Author: William

Shinto, the native Japanese (quasi-?)religion, has never been averse to merchantile environs. Major corporations have their own shrines (jinja) and department stores may often have one on their ...

A special music video for the release in Japan of Alicia Keys' new single, Girl on Fire, has been made by the photographer and film director Mika Ninagawa. The special collaboration is officially ...

There are some things that, no matter how long I say here, I still just can't get my head around. The preference for natto. Honey on pizza. The appeal of SMAP. Japanese people have some ...

The singer and model Kyary Pamyu Pamyu last night (January 29th) performed a concert at Sojoji temple in Shiba Park in the brightly lit shadows of Tokyo Tower, where 1,500 invitees had gathered for a ...

I suppose it was inevitable when a medium can give birth to themes as diverse as the life of the Buddha through to bestselling tales of flying pirates that eventually Japan's mainstream comic book ...

Japanese figure culture is a lot more than just Akihabara shojo girl figurines. In recent years makers like Bandai have been releasing highly sophisticated figure models with around 30 movable ...

Play hunt the lost ship in Osaka this weekend. At the Creative Center Osaka (the former Namura Shipyard) there will be a "Vanished Ship Plan" event on January 27th. Participants will be divided ...

Forget the retro charms of Instagram, transform the photos taken with your phone into a personal comic book strip instead! Manga Camera is an phone app that converts your regular image into a ...

Former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama is perhaps best remembered for making outlandish eco claims to the UN, being the first DPJ premier, and suffering the infamy of being labelled as "loopy" ...

Think you like Alice in Wonderland? Not as much as some people in Japan, it seems. If you think you are up to the challenge, the first Alice in Wonderland Test (Fushigi no kuni no arisu kentei) ...

Think Tokyo was cold yesterday in the snow? Well, it was literally freezing, yes, and the main streets were jammed with cars trundling along at the most cautious of speeds. I was almost taken ...

Japanese wrestling likely isn't the most natural choice for your look when you start up a new fashion brand. The sport (entertainment?) is a kind of a mix of martial arts and American-style wrestling ...

How do you get new people into video arcades? That's the dilemma facing Japan's famed "game centers". The amusement centers are slowly but surely dying. Sales have been dropping annually for five ...

Think you like Evangelion? Think again. Not till you've created an Evangelion Angel out of cardboard that looks as good as this can you call yourself a real fan! Sure, you may be able to ...

The Japan National Tourist Organization reported late last month that estimated numbers of visitors to Japan for November 2012 were 648,600, a 17.6% increase from the same month in 2011 and even up ...