Daniel Robson - The Japan Times

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Daniel Robson

Daniel Robson, a British journalist based in Tokyo since 2006, is a features editor and writer at The Japan Times. He also writes freelance about music, videogames and Japanese pop culture for other publications around the world.

For Daniel Robson's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Apr 29, 2011

Wright, Cera get 1-up in 'Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World'

"Scott in the comics almost reminds me of Homer Simpson; you get to see what's going on in his head, and there's not much going on," says Hollywood indie poster-boy Michael Cera when asked about his role as the title character in the adrenaline-soaked action comedy "Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World."

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Apr 8, 2011

Various artists: "GO!GO! A GO!GO! — GO!GO!7188 Tribute"

Though they've never quite gone supernova, Tokyo trio GO!GO!7188 have always fared better than should be expected of such an unusual band, frequently loitering in the higher echelons of the charts with their curious blend of reverb-soaked rockabilly guitar, beefy beats, genre-busting tunes and soaring Japanese melodies.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Mar 11, 2011

Jett, Currie return to Runaways era

Back in the late 1970s, they changed everything. And then they disappeared.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Mar 4, 2011

Punk icon Lydon shows fondness for Japan in book

"The best night I've ever had was to be accused of being a bad Johnny Rotten in Kyoto," laughs John Lydon, frontman of punk pioneers The Sex Pistols and groundbreaking postpunk band Public Image Ltd. Speaking on the phone from his adopted home of Los Angeles, the 55-year-old Irish-born, London-raised icon is reminiscing on his "eight or nine" tours of Japan over his 30-odd-year career. (PiL were added Monday to the bill of this year's Summer Sonic festival.)

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Mar 4, 2011

Kuriyama trades her blades for a song

She's died on screen almost as many times as she's killed. Western movie fans will know her as Gogo Yubari, the spiked-ball-and-chain-wielding schoolgirl who disembowels men for fun before crying tears of blood in Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill: Vol. 1." In Japan, she's been an actress since the age of 14 and a model since she was 5. Now, she's setting her sights on the pop charts.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Feb 4, 2011

Bluesy rock duo oh sunshine set for an early rise

"I grew up watching anime, and I thought, 'Wow, that's a really cool language!' " says Emily Connor, four-year Tokyo resident and singer with new pop duo oh sunshine.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET

Jan 11, 2011

Nintendo World 2011: What did you think of the 3DS?

Nintendo allowed the public to tryits new 3DS handheld game console at the Makuhari Messe center in Chiba over the weekend. The device renders games in 3-D without the need for special glasses.

CULTURE / Music

Dec 24, 2010

Kamattechan release major-label debut alongside darker indie LP

Shinsei Kamattechan frontman Noko is missing. His three bandmates, chatting with The Japan Times in an eerily silent karaoke booth in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, reckon he's ignoring his phone deliberately because he doesn't like interviews unless they're one on one. You might say he's somewhat volatile. Actually, that would be an understatement: He comes across as completely nuts.

CULTURE / Music

Dec 17, 2010

Shock-rock act Dir En Grey snub cartoons for cred

It's no secret that, in recent years, certain styles of Japanese music have benefited massively from a surge of interest in anime and manga in the West. J-pop acts such as Puffy and AKB48 and visual-kei artists including Miyavi and L'Arc-En-Ciel have enjoyed exposure where before there was none. That's in no small part thanks to the legions of dedicated fans of Japanese pop culture for whom the music itself is often secondary to the fact that it comes from Japan.

Japan Times

LIFE / Digital

Nov 24, 2010

'Virtua Tennis 4' moves into the next dimension

Another motion controller, another sports game. It didn't take game developers long to follow the lead set by Nintendo's Wii and create games for the new PlayStation 3 Move and Xbox 360 Kinect add-ons that revolve around throwing, batting, putting or lobbing things. And yet somehow it's still not hard to get excited by "Virtua Tennis 4."

LIFE / Travel

Nov 21, 2010

Sapporo's warm welcome

With its wide roads laid out in a neat grid, an abundance of greenery and its sleek, modern subway system, Sapporo at first feels more like somewhere in America than in Japan.

Japan Times

LIFE / Digital

Nov 10, 2010

Sega's Kikuchi makes a killing with 'Yakuza'

"While making the first and second games in the series, I went drinking in Kabukicho with (Toshihiro) Nagoshi, the overall producer of the franchise, two or three nights every week," says Masayoshi Kikuchi, a veteran producer at Sega, as we discuss the latest entries in his smash-hit series "Ryu ga Gotoku" — known in the West simply as "Yakuza."

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Nov 5, 2010

Taking their name from the iconic American automobile marque that will cease production this winter after 84 years, Pontiacs have plenty of heritage under the hood. The band reunites guitar-vocalist Kenichi Asai and bassist Toshiyuki Terui of quintessential Japanese garage-rock band Blankey Jet City, exactly 10 years after they went their separate ways.

Japan Times

LIFE / Travel

Oct 24, 2010

Nibutani, Hokkaido: Travel, hospitality and the Ainu identity

Ainu are the indigenous people of Hokkaido, the Kuril Islands and much of Sakhalin. However, their culture in Hokkaido, dating back to the 13th century, was decimated after Japanese settlers began flocking to the huge northern island in the 1800s.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Oct 8, 2010

Now in its fifth year, Loud Park has carved out a reputation as Summer Sonic's noisy younger sister. Arguably more "loud" than "park," the festival amasses the heavyweights of metal over two days at Saitama Super Arena. This year the event also boasts a one-day leg at Kobe World Kinen Hall, giving metalheads in Western Japan a chance to join the frenzy.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY

Oct 5, 2010

British pie man to pass on pastry prowess to new owner

We've all heard the tale of a pie man selling his wares to a certain Simple Simon. But this time, the pie man is selling the whole shop.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Oct 1, 2010

For artist Tokumaru, music is but a dream

Shugo Tokumaru's music is a dream come true — literally.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Oct 1, 2010

De De Mouse sets an electronic trap

"I am a musician, not a celebrity," says the shy fop when asked about the bumbled between-song banter in his otherwise triumphant set that finished just moments earlier at a music festival. Facing in toward his backing band, rather than outward to the crowd, the shy fop had buried his head in a bank of computers and keyboards, a floppy curtain of black hair and a light pair of glasses covering what little was left visible of his face.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET

Sep 28, 2010

Hokkaido: What do you think Nibutani will like 100 years from now?

In Nibutani, Hidaka Subprefecture, Hokkaido, roughly 80 percent of residents are of Ainu descent.

Japan Times

LIFE / Digital

Sep 22, 2010

TGS industry parties offer special treatment to chosen few

Far from the chaos of the Makuhari Messe exhibition center, which was filled with tens of thousands of gamers plus noisy games and event stages, members of the press, privileged bloggers and select VIPs saw a different side of the Tokyo Game Show.

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.

[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.

The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores

By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Students ‘study abroad’ on island of Suo Oshima

Students ‘study abroad’ on island of Suo Oshima

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