In a nation traditionally seen as a monoculture, there's a multinational range of flowers blooming in Japan's current cultural crop. In the last several years there has been an influx of foreign-born creators — whether architects, designers or writers — and they are thriving in the local scene.
From established collectives such as the organizers of Pecha Kucha Night to online design magazine PingMag, Web journals such as Neojaponisme and salon events such as Pause Talk (held by Japan Times contributor Jean Snow), they are taking sustenance from and conveying their experiences in Japan's creative culture.
To keep track of it all you can take your pick from bilingual cultural listing sites such as Realtokyo/Realkyoto and Tokyo Art Beat/Kansai Art Beat, which also hosts its own series of creative talks.