Episode seven of the Japan Station podcast is here and this time we’re taking a deep dive into the crazy world of Japanese mascots. Chris Carlier runs the blog Mondo Mascots and the very popular Twitter and Instagram accounts of the same name. On Mondo Mascots Chris documents Japan’s many, many, many mascots. From the bizarre to the cute, …

Way better than watching a bunch of human children run around. Every year in October schools across Japan hold what in English tends to be called “Sports Day.” Known as undōkai or taiikukai in Japanese, this is a day on which students participate in all sorts of athletic events in order to win glory for their respective teams. However, for …

It’s time for your daily dose of cute. In June of 2017 Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo welcomed into the a world an adorable little panda. Xiang Xiang, as she would come to be known, sparked a serious case of panda fever across much of Japan but little by little it seems like that fever has broken. Whereas last summer and fall …