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Tag: Tokyo

  • Map shows how DC compares to world’s new largest city

    The U.S. capital is tiny compared to many of the world’s largest cities, a new report on urbanization around the globe shows.

    Tokyo has lost its status as the world’s largest city, with another sprawling Asian capital, the Indonesian metropolis of Jakarta, knocking it off the top spot, according to a report from the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

    This milestone marks the first time in decades that the Japanese capital has not been the most populous center on Earth, highlighting rapid urban growth in Asia and a changing landscape of megacities worldwide.

    According to the U.N. report, nine of the 10 most populous cities in the world are in Asia.

    Jakarta, with 41.9 million residents, is the largest. Dhaka, Bangladesh, follows with almost 36.5 million people. The Japanese capital, Tokyo, has fallen from the top spot to third, with 33.4 million people. The Indian capital, New Delhi, is fourth with just over 30.2 million people. 

    Urban U.S. 

    For the U.S., these findings offer important insights into future urbanization trends, infrastructure challenges and global economic shifts.

    As the rate of population growth in Asian cities outpaces that in the U.S., cities in the United States and the rest of the Americas are falling down the ranking of the world’s largest.

    The figures are also a reminder of just how small Washington, D.C., is in comparison with Asian metropolises. 

    The U.N. measures population within an urbanized area, often beyond a city’s administrative limits. It puts the population of Washington, D.C., at 3.27 million.

    The U.S. Census Bureau, basing its calculation on a smaller city area excluding urban sprawl, says there are just over 702,000 people in the capital.

    The biggest U.S. city is New York with 13.9 million people in 2025, according to the U.N. data, making it the 22nd biggest city in the world—down from 15th place in 2000. 

    Los Angeles has a population of 12.7 million, according to the U.N. calculations, making it the world’s 27th largest city—down from 17th in 2000.

    Sao Paulo, Brazil, is the biggest city in the Americas with a population of 18.9 million in 2025, making it the world’s 13th biggest city—down from 10th in 2000, according to the U.N. data.

    Mexico City is the second-biggest city in the Americas with 17.7 million people in 2025, making it the world’s 15th biggest city—down from the 8th largest in 2000, according to the U.N. data. 

    Buenos Aires, Argentina, ranks third in the Americas for population and 21st in the world with 14.2 million people, one spot ahead of New York. Its position is down from 16th in 2000.

    Chicago is the U.S.’s third-biggest city with 2.723 million people, according to U.S. Census Bureau data from 2024. Then comes Houston (2.39 million), Phoenix (1.67 million), Philadelphia (1.57 million), San Antonio (1.52 million), San Diego (1.4 million), Dallas (1.32 million) and Jacksonville (1 million).

    The other mega cities in the world’s top 10, according to U.N. data, are China’s Shanghai (29.5 million) and Guangzhou (27.5 million); Cairo, Egypt’s capital and the only non-Asian city in the top 10, with 25.5 million; the Philippine capital, Manila (24.7 million); India’s Kolkata (22.5 million); and the South Korean capital, Seoul (22.4 million).

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  • Exclusive | Trump, After Call With China’s Xi, Told Tokyo to Lower the Volume on Taiwan

    Chinese leader Xi Jinping was angry, and President Trump was listening.

    Days after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi outraged China by suggesting a Chinese attack on Taiwan could mobilize a Tokyo military response, Xi spent half of an hourlong phone call with Trump, people briefed on the matter said, hammering home China’s historic claim to the democratic self-governing island as well as Washington and Beijing’s joint responsibility to manage the world order.

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  • The world has a new largest city

    Tokyo has lost its status as the world’s largest city, with another sprawling Asian metropolis, Indonesia’s vast capital, knocking it off the top spot. 

    Why It Matters

    This milestone marks the first time in decades that the Japanese capital has not been the most populous center on Earth, highlighting rapid urban growth in Asia and a changing landscape of megacities worldwide. 

    For the U.S., these findings offer important insights into future urbanization trends, infrastructure challenges, and global economic shifts.

    What To Know

    The United Nations’ World Urbanization Prospects 2025 report signals a significant change in global urban dynamics: Jakarta, Indonesia with 42 million residents, has overtaken Tokyo as the world’s most populous city. 

    Dhaka, Bangladesh, follows close behind with almost 40 million, while Tokyo’s population stands at 33 million, putting it in third place. 

    Cairo remains the only non-Asian city among the top 10. 

    According to the report, released by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, urbanization has reshaped the global population landscape. 

    Cities now house 45 percent of the world’s 8.2 billion people, up from just 20 percent in 1950. 

    The study found a quadrupling in the number of megacities—urban areas with 10 million or more inhabitants—from eight in 1975 to 33 in 2025, with 19 of those in Asia.

    The report points to significant growth for cities like Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), Hajipur (India), and Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), all projected to surpass the 10 million threshold by 2050, when the number of megacities worldwide is expected to reach 37.

    While megacities draw most of the attention, small and medium-sized cities—defined as those with under 1 million residents—continue to outnumber and outpace megacities in population and growth, especially in Africa and Asia. 

    Of the 12,000 cities analyzed, 96 percent have fewer than 1 million inhabitants.

    What People Are Saying

    United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Li Junhua said: “Urbanization is a defining force of our time. When managed inclusively and strategically, it can unlock transformative pathways for climate action, economic growth, and social equity.” He added, “To achieve balanced territorial development, countries must adopt integrated national policies that align housing, land use, mobility, and public services across urban and rural areas.”

    What Happens Next

    Globally, the number of cities is projected to exceed 15,000 by 2050, with most having populations below 250,000. 

    While rural communities continue to shrink except in parts of sub-Saharan Africa, small and medium-sized cities are expected to drive the next wave of global urbanization, spurring both opportunities and challenges in infrastructure, housing, and climate adaptation.

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  • Japan’s New Leader Infuriated Beijing. She Isn’t Backing Down.

    Workaholic Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is riding high despite the perils of a fight with Beijing.

    Jason Douglas

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  • Japan’s first female leader faces a taboo over entering the male-only sumo ring

    TOKYO (AP) — Sanae Takaichi made history by becoming Japan’s first female prime minister in October. She must now decide whether she’ll break another barrier: the taboo barring women from the sumo ring.

    The winner of the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament that ends Sunday will be presented with the Prime Minister’s Cup. Some of her male predecessors, including former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, have entered the ring to hand over the cup.

    Takaichi, a staunch conservative who supports Japan’s traditional gender and paternalistic values, may not break the taboo. In any case, she won’t face a decision on whether to enter the sumo ring this time because she returns a day later from the Group of 20 summit in South Africa.

    Her next chance to make a decision will come at the New Year’s tournament in Tokyo.

    But a debate on the taboo against women likely will continue, in no small part, because a woman now leads Japan. There also is criticism that the ban in sumo and other religious places is out of touch with the changing place of women in Japanese society.

    Women are still banned in some sacred places and festivals

    The sumo ring is only part of the controversy.

    In Japan, female worshippers have for centuries been banned from certain holy mountains, religious training sessions, temples, shrines and festivals.

    Other places in the world have similar taboos, but the one in Japan stems from the belief in female “impurity” associated with menstruation and childbirth, as well as certain misogynic Buddhist views, says Naoko Kobayashi, an Aichi Gakuin University professor and expert on religion and gender.

    The female ban at holy mountains, including Mount Fuji, and religious establishments has been largely eliminated over the years. But it lingers at certain shrines and festivals.

    Many of these bans are from the 19th century Meiji era or later, Kobayashi said, and the taboo has been hard to break because women were also kept from political and religious decision-making over the years.

    Sumo has a 1,500-year history, but the female ban is not ancient tradition

    Sumo’s origins are linked to rituals for Japan’s indigenous religion of Shinto, which is largely rooted in animism and the belief that thousands of kami, or spirits, inhabit nature. The first sumo matches date back 1,500 years as a ritual dedicated to the kami, with prayers for bountiful harvests, dancing and other performances at shrines.

    The dohyo where sumo takes place is an elevated ring made of special clay, with its edge marked by a circle of rice-straw separating the inner sanctuary and the outside world of impurity. It’s off-limits to women in professional sumo.

    Some experts say sumo follows the Shinto belief in female impurity.

    The Japan Sumo Association has denied the female ban is based on the Shinto belief of impurity.

    “This interpretation is a misunderstanding,” said the association chief, Nobuyoshi Hakkaku, in 2018. He said sumo rituals are tied to folk beliefs like being thankful for a good harvest and are not about rigid religious principles.

    “We have consistently denied sexist intentions,” Hakkaku said. “The rule that makes the dohyo a serious battleground for men is only natural for wrestlers, making the dohyo a male-only world and (leading to) passing down the practice of not having women go up there.”

    Citing a seventh century document called “Ancient Chronicles of Japan,” historians say female court members were the first to perform sumo at the request of an emperor. There are documentary records of female sumo wrestlers in 16th century documents.

    Sumo gained prestige when matches were attended in 1884 by the Emperor Meiji and later earned the status of a national sport with the completion of the original Ryogoku Arena in 1909.

    Barring women from the ring has been criticized for decades

    In 1978, a female labor ministry bureaucrat, Mayumi Moriyama, protested after the sumo association prevented a girl who had won a local children’s sumo qualifying match from advancing to the finals at a real sumo ring.

    In 1990, Moriyama, as government spokesperson, expressed her desire to enter the ring for the presentation of the Prime Minister’s Cup but was rejected by the sumo association.

    In 2018, the mayor of Maizuru in northern Kyoto collapsed during a speech in a sumo ring. Two female medical experts rushed in and started performing first aid as several male sumo officials watched. Two more women tried to join the first-aid effort before announcements demanded the women leave the ring. Sumo officials threw salt afterwards, a gesture of purification.

    Days later, the association refused to allow Tomoko Nakagawa, then-mayor of Takarazuka city, to enter the dohyo to give a speech for an exhibition tournament. Nakagawa, forced to speak from the side of the ring, said she was mortified to be rejected just because she is female.

    The sumo association chief apologized over the “failure to take appropriate action in a life-threatening situation” and for making Nakagawa uncomfortable, and formed a panel of outside experts to examine the female ban. Seven years later, a decision is still pending.

    “Excluding women under the premise of male-centered traditions and customs can be no longer justified under the values of the times,” Kobayashi, the professor, said.

    Takaichi backs Japan’s traditional views on gender

    Takaichi is not considered a feminist. She has supported paternalistic family values and keeping the succession of Japan’s monarchy open only to men. She also opposes changing a 19th-century law that would allow married couples the option of keeping separate surnames.

    Takaichi is trying to win back support from right-wing voters who have been drawn to emerging populist groups in recent elections. An attempt to present the trophy in the ring would be seen as defying sumo’s traditions and could harm her image with those voters.

    She has not commented on how she’ll handle the trophy presentation, but her top government spokesperson has indicated Takaichi is not considering stepping into the ring.

    “Prime Minister Takaichi intends to respect the tradition of sumo culture,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara told reporters.

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  • Portland-Themed Tokyo Bar Turns 10 – KXL

    Tokyo’s PDX Taproom is popular with Oregon tourists, and Japanese natives with Oregon connections.
    Photo courtesy: Hope Jackson

    Tokyo, Japan – A bar offering only Oregon-made beer celebrates its 10-year anniversary this month. But this isn’t just any corner pub. PDX Taproom is more than 9,000 miles from the Rose City.

    Miyuki Hiramatsu has always had a special connection with Oregon. She studied here in high school, and then attended college at Linfield. “I liked Portland a lot,” she tells KXL News, “And after I came back to Tokyo, I started working at Columbia Sportswear Japan.” After 16 years with the Oregon-based company, Hiramatsu wanted to do something different, “I wanted to do something focused on Portland.”

    A piece of PDX carpet hangs in Tokyo’s PDX Taproom.
    Photo courtesy Hope Jackson.

    She opened PDX Taproom in Tokyo in 2015, offering Oregon craft beer and cider. “I thought that would deliver not only the taste of beer, but also the culture and atmosphere – or vibes – through beer.” That vibe grew, as patrons contributed their own pieces of Portland. The bar now features Timbers gear, Blazers memorabilia, and a piece of the infamous PDX carpet even hangs in a frame on the wall. Hiramatso says, “There are many craft beer bars in Tokyo. But my bar is totally different because it’s themed Portland. So, people like not only craft beer, but also the culture [and] atmosphere.”

    She estimates around two-thirds of her patrons are foreigners, and most of those are from Oregon. “Some accidentally find it. But I hear that many customers say the PDX Taproom is on their bucket list [when they] visit Japan.” But it’s also become a regular gathering spot for a group of Japanese University of Oregon grads.

    Follow PDX Taproom on Instagram for more photos and information on special events.

    More about:

    Heather Roberts

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  • Asian shares sink, tracking a tech-led sell-off on Wall Street

    BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares tumbled on Tuesday, with benchmarks in Tokyo and Seoul sinking more than 3%, after Nvidia and other artificial-intelligence -related shares pulled U.S. stocks lower.

    U.S. futures dropped, with the contract for the S&P 500 down 0.6% while the future for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.4%.

    Computer chip giant Nvidia, at the center of the craze over AI, is due to report its earnings on Wednesday. Worries that stock prices of such companies have shot too high have roiled world markets recently, with big swings in places that rely heavily on trade in computer chips such as South Korea and Taiwan.

    Also hanging over the markets is the release due Thursday of U.S. employment data that was delayed by the prolonged government shutdown.

    Regional markets felt a chill after the yield on 30-year Japanese government bonds surged to 3.31%, reflecting rising risks as Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi prepares to boost government spending and push back the timetable for bringing down Japan’s huge national debt.

    The yen was trading above 155 to the U.S. dollar, near its highest level since February. On Monday, the yen fell to its lowest level against the euro since 1999, when the unified European currency was launched.

    Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 was down 3% at 48,835.20 by midday, with selling of tech shares leading the decline. Chip maker Tokyo Electron shed 5.4%, while equipment maker Advantest dropped 4.6%.

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    In Seoul, the Kospi fell 3.1% to 3,960.82. Samsung Electronics dropped 2.9%, while chip maker SK Hynix shed 5.7%.

    In Taiwan, the Taiex fell 2.3% as TSMC, the world’s largest contract chip manufacturer, declined 2.4%.

    Chinese markets were not immune from heavy selling.

    Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 1.5% to 25,997.20, while the Shanghai Composite index slipped 0.6% to 3,949.83.

    In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gave up 2.1% to 8,452.50.

    On Monday, the S&P 500 fell 0.9% to 6,672.41, pulling further from its all-time high set late last month. The Dow industrials dropped 1.2% to 46,590.24, while the Nasdaq composite sank 0.8% to 22,708.07.

    Nvidia dropped 1.8%, though it is still up nearly 40% this year. Losses for other AI winners included a 6.4% slide for Super Micro Computer.

    Other areas of the market that had been high-momentum winners also sank. Bitcoin extended its decline, dragging down Coinbase Global by 7.1% and Robinhood Markets by 5.3%. Early Tuesday, it was down 2% at $90,110.

    Critics have been warning that the U.S. stock market could be primed for a drop because of how high prices have shot since April, leaving them looking too expensive.

    However, Alphabet gained 3.1% after Berkshire Hathaway said it has built a $4.34 billion ownership stake in Google’s parent company. Berkshire Hathaway, run by famed investor Warren Buffett, is notorious for trying to buy stocks only when they look like good values while avoiding anything that looks too expensive.

    Another source of potential disappointment for Wall Street is what the Federal Reserve does with interest rates. The expectation had been that the Fed would keep cutting interest rates in hopes of shoring up the slowing job market.

    But the downside of lower interest rates is that they can make inflation worse, and inflation has stubbornly remained above the Fed’s 2% target.

    Fed officials have also pointed to the U.S. government’s shutdown, which delayed the release of updates on the job market and other signals about the economy. With less information and less certainty about how things are going, some Fed officials have suggested it may be better to wait in December to get more clarity.

    A strong jobs report on Thursday would likely stay the Fed’s hand on rate cuts, while figures that are very weak would raise worries about the economy.

    In other dealings early Tuesday, U.S. benchmark crude oil lost 42 cents to $59.49 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, gave up 43 cents to $63.77 per barrel.

    The dollar fell to 155.08 Japanese yen from 155.26 yen. The euro rose to $1.1600 from $1.1593.

    ___

    AP Business Writers Stan Choe and Matt Ott contributed.

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  • Shohei Ohtani’s 4th MVP award sparks celebrations in Japan

    TOKYO (AP) — It’s become an annual ritual: Shohei Ohtani wins a Most Valuable Player award and Japan celebrates with newspaper extra editions handed out at a major train station.

    The two-way Japanese star claimed his fourth career MVP award on Thursday night, and on Friday morning in Tokyo — the Japanese capital is 14 hours ahead of the American east coast — the extras hit the streets.

    A congratulatory message came in immediately from the top of the government and from down on the sidewalk.

    “Ohtani’s constant effort and dedication contributed significantly to the team’s victory and boosted team morale,” Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said.

    This is an understatement.

    Ohtani led the Los Angeles Dodgers to their second straight World Series title, earning him a second consecutive National League MVP award. He also won the award in the American League in 2023 — and in 2021 — playing for the Los Angeles Angels.

    All the MVP awards have been unanimous.

    Ohtani hit .282 and led the NL with a 1.014 OPS. He also had 55 home runs, 102 RBIs and 20 stolen bases. He retuned to the mound in June after missing 1 1/2 seasons as a pitcher because of an elbow injury. He struck out 62 batters in 47 innings.

    In the postseason he had arguably the greatest single game in MLB history. He hit three home runs while striking out 10 over six innings on Oct. 17, leading the Dodgers over the Milwaukee Brewers to win the NL Championship Series in four straight games.

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    “Winning the MVP was considered a certainty, so the real question was whether he would receive a unanimous vote,” said a fan who identified himself only as Aki, a nickname. “In the end he did, securing the MVP unanimously.”

    Another Dodgers fan Yoshio Inoue said he was looking forward to seeing Ohtani play for Japan in Tokyo in next year’s World Baseball Classic.

    “I’d love to see Ohtani return to Tokyo, kick off the season there, and hopefully win his fifth MVP award,” Inoue said.

    The headline in the Asahi newspaper read simply: “Othani MVP.”

    “The television always shows Ohtani so I watch him too,” said fan Mai Koga. “He is such a great man and truly a pride of Japan.”

    —-

    AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

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  • Japan Is Overrun With Tourists. This City Wants More.

    NAGOYA, Japan—The tourists who crowd the bullet trains from Tokyo tend not to disembark at Nagoya as they speed along the so-called Golden Route linking the Japanese capital with Kyoto and Osaka. 

    “Nagoya tobashi,” the locals say. Nagoya gets skipped. The manufacturing hub, which anchors the region that is home to auto giant Toyota, is Japan’s fourth most-populous city and, according to a decade-old newspaper poll that still stings here, number one in dullness. 

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    Jason Douglas

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  • Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo’s Garden Initiative Wins Japan’s Good Design Award 2025

    Awarded for its “Garden Cultural Revitalization and Communication Model,” redefining its Japanese garden as a hub for research, community, and skill development.


    TOKYO, October 30, 2025 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo has received the Good Design Award 2025 for its pioneering Garden Cultural Revitalization and Communication Model, which redefines the role of Japanese gardens within contemporary hotel management. Recognized as one of Japan’s most prestigious design awards, the accolade highlights the hotel’s long-term commitment to preserving cultural heritage while connecting people, nature, and tradition.

    Created in the Meiji era by statesman Aritomo Yamagata and later inherited by the Fujita family, the garden remains a symbol of living heritage. Through this award-winning model, the hotel has positioned the garden as a space for research, community, and training-an approach that stood out among this year’s entries.

    The initiative began in 2020, when the hotel chose to expand, rather than reduce, investment in its garden, introducing experiential programs such as Tokyo Sea of Clouds. The creation of a dedicated Garden Management Department provides training for emerging gardeners, while collaborations with Ueyakato Landscape and Yushien Garden support specialized education and cultural continuity.

    “At a time when many historic gardens in Japan struggle to survive financially, this project is pioneering in placing the garden itself at the center of its vision,” the judges noted.

    “During COVID, when the hospitality industry was driven toward efficiency, the decision to invest in a non-revenue-generating garden-and to reform organizational awareness-was bold and forward-looking.

    Rather than treating the garden as a backdrop, the project positions it as a foundation for experience and research, recognizing that a garden is a living, ever-evolving entity and finding cultural value in that dynamism.

    Furthermore, in addressing the contemporary challenges facing Japanese gardens, such as the shortage of skilled gardeners and successors, the project redefines the garden not merely as a tourism asset, but as a place for training and the preservation of traditional techniques, which makes it all the more valuable.”

    Earlier this year, the garden was also certified by Japan’s Ministry of the Environment as a Natural Symbiosis Site under the Regional Biodiversity Enhancement Act, recognizing its efforts in biodiversity and eco-conscious management.

    About Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo
    Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo is one of the city’s most iconic luxury hotels with over 70 years of history. The property includes 265 guest rooms/suites, eight restaurants, an executive lounge, 38 meeting/banquet rooms, and a full-service spa with a Japanese onsen. Its award-winning garden has a wide variety of botanicals, including more than 100 cherry trees and 1,000 camellia trees. The standout feature of the garden is the ‘Tokyo Sea of Clouds,’ a recreation of the natural phenomenon that can usually only be found in the mountainous regions of Japan. The hotel is owned and managed by Fujita Kanko Inc., a publicly-traded tourism industry corporation headquartered in Tokyo.

    For more information, please visit: https://hotel-chinzanso-tokyo.com/page/good-design-award-2025/

    Source: Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo

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  • Trump Tells Asia Allies: It’s Your Turn to Boost Military Spending

    GYEONGJU, South Korea—Amid the pageantry and backslapping, President Trump’s weeklong Asian swing drew attention to a sour point for allies: The U.S. demand that they spend more to respond to a rising threat of Chinese aggression.

    Washington first pressured Europeans to boost their military budgets shortly after Trump took office in January. That push ultimately proved successful, with many allies pledging to increase spending.

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  • Trump Hails Golden Era in Japan Relations

    The president heaped praise on Japan’s first female prime minister as the two leaders pledged to renew their countries’ alliance aboard a U.S. aircraft carrier.

    Meridith McGraw

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  • Japan-U.S. Outline Investment Plan; Trump Says Toyota to Invest $10 Billion in U.S. Auto Plants

    TOKYO—President Trump said Japanese auto giant Toyota is poised to invest $10 billion in auto plants in the U.S., coming as Tokyo released some details about the over half a trillion dollars it has pledged to invest in America as part of a trade deal.

    Trump made the remark while addressing U.S. military personnel in Japan, saying that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told him of the carmaker’s plan.

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    Yang Jie

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  • Japan Woos Trump With a Royal Welcome

    TOKYO—The British aren’t the only ones who can sprinkle a little royal stardust when President Trump comes to town.

    As Trump pays a visit to Tokyo this week, his Japanese hosts are counting on some face time with the emperor to set a positive tone—even if the reception fell short on pomp.

    Copyright ©2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

    Jason Douglas

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  • Japan’s sushi legend Jiro Ono turns 100 and is not ready for retirement

    TOKYO (AP) — Japanese sushi legend Jiro Ono won three Michelin stars for more than a decade, the world’s oldest head chef to do so. He has served the world’s dignitaries and his art of sushi was featured in an award-winning film.

    After all these achievements and at the age of 100, he is not ready to fully retire.

    “I plan to keep going for about five more years,” Ono said last month as he marked Japan’s “Respect for the Aged Day” with a gift and a certificate ahead of his birthday.

    What’s the secret of his health? “To work,” Ono replied to the question by Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike, who congratulated him.

    “I can no longer come to the restaurant every day … but even at 100, I try to work if possible. I believe the best medicine is to work.”

    Ono, the founder of Sukiyabashi Jiro, a tiny, 10-seat sushi bar in the basement of a building in Tokyo’s posh Ginza district, turned 100 Monday.

    Seeking perfection

    In one of the world’s fastest-aging countries, he is now among Japan’s nearly 100,000 centenarians, according to government statistics.

    Born in the central Japanese city of Hamamatsu in 1925, Ono began his apprenticeship at age 7 at the Japanese restaurant of a local inn. He moved to Tokyo and became a sushi chef at 25 and opened his own restaurant — Sukiyabashi Jiro — 15 years later in 1965.

    He has devoted his life seeking perfection in making sushi.

    “I haven’t reached perfection yet,” Ono, then 85, said in “Jiro Dreams of Sushi,” a film released in 2012. “I’ll continue to climb trying to reach the top but nobody knows where the top is.”

    Director David Gelb said his impression of Ono was “of a teacher and a fatherly figure to all who were in his restaurant.”

    At the beginning, Gelb felt intimidated by the “gravitas” of the legend but was soon disarmed by Ono’s sense of humor and kindness, he told the Associated Press in an interview from New Orleans. “He’s very funny and very sweet.”

    “I was filming an octopus being massaged for an hour, and he was worried about me,” Gelb recalled. Ono told him he was afraid the director was making the most boring film ever and that he could leave if he wanted to.

    “He was so generous and kind of humble of him to do that,” Gelb said. “Of course I was determined, and I was like, no way … Massaging the octopus to me is fascinating.”

    Regulars come first

    Ono is devoted to what he serves to his regular clients, even turning down the Japanese government when it called to make a reservation for then-U.S. President Barack Obama and former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2014.

    “I said no as the restaurant was fully booked, then they agreed to come later in the evening,” Ono recalled. “But (Obama) was enjoying sushi and I was happy.”

    Ono’s son Yoshikazu, who has worked with his father and now serves as head chef at the Ginza restaurant, said Obama smiled and winked at them when he tried medium fatty tuna sushi.

    His restaurant earned three Michelin stars in 2007, as he became the first sushi chef to do so, and has kept the status until 2019, when he was recognized by the Guinness World Records as the oldest head chef of a three-Michelin-star restaurant, at age 93 years and 128 days.

    In 2020, Sukiyabashi Jiro was dropped from the guide because it started taking reservations only from regulars or through top hotels.

    In recent years Ono serves sushi only to his special guests, “as my hands don’t work so well.”

    But he hasn’t given up. His son says Ono, watching television news about the death of Japan’s oldest male at 113, said 13 more years seems doable.

    “I will aim for 114,” Ono said.

    “I cherish my life so I get to work for a long time,” Ono says. He doesn’t drink alcohol, takes a walk regularly and eats well.

    Asked about his favorite sushi, Ono instantly replied: “Maguro, kohada and anago (tuna, gizzard shad and saltwater eel).”

    “It’s an incredible thing that this tradition continues and that he’s still going strong 100 years in … It’s an inspiration to everyone,” Gelb said, wishing Ono happy birthday in Japanese.

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  • Tokyo’s Biggest Airport Is Getting Its Own Big-Ass Godzilla

    The Haneda Airport in Japan is getting a kaiju-sized new feature in the form of a big-ass Godzilla installation. The King of the Monsters is packing his bags to move into position at Haneda Airport Terminal 3 as part of a partnership between Toho Co., Japan Airport Terminal Co., Ltd., and the Tokyo International Air Terminal Corporation.

    In 2024, the legendary icon celebrated his 70th anniversary—and the festivities continue with the “Haneda Godzilla Global Project.” The installation will include a few different immersive elements, including artwork decorating the arrival lobby and a statue of Godzilla from the recent Oscar-winning film Godzilla Minus One, also in the arrivals area.

    The chonky dino’s biggest impact, though, will be positioned for the benefit of departing travelers. It’s going to be colossal: the statue will measure approximately 131 feet wide and 20 feet high, according to a press release.

    Currently, there are only renderings to tease the massive scale of this Godzilla, which will be on display from December 2025 through December 2026. We love a tourist attraction based on the sheer prominence of Godzilla’s glory. Like yes, Godzilla also has to deal with TSA and baggage claim.

    We can’t wait to see it all in person before heading off to zipline into Godzilla’s mouth at the Nijigen no Mori Park on Awaji Island—or checking out the new attraction, Godzilla the Ride: Great Clash (directed by Minus One filmmaker Takashi Yamazaki), at Seibuen Amusement Park in Tokorozawa.

    Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

    Sabina Graves

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  • To Tackle a Baby Shortage, Tokyo Tries Easing the Pain of Childbirth

    TOKYO—When Moeko Nishimura was preparing for the birth of her second child last year, she dreaded a rerun of the intense pain and slow recovery she experienced when her first child, a girl, was born in 2019. 

    So when the time came, she opted for an epidural. Though common in the U.S. and many parts of Europe, the pain-relief procedure is much rarer in Japan, where some believe that women who endure childbirth without pain-relief enjoy closer bonds with their children. 

    Copyright ©2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

    Jason Douglas

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  • Agitated bear injures 2 people in Japan grocery store as man killed in separate suspected attack

    Tokyo — An agitated bear roamed the aisles of a grocery store in central Japan, injuring two men and frightening shoppers, officials said Wednesday, while Japanese media said a man was found dead after a separate suspected bear mauling.

    More and more wild bears have been spotted in Japan in recent years, even in residential areas, due to factors including a declining human population and climate change.

    A man was found dead on a mountain Wednesday in the northern Iwate region after a suspected bear attack, according to public broadcaster NHK, citing police.

    Separately, the 4.5-foot adult bear that entered the grocery store Tuesday evening in Numata, Gunma, north of Tokyo, lightly injured a man in his 70s and another in his 60s, regional police and fire officials said.

    The store is close to mountainous areas, but has never had bears come near before, Hiroshi Horikawa, a management planning official at the grocery store chain, told AFP.

    “It entered from the main entrance and stayed inside for roughly four minutes,” he said. “It almost climbed onto the fish case and damaged glass. In the fruits section, it knocked over a pile of avocados and stamped on them.”

    The store’s manager told local media that around 30 to 40 customers were inside at the time, and that the bear became agitated as it struggled to find the exit.

    Also on Tuesday, a farmer in Iwate region was scratched and bitten by a bear, accompanied by a cub, just outside his house.

    A warning sign is seen on a walking trail in the Shirakawa-go district, a UNESCO World Heritage site, Oct. 7, 2025 in Hida, Gifu Prefecture, Japan.

    VCG/VCG/Getty


    A Spanish tourist on Sunday was attacked by a bear at a bus stop in scenic Shirakawa-go village in central Japan.

    Between April and September, 108 people nationwide suffered injuries caused by bears, including five deaths, according to the environment ministry. There were a record number of human encounters with bears in Japan last year, with 219 attacks including six deaths in the 12 months to April 2024.

    The impacts of climate change on the bears’ food sources and hibernation cycles has been cited by experts as a key factor, but there are also implications as Japan’s aging population shrinks and humans abandon more rural areas.

    That depopulation has left bears “a chance to expand their range,” biologist Koji Yamazaki, from Tokyo University of Agriculture, told CBS News‘ Elizabeth Palmer in 2023.

    JAPAN-ATTACK-BEAR-ANIMAL

    A chart shows the prevalence of bear attacks in Japan since 2014, according to government data, and the ranges of the Asiatic black bear and brown bear in the country.

    JOHN SAEKI/AFP/Getty


    Japan is one of the few places in the world where a large mammal species has been reclaiming habitat — which is good news for the bears, but if, as biologists suspect, the bear population is growing, the country will have to figure out new ways to protect people and vital infrastructure from the animals.

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  • Opinion | Japan Gets New Kind of Leader

    Sanae Takaichi, a hawkish nationalist, wants to make her country great again.

    Walter Russell Mead

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  • Tech fans Tokyo rally on broadly positive day for Asian markets

    HONG KONG: A surge in tech firms helped Tokyo’s Nikkei lead most Asian equities higher on Friday (Oct 3) as investors headed into the weekend on a broadly positive note, with United States rate-cut hopes out-muscling concerns about a government shutdown.

    The rally across world markets this year has largely been fuelled by companies ploughing billions of dollars into all things artificial intelligence, and traders not wanting to miss out on the action.

    That has helped push the valuations of some of the biggest names to eye-watering levels – with US chip titan Nvidia topping US$4 trillion – and several markets to record highs.

    This week has seen extra momentum after South Korean semiconductor giants Samsung and SK hynix said they had struck a preliminary deal with the ChatGPT developer OpenAI to supply chips and other equipment for its Stargate project.

    And on Friday, it was the turn of Japan’s Hitachi, which said it had entered into a strategic partnership with OpenAI to work on AI and energy, among other things.

    Hitachi jumped more than 9 per cent, while other Japanese tech firms followed suit with Renesas up a similar amount, Sony gaining 2.8 per cent, and Advantest rising more than 3 per cent. Tech investment giant SoftBank piled on more than 3 per cent.

    The advance helped push Tokyo’s Nikkei 1.9 per cent higher, while there were also gains in Sydney, Singapore, Bangkok, Wellington, Taipei, Jakarta and Manila.

    London opened on the front foot with Paris and Frankfurt.

    Hong Kong lost 1 per cent after jumping more than 4 per cent in the previous three trading days. Shanghai was closed for a holiday.

    The rally – which saw all three main Wall Street indexes reach all-time peaks on Thursday – has also been stoked by data in recent months pointing to a slowdown in the US labour market.

    That has led the Federal Reserve to cut borrowing costs and indicate more to come.

    The positive sentiment has overshadowed the standoff in Washington that has seen the government partially shut down, leading to the closure of some services and the likely delay of the release of key jobs figures later in the day.

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