A river in the Hokkaido town of Kuromatsunai is seen with almost no flowing water on Aug. 20, 2024, with construction work for the extension of the Hokkaido Shinkansen Line thought to be the cause.

Give someone the prompt “The shinkansen is _____”, and they’re almost certain to complete it with “fast.” Sure, theoretically “awesome,” “convenient,” and “a surprisingly tasty source of ice cream” ...

“You’re number three!” cries Toru Onodera, deftly removing a freshly-caught squid from a curved hook before slapping it onto the worktop. The bandana-clad fishmonger proceeds to carve up my breakfast, ...

Dinner with sake, an airportlike lounge and roomier seats. That's the offer on bullet trains as the Shinkansen rolled into Japan's northern island of Hokkaido, home to some of the country's best ski ...

Semiconductors, bears and trains were just some of the major news topics in Hokkaido this past year, and are expected to continue to dominate local news coverage in 2025. Here’s a brief rundown of all ...