As COVID-19 cripples live music, hopeful promoters look ahead
This year’s edition of the Japan Nite event at the South by Southwest Music Conference and Festival (SXSW) was going to be special. It would have marked the event’s 25th anniversary of showcasing Japanese artists to fans in Austin, Texas, with a North American ...
Kyary Pamyu Pamyu and Hatsune Miku help Coachella's Japan contingent to grow
The California festival adds two Japanese pop heavyweights to its lineup, following a successful appearance by Perfume there last year.
Looking back at the most influential Japanese songs of the 2010s
Given how Japanese music takes time to receive widespread recognition, what gems would the kids of the 2040s unearth from the decade that just passed?
The life of a professional Japanese doppelganger
With his single sequined glove, sparkly jacket and sharp moonwalk dance moves, the man on stage could be no one else. Or could he? "The good thing about being a Michael Jackson impersonator is that I play a global superstar," says Kazushi Yabe, who has ...
The queen of kawaii: Kyary Pamyu Pamyu reflects on her reign
Kyary Pamyu Pamyu's trip to the Museum of Death in Hollywood proved to be a 2018 highlight for the 25-year-old J-pop star. "I thought it would be about murder and crime, but it was actually about everything related to death," she tells The Japan Times. ...
Kyary ride does its part for 'Cool Japan'
"Cool Japan Heats Up" declares a sign welcoming visitors to an area of Universal Studios Japan (USJ) devoted to the country's hottest pop culture exports. Now in its second year, USJ's "Universal Cool Japan" event features special attractions that run until June 26. It promises ...
Review: Moshi Moshi Nippon Festival at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium
The rainy weather last Sunday didn't stop throngs of concertgoers from attending the Moshi Moshi Nippon Festival, a three-day concert produced by talent agency Asobisystem that focuses on pop music and Japanese culture. And like last year, non-Japanese music fans were allowed into the ...
From Kyary Pamyu Pamyu to Emoda, Japanese fashion aims to be accessible
Emoda's student style Commercially strong Emoda from the mid-market Mark Styler stable of brands recently collaborated with the Bunka Fashion College in Tokyo, Japan's best-known fashion education institution, by giving students the opportunity to submit sketches of garments that they wished were on sale at ...
Zedd pleases, D'Angelo scores at this year's Summer Sonic
An important moment in the life of any music fan comes when they go to a festival they've been attending for several years and think — "Man, am I old?" For me, at 28, the 2015 edition of Summer Sonic marked this milestone (which came ...
Pop singer and fashion model Kyary Pamyu Pamyu gave a special live performance Saturday as part of a Japan Day event at the food-themed Expo Milano. The singer, an icon of Japan's kawaii (cute) culture, performed "Ninja Re Bang Bang" and "Tsukema Tsukeru," drawing cheers ...
Singer Kyary Pamyu Pamyu visits Japan Pavilion at Milan expo
Japanese pop singer and fashion model Kyary Pamyu Pamyu on Friday visited the Japan Pavilion at the Expo Milano, a food-themed international fair, and had a look at high-tech presentations of the country's nature and culinary culture. After a tour guided by Tatsuya Kato, the ...
While Japanese cool hunters might lament the lack of pop cultural exports in recent years — all the more conspicuous when compared to K-Pop's successful forays westward — kawaii (cute) culture has quietly permeated into global consciousness with all the effortless grace of singer ...
