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November 01, 2025
 

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Patrick St. Michel
Patrick St. Michel is a Tokyo-based writer with a focus on Japanese music. He runs the blog Make Believe Melodies, which has focused on Japanese independent music since 2009. Besides The Japan Times, he also contributes to MTV 81 and The Atlantic.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Jan 27, 2015
Mister Donut seeks borough cred in Brooklyn D&D
The New York borough of Brooklyn has been a hotbed of culinary trends over the past decade. And now Japan's Mister Donut wants to cash in on the city's brand of cool.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 27, 2015
Sugar's Campaign come up with some sweet city pop for debut album 'Friends'
Seiho Hayakawa and Takuma Hosokawa think modern pop music is "grotesque," but that's exactly how they wanted the debut album by their band Sugar's Campaign to sound.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KONBINI WATCH
Jan 20, 2015
Every day is "fry" day at Lawson
It's a weird time to be a lover of french fries in Tokyo. On one hand, a string of fancy-pants stores are charging ¥600 for a handful of deep-fried spuds. On the other, you may find a tooth in an order at McDonald's. Lawson convenience stores offer an elegant solution — the "premium fried potato"...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 20, 2015
Shigge "SunLimeJuice"
Since emerging in the summer of 2013, Fukuoka label Yesterday Once More has made some of the country's most intriguing electronic music in recent memory. The artists hovering around this Internet imprint embraced styles that have been in vogue with the Japanese do-it-yourself dance scene for a while...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 20, 2015
E-Girls "E.G. Time"
Idol group E-Girls have a knack for covers. On last year's "Colorful Pop," they opened with a song borrowing the main synthesizer line from Yellow Magic Orchestra's "Rydeen" before later transforming Japanese disco tunes and Bananarama singles into tightly crafted blasts of electro-pop. It made for one...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Jan 13, 2015
A treat so cute you'll want to eat it up
The new year is barely two weeks old, so there's still time to earn good vibes for 2015.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KONBINI WATCH
Jan 6, 2015
Pepsi's pink drink is a major dose of sweetness
Pepsi Japan's seasonal cola specials, appearing on convenience store shelves for about a month or two at most, are always a viral hit.
CULTURE / Music
Dec 23, 2014
Lower sales affected acts worldwide
The Japanese music market has faced hard times as of late. Starting with an announcement from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry in March that the country's music sales dropped 16.7 percent in 2013, the past 12 months saw no particular upswing in physical or digital sales, therefore...
CULTURE / Music
Dec 16, 2014
Rock, J-pop and dance: Albums we liked in 2014
The year-end album charts in Japan have a tendency to prop up the same acts year after year: Exile, anything that ends in a "48," and almost every group from the Johnny & Associates stable of boy bands. Writers at The Japan Times, however, spent the year looking past the charts to find a few gems lurking...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 2, 2014
Taking vocal software beyond Miku
Tokyo-based electronic musician mus.hiba has worked with a handful of vocalists during his short stint as a producer. However, many of them haven't been human.
CULTURE / Music
Nov 18, 2014
Sumi surprises with impressive debut
Sumi "Resurrect My Independence" (Self-released)
CULTURE / Music
Nov 18, 2014
Arashi sure to delight fans with typical fare on 'The Digitalian'
Arashi "The Digitalian" (J Storm)
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Oct 24, 2014
Nico Nico moves into Ikebukuro
Since launching in 2006, online video-sharing service Nico Nico (originally Nico Nico Douga) has become one of Japan's central hubs for aspiring artists and entertainers to share their talents with users across the country. They've fostered a millions-strong community capable of influencing mainstream...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 14, 2014
Takeuchi sticks to what she knows on 'Trad'
Mariya Takeuchi "Trad" (Warner Music Japan)
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 14, 2014
Smany's sophomore outing shows subdued promise
Smany "Polyphenic" (Bunkai-kei records)
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 7, 2014
Ryan Hemsworth gives Japan's budding music producers some support overseas
Canadian music producer and DJ Ryan Hemsworth is always on the move. He's zig-zagged across North America, Europe and Australia multiple times over the last two years, an endeavor he has said is "such a crazy luxury, but the most exhausting thing as well." His upcoming trip to Japan, however, is special....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 30, 2014
tofubeats calls on pals for his 'First Album'
Yusuke Kawai tries to start a para para dance halfway through his Sept. 5 DJ set, but the inside of an Apple Store isn't an ideal space for this endeavor. Kawai, who records under the name tofubeats, is performing a special show at the recently opened Omotesando store. Half of the floor eagerly watches...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 23, 2014
Remaking the EDM experience for Japan
Glitter showered the crowd at August's all-night Sonicmania event as electronic artist Zedd cued up his hit song, "Stay the Night." The crowd bobbed along at first, but as the track built and let loose in a whirlwind of bass and synthesizer the audience followed suit with fists pumping in the air and...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 16, 2014
'Attack25' revists Dreams Come True's better qualities
Dreams Come True "Attack25" (Universal Music)
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 16, 2014
Diverse compilation delivers a serious message about nuclear power
Various artists "Atomic Bomb Compilation Vol. 2" (Self-released)
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell
Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Trump trims fentanyl-linked China tariffs after 'amazing' Xi meeting
U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping greet each other as they arrive for talks at the Gimhae Air Base, next to the Gimhae International Airport in Busan, South Korea, on Thursday.
Japanese and South Korean leaders agree to boost ties in first meeting
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi shakes hands with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung ahead of their talks at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, on Thursday.
Takaichi and Xi reaffirm pledge in first meet to pursue ‘mutually beneficial’ ties
A screenshot from Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's X account shows Takaichi exchanging greetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping ahead of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit meeting in Gyeongju, South Korea, on Friday.　
Japan’s government ramps up bear control efforts amid rise in attacks
A bear roams around a field in the town of Kuzumaki, Iwate Prefecture, on Oct. 12.
Oasis returns to Japan after 16 years — and fans can still sing every word
Liam Gallagher commanded the stage with effortless charisma during Oasis' Tokyo Dome set on Saturday.
At Japan Mobility Show, BYD gears up to conquer Japan's EV market
BYD Auto Japan President Atsuki Tofukuji unveils the Racco at the Japan Mobility Show in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Oasis returns to Tokyo: Rain, rapture and rock
Fans wait to get into the Oasis show at Tokyo Dome on Saturday. While lining up in the rain, some broke into impromptu versions of the British rock group's hits.
Kyushu banzuke sets the stage to cement 2025’s sumo narratives
Onosato ahead of his bout against Aonishiki at The Grand Sumo Tournament at the Royal Albert Hall in London on Oct. 18
Tokyo Film Festival opens with global stars and a spotlight on Asian storytelling
Director Junji Sakamoto (left) walked the Tokyo International Film Festival red carpet with Sayuri Yoshinaga (center) and Non (right), who both play mountaineer Junko Tabei, the first woman to summit Mount Everest, in the biopic "Climbing for Life."

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell
By Alex K.T. Martin

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Foreign wrestlers have a long history in sumo
Foreign wrestlers have a long history in sumo

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