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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
CULTURE / Music
Feb 26, 2020
Departing from tradition with Hiromitsu Agatsuma and Akiko Yano
Shamisen player Hiromitsu Agatsuma teams up with singer and musician Akiko Yano for a new album which sees both depart from their previous styles and genres.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KONBINI WATCH
Feb 22, 2020
No need to 'disrupt' the potato chip, there's no improving this classic snack
Japanese snack makers are constantly looking to improve the classic potato chip. But do they succeed?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 20, 2020
Taigen Kawabe's Ill Japonia: Allowing yourself to learn from the new wave
Bo Ningen's Taigen Kawabe drops the guitars and starts rapping on his first release as III Japonia.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Feb 15, 2020
COVID-19 reveals fractured moral impulse of social media
The outbreak of a new coronavirus in China, now officially named COVID-19, has sparked plenty of concern online — some valid, others more hyperbolic in nature. Like many global events in the social media age, the outbreak has also resulted in no shortage of fake news and racism. Both elements have...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Feb 15, 2020
With the Kit Kat McFlurry, McDonald's continues its winning streak
Dessert Watch doesn't play favorites, but recently McDonald's Japan has been on a roll that's hard to ignore. The once besieged fast food chain has been scoring sweet hits (and online buzz) in the past few months, and its latest continues the streak.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KONBINI WATCH
Feb 8, 2020
Gird your arteries: Jumbo fried foods have taken over convenience stores
Convenience stores have started going bigger with their fried food options in 2020. Whether they are better is debatable.
Japan Times
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / Wide Angle
Feb 7, 2020
Arashi lets fans in on a little tedium with new streaming Netflix documentary
After 20 years of entertainment the masses, J-pop group Arashi is embarking on its final tour ahead of a hiatus. A new Netflix documentary goes behind the scenes of the preparations.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Feb 1, 2020
KitKat kicks it up a notch with its Valentine's-limited Cacao Fruit Dessert
Have you ever wanted to know how cacao fruit tasted? Now you can, with Nestle Japan's new cacao fruit-flavored KitKat. (Spoiler: It's zesty!)
Japan Times
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / Wide Angle
Jan 31, 2020
Netflix and Hulu unleash Japanese travel shows with improved mileage
Streaming services in Japan offer two very different approaches to travel shows, with 'Ainori Love Wagon: African Journey' and 'Kiko's Infinite Journey'
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jan 30, 2020
Parents in Japan use YouTube to teach bilingual baby talk that's good for any age
Mothers raising their kids in Japan head to YouTube to create a community that goes beyond basic parenting tips.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KONBINI WATCH
Jan 25, 2020
Coca-Cola Strawberry versus Asahi's Lemola: Which does fruit better?
Two prominent Japanese beverage companies are offering consumers a choice: something entirely new, or a revived Showa Era flavor.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Jan 25, 2020
Kakeibo: Turning a dull aspect of Japanese life into social media gold
At some point in the past decade, the international notion of “weird Japan” — a view in which the country produces more quirky and wacky trends than many other nations, regardless if said example is actually widespread — took a back seat to “boring but profound Japan.” 
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / Sound Off
Jan 24, 2020
Kyary Pamyu Pamyu and Hatsune Miku help Coachella's Japan contingent to grow
The California festival adds two Japanese pop heavyweights to its lineup, following a successful appearance by Perfume there last year.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Jan 18, 2020
Mister Donut gets the French treatment with its Pierre Herme collaboration
2020's first hit dessert collaboration is here with Mister Donut and Pierre Herme's lineup of six chocolate- and fruit-forward doughnuts.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Jan 18, 2020
Social media turns its back on Japan's beloved strong alcoholic beverages
Everyone has a friend who likes to darken the mood when others are simply trying to have a good time. Dr. Toshihiko Matsumoto took on this mantle over the new year, killing the buzz for a number of people on social media just hours before the new decade started.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KONBINI WATCH
Jan 11, 2020
Take a cold weather gamble on Lawson's new ice bars
Lawson's Japan Flavors series of desserts, debuted in summer with a handful of citrus-flavored ice bars, and now the convenience store chain has rolled out two new varieties for winter in the form of grape and strawberry ice pops.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Jan 10, 2020
NHK raises the dead for 'Kohaku' to mixed reviews
After NHK brought deceased enka singer Hibari Misora back to the 'Kohaku Uta Gassen' stage, reaction from viewers was mixed.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Jan 4, 2020
Predicting Japan's digital trends of the next decade
Last year was all about looking back. Between the end of the Heisei Era (1989-2019) and the decade coming to a close, people appeared to go to extra lengths to reflect on the recent and not-so-recent past (this column included). Now that we’ve entered 2020, though, it’s time to leave the highlights...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Jan 4, 2020
Krispy Kreme's new Year of the Rat doughnuts are cuter than you might think
How do you make Year of the Rat-themed sweets adorable? Look to the mouse, of course.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / 2010S: DECADE IN REVIEW
Dec 29, 2019
Looking back at the most influential Japanese songs of the 2010s
Given how Japanese music takes time to receive widespread recognition, what gems would the kids of the 2040s unearth from the decade that just passed?
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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