Monthly Archives

After the Tohoku disaster, we have all become a bit more conscious of the "gear" needed in an emergency. Bottled water. Warm clothes. Geiger counter. Hardhat. In Japan, schools and companies ...

You can argue with me on this, but in Japan, there are two days a year when the idea of being alone might affect you emotionally -- these are Valentine's Day and Christmas (or Christmas Eve, to be ...

If you ever wish to find out who's hot in the Japanese show biz today, simply pay close attention to TV commercials. SoftBank, for example, is famous for featuring the latest trends in its ...

GU (pronounced "gee-you" -- a play on jiyu, meaning "free") is the off-shoot of UNIQLO that is even cheaper and even more casual. GU branches have been popping up around major city centers ...

Cyber Agent, the people of Ameba, are part of a three-company consortium behind the new Shibuya Clickable Project, a system for Online to Offline (O2O) services using IC tags and NFC-enabled ...

Following the Tohoku disaster in March 2011, we've all thought much more about the kind of tools and clothes that we need when society as we know it breaks down. From flashlights to emergency ...

Japanese beer makers are in trouble. Retail sales for regular beer have been declining for years now as salarymen who like a can of fizzy lager in the evening opt for cheaper variations. Even ...

If there’s one thing you’ll notice walking around Tokyo, it’s that people are always on the move. At any given moment of the day, no matter where you are in the city, the sidewalks are jammed ...

Foot-in-mouth disease strikes Toru Hashimoto again. On Monday the brash right-wing politician shocked reporters in Osaka when he said that the so-called "comfort women" (local women forced into ...

Whether you like them or not, Golden Bomber seems to have found their own gold in the entertainment scene. Their latest album titled The Past Masters Vol. 1 which was released on April 24th, topped ...

I usually don’t watch TV dramas, but there is always one or two a year that almost forcibly catch my attention. Legal High was definitely one of them. The drama was first aired last year as a ...

For its latest concept bra to announce its new range, Triumph has come up with the Branomics Bra. Yes, you've guessed it. This is a reference to Prime Minister Abe's "Abenomics", the fiscal ...

As Japan’s population continues to decline, we see more and more non-human characters pop out and come to life on a daily basis. The yuru-kyara boom which started less than a decade ago is now ...

If Kabukicho had a theme park starring Akihabara chika aidoru ("underground" idols), this might be it... After opening last summer amidst much sound and fury, we finally paid a visit to the Robot ...

For a country with a declining birthrate (and by extension, the population as a whole), Japan's toy manufacturers are not showing any signs of giving up. Granted it hasn't been plain sailing for ...