News — Japan

“Hey, let’s play a game,” she said, but maybe it was our reporter who got played. Our Japanese-language reporter Hirazi is one of a handful of eligible bachelors on the SoraNews24 team, and like most modern singles, he uses dating apps in his search for love. While checking his notifications one day he was happy to see that he had a match with a woman who we’ll call “A-ko.” According to her profile, A-ko is in her early 20s, and from her photos she appeared to have a slender build and a sweet smile. To get the ball rolling, Hirazi...

Mix-and-match pieces are the cosplay/street fashion crossover witches have been waiting for.  Japanese online retailer Felissimo is a bit of a fairy godparent when it comes to homewares, beauty, and fashion, making all our dreams come true with make-believe pets, hair gel designed to feel like kitty saliva, and fluffy cat-like accessories that magically transform us into human-sized kittens. So when the popular brand stepped into the world of magic with their new “Department of Magic” range last year, wannabe witches and wizards everywhere flocked to the new collection, eager to snap up all the cleverly designed products, which weren’t just...

New dress code allows choice of bottoms for female students only. Though the word uniform literally means “one form,” on any given day at a school in Japan you’ll see two different uniforms: one for boys and one for girls. For example, at Yokota Prefectural High School in Shimane Prefecture the boys’ uniform has slacks, while the girls’ has a skirt. However, when next school year starts in the spring, Yokota will no longer have boys’ uniforms and girls’ uniforms. That’s not because they’re going to a single identical uniform that all students will wear, though, but because the school...