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Silvio Berlusconi has failed in his attempt to topple the Italian government, leaving him weaker than ever and zapping the aura of invincibility that has surrounded him for two decades as he faces the possible loss of his Senate seat and a ban from ...
Hatsudai has a lot going for it. This quiet low-rise residential neighborhood just minutes west of Shinjuku boasts a friendly traditional shōtengai (shopping street) and a lively annual Awa Odori dance festival. Now add to that a really outstanding restaurant. Anis opened in early ...
International events undermine Japan's democracy. Shame on the International Olympic Committee for being a party to it.
In the glitzy and gossipy world of Japanese celebrity, hardly a week goes by without revelations being made about — or made by — Ichikawa Ebizo XI. For years, the charismatic young star of the kabuki world has never long been out of the ...
Reigning champion Kei Nishikori made quick work of Feliciano Lopez, walloping the Spaniard in a straight-sets victory Thursday to reach the quarterfinals of the Rakuten Japan Open. The world No. 13 Nishikori needed little over an hour to put away Lopez, 7-6 (7-4), 6-0 ...
The husband-and-wife creative team known as UrumaDelvi has been cranking out quirky, quasi-psychedelic illustrations, animated shorts and music videos for over 20 years. They met in design school in 1988. Deciding that their married surname, Kobayashi, was too common in Japan to be memorable, ...
The American anime convention, Otakon (“Otaku Convention”), begins with a costume parade before it officially opens. Last week I had a bird’s-eye view of the spectacle from my 14th-floor hotel room in Baltimore, Maryland. An endless army of imaginary characters trudged across the elevated ...
Naysaying is almost always risk-free, especially if you do it online. If you’re a cynic, you’re usually right, and if you’re wrong, you can just delete those errant tweets and posts and join the party. So last month, when Japan’s Upper House rubber-stamped a ...
Our monster is scaly, spiky, reptilian — a cross between a dinosaur and an irradiated insect that shrieks like an angry bird. Our hero is lean, faintly muscular in a rubbery skintight suit with inscrutable praying-mantis eyes. They face one another, stomping left to ...
Clubbing in Japan is a kick. The country’s zeal for global pop trends and its prominent club scene draws big-name DJs and performers from the international circuit. Japan’s hodgepodge approach to urban planning means that clubs seem to blossom nearly anywhere — in the ...
Pre-flight shopping at Narita airport a couple of weeks ago, I passed a mannequin sporting a light-blue necktie and a turquoise wig with pig tails dangling down to its mini skirt. The vision spoke volumes: It was Hatsune Miku, of course, Japan’s holographic, animated ...
The first question after a panel I once chaired at an anime convention in the United States sounded innocent enough. “So, what do you guys think about Crunchyroll?” The response was ferocious. A veteran staff member of a top U.S. anime distributor seized the ...