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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
Nov 18, 2017
Donald Trump's visit dominates Japan's conversation online — until he leaves
Japanese netizens spent the days following U.S. President Donald Trump's first visit to Japan trying to figure out who came out of the trip looking the best. A week later, a consensus was seemingly reached.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Nov 18, 2017
Baskin Robbins' Booya! Minion ice cream: a cute cacophony of banana, pineapple, soda and chocolate
Baskin Robbins is cashing in on the Minions' success with a series of items themed after the overall-sporting twerps.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KONBINI WATCH
Nov 11, 2017
Lawson's new Karaage-Kun: Miso tops onion in this battle for the buds
There is a lot going on here, and the mix of flavors results in some of them being lost in the shuffle.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / Sound Off
Nov 9, 2017
Former SMAP stars find freedom online
When a wrecking ball fell on and destroyed a car, I was hooked on a 72-hour live stream starring three former members of pop group SMAP.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Nov 4, 2017
Cozy Corner's Rich Cheese Fondue isn't quite what you'd expect
A good way to keep warm during the winter is by enjoying a nice fondue. The combination of bubbly melted cheese and bread can raise the spirits — and warm the stomachs — of anyone in the depths of the coldest season.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 31, 2017
Kenshi Yonezu hopes for more fireworks on new album 'Bootleg'
For Hatsune Miku's 10th birthday, Kenshi Yonezu wrote the turquoise-haired anime darling an apocalyptic song. "Suna no Wakusei" (English title: "Dune") finds Yonezu, under the alias Hachi, programming the avatar for singing-synthesizer software Vocaloid to sing about a "desert planet" where life has...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KONBINI WATCH
Oct 28, 2017
You look like you've seen a Ghost Pumpkin Cream Puff
It's the last weekend to indulge in Halloween-themed sweets from Japan's convenience stores. Fortunately, all of the nation's main konbini players have their limited edition desserts on shelves now. And, given the country's newfound love of Oct. 31, there are plenty of black and orange delights to choose...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 25, 2017
Are Crossfaith rock's last true believers?
Crossfaith is experiencing an existential rock 'n' roll crisis. It's not stopping them from partying like rock stars, though.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Oct 21, 2017
Ginza Matcha Cake: Tokyo Banana ventures outside its curved-fruit comfort zone
The folks behind Tokyo Banana have decided to freshen things up with the Ginza Matcha Cake.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KONBINI WATCH
Oct 14, 2017
7-Eleven's Cookies and Cream Puff: A solid improvement to the sweet staple
7-Eleven Japan's cream puff is the ideal convenience store dessert. It's basic but satisfying, offering just the right amount of sweetness. Maybe most importantly, it's also affordable. Few treats balance simplicity and tastiness quite like it, and the konbini chain has wisely experimented with the filling...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / Japan Pulse
Oct 14, 2017
Shared experiences in the capital fuel interest in @BeingTokyo account
In July 2016, I handled @BeingTokyo, an account on Twitter that allows residents of the capital a week to give followers a taste of what their life in the city is like. My seven days were a little different from the norm as I was part of a group of people posting from Fuji Rock Festival in Naeba, Niigata...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Oct 7, 2017
Caramel Chocolate Cookies: Worth the trip to Haneda Airport
The airport might not be the first place you think of when craving sweets. Yet all those souvenir stores dotting the concourse conceal some truly tasty treats. It might not be socially acceptable to tear in to a box of individually wrapped goods, but you can always save some for when you get to your...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / Sound Off
Oct 5, 2017
AmPm's Spotify strategy bears fruit
Japan's biggest breakout musical act of 2017 wear polar bear masks. The duo AmPm debuted this past spring, cloaked in fuzzy headgear and withholding all biographical information. In just over six months, the pair have had their easy-breezy electronic music released via Dutch label Armada Music and performed...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KONBINI WATCH
Sep 30, 2017
Pepsi Halloween Cola: Pink drink may be too sweet for some
Halloween is now an established event here in Japan. While the revelry differs greatly compared to other places (it's less about collecting candy and more about clogging Shibuya crossing), the country has got the marketing part of it down pat. Companies now roll out special items featuring ghosts and...
Japan Times
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Sep 28, 2017
'Final Fantasy XIV: Dad of Light' shows how Japanese TV is moving from 'sadistic' to 'charming'
"Final Fantasy XIV: Dad of Light" follows a story familiar to anyone who knows Japanese TV dramas. A son and father grow distant, so the young man thinks up a convoluted plan to bond with pops. In this case, the plan involves him secretly playing online video game "Final Fantasy XIV" with his Dad, which...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Sep 23, 2017
'Koara no Machi Yaki': A cream-filled tribute to the well-known koala cookie
Attached to the Lotteria fast-food restaurant in Nakano's Sun Road shopping street is a special stall selling a special bear-shaped treat. They make a taiyaki variant shaped like Lotte's famous Koara no Machi ("Koala's March") cookie snack, called "Koara no Machi Yaki." The regular flavors on offer err...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 19, 2017
Ultra stakes a claim on Japan's music festival throne with help from Chainsmokers, Tiesto and more
Security tugs a woozy-looking man toward the exit of Odaiba Ultra Park after he got in a scuffle with another festivalgoer. His opponent, only steps behind, has bright red bumps on his face. He approaches a guard and, with a smile, snaps a selfie.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Sep 16, 2017
Beverage giant looks to spread the intricacies of washoku abroad
Seventeen students from the United States stare at a garden of eggplant. "You can take pictures, just don't touch anything," the group's translator informs them, most of whom are in their early 20s. A minute of silence passes as they gaze at the circular vegetables. Then they pull out their smartphones...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KONBINI WATCH
Sep 16, 2017
Natural Lawson's Pizza Roll tastes almost as good as the real thing
We've all been there — you're hungry, but don't want to cook. The idea of ordering a pizza is initially tempting, but what about all those calories? These are the dilemmas that haunt one's laziest nights.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / Sound Off
Sep 14, 2017
AKB48 sets a chart record, but Daoko and Kenshi Yonezu are playing the long game
Call it the end of an era. Last week, AKB48's 49th single "#Sukinanda" sold over 1 million copies to take the top spot on the Oricon singles chart. Besides being the first song in the No. 1 position to feature a hashtag in its title, it also propelled the idol group over J-pop singer Ayumi Hamasaki to...
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

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

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