Aomori, a city in the Tohoku region of northern Japan, is well-known for its Nebuta Festival, where giant, brightly-lit floats depicting traditional northern warriors are paradied through the city. This year’s festival was to have a special twist: in anticipation of The Force Awakens , …Read more »
Created by Eiji Tsuburaya, the man responsible for bringing the original Godzilla to life, Ultraman has become a Japanese sci-fi staple after the first entry of the series, Ultraman , aired in Japan in 1966. The weekly monster show was a spin-off of the highly popular …Read more »
You’re going to want to see this. Nissin, the makers of Cup Noodle, have been killing it lately with awesome viral videos promoting their instant ramen. Last time around idol Kanna Hashimoto pulled off some crazy Cup Noodle-related stunts, and this time, and this time …Read more »
It's real: in order to commemorate both the 40th anniversary of Japan's Sanyo railway line, and the 20th anniversary of Neon Genesis Evangelion 's original broadcast date, West Japan Railway Company (JR West) is developing a Unit 01-themed version of their series 500 Shinkansen (bullet …Read more »
Oita, the capital city of Japan’s Oita prefecture, is about to welcome some new gigantic inhabitants. Starting today, Attack on Titan ’s titans will begin to occupy the city in a project called the Wall Oita Photo Rally. Life-size Titans will be set up throughout …Read more »
Everyone’s getting hype for the new Star Wars film, and that includes rice planters in Aomori Prefecture, who’ve planted this summer’s rice crop to create a giant Star Wars illustration. Villagers from Inakadate planted 11 different kinds of rice to achieve the different colors in …Read more »
Wonder Festival: that wonderful twice-a-year event where makers of models known as garage kits are allowed to throw copyright to the wind and design, build and sell whatever they want. Wonfes hits Makuhari Messe next week, and photos of kits that’ll be on sale are …Read more »
The real life giant robot duel announced last week has evidently inspired other manufacturers to join in the arms race. Taguchi Industrial Co. Ltd. is developing a manned tanker robot called the Super Guzzila. While the Karatas and Megabot were decidedly lacking in any sort …Read more »
© HUISTEN BOSCH We usually try to avoid “weird Japan” stories around here: most of those stories are either presented out of context, are simply false, or don’t represent Japan as a country at large. But as for this hotel that actually has the word …Read more »
At 11am Monday morning, Hayao Miyazaki held a press conference at Studio Ghibli headquarters in western Tokyo. In the hours before the presser, there was speculation as to what exactly he would be announcing – a return from retirement? The closing of Ghibli? Or something …Read more »
Aside from constitutional reform, the biggest controversy in Tokyo these days is the cost of the new stadium for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic games, which, it was revealed this week, will run the government a cool $2.1 billion dollars. That’s a far cry from the …Read more »
True story: a 44-year-old man from Kagoshima, Japan was arrested July 6 for selling counterfeit Love Live! pins, reports the Sankei Shinbun. The man has admit ted to the charges. The man was selling the pins on an internet mail order site, making up to …Read more »
You know, I know it, and manga and anime creators sure know it: there’s nothing better than a good rivalry. Be it sports, shonen or virtually any genre, there’s few things that keep viewers watching than two equally-matched rivals fighting for the same prize, or …Read more »
Even anime fans who aren’t particular Dragon Ball experts are probably familiar with the premise: assemble the seven dragon balls and your wish is Shenron’s command. Japanese ranking site Goo has polled its readers with the question: if you had the seven dragon balls, what …Read more »
Daisuke Jigen, partner-in-crime to Lupin the Third, subject of last year’s Daisuke Jigen’s Gravestone and recent winner of a poll ranking anime’s coolest old guys, has been spotted around Italy lately, according to Japanese news source Culture Lab. To be more specific, Jigen’s visage has …Read more »
Matt Schley
Ryotaro Aoki
Julian Gnam
