Voice, Body, Image: An Evening of Experimental Performance at SUPER DOMMUNE
Ryo Fujimoto, Itti and Takuma Nakata appear on September 22. Nakata’s image-to-sound work auve and DOMMUNE’s broadcasting history offer a way into the programme.
Read the full report →September 22 performance preview · September 11 edition
Four Reads to Start With
Power, science, flood planning and craft
Business & Economy
Power, travel and overseas marketsJapan’s 1,000-Site Battery Ambition: Turning Small Plots Into a Grid Business
Tensor Energy and Ecostyle aim to coordinate 1,000 installations by the end of 2027. Their partnership connects Japan’s solar-investment history with a harder operating challenge: making flexibility dependable and commercially viable.
Miyazaki Leads Silver Week Booking Growth as an Old Resort Destination Finds New Appeal
Rakuten Travel’s ranking puts Miyazaki first for rising reservations. Holiday timing, travel support and new attractions offer a business opportunity rooted in a much longer tourism history.
Japan’s Pet-Care Companies Look to Asia—and the Everyday Needs of Older Animals
A 31-company pavilion in Shanghai, food promotion in Taiwan and entry into India show different routes overseas. Senior care offers an opportunity, but practical design, evidence and local market access will determine its value.
Science & Technology
Microbes, power electronics and research careersDesigning a Microbial Community to Help Tomatoes Grow
Japanese researchers used machine learning to select root-associated microbes, then tested their predictions in plants. The results advance growth research—and raise precise questions about the path to a better harvest.
The Feather Inverter: Japan’s Push to Make Power Electronics Lighter
A Nagoya University-led collaboration brings semiconductor packaging, cooling and supporting components to NEPCON Japan Autumn. Its weight claim raises an essential question: exactly what is being measured?
The People Between the Experiment and the AI: RIKEN’s New Research Engineer Fellowship
An initial intake of about five fellows in fiscal 2027 will work across laboratories. The programme brings a longstanding question about scientific software, data and sustainable careers into sharper focus.
Communities
Flood planning, relocation and railwaysWhen Rivers Fill with Sediment and Wood: Bringing Noto’s Lessons into Flood Maps
Japan is reviewing how small-river inundation maps account for sediment and driftwood. The effort builds on decades of wider mapping—and asks how communities can prepare for a river changed by disaster.
Could Takaoka Become Home? An Adult School Trip Starts with the City’s Makers
A one-night programme on October 24–25 connects craft, downtown walks and local encounters. Takaoka’s history offers context for a practical question: how can a short visit inform a longer commitment?
Beyond the Train: Odaiba’s Railway Festival Opens a Window onto Japan’s Communities
The 33rd Railway Festival is scheduled for October 10–11. Railway Day’s origins, station memories and the role of regional lines give the waterfront gathering a wider meaning.
Sports
Rugby, football and table tennis
Kyoto Sangyo’s Road to a National Final Starts with the Next 80 Minutes
A September 13 opener against Ritsumeikan begins another campaign. A national semifinal defeat, a spring comeback and a long scrum tradition frame the challenge ahead.
Japan’s U-17s Head to Niigata, Where Local Football Meets the International Game
Three matchdays on September 17, 19 and 21 bring national teams and a Niigata selection together. A tournament launched in 1997 offers a close view of players taking their next steps.
Beyond the Arena: T.League Puts Table Tennis and Travel on the Same Map
A coin-collection rally runs from September 12 to March 7, 2027. Its promise lies in the hours around a match—and in a team competition whose first season began in 2018.
Culture & Craft
Performance, craft and the artsVoice, Body, Image: An Evening of Experimental Performance at SUPER DOMMUNE
Ryo Fujimoto, Itti and Takuma Nakata appear on September 22. Nakata’s image-to-sound work auve and DOMMUNE’s broadcasting history offer a way into the programme.
The Hands Behind the Finish: Five Toyama Craft Traditions Come to Nihonbashi
The September 11–24 exhibition pairs display and sales with five workshop dates. Casting, lacquer, carving, turned wood and paper reveal different histories of skilled work.
Five Ways Art Meets the World: The 2026 Praemium Imperiale Laureates
Holzer, Goldsworthy, Libeskind, Blomstedt and Blanchett receive Japan’s international arts award. Their careers open a view of public space, memory, performance and cultural continuity.
Wind Takes a Body, Thunder Finds a Drum: Tawaraya Sōtatsu’s Gods
A seventeenth-century National Treasure connects the Kyoto workshop, the histories of Rinpa and the experience of looking—with an editorial link to today’s sound, sport and energy stories.
Read the art feature →Tawaraya Sōtatsu, Wind and Thunder Gods, seventeenth century. National Treasure; Kenninji collection, deposited at Kyoto National Museum. Image: Wikimedia Commons, labelled public domain. Thunder left; Wind right. Image source
Six Selected Reads from September 10
Continue exploring the previous edition
Kitakyushu Brings Low-Carbon Steel into Public Works
The city’s public-works procurement offers a case study in steel’s environmental value, accounting methods and industrial history.
What Tadpoles Reveal About Growing Up Alone
A Kyoto study examines how solitary and group rearing affect tadpoles’ behaviour around their peers, and where the experiment’s conclusions stop.
Toyama Takes Its Relocation Conversation to Tokyo
Toyama and 12 municipalities join a migration fair, bringing questions about work, housing and longer-term settlement into view.
Miu Hirano’s Return to a Singles Title in Almaty
The September 10 report follows Hirano’s WTT Contender Almaty victory and the longer career behind the result.
Gifu’s Folding Screens Open Up a Larger World
A museum collection display explores the format of the folding screen and the artists who shaped modern Japanese painting in Gifu.
A Place to Live and Create in Kyoto
FLAT ArtSphere KYOTO puts accommodation and shared creative space at the centre of a discussion about supporting artists.
Today’s news images are AI-generated editorial illustrations inspired by Tawaraya Sōtatsu, rather than documentary photographs of people, venues or products. Today’s Art Choice uses a reproduction of the historical work. See the original captions for the six previous-edition images.
