Certain so-called “rare-earth” metals are vital to modern manufacturing and technology. Applications range from lasers and magnets to ceramic capacitors, oxidative agents, high-temperature supercondu…

posted by  banzaitokyo | 8 years, 4 months ago | 0 comments

A week ago, I saw Wes Anderson’s “Isle of Dogs,” or “Inu-ga-shima.” I saw it as someone who, upon hearing that name, is forcibly reminded of Oni-ga-shima, the isle of demons where Peach Boy, a hero o…

posted by  banzaitokyo | 8 years, 4 months ago | 0 comments

The Ace Hotel chain is opening its first Japanese outpost in Kyoto this winter, in a former telephone exchange building overhauled by Kengo Kuma.

Japanese architect Kuma will convert the ShinPuhKan b…

posted by  banzaitokyo | 8 years, 4 months ago | 0 comments

A cheapo’s paradise, Tokyo flea markets are awesome places for bargain-hunting. And there’s no shortage of them—you’ll find something happening in one of the city’s parks or parking lots just about e…

posted by  Yubi | 8 years, 4 months ago | 0 comments

In some ways, Hisako Akitani’s videogame store was just another small family business that closed when its owners got older and tired of fighting the internet.

Yet when Ms. Akitani stood behind her s…

posted by  banzaitokyo | 8 years, 4 months ago | 0 comments

Japan’s 2015 census showed that southern Kantō (Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba, and Saitama Prefectures) accounted for 28.4% of the overall population. This concentration in the Tokyo metropolitan area is ex…

posted by  banzaitokyo | 8 years, 4 months ago | 0 comments

The number of crime syndicate members in Japan fell to a record-low 34,500 in 2017, down for the 13th straight year, on the back of stronger police crackdowns, national police data showed Thursday.

T…

posted by  banzaitokyo | 8 years, 4 months ago | 0 comments

International marriages peaked in 2006, but have declined considerably since then. Especially prominent is the massive drop in unions between Japanese husbands and Filipina wives.

posted by  banzaitokyo | 8 years, 4 months ago | 0 comments

A rare chance to see horseback archery, a traditional Oiran Dochu procession, an everything-doggo festival and more.

posted by  Yubi | 8 years, 4 months ago | 0 comments

In the town of Shiogama in Miyagi Prefecture, there’s a residential neighborhood overlooking Matsushima Bay, the epicenter of Japan’s catastrophic March 2011 earthquake and subsequent tsunami. On a q…

posted by  banzaitokyo | 8 years, 4 months ago | 0 comments