Author: William

It might only be late December but some people are already thinking about spring next year. Why? Because the most important exams ever for school students take place then. The singer Naoto Inti ...

Apple is proving that despite being a foreign brand in Japan, it takes its local customers very seriously. The manufacturer's legions of Japanese fans can get their hands on Apple Lucky Bags on ...

While the world goes mad for Christmas, anime fans are gathering in Akihabara for the Fuyu no Rajikan Matsuri 2012 (Winter Radio Kaikan Festival 2012), where so-called "itasha" (cars decorated with ...

Musician and composer Ryuichi Sakamoto (The Last Emperor, Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence), perhaps the most respected person in the Japanese modern classical music world (or for that matter, in the ...

A teaser trailer has been released for artist (and uber-businessman) Takashi Murakami's first film, a fantasy movie called "Jellyfish Eyes" (Mememe no kurage) that is set for release in April 2013 in ...

The Sony Building in Ginza recent saw big lines to get your photo taken with a certain person. A celebrity? A hunky guy? No, it was Toro Inoue (aka the Sony Cat) from Doko Demo Issho, the ...

Nano Nano is a series of micro character toys and models made from miniature electronic parts and other metal objects. Designed by Kouichi Miyajima and created in his atelier, they are sold as ...

Japanese toilets are pretty sophisticated contraptions. From heated seats and "butt showers" to buttons where you can play sounds and music to preserve your modesty during noisy evacuations, foreign ...

Fancy decorating a train? To celebrating the opening of the direct connection linking the Tokyu railway (which runs from Tokyo to Yokohama) and the Metro Fukutoshin subway line on March 16th 2013, ...

New Year is fast approaching. Along with mochi cakes, a visit to a shrine at midnight, TV shows that go on for hours, and plenty of booze, Oshogatsu in Japan is defined by the delivery of a wad of ...

Designer dog houses adapted to match the breed of the pooch? Well, it already no secret that the Japanese do love two things -- pets and good design -- so perhaps this marriage was inevitable. After ...

Gundam nabe, anyone? In these colder months locals in Japan tend to indulge in some nicely warming nabe hot pots. But perhaps just plain ol' regular ingredients like onions, mushrooms and so on ...

Today the FIFA Club World Cup will be kicking off here in Tokyo and Yokohama. One of the sponsors, Sony, has a cool smartphone app that allows fans to show their support for their team in an ...

Flash mobs have been happening around the world for a few years now and they are finally starting to take off in Japan. The recent Kawasaki Halloween cosplay parade included one, and Japanese ...

As if it didn't have enough issues with nature to deal with, on top of the earthquakes, tsunami, and volcanoes, every year Japan also has a famous problem with hay fever. After the war, in its ...