Category: LIFESTYLE

Maker culture sites, fab labs and hackerspaces have been springing up all over Tokyo in recent years, offering designers (both established professionals and aspiring amateurs) the chance to share ...

The award-winning "ultra-technologists" teamLab have carved out a successful niche in digital art installations, working with the likes of Gucci and even Narita Airport. Their signature approach ...

Shiseido has teamed up with photographer and film director Mika Ninagawa to make a Tsubaki-themed public bathhouse. The Tsubaki-yu celebrates the tenth anniversary of the Tsubaki haircare brand ...

This article by Lily Crossley-Baxter first appeared on Tokyo Cheapo. It’s Valentine’s Day soon, and as you will have noticed, there is chocolate EVERYWHERE. It’s in cute heart-shaped boxes, ...

Yanagawa City in Fukuoka Prefecture has created Sagemon Girls, its new promotional video featuring over 1,000 performers. The formidable number of extras is the highest ever for such a marketing ...

If Tokyo has one enduring image abroad it’s that everyone and everything is rushing. In the mornings, high-heeled women in skirt-suits can be seen running down the sidewalk towards the train ...

Ginza Mitsukoshi has opened the first airport-style duty-free store in Japan. The only place in Japan that has previously been allowed to host such retail facilities outside of airports is Okinawa, ...

While Japanese TV and history is filled with many people we would likely label LGBT, the issue of same-sex marriage in Japan has been almost taboo until recently. However, following the decisions ...

The controversy over the new National Stadium to be built for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics rolls on and on. After Kengo Kuma's design was chosen in the second contest that became necessary when Zaha ...

If you’ve been to Japan you’ve seen them: Brightly lit vending machines with rows of beverages lined up, each facing the passerby and beckoning to be sampled. Maybe you’ve noticed the coffee ...

A lot happened in 2015, not least for Japan Trends, as we relaunched the website. We hope you like the new design. What were the big trends of the year? Political Renaissance During the ...

It is sad to feature this kind of news at this time of year, but Reporters Without Borders have highlighted the fate of Japanese journalist Junpei (also Jumpei) Yasuda, missing in Syria. He is ...

A landmark court ruling has left feminist campaigners fuming, while also offering some succour and glimpses of future change. In a suit brought forward by a group of women and one couple, the ...

Japanese fast fashion retailer GU has created what it claims it the first "new sensation video" in Japan with onomato mix by GU. The video, which is online as an app until January 5th, allows you to ...

Amazon Japan has started offering a monk dispatch service, where a Buddhist holy man is sent to conduct memorial services for you. The service starts at a flat ¥35,000 (about $285) anywhere ...