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Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 16, 2017

Drawn to North Korea's culture, Japanese internet star looks beyond the saber-rattling

Japanese internet celebrity Chunhun starts her day by listening to a band whose songs few other 20-something women in the nation are likely to have on their playlists: North Korea's all-female ensemble Moranbong Band.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 24, 2017

Japan's lowriders get a little higher

The scene at Makuhari Messe could be at the Louvre — if the Louvre were to pump hip-hop throughout its galleries and have half-naked women posing beside its exhibits.
JAPAN / History / Defining the Heisei Era
Nov 24, 2018

Defining the Heisei Era: Examining the rise of otaku culture

With the number of children shrinking, popular entertainment naturally began targeting the otaku population that didn't hesitate to open their wallets for material many considered juvenile.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 17, 2021

‘Culture Gate’ brings top-flight artworks to Japan’s airports

Dozens of works are now on display in terminal buildings across Japan as part of a major media arts exhibition split between seven airports and one international cruise port.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 4, 2021

What Neera Tanden’s demise says about ‘cancel culture’

What Tanden's defeat mostly tells us is that you should not insult a group of thin-skinned people if you might need their support in the future.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 23, 2016

Japan's image and culture

Japans' language, culture and democratic image are assets of vital importance. They should be carefully nurtured.
LIFE / Lifestyle / Longform
Dec 6, 2021

‘Modern girls’: Japan's first recognizable youth culture movement

Young women in the late 1920s and '30s exuded a sense of affluence and independence that is still apparent today.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 8, 2021

How gaming will change humanity as we know it

Gaming is profoundly transforming two central aspects of the modern world: culture and regulation. There will be no turning back.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jul 18, 2020

'Pure Invention': How Japan's pop culture became the 'lingua franca' of the internet

From toy jeeps and karaoke machines to the Game Boy and Tamagotchi, “Pure Invention” explores how Japan's cultural influence has spread across the globe.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 12, 2020

What people fear most about ‘cancel culture’

A new survey shows that rising numbers of Americans are clamming up, regardless of age, race or even politics.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 25, 2018

Maverick Harvard MBA shakes up a century of Panasonic's corporate culture

Panasonic Corp. has carefully cultivated a culture befitting its 100-year history, with many employees starting the day doing calisthenics and singing the corporate anthem. Now, Yasuyuki Higuchi is supposed to shake up those traditions.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Feb 11, 2017

'Japanese Robot Culture: Performance, Imagination and Modernity': Yuji Sone examines the enduring love of robots

It is an experience many in Japan now know: a visit to a SoftBank mobile phone vendor that ends in an attempt to converse with a small, white machine called Pepper.
EDITORIALS
Oct 13, 2016

A historic ruling to protect culture

A country stripped of its history during war is rendered an orphan.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Apr 11, 2021

Pop culture paraphernalia is where fashion is at — if you can afford it

After many stores shut their doors last month, there's now a pop culture-tinged positivity imbuing Japan's fashion scene.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Mar 24, 2018

Blog post sparks a constructive debate on office culture in Japan

One person’s cultural observations can be another’s daily gripes but, with any luck, they can lead to an enlightening debate. That was the case last week when a blog post about one non-Japanese individual’s experience working in the country’s information technology sector proved popular with...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 24, 2016

Concert review: Culture Club winds back the years with a well-executed, albeit slightly surreal, performance

Culture Club's first Tokyo appearance in more than a decade on Tuesday seemed immaculately planned and slightly surreal. It was almost as if the popular English band had never left the live scene at all, only briefly disappearing before reappearing with upgrades.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Aug 25, 2018

TikTok video app has become a petri dish for youth culture

It’s a question that haunts almost everyone over the age of 30 as they grow older: What exactly are the kids into today?
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 21, 2016

The roots of South Korea's corruption culture

The emphasis on loyalty in South Korean culture is behind the recent corruption scandals.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Sep 28, 2015

China's culture chief says sites being plundered, bulldozed

The treasures of China's thousands of years of culture face being plundered, sometimes violently, or disappearing under bulldozers as authorities either do not care or do not have the resources to look after them, China's culture chief said.
Japan Times
JAPAN / AT A GLANCE
Feb 2, 2014

Transformational Akihabara has its finger on the pulse of pop culture

Tokyo's Akihabara district is always transforming itself.
A woman walks past a poster with an image of Japanese actress Rinko Kikuchi for the 2024 Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF), which is currently underway through Nov. 6.
CULTURE
Nov 2, 2024

Spend Culture Day weekend in Ginza with TIFF and Yuko Mohri

The Tokyo International Film Festival is great chance to see noteworthy films, while the Artizon Museum presents playful art installations by Yuko Mohri.
Paris' Japan Expo, a gathering for fans of Japanese pop culture, says it attracts 250,000 attendees per day.
CULTURE
Jul 30, 2023

In France, Japonisme has turned into Japanmania

Through architecture, fashion, culinary arts and even sports, aspects of Japanese culture are attracting a large portion of France’s population.
“Butter” author Asako Yuzuki was inspired by the real-life story of Kanae Kijima, who was nicknamed the “Black Widow” and the “Konkatsu Killer” by the media for killing three men she dated to maintain her luxurious lifestyle of gourmet meals and a high-end cooking school.
CULTURE / Books
Apr 12, 2024

Asako Yuzuki's 'Butter' is a heady serving of food culture and feminism

The author's foodie femme fatale character was inspired by a real-life "black widow" case that caught the public's attention in 2009.
“Ainu Puri” is a nuanced portrait of Shigeki Amanai (left), a modern Ainu man who strives to uphold his culture and heritage in daily life.
CULTURE / Film
Dec 12, 2024

‘Ainu Puri’: A vital portrait of indigenous culture in contemporary Japan

Takeshi Fukunaga’s documentary is an engaging examination of the life and community of a Hokkaido man devoted to his Ainu heritage.

Longform

Yasuyuki Yoshida stirs a brew in a fermentation tank at his brewery in Hakusan.
The quake that shook Noto's sake brewing tradition