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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
May 4, 2019
Social media fails to follow traditional news outlets' stricter approach to portrait rights in Japan
A man in Chiba Prefecture became irritated last month at how long it was taking for a barrier at a rail crossing to open. Losing patience, he fetched a hand saw from his van and removed the barrier arm so that he could drive through.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
May 4, 2019
The new McDonald's McFlurry tastes like caramel, caramel and, well, caramel
The recently released McDonald's McFlurry Nama Caramel delivers on its promise of caramel flavor and sweetness, but not much else.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
May 2, 2019
TikTok sets its sights on the music industry
Short-form video app TikTok isn't content being the center of online youth culture in Japan. Now, it's eyeing the music industry.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 2, 2019
Heisei offered a number of lessons J-pop artists should learn from going into the Reiwa Era
The past year in Japanese pop has felt like one big musical revue devoted to the Heisei Era (1989-2019), with TV shows reflecting on the biggest hits of that period. Now that Reiwa has finally started, the cultural discourse can turn to figuring out how this new period's sound will come together.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KONBINI WATCH
Apr 27, 2019
With convenience store onigiri, the devil's in the seasoning
FamilyMart and Lawson are dressing up the humble onigiri (rice ball) with new add-ons and seasonings, upping the ante on the snack's standard flavors.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Apr 27, 2019
Japan's internet took on a life of its own during the Heisei Era
The story of a recent online phenomenon offers a great snapshot of internet culture in Japan during the Heisei Era (1989-2019). Twitter user @Ninjamaaaaaan posted a blurry photo of a pooch in motion, with its tail swooping in front of its face. It looked vaguely like the canine in the image was throwing...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Apr 20, 2019
Gomaya Kuki takes the simple flavor of sesame to new heights
Tucked away in the Harajuku back streets, Gomaya Kuki offers ice cream and other unique desserts packed with a sesame-flavored punch.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Apr 18, 2019
Japan to be given a lesson in idol pop with 'Produce 101 Japan'
Last week, Japanese talent agency Yoshimoto Kogyo and South Korea's CJ E&M announced a new talent competition TV show for Japan, set to debut later this year. And it's not just another program to fill up the back end of 2019, but will be a test case to see if the traditional power structures of male...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Apr 15, 2019
Bear essentials: A forthcoming animated series celebrates Rilakkuma's lackadaisical ethos in all its glory
Few fictional characters in Japan are as laid-back in their overall approach to life as Rilakkuma, which has attracted a loyal following over the years, rising through the ranks to sit alongside such established characters as Hello Kitty and Doraemon.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KONBINI WATCH
Apr 13, 2019
Lawson's corn pottage Kara-age Kun chicken is a cup of deep-fried nostalgia
To herald the end of the Heisei Era (1989-2019), Lawson is bringing back some retro flavors of its signature Kara-age Kun fried chicken, like corn pottage, and seaweed and salt.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Apr 13, 2019
Social media weighs in on design and purpose of Japan's new bank notes
Social media has been awash with posts following the public unveiling of Japan’s new era name, Reiwa, at the beginning of April. The announcement was almost the complete opposite of an April Fools’ Day joke and yet every detail has been picked apart online, from the way the name was officially unveiled...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Heisei Icons,Heisei Icons
Apr 11, 2019
Tetsuya Komuro: J-pop inventor's synth-powered dance tunes set the tone for post-bubble Japan
The term J-pop, a Heisei invention, needed a defining characteristic to make it stand out from the Showa Era's soundtrack, and Komuro provided a synthesizer-powered foundation.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Apr 11, 2019
Kizuna Ai, Kaguya Luna and YouTube sensations: virtual stars, but the same old shtick
Virtual YouTubers ended up being one of 2018's biggest cultural surprises.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news / Heisei Icons,Heisei Icons
Apr 7, 2019
SMAP: The pop idol media monopoly that dominated the Heisei Era
Many can't let go of the most successful male idol group the Heisei Era and continue to share favorite songs and clips of the outfit on sites such as Twitter.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Apr 6, 2019
Snowy Village's Choco Churros are an overly sweet disappointment
The latest sweet sweeping across teenage enclaves of Tokyo social media is Korean dessert cafe Snowy Village's new Choco Churros. But don't let appearances fool you: Give this uninspiring, blandly sugary trend a miss.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Apr 6, 2019
Getting to the bottom of Chicano subculture coverage on Japan
Over the past month and a half, a number of Western media outlets have revisited a topic that has long been a hit for online publications.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 2, 2019
Emamouse: Unmasking an experimental cult favorite
It's surprising to see emamouse without their signature mask. The Tokyo artist never plays live or appears in photos on Twitter without the handmade felt headwear, which features green hair with a single blue fish. Yet here it is, in emamouse's hands inside a Shinjuku Showa Era cafe.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KONBINI WATCH
Mar 30, 2019
Shake up your usual konbini purchase with these not-to-be-skipped sweets
This week, Konbini Watch turns the spotlight on a few assorted convenience store highlights that shouldn't be missed.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Mar 30, 2019
With resellers, fans must take matters into their own hands
Few groups in Japan respond to a slight quite like Disney devotees. This year marks the 35th anniversary of the conglomerate's Tokyo Disneyland park, and to celebrate and rack up some more revenue, earlier this year it unveiled a line of limited-edition goods tied to the occasion.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Mar 23, 2019
Fujiya's Yume-iro Rainbow Cake is an Instagram feed's dream come true
Fujiya's Instagram-friendly Yume-iro ('dream-colored') Rainbow Cake is made up of five fruit- (and one ramune lemon soda) flavored layers each separated by a line of cream.
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.
Tokyo Metro’s overseas efforts begin in earnest with London deal
Tokyo Metro will soon have a role in the running of London's Elizabeth Line, a major train route serving the U.K.’s capital city and environs.
Russia fired experimental ballistic missile at Ukraine, Putin says
Ukrainian firefighters work on a spot following an airstrike in Dnipro on Thursday.
Ex-yokozuna Kitanofuji dies at 82
Yokozuna Kitanofuji enters the ring during the May 1970 grand sumo tournament in Tokyo.
Man charged with murder allegedly made victim date other men for money
A car carrying suspect Ryotaro Masuda, who was indicted for allegedly beating his 25-year-old girlfriend to death, leaves the Shibuya Police Station in Tokyo on Thursday.
The slow-burn success of ‘A Samurai in Time’
A 19th-century warrior gets struck by lightning and wakes to find himself in 21st-century Kyoto in Junichi Yasuda’s surprise hit “A Samurai in Time.”
Around a quarter of Japan married couples in their 20s met through dating apps
A survey released by an organization promoting “Good Couples Day” shows that 24% of couples in their 20s met their marriage partner through a dating app.
'Tokyo Swindlers': Get deep into the minds of real estate con artists
In Ko Shinjo's "Tokyo Swindlers," a group of con artists manipulates real estate giants into falsified deals within the highly competitive, quick market.
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.

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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