Social media became part of the mainstream conversation in Japan during the 2010s
Internet culture has changed significantly over the past decade. In the 2000s, sites such as 2chan and Nico Nico Douga sat comfortably on the edges of the world wide web, offering a form of alternate reality from traditional media. The 2010s, however, saw social ...
Japanese celebrities are using YouTube in new ways to connect with fans
The baseball offseason has arrived and Chicago Cubs pitcher Yu Darvish has taken up a few extracurricular activities. The Osaka-born player has expanded his social media presence, with recent posts on Twitter — poking fun at teammates and playfully roasting other starters — being picked ...
It's time for the Brave Blossoms to be on a level financial playing field
After six boisterous weeks, the 2019 Rugby World Cup is over. By all accounts, the tournament has been a roaring success, with Nikkei Business estimating that it has injected more than ¥430 billion into the economy. Sadly, it seems, the Japanese national side saw very ...
Halloween festivities in Tokyo appear to embrace a softer side
Domestic news outlets and social media users love a good scare. Ever since a horde of rowdy Saitama-types turned Shibuya into something akin to “The Purge” last year, many Tokyoites have viewed this year’s Halloween festivities with trepidation. Reports over the past few weeks in ...
Will Japanese society let fathers help out with child care?
Women in Japan have long been expected to handle the bulk of child care duties, whether it be feeding and bathing a child or dropping them off at day care in the morning and picking them up from the center later the same day. In ...
Typhoon Hagibis highlights the value of social media in a disaster
There has been plenty wrong with conversations on social media over the past decade and yet it’s hard to argue that online platforms are anything other than essential in an emergency. This was almost certainly the case when Typhoon Hagibis made landfall on mainland Japan ...
Social media conversation on ID checks in Japan reflects shifting awareness
It’s not unusual for foreign residents in Japan to be asked for identification. It can be problematic for police officers to make such requests because, while foreign residents are required by law to carry their residence cards with them at all times, certain conditions must ...
Studio Ghibli attracts a new generation of fans with August tradition
Family movie nights used to mean sitting around the television set waiting for a scheduled film and enduring annoying commercial breaks. Such nights tend to look a little different these days, with streaming services such as Netflix and on demand television dominating the market ...
Social media conversation on Rugby World Cup reflects concern about 2020 Olympics
Netizens have been anticipating the start of the Rugby World Cup in Japan for months now and not just because of the action on the field. While the online masses closely followed and reacted to the Japanese team’s opening match win over Russia — ...
Student succeeds at failing to start work on his summer homework
For elementary school children in Japan, their weeks-long summer vacation isn't entirely a time for leisure. Instead, it's overshadowed by a stack of homework that features, among other things, an assignment known as jiyū kenkyū (independent project). As the name suggests, jiyū kenkyū is an ...
Frustrated travelers at Narita Airport in wake of Typhoon Faxai spark joy on social media
Choirs full of Swedish children typically don’t break into song at Narita Airport. That’s precisely what happened last Monday night, however, when a youth group called Nova Cantica found itself stranded at the transport hub and decided to pass the time by singing in ...
Japan's homemakers are using art history classics to illustrate daily struggles on Twitter
Homemakers in Japan have been using classic artworks to describe their daily routines — much to the delight of those on social media. According to online magazine Pouch, the conversation began in May 2018 after a woman posted an image of Jacques-Louis David’s classic French ...
