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November 22, 2024
 

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Patrick St. Michel
Patrick St. Michel is a Tokyo-based writer with a focus on Japanese music. He runs the blog Make Believe Melodies, which has focused on Japanese independent music since 2009. Besides The Japan Times, he also contributes to MTV 81 and The Atlantic.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Apr 4, 2020
Navigating the murky waters of social media in a pandemic
The frequent occurrence of disasters in Japan has ensured that netizens are constantly on the lookout for online hoaxes. Following any large earthquake or typhoon, social media is typically flooded with all kinds of misleading posts and doctored images. Some are posted in a deliberate attempt to stoke...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / Sound Off
Apr 3, 2020
Ensuring live music survives the pandemic
While the COVID-19 pandemic has all but shut down Japan's live music scene, innovative acts and labels are still reaching fans in the country.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Mar 30, 2020
Ken Shimura’s entertainment legacy spans generations
Entertainer Ken Shimura didn’t belong to any single generation. Following news that the 70-year-old comedian had died on Sunday from pneumonia caused by COVID-19, TV broadcasters on Monday featured both Shimura’s contemporaries and much younger personalities visibly upset over his passing.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KONBINI WATCH
Mar 28, 2020
Chocolate, chips and coffee: The ideal snack combination?
Chocolate-covered potato chips aren’t a new idea. It’s a tried-and-true combination that has proven to be a delight over the years. How do you improve on that?
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Mar 28, 2020
Postponement of 2020 Olympics sends social media into a frenzy
It was only a matter of time before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics to change tack. After months of speculation, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced Tuesday night that the games would be postponed until 2021.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos
Mar 26, 2020
Making sure you're prepared for a Japan-wide lockdown
With a lockdown looming, it has never been a better time to update your emergency earthquake kit.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 25, 2020
As COVID-19 cripples live music, hopeful promoters look ahead
This year’s edition of the Japan Nite event at the South by Southwest Music Conference and Festival (SXSW) was going to be special. It would have marked the event’s 25th anniversary of showcasing Japanese artists to fans in Austin, Texas, with a North American tour to follow.
Japan Times
CULTURE
Mar 25, 2020
When a cartoon crocodile dies, give us time to mourn
While people on social media have largely been preoccupied with the pandemic, the most buzzed-about happening online in Japan involves a crocodile — don’t roll your eyes just yet — which, at some point, transformed into a commentary on the follies of capitalism and its drive for continuous growth....
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KONBINI WATCH
Mar 21, 2020
Have an at-home hanami with these cherry blossom-flavored sweets
This year's hanami season is shaping up to be a weird one. The beginning of spring rarely forces people to choose between having a good time under the cherry blossoms and grappling with a pandemic, but that's where we’re at in 2020.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 19, 2020
Nariaki Obukuro offers optimism with latest album, 'Piercing'
Nariaki Obukuro has been living in London for a little over a year now, and the Japanese singer-songwriter says the city routinely gets his imagination going.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Mar 14, 2020
The Sugar Forest's macaron sandwiches: Tokyo's next South Korean-inspired dessert trend?
So far, The Sugar Forest's cute and colorful mega-stuffed macaron sandwiches have avoided the limelight. But these sweets won't stay off the radar for long...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Mar 14, 2020
Social media helps Japan's embattled parents connect over schools' closure
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s recommendation that all elementary, junior high and high schools in Japan close through the end of their April spring break in order to prevent the spread of a new coronavirus caught nearly everyone in the country off guard when the news broke in late February.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 11, 2020
Intersection: Bridging the Pacific through the medium of J-pop
Intersection's four dual-heritage members say they want Japanese music listeners to be more open to international culture and people with more diverse backgrounds.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Mar 9, 2020
Stockpiling food and keeping up appearances in Hokkaido's schools
English teachers in Hokkaido, which apart from the Diamond Princess cruise ship has been hit hardest with coronavirus cases in Japan, struggle to make sense of measures taken at their schools.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KONBINI WATCH
Mar 7, 2020
Perennially popular Pipeline Punch particularly punchy
Monster Energy is bringing its Pipeline Punch back to convenience store shelves. How long will it stay in stock this time?
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Mar 7, 2020
YouTube content that attempts to find real Japanese opinions
A lot has changed over the past decade insofar as Japanese content on YouTube is concerned, with creators moving away from uploads that simply record personal experiences to posts that give viewers real insight into the lives and opinions of Japanese people.   
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / Sound Off
Mar 6, 2020
ASMR in Japan is burning brightly
Nippon Cultural Broadcasting jumps on the ASMR bandwagon with a weeklong special dedicated to the soothing sounds of bonfires.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Mar 3, 2020
With the coronavirus canceling classes, what are English teachers to do?
ALTs and English-language school employees are reporting confusion over what role their employers should play in a possible pandemic.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Feb 29, 2020
At Ochaba, food fads collide to create the ultimate trendy snack
Get your matcha, crepe or bubble tea fix simultaneously with Ochaba's green tea tapioca drinks or lineup of matcha-centric crepes.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / Sound Off
Feb 26, 2020
COVID-19 fears hit live music in Japan
With fears over the COVID-19 outbreak increasing, a slew of overseas artists have cancelled live shows in Japan, while others are determined that the show must go on.
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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