From ground level, it didn’t look like much. In fact, the scene looked like a lot of rural Japan: rice paddies with tender shoots in shades of green, rippling in the wind and stretching off into the …

posted by  banzaitokyo | 8 years, 1 month ago | 2 comments

I have seen that courier service workers are really busy these days, because of the increase of online shopping. Some of them stop the vehicles and then run with the packages, so that they can meet t…

posted by  Yubi | 8 years, 1 month ago | 1 comment

Tokyo's city government is seeking to install universal-use toilets for all genders in Olympic and Paralympic venues, according to the Asahi Shimbun.

The city, which will host the upcoming 2020 Olym…

posted by  banzaitokyo | 8 years, 1 month ago | 1 comment

Autonomous trucks and drones should be handling deliveries in Japan by 2030, the government says, showing a path forward for an overburdened field as part of a timeline for a more fully automated soc…

posted by  banzaitokyo | 8 years, 1 month ago | 3 comments

Tokyo has magnetism, and it feels endless. What hits you first is the scale. There’s the neon signs, the ancient temples, the skyscraper skylines, all of it mixed together. In the metro area there ar…

posted by  banzaitokyo | 8 years, 1 month ago | 2 comments

When Japanese bookshops opened up at midnight on Feb. 24 for his book launch event, Haruki Murakami was back in the news and back on our shelves. Although no publication date has yet been set for the…

posted by  banzaitokyo | 8 years, 1 month ago | 2 comments

Rather than a typical tattoo parlor, the room resembled a tiny school library filled with hundreds of books on everything from paintings to Chinese calligraphy. However, there were some clues pointin…

posted by  banzaitokyo | 8 years, 1 month ago | 1 comment

Pokémon the Movie 20: I Choose You! is set to open at cinemas across Japan from July 15, but keen moviegoers will get an advance chance to witness some of the action with an all new trailer screening…

posted by  banzaitokyo | 8 years, 1 month ago | 1 comment

Here is a new-to-me survey company, Qzoo, who conducted a survey on behalf of Sirabee into dating foreigners.

It’s just a single question survey, but the figures were interesting to me, and hopefully…

posted by  banzaitokyo | 8 years, 1 month ago | 2 comments

Serendipity brings with it all kinds of gifts. Sometimes chance meetings or random conversations can start new friendships, ideas, and collaborations. Other times when the timing is right, a simple q…

posted by  banzaitokyo | 8 years, 2 months ago | 1 comment