Imagine it’s a normal day in the office. Your boss calls you over to his desk and asks you to make some copies. Suddenly there’s a strange sound and the building starts to rumble. Earthquake? Nope – your office is under attack from a giant …Read more »
You may remember our report from last year about J-World Tokyo , the theme park based on famous Shonen Jump properties like One Piece , Dragon Ball and Naruto . At the time, we noted many of the rides and attractions feature English translations, which …Read more »
This week the Tokyo International Film Festival teamed up with the World Cosplay Summit for a live show featuring some of the world’s best cosplayers. The World Cosplay Summit, a yearly cosplay contest held in Nagoya, attracts contestants from 22 participating countries. 44 of the …Read more »
Kichijoji, a neighborhood in west Tokyo, has had a long relationship with anime. It’s host of several anime studios, the Ghibli Museum, and a healthy assortment of anime, manga and subculture-related shops and cafes. Since 1999, Kichijoji’s also been the host of Kichijoji Anime Wonderland, …Read more »
Tokyo police have filed charges against an idol group for performing a concert outside Shinjuku station, one of the city’s major traffic hubs, according to Tokyo Reporter. The offenders, Flare-La-Mode Ace, are an idol group made up of seven women 18 to 26 whose theme …Read more »
Hitting Tokyo this week: a pretty hilarious promotional campaign for an upcoming Attack on Titan exhibition. As fans of Attack on Titan are all-too-aware, it’s not typically pizza and hamburgers the titular Titans are fond of chomping down on, but that’s what they’re doing in …Read more »
July saw the changing of the guard at Namco’s Characro – a anime cafe and bar with rotating themes – from Tiger and Bunny to Macross Frontier . Named Nyan Nyan after the Chinese restaurant featured in the show, the Macross Frontier cafe and bar …Read more »
Apparently a complete takeover of the city of Yokohama was not enough for Pikachu, as the electric-type Pokemon has also moved into the oh-so-fashionable Roppongi Hills building in central Tokyo. In celebration/promotion of the new Pokemon XY movie, Tokyo residents can now visit Pokemon The …Read more »
What's the plural of Pikachu? If we follow standard Japanese-to-English grammar rules, we probably shouldn't add an "s" on the end. But we're going to make an exception here, because the singular doesn't really convey how many darn Pikachus there are in Yokohama right now. …Read more »
It’s hard to describe how grossly hot it is here in Tokyo, but here’re the straight-up numbers: as of this writing, it’s 95 degrees, and feels like 102 with 65% humidity. Yeah. Not fun. Still, those willing to brave the outdoors and make their way …Read more »
Sunday, July 27th, 2014, Tokyo: I get off the train at Akihabara station, exiting not at Electronic Town, the usual otaku departure point, but Showa Street, a downright normal-looking road lined with offices and convenience stores. I double-check Google maps and head down a nondescript …Read more »
The Tokyo International Film Festival, one of Asia’s most important film fests, will devote a section to Hideaki Anno, creator and director of Evangelion . Anno, a co-founder of studio Gainax, is one of the most influential and important anime directors of the last twenty …Read more »
It’s been a big week for Godzilla in his hometown of Tokyo. We reported the other day in a giant Godzilla statue that’s been set up in a park in Tokyo, and the new Godzilla film is finally opening in Japan this Friday. Well, thanks …Read more »
Remember a few weeks ago when CNN sent Otaku USA readers into a froth by completely misrepresenting manga and its readership as child pornographers? Well, they’re not done with “weird Japan” stories, apparently. This time they’ve done a profile of one Hideaki Kobayashi, a 51-year …Read more »
Photo: Hector Garcia Godzilla hasn't done a whole lot of stomping Tokyo recently. The last time was about ten years ago in 2004's Godzilla: Final Wars , after which Toho sent him into hibernation until the release of this year's Hollywood Godzilla film. Well, to …Read more »
Matt Schley
