For her series “Japanese Whispers”, Belgian photographer Zaza Bertrand headed inside the intimate world of rabuhos – Japanese love hotels. Love hotels became popular in Japan from the 1960s onwards, due to a lack of privacy in many family homes. There are now around 37,000 of these hotels in Japan, allowing short daytime “rests” or overnight stays. (Photo by Zaza Bertrand/The Guardian)

宇多田ヒカル (Utada Hikaru) –One Last Kiss. Utada Hikaru is a Japanese-American singer-songwriter and producer. By the end of the 2000s, Utada was deemed “the most influential artist of the decade” in the Japanese music landscape by The Japan Times. Utada's commercial success has made her one of Japan's top-selling recording artists of all time.

Japanese monkeys look relaxed as they soak in a hot spring at the Hakodate Tropical Botanical Garden in Hakodate in Hokkaido, northern Japan, on January 14, 2022. (Photo by Kyodo News/Action Press via Reuters)

Japanese actress Aoi Yamada poses during a photocall for the film “Perfect Days” during the 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on May 26, 2023. (Photo by Valery Hache/AFP Photo)

Artists wearing Japanese traditional clown masks march during the First Konpira Festival at Kotohiragu shrine in Tokyo Wednesday, January 10, 2018. The shrine is dedicated to sailors and seafaring. (Photo by Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo)

Japanese music duo Ami and Aya arrive for the Christian Dior Fall/Winter 2023-2024 ready-to-wear collection presented Tuesday, February 28, 2023 in Paris. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP Photo)

Japanese ornamental dolls (hina dolls) are displayed on the stone steps at Tomisaki shrine during the Katsuura Big Hinamatsuri festival in Katsuura city of Chiba prefecture on February 28, 2023. (Photo by Yuichi Yamazaki/AFP Photo)

A model presents a creation for Kenzo by Japanese fashion designer Tomoaki Nagao aka Nigo during Kenzo fashion show at the North Bund Bay in Shanghai on July 28, 2023. (Photo by Jade Gao/AFP Photo)