14 July, 2026 | Culture
On the last Saturday of June 2025, a few hundred Prague locals reclaimed the Old Town Square for an afternoon by staging a protest on it. They played a mock football match (residents against a team with Airbnb logos on their shirts) and waved placards reading "The city isn't an open-air museum”. Transforming the square most visitors cross within an hour of arriving into a protest site was very much on purpose…
2 July 2026 | Weather
A Love Letter to Paris in the Rain
The most famous picture of a Paris street isn’t one of the sunlight bouncing off the pink-grey stonework of a Haussmann terrace. It’s of a cold, wet and blustery day, all reflections and greyness and umbrellas. Gustave Caillebotte painted Paris Street, Rainy Day in 1877 at the intersection now called the Place de Dublin and pretty much nailed Paris…
2 July 2026 | Money
There's No Tipping in Japan, But That Doesn't Mean There Are No Charges At All
Dining out in much of the West comes with a (sometimes) nasty sting at the end where some brain power may be required. There is the number on the menu, the tax added at the till, the tip (often already…
2 July, 2026 | Museums
The Fonts on Your Screen Were Born in This Antwerp Museum
The title and intro line you just read uses a typeface, or font, called Alike. What you’re reading now is Alike. Alike is what’s known as a serif font, those signature flicks, tails and decorative elements…
Have You Subscribed to the Archipelago Weekly Newsletter?
2 Jul, 2026 | Food
In Tokyo, a Michelin Meal Could Cost Less Than Your Airport Coffee
For nineteen years running, Tokyo has been the most Michelin-starred city on the planet. The 2026 guide, announced by Michelin in September 2025, lists 160 starred…
17 July, 2026 | Nature
The Honest Truth About Japan's Bathing Snow Monkeys
You know the shot even if you've never set foot in Japan. A monkey sunk to its shoulders in a steaming pool, maybe a cap of snow on its head, eyes shut in what looks a lot like bliss. Jigokudani Monkey Park has sold more Nagano winter breaks…