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November 21, 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
Jun 19, 2021
Spotify gets visual in a new TV Tokyo show about podcasting
Spotify dips its toe into broadcast television with a new show that will either be a boon for podcasts or chain restaurants.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Jun 12, 2021
Tapping into the travel dreams of overseas visitors to Japan
Traveling to Japan is unlikely to resemble trips prior to the emergence of COVID-19.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 27, 2021
Ado's defiant hit is a coming-of-age moment for Japan's Vocaloid culture
Ado caused a moral panic in Japan with her catchy and rebellious track 'Usseewa,' a track influenced by the cultural conventions of Vocaloid that are taking Japanese music by storm.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 21, 2021
Rapper Daichi Yamamoto gets personal about breakups, his biracial background and a love of jazzy beats
Japanese rappers are beginning to share more about their own experiences in their tracks, an approach Daichi Yamamoto says is upping the standards for domestic hip-hop.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 13, 2021
What will music festivals look like in the wake of the pandemic? We'll start to find out this summer.
Naoki Shimizu, the man behind Japan's massive Summer Sonic festival, talks about COVID-19 precautions and new ideas for moving forward.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
May 9, 2021
Conbini Boys: ‘The konbini plays such an important role in society’
Are nationalized convenience stores in Japan's future? Maybe! You'll have to ask the fried chicken-loving duo behind the “Conbini Boys” podcast.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
May 8, 2021
The Japanese art of racking up clicks online
Stories focusing on the ways that Japan can fix your life are proliferating online, but they may say more about our need for change than Japan itself.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / Sound Off
May 7, 2021
Can Fuji Rock's all-Japan lineup give J-pop a post-pandemic push?
Fuji Rock has announced an all-local lineup. If done well, it could introduce a wide audience to up-and-coming Japanese talent.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse,Japan Pulse
Apr 30, 2021
Tokyo-born artist and activist Drue Kataoka becomes the new face of Clubhouse
Asian American artist Drue Kataoka uses the Clubhouse platform to discuss art and politics, and has raised more than $88,000 for the Asian American Foundation.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 22, 2021
NiziU: Made in South Korea, totally Japanese
The nine-member pop act NiziU moved from a reality TV show competition to the top of the Japanese music charts with ease — and that was the strategy all along.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Apr 17, 2021
Weather forecaster Saya Hiyama's viral moments say a lot about fame in Japan
Weather forecaster Saya Hiyama is the latest media personality to garner an online following, but what does her popularity say about celebrity in the digital age?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 14, 2021
Indonesian singer Rainych Ran goes viral amid an online city pop renaissance
Rainych Ran's take in Japanese on American singer Doja Cat's chart-topping “Say So” became a hit partially because music from the 1980s is currently enjoying a YouTube-powered revival.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KONBINI WATCH
Mar 27, 2021
Ministop goes all-in on the fruit flavor with its Hokkaido Raiden Melon soft-serve
The chain has been offering melon-flavored desserts featuring fruits grown around the country all year, and it's finally reached Hokkaido.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Mar 14, 2021
Dessert gets an upgrade at two fast-food joints
Pie and ice cream makes for a classic combination, but a new pie at McDonald's and a new ice cream at Baskin-Robbins stand on their own.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 11, 2021
How TikTok resurrected a Japanese pop star's defining hit
Miki Matsubara's 1979 hit song 'Mayonaka no Door: Stay With Me' has been discovered by a new generation of digitally savvy teens. The Japanese music industry has taken notice.
Japan Times
CULTURE
Mar 10, 2021
From AC Japan ads to 'Your Name.': The impact of 3/11 on pop culture
The triple disaster of 2011 still looms large in the collective memory of those who were in Japan at the time. How society remembers it, though, has been influenced by films, music and art.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Mar 6, 2021
Increasing angst on social media may point to a silver lining as Japan looks to leave 2020 behind
The outrage expressed on Twitter has been noticeably worse than normal over the first two months of the year.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KONBINI WATCH
Feb 27, 2021
Family Mart serves up a game-changing dessert
Family Mart was never a go-to shop after dinner, but two new treats promise to change all that — as long as you eat all your vegetables.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 25, 2021
For Tracy Hyde balances idyllic nostalgia with political unease on ‘Ethernity’
Guitarist Azusa Suga based part of the sound for the Tokyo rock band's new album “Ethernity” on American suburbia and pop culture from the 1990s.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Feb 20, 2021
Garigari-kun, Japan’s best-selling popsicle, turns 40
The first of 2021's special Garigari-kun flavors is the crunchy, sweet-tart “Adult Garigari-kun Kiwi.”
Ishiba delays meeting with Trump, citing legal restrictions
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba waves upon arrival for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, in Callao, Peru, on Friday.
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.
Rising sex tourism exposes loopholes in Japan's anti-prostitution law
While financial misfortunes during the COVID-19 pandemic may have driven some women to work the streets, others simply want more money to spend — or want to pay off their debts — at host clubs.
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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