Japan Pulse

The 15th Japan Media Arts Festival showcased award-winning international works in the categories of Art, Entertainment, Animation and Manga. Click any image below to see a slideshow of photos from Japan Times Arts editor Mio Yamada.

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Here’s a selection of what blipped on our radar at Tokyo Designers Week 2001, a multi-ring circus of design innovation. This year the organizers put an emphasis on Tohoku reconstruction, the environment, food and loooove.  And as in past years, the student work was just as eye-catching as that from professionals.

From amateur endeavors to corporate PR, from high art to crass commercialism, from sleek motocycle prototypes to dried squid light shades, the annual event literally offered something for everyone.

Photos by Mio Yamada

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As it does annually DesignTide Tokyo gave us a peek at prototypes, celebrated innovation and showed us how elegant ideas are worth their weight in gold.

Click on the thumbnails below to see what turned our heads.

Photos by Mio Yamada

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Here are the latest Pulsations, links to fresh stories and visuals about Japan, shout-outs to fellow bloggers, and highly clickable stuff that we think you might enjoy.

In no particular order, they are . . .

• Kan presses the reset button (from Overserving Japan): Prime Minister Naoto Kan attempts to wash Ozawa out of the DPJ’s hair, but how long will public approve of the new look of the cabinet?
• Over-active memories of China’s past (from Shisaku): How China clung to a bitter memory and set up a no-win situation.
• Singing cops throw away retirement plans to serenade fellow seniors (from Japan Subculture Research Center): Move over AKB48, there’s a new group coming to town and they’re all retired cops!
• How to write about Japan (from Our Man in Abiko): YES, you TOO can write about Japan’s unique sararimen by simply following these 10 kantan steps!
• Omuta: The shopping arcades of a thousand bankruptcies (from Spike Japan): This town is coming like a ghost town.
• Shibuya 109-2: The Wild Party is Over (from An Eternal Thought in the Mind of Godzilla): A moment of silence, please, for the recently deceased Gyaruo and Center Guys.

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Here are the latest Pulsations, links to fresh stories and visuals about Japan, shout-outs to fellow bloggers, and highly clickable stuff that we think you might enjoy.

In no particular order, they are . . .

• Eikaiwa Underworld: Lessons Taught, Lessons Learned (from Japan Subculture Research Center): Repeat after us: “Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes.”
• Paying and Avoiding NHK (from Mutantfrog Travelogue): Tired of NHK knocking on your door from NHK? Click on.
• The Lead Poisoning Thesis (from Frog in a Well): Did toxic makup reeeally contribute to the fall of the Tokugawa regime? Do tell.
• Addictive ads (from Pink Tentacle): Pre-Don Draper advertising in Japan: “Defense for country, tobacco for society”
• The Premium Pricing “Problem” (from Néojaponisme): Japanese are renowned for paying top dollar for imported luxury goods, but is it their fault?
• Modern Times (from Ampontan):  The Terminator needs Japan’s support for the California bullet train project, but should a country be lending money it doesn’t have to a “deadbeat subnational government”?

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Here are the latest Pulsations, links to fresh stories and visuals about Japan, shout-outs to fellow bloggers, and highly clickable stuff that we think you might enjoy.

In no particular order, they are . . .

• R.I.P. Shibuya HMV (from Neojaponisme): The planets once aligned for HMV’s flagship store, but it couldn’t last. (And from a different angle at our sister site, Yen for Living.)
• A DPJ Disenfranchisement (from The Diplomat): Whether it’s lead by Kan or Ozawa, can a party plagued by a inner power struggle lead Japan out of the darkness?
• Long Hot Summer for Kan, Ozawa, and DPJ Coming to an Early End? (from GlobalTalk 21): It’s only the beginning of a long, drawn-out battle in the DPJ.
• Takekuma Festival (from Tokyo Scum Brigade):  For his 50th birthday, manga author Kentaro Takekuma hosted a roundtable discussion on indie anime.
• Lies, damn lies and the Nikkei (from Mutant Frog Brigade): Numbers sometimes do lie, at least in this case.

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Here are the latest Pulsations, links to fresh stories and visuals about Japan, shout-outs to fellow bloggers, and highly clickable stuff that we think you might enjoy.

In no particular order, they are . . .

• Comiket 78: Day 3 (from Tokyo Scum Brigade): Chronicling the third day of Comiket 78 and featuring elaborate costumes that require true devotion in the intense summer heat.
• Matsuri da! (114): Angels with Dirty Faces (from Ampontan): Something only the most impish of kids would enjoy.
• The Line (from Kirainet.com): Another addition to Tokyo’s endless collection of lines.
• Abandoned Ginza (from Mike’s Blender): Ever wondered what a post-apocalyptic Ginza might look like? Here’s a slightly spooky first look . . .
• Comparing bento box materials (from Just Bento): For those who want lunchtime perfection.

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Here are the latest Pulsations, links to fresh stories and visuals about Japan, shout-outs to fellow bloggers, and highly clickable stuff that we think you might enjoy.

In no particular order, they are . . .

• Jinx, you owe me a head (from No-Sword): Words to be avoided if you don’t want to lose superstitious friends.
• Japan: An ancient Roman at the Japanese public bath (from Global Voices): An unlikely connection between the Romans and the Japanese is revealed in a unique medium.
• Wacky diets everywhere (from Just Hungry): Yes, YOU TOO, could shed pounds in a few days by reading this post! No, seriously. Just read it.
• Rightists’ childish attacks (from The Diplomat): Rightwing protesters show themselves to be playground bullies and turn their megaphones on elementary-school children.
• Food for the gods – Bonbori lanterns (from tokyo food file): An illuminating survey of food on temple lanterns.
• The Kan statement (from Twisting Flowers): It could easily be a banner year for Japan-South Korea relations, if Prime Minister Naoto Kan plays his cards right.
• Ruining the mood at karaoke (from What Japan Thinks): All the DON’Ts and none of the DOs.
• Variety Friday: How Japanese People Snack (from Japanese Snack Reviews): It’s true – Japanese love to snack. So how do they stay so thin?

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