Category: CULTURE

Buy a piece of Japanese postwar design history and donate to a good cause by purchasing one of the items of furniture and fixtures from the Hotel Okura Tokyo. When the iconic Hotel Okura Tokyo ...

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, ...

5572320 (pronounced in Japanese: go go nana ni san ni rei) might not have the easiest name for non-Japanese listeners to remember, their music video for second single "Ponpara Pecorna Papiyotta" has ...

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 ...

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 ...

Arts Council Tokyo has announced the first hints of what we might expect from the cultural events organized in conjunction with the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games. Inspired by the success ...

After the immense controversy over the 2020 Olympic stadium design (scrapped over rising costs) and official logo design (scrapped after designer Kenjiro Sano was accused of plagiarism multiple ...

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 ...

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 ...

The 2020 Olympics is turning out to be one controversy after another. Granted, compared to the expensive debacle of the National Stadium -- to which the original architecture firm has also now hit ...

The Franco-German artist Benoît Maubrey will create a unique loudspeaker torii shrine gate in Kobe this September as part of the Kobe Biennale. Maubrey's acoustic shrine gate will be installed in ...

The Land of Idols is an upcoming feature documentary about female idols in Japan. Director Jean-Armand Bougrelle promises the camera will follow the everyday lives of idols, from rehearsals to ...

Move over AKB48, Nogizaka46 and all you young 'uns. There's a new band in town and they're old. Super old. KBG84 hail from clement Kohama Island in Okinawa and bring their long-living charm to ...

Sebastian Masuda will produce the Kawaii Monster Cafe, set to open in Harajuku on August 1st. Kawaii Monster Cafe is being touted as the largest cafe in Tokyo. As the name suggests, though, ...