'Pure Invention': How Japan's pop culture became the 'lingua franca' of the internet
From toy jeeps and karaoke machines to the Game Boy and Tamagotchi, “Pure Invention” explores how Japan’s cultural influence has spread across the globe.
Pop! Pizza brings a slice of Americana to Kyoto
Inspired by his upbringing in western Pennsylvania, Pop! Pizza owner-chef Daniel McNellie aims to share the overall cultural experience of American pizzerias: awesome pizza, beer, movies and music.
'Akira': Looking back at the future
On the 30th anniversary of the release of the animated version of 'Akira' in Japan, we examine the enduring legacy of Katsuhiro Otomo's sci-fi classic.
Takamasa Sakurai, a leading evangelist of Japanese anime, fashion and music abroad, was fatally hit by a train early Friday after falling from a platform at Nishi-Nippori Station in Tokyo, police said. Police said the incident occurred on the JR Keihin Tohoku Line at around 12:30 a.m. ...
The Japanese entertainment industry is finally growing up, says Shin Unozawa, and he should know. Unozawa joined Bandai Entertainment back in 1981, and serves as chair of the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association (CESA), co-hosts of the Tokyo Game Show. Now he is CEO of the ...
Why not teach students what's going on now?
Who do textbook publishers think it's smart to start a fourth-grade history textbook with prehistoric humans who lived 10,000 years ago? Why not begin by teaching students what's going on now?
Transformational Akihabara has its finger on the pulse of pop culture
Tokyo's Akihabara district is always transforming itself. Once promoted as the nation's largest shopping area for home electronics and computers, where vendors thrived in line with Japan's postwar surge in prosperity, Akihabara — or "Akiba" for short — is now the center of the nation's ...
Pre-flight shopping at Narita airport a couple of weeks ago, I passed a mannequin sporting a light-blue necktie and a turquoise wig with pig tails dangling down to its mini skirt. The vision spoke volumes: It was Hatsune Miku, of course, Japan's holographic, animated ...
Japan's top 10 buzzwords for 2012
Here they are: the top 10 phrases and words that made waves in 2012.
