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:
Around 50 people are watching Kaznary Mutow of the band Boys Age thrash his guitar on a Friday night at Shimokitazawa club Three. He's in the middle of a 10-minute-plus psychedelic freakout, locked into an intense slow-burning session with drummer Takamasa Kobayashi. It's a bit ...
The Doritos Royal line of chips in Japan has always tried to offer a premium snack experience for those craving something more decadent than "cheese" or "taco." Frito Lay's newest offerings in this regal line try to re-create two flavors from India. The keema curry ...
Japanese pop star Kyary Pamyu Pamyu's image of Italy is of a luxurious country, loaded with world-famous clothing brands and other items. Yet, she said when she travels to the country for the first time in July, she's most excited about the chance to ...
Rascal the Racoon, the Japanese cartoon character created in 1977, has received one of the highest honors an animated woodland creature can get — his own cake. Until June 18, the Cafe Comme Ca in Shibuya's Seibu department store (www.cafe-commeca.co.jp) is offering a Rascal cake ...
Sometimes all it takes to jump-start a music career is one viral video. Japanese acts such as Kyary Pamyu Pamyu and Babymetal attracted attention domestically and abroad thanks to memorable clips uploaded to YouTube, earning millions of views in the process. Natsume Mito, a Nara ...
It's 8 a.m. on an overcast Tuesday and a line of people are queuing along a cramped street in Shibuya's Dogenzaka area. "You've been here since 5 a.m.?!," Shivram Vaideeswaran says while speaking to two people near the head of the line. These fast-food devotees are ...
Nuggets have long been an afterthought in the greasy trenches of Japan's convenience-store fried-chicken battles. "Nugget" options in the past have resembled sad, microwave-ready snacks pulled from the freezer. FamilyMart wants to change that with their new "Family Nugget," available in plain and chili flavors ...
Southern All Stars "Budou" (Victor / Taishita) Southern All Stars don't need to try. Japan's music media and industry decided the rock quartet was historically important long ago. A 2003 poll by retailer HMV named them the most influential Japanese group ever, and plenty of ...
The quaint Anovan bakery, which opened last week, offers several varieties of fluffy French pasty bouchee — a custard-like flavored cream sandwiched between two soft buns. The treats (¥300 each) are sold at the bakery's Shibuya store (4-26-22 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo), a one-minute walk from ...
Tenkiame "So Sad About Us" (Independent) Tokyo's Azusa Suga is a busy man. For the past four years he has been managing online label Canata Records, recorded woozy electronic pop under the name Shortcake Collage Tape and played in indie-pop band For Tracy Hyde, which ...
