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November 22, 2024
 

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Daniel Robson
Daniel Robson, a British journalist based in Tokyo since 2006, is a features editor and writer at The Japan Times. He also writes freelance about music, videogames and Japanese pop culture for other publications around the world.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 29, 2011
Wright, Cera get 1-up in 'Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World'
"Scott in the comics almost reminds me of Homer Simpson; you get to see what's going on in his head, and there's not much going on," says Hollywood indie poster-boy Michael Cera when asked about his role as the title character in the adrenaline-soaked action comedy "Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 8, 2011
Various artists: "GO!GO! A GO!GO! — GO!GO!7188 Tribute"
Though they've never quite gone supernova, Tokyo trio GO!GO!7188 have always fared better than should be expected of such an unusual band, frequently loitering in the higher echelons of the charts with their curious blend of reverb-soaked rockabilly guitar, beefy beats, genre-busting tunes and soaring...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 11, 2011
Jett, Currie return to Runaways era
Back in the late 1970s, they changed everything. And then they disappeared.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 4, 2011
Punk icon Lydon shows fondness for Japan in book
"The best night I've ever had was to be accused of being a bad Johnny Rotten in Kyoto," laughs John Lydon, frontman of punk pioneers The Sex Pistols and groundbreaking postpunk band Public Image Ltd. Speaking on the phone from his adopted home of Los Angeles, the 55-year-old Irish-born, London-raised...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 4, 2011
Kuriyama trades her blades for a song
She's died on screen almost as many times as she's killed. Western movie fans will know her as Gogo Yubari, the spiked-ball-and-chain-wielding schoolgirl who disembowels men for fun before crying tears of blood in Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill: Vol. 1." In Japan, she's been an actress since the age...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 4, 2011
Bluesy rock duo oh sunshine set for an early rise
"I grew up watching anime, and I thought, 'Wow, that's a really cool language!' " says Emily Connor, four-year Tokyo resident and singer with new pop duo oh sunshine.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Jan 11, 2011
Nintendo World 2011: What did you think of the 3DS?
Nintendo allowed the public to tryits new 3DS handheld game console at the Makuhari Messe center in Chiba over the weekend. The device renders games in 3-D without the need for special glasses.
CULTURE / Music
Dec 24, 2010
Kamattechan release major-label debut alongside darker indie LP
Shinsei Kamattechan frontman Noko is missing. His three bandmates, chatting with The Japan Times in an eerily silent karaoke booth in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, reckon he's ignoring his phone deliberately because he doesn't like interviews unless they're one on one. You might say he's somewhat volatile....
CULTURE / Music
Dec 17, 2010
Shock-rock act Dir En Grey snub cartoons for cred
It's no secret that, in recent years, certain styles of Japanese music have benefited massively from a surge of interest in anime and manga in the West. J-pop acts such as Puffy and AKB48 and visual-kei artists including Miyavi and L'Arc-En-Ciel have enjoyed exposure where before there was none. That's...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Nov 24, 2010
'Virtua Tennis 4' moves into the next dimension
Another motion controller, another sports game. It didn't take game developers long to follow the lead set by Nintendo's Wii and create games for the new PlayStation 3 Move and Xbox 360 Kinect add-ons that revolve around throwing, batting, putting or lobbing things. And yet somehow it's still not hard...
LIFE / Travel
Nov 21, 2010
Sapporo's warm welcome
With its wide roads laid out in a neat grid, an abundance of greenery and its sleek, modern subway system, Sapporo at first feels more like somewhere in America than in Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Nov 10, 2010
Sega's Kikuchi makes a killing with 'Yakuza'
"While making the first and second games in the series, I went drinking in Kabukicho with (Toshihiro) Nagoshi, the overall producer of the franchise, two or three nights every week," says Masayoshi Kikuchi, a veteran producer at Sega, as we discuss the latest entries in his smash-hit series "Ryu ga Gotoku"...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 5, 2010
Pontiacs
Taking their name from the iconic American automobile marque that will cease production this winter after 84 years, Pontiacs have plenty of heritage under the hood. The band reunites guitar-vocalist Kenichi Asai and bassist Toshiyuki Terui of quintessential Japanese garage-rock band Blankey Jet City,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Oct 24, 2010
Nibutani, Hokkaido: Travel, hospitality and the Ainu identity
Ainu are the indigenous people of Hokkaido, the Kuril Islands and much of Sakhalin. However, their culture in Hokkaido, dating back to the 13th century, was decimated after Japanese settlers began flocking to the huge northern island in the 1800s.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 8, 2010
Loud Park
Now in its fifth year, Loud Park has carved out a reputation as Summer Sonic's noisy younger sister. Arguably more "loud" than "park," the festival amasses the heavyweights of metal over two days at Saitama Super Arena. This year the event also boasts a one-day leg at Kobe World Kinen Hall, giving metalheads...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 5, 2010
British pie man to pass on pastry prowess to new owner
We've all heard the tale of a pie man selling his wares to a certain Simple Simon. But this time, the pie man is selling the whole shop.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 1, 2010
For artist Tokumaru, music is but a dream
Shugo Tokumaru's music is a dream come true — literally.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 1, 2010
De De Mouse sets an electronic trap
"I am a musician, not a celebrity," says the shy fop when asked about the bumbled between-song banter in his otherwise triumphant set that finished just moments earlier at a music festival. Facing in toward his backing band, rather than outward to the crowd, the shy fop had buried his head in a bank...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Sep 28, 2010
Hokkaido: What do you think Nibutani will like 100 years from now?
In Nibutani, Hidaka Subprefecture, Hokkaido, roughly 80 percent of residents are of Ainu descent.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Sep 22, 2010
TGS industry parties offer special treatment to chosen few
Far from the chaos of the Makuhari Messe exhibition center, which was filled with tens of thousands of gamers plus noisy games and event stages, members of the press, privileged bloggers and select VIPs saw a different side of the Tokyo Game Show.
Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington. Investors in Japan and China sold a pile of U.S. debt in the last quarter, just before the U.S. presidential election.
Ishiba aggravates his own political failures with diplomatic faux pas
Prime Minster Shigeru Ishiba is greeted at the APEC summit in Lima by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday. The Japanese leader was criticized for remaining seated while meeting several world leaders at the event.
Japan's 3.31 million visitors in October set monthly record
Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in December 2023. Famous autumn leaf colors contributed to increased tourism demand last month from many markets across Asia, Europe and North America, the Japan National Tourism Organization has said.
Japan ranks last in romance satisfaction for second straight year
In a survey of 31 countries, Japan ranked last in terms of those who felt loved, with just 51% of respondents saying so.
Ruling coalition and DPP strike last-minute deal over economic policy
DPP policy chief Makoto Mahaguchi speaks at the party's policy gathering in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Japan, U.K. and Italy discuss inviting more countries to joint fighter project
A new concept model of a next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy is on display in Farnborough, Hampshire, in July.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.
Japanese expats in Asia find community through rugby
The Taiwan Fivewoods celebrate their victory at the 2023 Asian Japanese Rugby Cup in December of last year.
In Fukushima, a weekend of prose, poetry and translation
Aomori-based writer JJ Carter presented on tabletop gaming as creative inspiration for building characters and narratives.
For Dr. Nakamats, aging is just experience in action
Though he didn't win the recent gubernatorial election in Tokyo, the 96-year-old Dr. Nakamats' run was seen as inspirational in Japan's aging society.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?
By Kathryn Wortley

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