Patrick St. Michel - The Japan Times

Today's print edition

Subscribe for more access

Meta

Twitter

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.

For Patrick St. Michel's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH

Mar 3, 2015

Untouchable Toffee opens second branch in Harajuku

Untouchable Toffee opened its first store in Hamamatsu back in 2013, but the candy company didn't launch a second branch until late last year when it settled in the hipper neighborhood of Harajuku.

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / KONBINI WATCH

Feb 24, 2015

Seven-Eleven rolls out new line of donuts

Coffee has become big bucks for convenience stores as customers have embraced a cheap brews.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Feb 17, 2015

AKB48 "Koko ga Rhodes da, Koko de Tobe!"

Idol group AKB48 elicits extreme reactions from people. The unit has nurtured a rabid fanbase who are willing to buy multiple copies of a single CD to show their devotion. On the other hand, critics despise the group's brand of by-the-book pop and the sideshow shenanigans the members engage in (or are pulled into).

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH

Feb 17, 2015

Monarch Cupcake makes regal entrance to Tokyo

The neighborhood of Omotesando already has a surplus of trendy pancake, chocolate and sugared-up popcorn shops.

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH

Feb 10, 2015

Fujiya Co. adds fizz and sparkle with macaron set

Confectionary chain Fujiya Co. has added a little pop to their macaron selection with the introduction of a Sparkling Macaron set (¥500) featuring three soda-flavored sweets.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Feb 3, 2015

Negicco's new album turns the onion idols into Shibuya-kei's new hope

The crowd at the sold-out Liquidroom show furiously pumps glowsticks shaped like green onions in time with the beat coming out of the venue's sound system. They scream when three young women appear, and the energy only grows as the first song of the night gets rolling. It gets especially loud when they reach the part where they spell out their group's name: "N! E! G! I! CC! O!"

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / KONBINI WATCH

Feb 3, 2015

Oktoberfest comes early with Munchner Dunkel at Seven-Eleven

Those living in Japan know that when it comes to Oktoberfest, dates aren't much of a consideration. Past Oktoberfests have run anywhere between April and October.

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink

Jan 27, 2015

Pommeke makes fries the main dish

Tokyo boasts plenty of Belgian culinary spots, from beer bars to chocolate shops. Chef Bart Sablon even points out that there is a Belgian waffle store right around the corner from Pommeke, a recently opened operation where the 39-year-old works as executive chef. "That's a total coincidence, though," he says.

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" (made from European potatoes, claims the box) comes in at a reasonable ¥160. They lack any sort of satisfying crunch, but the wedged shape doesn't usually allow for that. These are the best fried potatoes Lawson has offered up in years, though. Office workers with no time to cook are bound to approve.

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 now — Jersey club, trap, hip-hop beats — but aren't afraid to wander off the path. An uptempo floor-filler might suddenly twist into something reflective, or the sonic elements often found in contemporary EDM (electronic dance music) may get recast into a somber number not aimed at the club.

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 of 2014's biggest J-pop surprises, but didn't assert anything about the group beyond their name being attached to some catchy tracks.

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 trying to draw a consensus of what's actually popular here can be a challenge. The Oricon Charts, which only count physical sales, and various download rankings looked like totally different worlds at the end of 2014.

Japan Times

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 in the underground of the country's music scene. Here are some of their favorite albums from 2014.

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)

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

Things may look perfect to the outside world, but today's mom is fine with some imperfection at home.

How 'Reiwa moms' are reshaping motherhood in Japan

By Mai Yoshikawa

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Vol. 35: Travel in time — and stay there

Vol. 35: Travel in time — and stay there

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER

international-reports