Economy | ANALYSIS
Households to take hit from tax hike
by Tomoko Otake
The consumption tax increase will hit every household in Japan hard, with many people’s financial future hanging on whether their wages rise enough to offset the hike's impact.
Style & Design Apr 30, 2013
Kyary Pamyu Pamyu on a mission to spread Japan's kawaii culture
by Samuel Thomas
"Cool" may have been the official buzzword, but if the chants of the 20,000 strong audience at a recent festival are to be believed, that word has been ousted by a new one: "kawaii."
Music Mar 7, 2013
There's no battering the Tempura Kidz spirit
by Patrick ST. Michel
The members of Tempura Kidz have danced in front of thousands of strangers at sold-out venues across Japan, including Tokyo's famed Budokan and the Summer Sonic festival. Yet on a Thursday night in a Harajuku office building, the teenage quintet is nervous.