After dazzling Tokyo with his Running Christmas Tree last year, everyone's favorite gadget-creating foreigner is back with another inventive, gaudy device. Joseph Tame's latest project is ...

On May 19th, Katsuya Okada unveiled the new logo of the newly formed political party, the Minshinto. The Democratic Party, as it is called in English, was formed out of the merger of two other ...

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has made a political song and dance out of his apparent efforts to create a "a society in which women shine". However, it seems not everyone got the memo that female ...

If you have ever attended a baseball or other sports event in Japan, you will likely have spotted the "beer girls", also known as uriko. These happy-go-lucky ladies can be seen lugging large kegs of ...

The return to Japanese TV screens last week of the 32-year-old unmarried TV "talent" Becky was a major event for the entertainment industry. Her homecoming after weeks of exile attracted 24% of the ...

Japan has a troubled relationship with feminism to put it mildly. Remember Bijin Uketsuke, the "beautiful receptionist" app? Or the jeers Ayaka Shiomura had to endure in the Tokyo Assembly from ...

Dogged by problems since preparations began, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics now face another potential scandal. The Guardian has revealed a mysterious payment made to a Singaporean bank account linked to a ...

Barack Obama will visit Hiroshima in May, it was officially confirmed by the White House. This will make Obama the first sitting president to visit the city where the first nuclear weapon was ...

Japanese fashion brand Trove has created a series of what it calls Wa-Robe items ("wa" meaning Japanese). The most exciting of these are three Star Wars Hanten, coming in designs featuring Master ...

The Financial Times has taken an interest in Japanese robotics and produced an interesting video highlighting recent developments. In particular, it examines the line that divides the socially ...

One of the things we enjoy doing at Japan Trends is not only observing actual news and trends, but also how trends are reported and generated by the media, both Japanese and international. What is ...

Celebrating 45 years of the work of fashion designer, the rather too obviously titled "Miyake Issey Exhibition: The Work of Miyake Issey" at the National Art Center, Tokyo runs until June ...

Last week we wrote about Rakuten's new drone delivery service for golf courses. And now comes another great example of how people in Japan are showing us what drones can do. Hopefully the government ...

We've been closely following the development of consumer virtual reality in Japan. This year alone we have already seen a great crossover of digital and analog technology with the Mask of Anubis VR ...

Japan continues to negotiate its evolving relationship with drones: fun consumer toys, provider of exciting new services, or dangerous tools for potential terrorists? For the upcoming G7 summit in ...