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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
Jan 31, 2016
Kyary ride does its part for 'Cool Japan'
"Cool Japan Heats Up" declares a sign welcoming visitors to an area of Universal Studios Japan (USJ) devoted to the country's hottest pop culture exports.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KONBINI WATCH
Jan 29, 2016
Pocky gets stuck into a new blueberry flavor
Glico has released numerous variations of its famous Pocky snack, though the special blueberry-flavored edition (¥162) on convenience store shelves now is one of the more simple efforts it has produced.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Jan 22, 2016
The Original Pancake House in Tokyo gets extra sweet for Valentine's Day
Ah, mid-January, the perfect time for Valentine's Day food campaigns to begin.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 17, 2016
In The Blue Shirt has a way with vocals on 'Cyanotype'
In The Blue Shirt "Cyanotype" (Maltine Records)
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KONBINI WATCH
Jan 15, 2016
Strawberry shortcake potato chips taste like you would imagine
Japanese snack maker Koikeya has mastered the mix-two-unlikely-flavors-together strategy over the past year.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 10, 2016
Jayda B leaves a dent on Tokyo's electronic scene
Radio host Jayda B is wrapping up an interview with Japanese electronic artist starRo as I enter JBS, a cozy Shibuya bar where the walls are lined with records. Later, she'll edit the recording down for her self-produced program DENTradio, which airs weekly on a radio station in her hometown of Atlanta....
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Jan 8, 2016
Monkey business at Baskin-Robbins Japan
The new year has started, and so has the race to eat limited-edition desserts honoring the year's Chinese zodiac sign: the monkey.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Dec 26, 2015
Tokyo digs: It's hosteling, but not as we know it
A line of around 30 people queueing for snacks snakes around the inside of Izakaya Bunka, a Japanese-style pub, during its packed opening night on Dec. 14. Staffers at the Asakusa Ward spot have laid out an impressive buffet-style spread for all in attendance, set in front of a stack of nihonshu (Japanese...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KONBINI WATCH
Dec 25, 2015
White Cola Pepsi arrives just in time for Christmas
The recently released White Cola Pepsi isn't the first chance the Japanese market has had to experience a snow-colored carbonated beverage. A yogurt-flavored Pepsi White had a limited run in 2008 and a limited-edition orange flavor was released in 2012.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 20, 2015
Young music fans found their voices in 2015
The music industry in Japan has long been seen as lagging behind the times. Once every six months there is an article that marvels at the supremacy of CDs, and new albums from acts that were big in the 1990s tend to dominate charts alongside idol-pop groups that few would label "musically progressive."...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 18, 2015
'Star Wars' fans turn out in force for first showings
A man dressed as Admiral Ackbar snapped a selfie in the lobby of the Nippon TV building early Friday afternoon.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Dec 18, 2015
Vienna's chocolate cake gets the McDonald's treatment
One wouldn't normally turn to the Golden Arches for decadent desserts, but sometimes life surprises you. McCafe, McDonald's upscale chain of coffee spots, rolled out their winter collection recently, and the highlight is their take on the Austria's chocolate cake, the Sachertorte.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KONBINI WATCH
Dec 11, 2015
Roast beef dinners at your local Lawson
Eating a slab of roast beef in Tokyo used to require trekking to fancy schmancy parts of town and forking out a lot of money. Now you can just walk over to your local Lawson and grab the new Roast Beef Bowl (¥690).
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Dec 4, 2015
Bite into the enlarged head of 'Chibi Maruko-chan'
Floresta, a "natural" doughnut bakery, is celebrating the popular "Chibi Maruko-chan" cartoon series with a limited run of doughnuts shaped like the show's characters.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 27, 2015
The future of conveyor-belt sushi
In October, U.K. sushi chain Yo! Sushi opened a new kaiten (conveyor belt) restaurant in a Florida mall. It is the third branch the chain has established in the United States this year, and more branches are slated to open in 2016. It is a reminder that this automated approach to dining continues to...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KONBINI WATCH
Nov 27, 2015
Haagen-Dazs unleashes limited-run flavors on Tokyo
Convenience stores have become a little more decadent since Haagen-Daz released its new limited-run flavors.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 20, 2015
Namie Amuro returned to form this year with '_genic'
Ten years ago, Namie Amuro's star appeared to be fading fast. The pop singer's massive popularity in the 1990s helped cement the rise of sleek J-pop, but by 2005, sales of her albums and singles were starting to come back to Earth. Worse still, the former "Queen of J-pop" was seemingly being lapped by...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Nov 20, 2015
Prepare for autumn in Tokyo with Magnolia Bakery's Harvest Apple Cupcake
The transition from fall to winter may have started the day after Halloween, but you don't have to join every department store in Tokyo in embracing the Christmas spirit just yet.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 15, 2015
Spangle call Lilli line returns with a new sound and a familiar vibe
'Ghost Is Dead," the 10th album from Tokyo's Spangle call Lilli line, shouldn't exist. Regular life caught up with the trio, leaving them with little time to contemplate creating new music: Lead singer Kana Otsubo had a baby and her bandmates saw their day jobs eat up more and more of their personal...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 15, 2015
Acidclank knows when to look up from its shoes on 'Inner'
Acidclank "Inner" (Self-released)
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.

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