Japan was in complete overhaul in the year 1889. The wounds of civil war were beginning to mend, the samurai system was abolished into history, and a new government sought to bring the country into a modern age. In that year, the Constitution of the Empire of Japan established the Meiji Government as the sole leader of the country and put the Empire of Japan on the map as a growing ...
The Japanese cities of Kyoto and Nara are often lauded for their history and culture by travelers worldwide. Both cities have gone to great extremes to preserve their heritage by maintaining ancient buildings, some of which are the most impressive wooden structures you’ll ever see. However, both cities remain popular with tourists also because of their convenience. Kyoto is a popular...
My trip to Akihabara this year left me more flatlined on the neighborhood than I’ve ever been before. As I’ve said many times before, I’ve never been impressed with this wildly overhyped otaku heaven and don’t feel that it lives up to its reputation in the least. Sure, there are a few nice stores and a fun arcade or two, but by and large, the area has become a tourist trap that...
It’s not too often that I see a gizmo or gadget that I genuinely hope revolutionizes the way the world works. I mean, normally I see these fun little do-dads, have a laugh or think about how neat they are, and then forget them. This grocery basket that’s being tested in the Lawson convenience store chain in Japan, though? Wow. It’s called the Regi-Robo. Check it out. The basket...
Nintendo and the Switch are sitting in a mighty fine place right now. In North America and in Europe, the console is surpassing Nintendo’s forecasts and can’t be kept in stock. And in its home country of Japan, Nintendo consoles host eight of the top ten best-selling games, including a perfect score at the top five. In those top five, three games are for the Nintendo 3DS and two are...
Pro-tip: Studio Ghibli has been empowering young women for a lot longer than the DCEU has. For all the talk of finally getting a good superhero film that stars a woman, it would be wise to understand that one of the most iconic anime studios out there has a perfect record when it comes to penning positive and wonderful female characters. Nausicaa, Sheeta, Fio, Satsuki, San, and Chihiro...
My wife went on an extended vacation with her mother a few months back, and I was left to my own devices for a whole two weeks. I ultimately decided not to spend those two weeks exclusively with my electronic devices, and instead, I hit the road to one of my long-time wishlist destinations, the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum. Naturally, since it had been forever since I truly got to...
Nintendo and Universal Studios Japan have teamed up to reveal the first part of the Super Nintendo World park expansion that is planned to open in 2020. A grand stage was erect with Piranha Plants, Mario showed up for a few giggles, and everyone had a great time daydreaming about journeying to the Mushroom Kingdom. And then Nintendo released this joyous little trailer to set your inner...
My Neighbor Totoro from Studio Ghibli, the makers of Howl’s Moving Castle, Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke, is getting its own theme park. Studio Ghibli has partnered with the government of Nagoya’s Aichi Prefecture to design and build the park. It’s due to open in 2020. Japan will reuse the old grounds for Expo 2005, a 200-hectare space, to build the new My Neighbor Totoro park...
Sony is going to need a spiny shell at this point to catch up at this pace! Japanese research firm MediaCreates once again says that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has topped the best-selling video games list in Japan for the third week in a row, pushing the Nintendo Switch into the number 1 spot for hardware as well. Japan loves it some Mario Kart, but it’s also worth noting that Prey did quite...