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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
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Sep 9, 2017
Bear's Sugar Shack: Bite-sized pancakes that melt in your mouth
Tokyo's love affair with pancakes appears to be waning and lines outside trendy stores for the decadent dessert have thinned significantly in 2017. Enter Bear's Sugar Shack in Shinjuku, which looks to buck this trend with one simple change: Instead of a offering a couple of regular-sized pancakes on...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KONBINI WATCH
Sep 2, 2017
7-Eleven's coffee cream treat: Leveraging the success of 'konbini' coffee
Convenience stores in Japan hit on a winner a few years back when they introduced fresh-brewed coffee machines. These chains realized folks want cheap and drinkable caffeine fixes before they begin their day. The next jackpot, however, has proved elusive.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Aug 26, 2017
Ringo Dome cake: Tart dreams of autumn
Don't look now, but here comes the fall. Seasons always arrive early in the Japanese food scene, with store shelves already displaying seasonally flavored goods and drinks boasting fitting designs. The weather might betray it, but at least your shopping cart can feel like autumn.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / Sound Off
Aug 24, 2017
Animated pop star Hatsune Miku is only 10, but she has had a huge impact on music
People rarely geek out over the 10-year anniversary of a specific instrument, but Hatsune Miku isn't your usual music store purchase.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 22, 2017
Babymetal, Foo Fighters and Rick Astley make Summer Sonic a fun weekend
This year's Summer Sonic had its craziest moment on Sunday night when 1980s singer Rick Astley joined the Foo Fighters for the latter's headlining performance.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KONBINI WATCH
Aug 19, 2017
Citrus KitKat: Latest twist is flavor home run
Japan's array of quirky KitKat flavors has become a cliche, to the point where your aunt can probably tell you about the dozens of unique varieties. But the candy's latest variant offers something new: kindness. Sales of their new citrus-flavored offering will go to support youth baseball and softball...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Aug 12, 2017
Long a hit in Kyoto, hearty 'hamo' eel finds home in Tokyo restaurant
The Gion Matsuri came to a close at the end of July, but there's still time to enjoy one of the dishes most closely associated with that famous festival. Hamo, called dagger-tooth pike eel in English, has long been one of the Kansai region's summer specialities, especially in Kyoto, where the city's...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Aug 12, 2017
Sesame seed-flavored soft cream: Designed with Instagram in mind
Harajuku has gone gaga over food designed for Instagram. Walk down Takeshita Street and you'll probably see people snapping shots of giant, rainbow-colored cotton candy and the like.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / Sound Off
Aug 10, 2017
Fuji Rock's closing act was a load of trash
By all accounts, this year's Fuji Rock Festival was a success. Punters of all ages and demographics enjoyed the laid-back vibe at the three-day music spectacular — give or take the constant rain — and most social media posts about the event focused on good times. Not everyone was happy, though.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 8, 2017
Parkgolf and other netlabel acts are seeing more success offline
Tokyo's first netlabel parties were filled with nods to internet culture. You'd see customers ordering their drinks via Twitter, robotic hands clapping in time to DJ sets, and people live-streaming themselves from the dancefloor.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KONBINI WATCH
Aug 5, 2017
Black Seafood Cup Noodle: A cosmetic change at best
Japanese netizens have noticed something strange about Nissin's latest special edition of it's venerable Cup Noodle brand.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Jul 29, 2017
Pikachu Choco Banana McFlurry: Celebrating 'Pokemon Go' with a sugar infusion
This weekend marks the one-year anniversary of the arrival of "Pokemon Go" in Japan. There is no shortage of ways to celebrate this milestone, ranging from visiting one of the city's Pokemon Centers to pick up some merch to trying out the smartphone app's latest features ... assuming the network doesn't...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 26, 2017
Figuring out who to watch at this year's Fuji Rock Festival
The 2017 edition of Fuji Rock Festival boasts one of the more eclectic lineups the long-running gathering has had in recent years. The headliners tell the tale: Cartoon rockers Gorillaz share the same font size as electronic pop star Bjork and dance music weirdo Aphex Twin. Dig deeper and you'll find...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KONBINI WATCH
Jul 22, 2017
Lemon No Baumkuchen: Not all that glitters is snack gold
Family Mart is putting forward some sophisticated sweets for the next few months. The chain recently debuted its new "Jewelry Sweets" line, which are premium items accented by shiny but edible flourishes. The line gets its own special area in the store (at least the one I went to) and an increased price,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Jul 15, 2017
Mango Grapefruit Snowflakes Sherbet: Sweet, tart and perfect for summer
One of the most popular desserts to take off in Tokyo over the last two years has been shaved ice from outside Japan. Taiwanese baobing, via the chain Ice Monster, kick-started the trend, and a few others have appeared as of late. Korean chain Sulbing, which creates bingsu (Korea's take on the treat),...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Jul 12, 2017
Joey Bizinger sees his YouTube following grow amid an 'anime renaissance'
"The Anime Man" has a busy summer ahead of him. The 23-year-old, whose real name is Joey Bizinger, will be on the road over the next two months making stops at anime conventions across the United States and Europe. It sounds like the kind of itinerary a musician would embark on.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KONBINI WATCH
Jul 8, 2017
Okinawa salt beef wasabi chips: For those who like heat in the summer
Sometimes, you have to stack as many signs of summer onto your product as possible. Snack producer Yamayoshi is celebrating the hotter months of the year with a special-edition potato chip tied to Japan's southern islands. Their Okinawa salt wasabi beef offering hit store shelves at the start of last...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / Sound Off
Jul 6, 2017
Twice shows just how resilient K-pop can be
Last week, Korean pop group Twice made its "official" debut in Japan, featuring the release of a Japanese-language best-of compilation and a showcase at Tokyo Gymnasium on July 2. In between, the members appeared on the popular weekly TV show "Music Station" and posed in front of Tokyo Tower, which displayed...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 27, 2017
Tricot fine-tunes a formula that got the trio noticed overseas on '3'
It has never been easy for Japanese bands to find success both domestically and abroad. For the most part, they can muster notable attention on one side or the other, but rarely both — regardless of how many awkward English-language songs or cringe-worthy collaborations they attempt. However, tricot...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KONBINI WATCH
Jun 24, 2017
Colorful Shower Pocky: Lemon cream flavor just in time for summer
Pocky has a few approaches to summer 2017. The first is a campaign where the time-honored snack comes in limited-edition wrappers featuring 27 different designs, which can also activate various augmented reality features on a special smartphone app. Sounds complicated! Glico, which makes Pocky, is urging...
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.
Shohei Ohtani wins National League MVP award
Shohei Ohtani celebrates after hitting a three-run home run against the Padres during the National League Division Series at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles last month.
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.

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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