Yet another year with the pandemic passed. Despite major events—the Tokyo Olympics in the summer, a change of the prime minister in October followed by a national election at the end of the month—it felt as if 2021 was a very undramatic year. As the government constantly cycled between various levels of state of emergencies until pandemic restrictions were completely lifted nationwide in November, our life—from daily shopping to cultural experiences, let alone traveling—still felt totally paralyzed. Nonetheless, we managed to create moments of interest and topics worth looking back on.

• Tokyo