‘Genki’ drinks – nutrition and energy beverages – have flooded the Japanese market yet manufacturers are now targeting female consumers and soaking up foreign customers. Is saturation imminent?
In Japan, if you’re not doing ‘rajio taiso’ you’re either dead or you’ve slept in. Millions of Japanese rise early every morning to get together and do radio exercises – the rest do them at work.
Swimming on Bondi Beach, playing tennis in the jardins of Paris, running down the beach in Rio. Monocle picks five cities to call home if you want to stay healthy and trim.
From the ancient Greeks onwards, wise governments have seen the benefits of outsourcing. But what would a modern state look like if it put all of its ministries out to tender, employing the best foreign governments and…
Few anticipated the enormous scale of the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan last March. Monocle talks to Eiji Kimizuka, chief of staff for the Ground Self-Defense Force, to learn how the rescue effort continues one year…
Faced with an ageing population, Singapore is undertaking ambitious plans to improve the lives of people over the age of 65 – starting with Hortpark, a park in the country’s southwestern corner that specialises as a ther…
Density is the magic ingredient that, in the hands of the right designer, can make a hotel lobby a place you want to linger. It can also transform whole cities. That’s why we need Ministries of Density & Intimacy the world…
Released every December by the Bonn International Center for Conversion (Bicc) with financial support from Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Global Militarization Index (GMI) measures…
For Japanese transport officials there are few higher priorities than figuring out how to accommodate more international flights before the 2020 Olympics. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism’s latest…
Taiwan offered a masterclass in how to detect the virus and stop it in its tracks. Trouble is that a spat with China and the World Health Organization meant that the lessons were not widely shared. Foreign minister Joseph…
Israel’s violent history means that its hospitals have much to teach other countries about how to deal with major bloodshed on their streets. Rambam Medical Center in Haifa is offering medics pioneering training in handling…