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:
Typhoon Jebi caused all sorts of damage when the storm — the most powerful in 25 years to hit the country — tore through western Japan earlier this month. The typhoon wreaked havoc wherever it went, even damaging the roof of Kyoto Station, sending shards of ...
Even the most innocuous upload can carry political baggage online in 2018. It’s a truth Western users have become used to, where a pancake restaurant’s idiotic rebranding strategy can become a discussion about the appropriation of gang culture. Recent examples show that Japanese netizens ...
Everyone in Tokyo has a commuting horror story, but sometimes you need to see an example of some really rough behavior on the trains with your own eyes to understand just how bad some people have it. An act of violence recorded on a smartphone ...
One person’s cultural observations can be another’s daily gripes but, with any luck, they can lead to an enlightening debate. That was the case last week when a blog post about one non-Japanese individual’s experience working in the country’s information technology sector proved popular ...
Another month, another celebrity controversy in Japan. This time, however, the commotion over J-pop producer Tetsuya Komuro’s alleged affair and subsequent retirement might mark the moment that netizens rejected the country’s obsession with scandals. It also allowed those who might fall under the media ...
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 ...
