Patrick St. Michel - The Japan Times

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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 / KONBINI WATCH

Jul 8, 2016

New coriander-pork potato chips pack a punch

Coriander can be a contentious herb, some swear by it, others say it tastes like soap.

Japan Times

LIFE / Digital

Jul 3, 2016

Japanese teens take their love from 'purikura' to the web

Like many teenage couples, Kazumasa and Riko love documenting important memories in their relationship — say, an anniversary or a trip to Okinawa. They also like to share short movies about their life as a couple online, and so far their clips have been viewed more than 18 million times.

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH

Jul 1, 2016

Baskin-Robbins gives the Japanese summer an icy welcome

The heat might not have reached peak levels yet, but ice cream chain Baskin-Robbins marked the start of summer this week with two special crushed-ice treats for 2016. Each dessert (¥450) includes two layers of flavored shaved ice and is accompanied by a scoop of your preferred ice cream on top. The...

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / KONBINI WATCH

Jun 24, 2016

Japan invents another range of potato chips that you can eat for breakfast

Last year saw Japanese snack-maker Koikeya roll out a "breakfast fruit" line of potato chips, and they are still intent on flavoring their chips around the most important meal of the day, this time with "milk" and "toast." Each offers a very different experience. "Milk" suffers from the same problem...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Jun 19, 2016

KiWi "The Scene of Ordinary" (Self-released)

Producers Azupubschool and Cor!s are both accomplished artists in their own right, having released individual albums and worked on larger J-pop projects in recent years. Together, they create music as KiWi, a project that recently shared an up-tempo dance-pop cut via the Diplo-founded online label Good...

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH

Jun 17, 2016

Sweets for exhausted men arrive just in time for Father's Day

If you waited until the last minute to buy your dad something for Father's Day, Candy Show Time has you covered. Their "Thank You Dad" set of bite-size candies (¥560) features five varieties of sweets complete with father-friendly designs, such as a glass of beer.

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / KONBINI WATCH

Jun 10, 2016

Lawson celebrates 30 years of Kara-age Kun with a special yuzu flavor

Deep-fried kara-age chicken has been a much-loved staple at convenience stores in Japan for decades. One of the longest-running varieties is Lawson's Kara-age Kun, currently celebrating its 30th anniversary.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Jun 3, 2016

Past the scandals and into the songs of 2016 so far

So far this year, most of the media attention paid to the music industry has focused on scandal rather than songwriting.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Jun 3, 2016

Mitsume's long days on the road pay off

Over the past decade, a go-to method for older rock bands to drum up excitement for a tour is the promise of playing a classic album in its entirety. It's a win-win proposition: Fans get to feel nostalgic while the artists themselves can coast by on material they've played countless times before.

Japan Times

LIFE / Digital

Jun 3, 2016

That Japanese Man Yuta uses YouTube to show us what Japan really thinks

Almost every weekend, Yuta Aoki heads to Tokyo's Shibuya Ward armed with a camera, a stabilizer and a microphone. His mission is to find and speak to Japanese people, but they must look happy or, at least, not busy — "I don't want any trouble," he says with a laugh. He's hunting for opinions: "Is 'gaijin'...

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH

Jun 3, 2016

Minimal bean-to-bar chocolate stand opens in Ginza

Since 2014, Japanese chocolatier Minimal has been championing the single-source bean-to-bar movement from its store in Tokyo's Yoyogi-Hachiman neighborhood.

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / KONBINI WATCH

May 27, 2016

FamilyMart's strawberry frappe is a sweet alternative to a cup of joe

Convenience stores still do a strong trade in their house brand, machine-produced coffee, but some have also started introducing new beverages utilizing the same machines that spit out their cups of joe.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

May 22, 2016

Katsuhiko Maeda builds a diverse musical arsenal at Virgin Babylon Records

It is surprising to hear Katsuhiko Maeda say one of the unifying traits found on his Virgin Babylon Records releases is "pop." The artists putting out music through the imprint touch on many sounds, from dramatic metal to macabre spoken-word electronica — not exactly radio-friendly fare.

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH

May 20, 2016

Cozy Corner's new jelly might free you from dessert purgatory

Sweets lovers in Japan are currently in seasonal purgatory: It's not really cold enough for warm desserts and not really hot enough for frozen treats. Confectionery chain Cozy Corner is banking on something new that falls between the two extremes. Its new CoCo Jelly comes in three flavors — peach,...

CULTURE / Music

May 15, 2016

Ayumi Hamasaki takes a note from Beyonce with sudden 'M(a)de In Japan' release

Streaming services remain a fledgling part of the Japanese music industry, but the major players are learning from their Western counterparts. Last week, Avex "surprised" J-pop fans with Ayumi Hamasaki's new album "M(a)de In Japan" (with the "a" being her own distinctive logo) on the label's AWA platform....

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

May 15, 2016

Yoshimi explores his city on 'Tokyo Restricted Area'

One of the classic cliches about Tokyo is that it's a city where the past and the future intermingle, one where ancient shrines sit steps away from neon-soaked shopping districts. Long-running musician Yoshimi Hishida explores this very idea on "Tokyo Restricted Area," but in a way far more abrasive...

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink

May 13, 2016

Why is Tokyo starting to taste like Portland?

Walking into PDX Taproom, a bar in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward, is like wandering into a condensed, alternate version of Portland, Oregon. Everything from the folk-pop hits playing in the background to the craft beers on tap hail from the Pacific Northwest metropolis.

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / KONBINI WATCH

May 13, 2016

Pocky goes for the gold with Brazilian Orange-flavored snacks

Let the race for clever marketing tie-ins with the 2016 Rio Olympics begin! Pocky's newest limited-edition variety, celebrates one of Brazil's biggest crops by merging citrus flavor and chocolate. Brazilian Orange (¥162) initially tastes a bit off-putting, the chocolate coating on the outside relies...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

May 8, 2016

Homecomings craft a catchy and intricate gem with 'Sale of Broken Dreams'

Kyoto four-piece Homecomings excel at capturing the small, sad details of life.

Japan Times

LIFE / Digital

May 8, 2016

Japan's pop culture movers turn out for Niconico party

You'd think nothing would be a surprise during a kabuki show starring a famous actor and a holographic pop star, but you'd be mistaken.

You can often see generations of families enjoying performances together at Fuji Rock Festival.

Japan’s summer music festivals are feeling the heat in more ways than one

Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.

The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'

By Tomoko Otake

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