We went on a break and there was an assassination attempt, COVID-19 got a downgrade, and a pair of festivals shook up Kyoto. Several Japan Times writers join this week’s episode to help us play catch up with the headlines.

Hosted by Shaun McKenna, with research from Jason Jenkins and produced by Dave Cortez.

On this episode: 

Shaun McKenna: Twitter | Instagram

Gabriele Ninivaggi: Articles | Twitter 

Tomoko Otake: Articles | Twitter

Thu-Huong Ha: Articles | Twitter

Lance Henderstein: Articles | Twitter

Read more: 

Kishida incident shows protecting VIPs from lone wolves remains a tall order (Gabriele Ninivaggi, The Japan Times)

Japan steps into post-pandemic phase with scrapping of COVID measures (Tomko Otake, The Japan Times)

A new music festival shakes up Kyoto’s staid atmosphere (Thu-Huong Ha, The Japan Times)

Yu Yamauchi gets very comfortable in isolation (Thu-Huong Ha, The Japan Times)

Amid the parties and schmoozing, socially conscious art is still Kyotographie’s main draw (Lance Henderstein, The Japan Times)

Get in touch: Send us feedback at [email protected]. Support the show by rating, reviewing and sharing the episode with a friend if you’ve enjoyed it. For a transcript of the show, visit japantimes.co.jp, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter!