In Japan, Dead American Brands Get a Second Chance
Tower Records vanished from America's malls more than a decade ago. North American visitors to the shopping corridors of Tokyo and Osaka may be surprised to find brands they’d written off a…
The archive
Articles from www.citylab.com
Browse articles from www.citylab.com in the Akihabara archive.
All Aboard Japan’s New Hello Kitty Bullet Train
The bullet train is decked out in pink ribbons and images of Hello Kitty as a conductor. Blink and you might miss the sight of one the world’s most iconic characters plastered on the side: the b…
Explaining 'Manual Keigo,' the Code of Japan's Clerks
Yuriko Nakao/ReutersThroughout Japan, store clerks and other service industry workers are trained to use the elaborate honorific speech called “manual keigo.” But change is coming. Manual keigo …
In Japan, Small Children Take the Subway and Run Errands Alone
A schoolgirl walks through a Tokyo subway station. Toru Hanai / ReutersIn Japan, small children take the subway and run errands alone, no parent in sight. It’s a common sight on Japanese ma…
In Japan's Vanishing Rural Towns, Newcomers Wanted
As young people continue to relocate to major cities, rural towns are looking for ways to boost their population. Japan’s population is set to lose up to one-third of its population, down t…
Where Are All the Trash Cans in Japanese Cities?
For two decades, it was the lament of inexperienced visitors to Japan: Where are all the trash cans? Public waste bins and garbage cans were largely removed from Japanese cities following the 19…
Time Is Running Out for Tokyo’s Nakagin Capsule Tower
The Nakagin Capsule Tower in Tokyo, pictured in 2009. In the densely packed Tokyo neighborhood of Shinbashi, one building stands out from all the others: the 13-story Nakagin Capsule Tower,…
The Amazing Psychology of Japanese Train Stations
It is a scene that plays out each weekday morning across Tokyo. Suit-clad office workers, gaggles of schoolchildren, and other travelers gamely wend their way through the city’s sprawling rail s…