-logo-and-tatami-in-zara-the-demands-of-the-japanese-market.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/economy-and-business/2026-03-21/smaller-pizzas-a-wooden-starbucks-logo-and-tatami-in-zara-the-demands-of-the-japanese-market.htmlSat, 21 Mar 2026 04:00:00 +0000A smaller pizza, a logo carved in wood, or a tatami floor are minor adjustments that, in Japan, allow global brands like Domino’s Pizza, Starbucks, or Zara to conquer one of the world’s most demanding markets. “Japanese diners are very prone to boredom,” Ernest Higa — an American businessman who in 1985 managed to establish the aforementioned pizza chain in the country after convincing the U.S. headquarters to increase the topping options from 12 to 38 and abandon the practice of serving only Coca-Cola — explains to EL PAÍS.

]]>Cristi Croitoru<![CDATA[Japan drags its feet on nuclear energy recovery, 15 years after Fukushima accident ]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-03-12/japan-drags-its-feet-on-nuclear-energy-recovery-15-years-after-fukushima-accident.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2026-03-12/japan-drags-its-feet-on-nuclear-energy-recovery-15-years-after-fukushima-accident.htmlThu, 12 Mar 2026 15:38:22 +0000Nuclear energy, long stigmatized in Japan following the accident that took place on March 11, 2011 at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant — which forced thousands to leave their homes and the shutdown of 54 reactors providing 30% of the country’s energy — has come back to the country’s energy portfolio. But its return is taking place amid civilian distrust and expert skepticism, 15 years after the world held its breath during one of history’s worst nuclear accidents, second only to that of Chernobyl, Ukraine in 1986.

]]>DigitalGlobe<![CDATA[‘Takaichi fever’ grips Japan: The ultraconservative leader becomes a phenomenon that transcends politics]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-02-10/takaichi-fever-grips-japan-the-ultraconservative-leader-becomes-a-phenomenon-that-transcends-politics.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2026-02-10/takaichi-fever-grips-japan-the-ultraconservative-leader-becomes-a-phenomenon-that-transcends-politics.htmlTue, 10 Feb 2026 13:24:35 +0000The fact that Japan’s prime minister, the ultraconservative Sanae Takaichi, has become a phenomenon that transcends politics was clear at her final campaign rally last Saturday in a park on Tokyo’s outskirts. Braving freezing temperatures, the darkness of night, and a light rain that would turn to snow by dawn, thousands gathered just to see her — to be there — aware they were witnessing a historic moment

]]>FRANCK ROBICHON / POOL<![CDATA[Prisons as retirement homes for low-income seniors in Japan]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-02-04/prisons-as-retirement-homes-for-low-income-seniors-in-japan.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2026-02-04/prisons-as-retirement-homes-for-low-income-seniors-in-japan.htmlWed, 04 Feb 2026 11:47:54 +0000The rise in the number of elderly people committing minor offenses to secure shelter, food, and medical care in prison has transformed Japan’s penitentiaries into facilities increasingly geared towards this age group, where social reintegration takes precedence over punishment. Some experts, however, warn of the high cost of maintaining an elderly prisoner and argue that prisons converted into retirement homes highlight a problem: the existence of increasingly weakened communities that fail to provide adequate support for their elders.

]]>jeremy sutton-hibbert / Alamy Stock Photo<![CDATA[How Japan is trying to avert ‘digital defeat’ ]]>https://english.elpais.com/economy-and-business/2025-12-28/how-japan-is-trying-to-avert-digital-defeat.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/economy-and-business/2025-12-28/how-japan-is-trying-to-avert-digital-defeat.htmlSun, 28 Dec 2025 04:00:00 +0000The ability of U.S. and Chinese companies to integrate sensors, unify standards, and share data is driving their progress in physical artificial intelligence, an area in which Japan’s structural weaknesses threaten to provoke what its own government calls a “digital defeat.” Manufacturing robots that co-exist in everyday spaces with human beings is an attractive solution for a country that has been mired for decades in a growing demographic crisis and restrictive immigration policies.

]]>GREG BAKER (AFP / Getty Images)<![CDATA[Japan struggles to address growing number of empty houses]]>https://english.elpais.com/economy-and-business/2025-01-27/japan-struggles-to-address-growing-number-of-empty-houses.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/economy-and-business/2025-01-27/japan-struggles-to-address-growing-number-of-empty-houses.htmlMon, 27 Jan 2025 15:30:36 +0000Millions of abandoned houses that threaten to become ghost neighborhoods or garbage dumps, even in major cities, are one of the most visible consequences of Japan’s aging, a country that fears being overwhelmed by social spending on pensions and elderly care. There are currently 8.9 million empty homes, or 10.3% of the total. These include properties that have not been available for rent for years or whose owners have given up ownership, according to the latest statistics from Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, from 2023.

]]>Buddhika Weerasinghe (Getty Images)<![CDATA[Good manners become collateral victims of mass tourism in Japan]]>https://english.elpais.com/travel/2024-09-15/good-manners-become-collateral-victims-of-mass-tourism-in-japan.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/travel/2024-09-15/good-manners-become-collateral-victims-of-mass-tourism-in-japan.htmlSun, 15 Sep 2024 04:00:00 +0000Extreme courtesy and good behavior in public spaces have become collateral victims of mass tourism in Japan, an increasingly popular destination as the yen depreciates. But the vast majority of these new visitors are more interested in shopping than in culture. “Lately, there are more visitors who arrive blindly, without any prior knowledge of the culture,” laments Enrique Medina, a Madrid-based photographer and tour guide who accompanies groups from Spain and Latin America around the country.

]]>Pongmanat Tasiri<![CDATA[‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’ sweeps Japan after a 50-year delay]]>https://english.elpais.com/culture/2024-08-31/one-hundred-years-of-solitude-sweeps-japan-after-a-50-year-delay.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/culture/2024-08-31/one-hundred-years-of-solitude-sweeps-japan-after-a-50-year-delay.htmlSat, 31 Aug 2024 04:05:00 +0000The Japanese paperback edition of One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967) has become the publishing phenomenon of the summer, selling some 290,000 copies in eight weeks… almost the same as the total number of three hardcover versions printed in the past 52 years.

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]]><![CDATA[‘The Great Wave off Kanagawa’: From a T-shirt design to illustrating Japan’s new banknotes]]>https://english.elpais.com/culture/2024-08-20/the-great-wave-off-kanagawa-from-a-t-shirt-design-to-illustrating-japans-new-banknotes.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/culture/2024-08-20/the-great-wave-off-kanagawa-from-a-t-shirt-design-to-illustrating-japans-new-banknotes.htmlTue, 20 Aug 2024 18:01:15 +0000The most reproduced Japanese artwork in the world, The Great Wave off Kanagawa, is featured on the new 1,000 yen banknotes issued last month. Tokyo is also paying tribute to the work with a major exhibition at a museum dedicated to its creator, Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849). The famous print is one of the works in the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, created between 1830 and 1833, when Hokusai was 70 years old. The work — originally titled Under the Wave off Kanagawa — shows Japan’s iconic mountain framed by a huge wave, with its claws of foam. Three boats manned by tiny figures, powerless in the current, are integrated into the composition with such skill that they often go unnoticed at first glance.

]]><![CDATA[Cats inspired Japanese culture centuries before the social media fervor]]>https://english.elpais.com/culture/2024-08-08/cats-inspired-japanese-culture-centuries-before-the-social-media-fervor.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/culture/2024-08-08/cats-inspired-japanese-culture-centuries-before-the-social-media-fervor.htmlThu, 08 Aug 2024 20:00:36 +0000Long before cat photos went viral on social media, Japan had a deep devotion to felines, which was proudly reflected in its culture. From folklore legends and anime films to literary classics and traditional poetry, the Asian country’s fascination with cats extends to daily life — statistics confirm that cats are the most popular pet in Japan.

]]>MARTIN BUREAU<![CDATA[My robot and I: Japanese stories of technology and old age ]]>https://english.elpais.com/technology/2024-07-06/my-robot-and-i-japanese-stories-of-technology-and-old-age.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/technology/2024-07-06/my-robot-and-i-japanese-stories-of-technology-and-old-age.htmlSat, 06 Jul 2024 04:05:00 +0000Mitigating loneliness, preventing cognitive decline and alleviating the loss of mobility are the priorities of the robotics field in Japan. For decades, the country has been searching for technological solutions to address the economic and social repercussions that stem from its rapidly aging population. Three robots — which are present in many Japanese nursing homes and hospitals for the elderly — aim to entertain, start conversations and create emotional connections. Their names are Pepper, AIBO and PARO. This technological trio accompanies the staff who care for the physical and mental well-being of more than 40 elderly people at the Shintomi Nursing Home, a long-term care facility in the center of Tokyo.

]]>Noriko Hayashi<![CDATA[Oki Sato, the minimalist designer inspired by manga cat Doraemon ]]>https://english.elpais.com/culture/2024-04-20/oki-sato-the-minimalist-designer-inspired-by-manga-cat-doraemon.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/culture/2024-04-20/oki-sato-the-minimalist-designer-inspired-by-manga-cat-doraemon.htmlSat, 20 Apr 2024 20:10:36 +0000Oki Sato, founder of the Nendo design studio, which has been described by specialists as “the epitome of excellence in Japanese minimalist design”, says he has two mentors: Issey Miyake, the couturier who revolutionized 20th century textiles through his combination of tradition and technology, and Doraemon, the cosmic cat whose manga adventures have brightened Japanese childhoods for over five decades. Miyake (1938-2022) once offered Sato a commission that proved to be a decisive factor in the latter’s career: a seat christened the Cabbage, and Sato learned to find abundance in scarcity and elegance in simplicity from the fashion icon. With the help of the Doraemon stories, which Sato read as a child in Toronto, where he was born in 1977, he developed his taste for inventing objects, and learned to wonder at the trivial details of everyday life.

]]>Ko Sasaki (Contacto)<![CDATA[Author who won Japan’s top literary award with help from ChatGPT: ‘AI helps you compensate for your weaknesses’]]>https://english.elpais.com/culture/2024-04-02/author-who-won-japans-top-literary-award-with-help-from-chatgpt-ai-helps-you-compensate-for-your-weaknesses.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/culture/2024-04-02/author-who-won-japans-top-literary-award-with-help-from-chatgpt-ai-helps-you-compensate-for-your-weaknesses.htmlTue, 02 Apr 2024 11:25:51 +0000Rie Kudan, the Japanese writer who won this year’s Akutagawa Prize — the highest award in Japanese literature — with a book where around 5% of the content was generated by ChatGPT, encourages writers to use generative artificial intelligence in their creations.

]]>Yuki Kurose/Yomiuri<![CDATA[The Tokyo toilets that inspired Wim Wenders’ Oscar-nominated film ‘Perfect Days’]]>https://english.elpais.com/culture/2024-01-31/the-tokyo-toilets-that-inspired-wim-wenders-oscar-nominated-film-perfect-days.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/culture/2024-01-31/the-tokyo-toilets-that-inspired-wim-wenders-oscar-nominated-film-perfect-days.htmlWed, 31 Jan 2024 15:05:14 +0000Perfect Days, the latest film by Wim Wenders, which was nominated for Best International Film at the 2024 Oscars, has not only aroused admiration for its production and plot, but also for the environment in which it takes place: the set of 17 high-tech public bathrooms built in two parks in central Tokyo where the protagonist of the story works as a cleaner — a collection of small architectural gems located in the Shibuya district, one of the urban areas most photographed by Western tourists in the capital city, thanks to its famously crowded crosswalk, immortalized in films such as Lost in Translation, by Sofia Coppola, or Babel, by Alejandro González Iñárritu.

]]>Gonzalo Robledo<![CDATA[Japanese movies tell heartfelt stories about the ravages of dementia and age]]>https://english.elpais.com/culture/2023-10-20/japanese-movies-tell-heartfelt-stories-about-the-ravages-of-dementia-and-age.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/culture/2023-10-20/japanese-movies-tell-heartfelt-stories-about-the-ravages-of-dementia-and-age.htmlFri, 20 Oct 2023 19:39:18 +0000At the age of 82, Tatsuya Fuji gracefully accepted the Best Actor award at the 2023 San Sebastián International Film Festival for his outstanding performance in Great Absence. The award not only highlighted the brilliance of a veteran actor known for In the Realm of the Senses (1976), but also shed light on how Japanese cinema is addressing the challenges of the nation’s aging population. Japanese films like A Hundred Flowers examined Alzheimer’s disease, while Plan 75 explored the challenges of caring for the elderly in a unique blend of social drama and science fiction. In the movie, a futuristic Japanese government offers a controversial solution to the aging problem — death by lethal injection at age 75 in exchange for a generous financial incentive.

]]><![CDATA[Akihiko Kondo, married to the virtual singer of his dreams]]>https://english.elpais.com/technology/2023-09-30/akihiko-kondo-married-to-the-virtual-singer-of-his-dreams.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/technology/2023-09-30/akihiko-kondo-married-to-the-virtual-singer-of-his-dreams.htmlSat, 30 Sep 2023 22:16:00 +0000On August 31, millions of music creators and fans around the world virtually celebrated Hatsune Miku’s 16th birthday. The honoree isn’t a flesh-and-blood person, but rather a successful female voice software – or vocaloid – who has become a celebrity singer. The passion the software awakens is such that there are even those who have fallen in love with it. This is especially the case in Japan, where the number of so-called “fictosexuals” is growing more and more: people who choose fictional beings (usually technological ones) as partners, proposing social codes that have never been seen before.

]]>NORIKO HAYASHI<![CDATA[Hachiko, the Japanese dog who died waiting 10 years for his owner]]>https://english.elpais.com/society/2023-09-12/hachiko-the-japanese-dog-who-died-waiting-10-years-for-his-owner.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/society/2023-09-12/hachiko-the-japanese-dog-who-died-waiting-10-years-for-his-owner.htmlTue, 12 Sep 2023 12:06:51 +0000The most popular place to meet someone in Tokyo is the statue of a dog named Hachiko, who, after the death of his owner, waited for his return outside Shibuya train station for almost 10 years. The unwavering loyalty of the dog, a Japanese Akita, gave rise to an emotional story that has since been celebrated in dozens of books, manga, TV shows and at least three films. Images of the expectant-looking dog, with his right ear erect, are sold on keychains, T-shirts and adorn bus lines, labels of cookies, sauces, liqueurs and chocolates. An image of Hachiko dressed as a police officer is featured on five police cars that patrol Shibuya, and a sports shoe brand imitated the brown fur of the Akita breed to design a furry collector’s model.

]]>Keith Tsuji<![CDATA[Fumio Kishida: The prudent politician who wants to change Japan ]]>https://english.elpais.com/international/2023-05-21/fumio-kishida-the-prudent-politician-who-wants-to-change-japan.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/international/2023-05-21/fumio-kishida-the-prudent-politician-who-wants-to-change-japan.htmlSun, 21 May 2023 10:58:34 +0000Fumio Kishida — Japan’s prime minister since October 2021 and host of the G-7 summit in Hiroshima — came to power with a record as a moderate reformer and effective consensus builder. His rise responded to what has long been the most powerful political sentiment in Japan since the end of World War II: the desire for stability.

]]><![CDATA[Tokyo opens first poop museum to explore a taboo topic among Japanese youth ]]>https://english.elpais.com/culture/2022-11-29/tokyo-opens-first-poop-museum-to-explore-a-taboo-topic-among-japanese-youth.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/culture/2022-11-29/tokyo-opens-first-poop-museum-to-explore-a-taboo-topic-among-japanese-youth.htmlTue, 29 Nov 2022 15:31:24 +0000Among the many synonyms for excrement that exist in the Japanese language, the founders of the Tokyo Unko Museum chose the most candid one, unko, to name an irreverent space designed for female Instagram users. “My goal was for poop to stop being a taboo subject for young girls,” explains its creator, Masaru Kobayashi.

]]>Gonzalo Robledo<![CDATA[How sex scenes are shot in Japan, where physical distance is the norm ]]>https://english.elpais.com/culture/2022-11-02/how-sex-scenes-are-shot-in-japan-where-physical-distance-is-the-norm.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/culture/2022-11-02/how-sex-scenes-are-shot-in-japan-where-physical-distance-is-the-norm.htmlWed, 02 Nov 2022 14:55:05 +0000Momo Nishiyama’s job is to turn kisses, caresses and sexual acts into a simple choreography that actresses and actors can comfortably perform in front of the cameras. A graduate in Dance Pedagogy, she is an intimacy coordinator on movie shoots. Her profession is one of the newest in the film industry. She explains that some filmmakers and performers reject her services because they believe it will ruin spontaneity, while others fear her presence could become a moral critique of scenes that they see as crucial to cementing a romance or boosting box-office performance.

]]><![CDATA[A Japanese company is selling Spain’s botched art restorations as keychains ]]>https://english.elpais.com/verne/2020-12-17/a-japanese-company-is-selling-spains-botched-art-restorations-as-keychains.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/verne/2020-12-17/a-japanese-company-is-selling-spains-botched-art-restorations-as-keychains.htmlThu, 17 Dec 2020 07:21:28 +0000Spain’s botched art restorations have found a niche in Japan thanks to a series of keychains dubbed “Failed restorations” or Shufuku Shuppai in Japanese. These items are distributed in plastic capsules called Gashapon that can be found in vending machines in train stations, airports and recreational centers.

]]><![CDATA[Leading Japanese flamenco venue says “sayonara”]]>https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2016/08/25/inenglish/1472133348_136630.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/elpais/2016/08/25/inenglish/1472133348_136630.htmlTue, 30 Aug 2016 06:22:22 +0000Japanese social media began to rumble last March with rumors that Tokyo’s El Flamenco, the capital’s leading flamenco venue, was planning to close its doors six months before its 50th anniversary. The rumor proved true, and the venue – given the affectionate nickname Eru-futa, since Japanese pronunciation doesn’t include the letter L – celebrated its final show on July 26.

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