Author: Japan Trends

Traditional Japanese musical instruments are not as well known as they should be. While most people know a shamisen from their appearances in geisha shows or taiko drum from their use in festivals, ...

Another season, another overseas retailer or brand tries to crack Japan. This time it's Accessorize, a retailer who will be very familiar to British readers as a leading fashion accessories retail ...

Sanrio are the most successful participant in Japan's enormous character industry, not least since they gave the world Hello Kitty. But they aren't happy to rest on the laurels of profits pouring ...

Tokyo Governor Yoichi Masuzoe has unveiled a new logo for the capital of Japan: &TOKYO ("and Tokyo"). The white ampersand mark, centered in a-red circle, is meant to form a kind of slogan: you add ...

On October 9th, Nike Japan renovated its 15-year-old store in Kichijoji, the well-to-do area of west Tokyo, as Tokyo's first Nike branch specializing in running. The newly reopened Nike Kichijoji ...

JR East has announced the Genbi Shinkansen, a new train on the Joetsu Shinkansen bullet train line running between Echigo-Yuzawa and Niigata stations inspired by contemporary Japanese art. The ...

Every region in Japan needs to promote itself. Some push their meibutsu: regional merchandise and food. Others use yuru-kyara mascot characters, such as Kumamoto's Kumamon. Still others create art ...

Who says Japanese politics is boring? With the recent passing of the controversial security bills, there has plenty to get excited about. Protesters have demonstrated in their tens of thousands ...

Universal Studios Japan is cashing in on Japan's soft power, hoping to attract new domestic crowds to the Osaka theme park as well as inbound tourists familiar with Japan through its pop ...

It's been a while since or anyone got really excited about Japanese tech. What with all the Apples and the Samsungs around, it seems the days when Panasonic, Sony, Toshiba and friends dominated the ...

To speed up service for customers from overseas, Shibuya 109 and 109 Men's have introduced a new duty-free POS system called RefundPro. While the hike in the sales tax from 5% to 8% affected ...

These amazing straw sculptures by Amy Goda have been attracting a lot of buzz. Goda created the zoological artworks out of leftover rice straw (wara) in Niigata Prefecture. There's a ...

Japan faces a chronic aging problem: ,ore than a quarter of the population is over 65. There are now so many older citizens that the government won't give silver cups to newbie centenarian ...

In April, the Internet got excited when ANA announced a R2-D2-themed airplane. Well, the fleet is expanding. ANA has announced two new plane designs. One features the new character BB-8, who will ...

Suntory, hoping to cash in on the Olympic buzz, had planned to give away 22 types of tote bags which they proudly advertised as being designed by Kenjiro Sano. The deal has been hit by fresh ...