127 million people live in Japan. 5.5 million vending machines live there too. That's about one for every 23 people, and it hasn't been until recently that they've started to communicate with one ...

A few years ago Maywa Denki released a toy that would go on to storm the world and win a major award. It was the Otamatone, a curious tadpole-shaped electronic synthesizer that you played by moving ...

The Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) spotlights art and design-related attractions in a new travel guide 99+1 JAPAN: Traveling through Art, Design, and Architecture and an accompanying ...

How cool is this grandma? Cool enough to do a perfectly choreographed "kome dance" (rice dance) with two other female performers (approximately 40 years younger) in kimono. If you eat plenty of ...

In need of a rest? Get some shut-eye in the heart of Tokyo and on a luxury bed by France Bed at the Nescafe Harajuku cafe space from March 16th until March 26th. Part Nestlé coffee showroom and ...

Kudos to Japanese electronics company Nidec for conceiving the Motorize Smart PET Bottle, perhaps mankind's most unnecessary invention since the shoe umbrella. What is it? It's a phone-activated ...

In March 2016, Sony Global Education unveiled KOOV, a brilliant coding kit for young programmers. Building 21st-century skills, block by block. Play, Code. Create. That's the concept behind ...

The American ice cream brand Häagen-Dazs will open a new high-end "ice cream lounge" in one of the most chic areas of Tokyo serving cocktail-style desserts. To promote the release of the ...

The popular chain of designer capsule hotels 9 Hours will open a new branch and its first ever in Tokyo. The hotel opens on March 22nd in north Shinjuku's Okubo area, just two minutes' walk from JR ...

Since their 2005 debut, music group Perfume has been steadily pumping out the hits with songs including "Linear Motor Girl" and "Polyrhythm." Now twelve years later, members Nocchi, A-chan and ...

Studio Ghibli fans will jump up and joy when they see this Kaonashi No-Face Piggy Bank. Featuring the iconic character from the 2001 anime Spirited Away by Hayao Miyazaki, the Kaonashi No-Face ...

It is almost time for the anniversary of Japan's greatest postwar natural disaster, the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami that struck northeast Japan on March 11th, 2011. The tsunami caused unprecedented ...

Despite all the media fanfare and money spent on advertising the campaign, the jury is still out on whether Premium Friday was a success or flop. The campaign launched by METI (the Ministry of ...

The latest virtual reality gaming venue to open in Tokyo is VR Zone Shinjuku. It is set to open at the former Shinjuku Tokyo Milano site in summer 2017. Kabukicho's Tokyo Milano closed in December ...

In Tokyo, white button-down shirts are about as ubiquitous as the poorly concealed nipples underneath, and, according to a 2013 survey, most folks do not welcome the sight. One might suggest simply ...