‘Love Exposure’: The sprawling Japanese cult masterpiece that you need to see before you die
Sin, perversion, cults, and rock‑opera levels of emotional overload.
Japan
The gorgeously disaffected arty glam rock of David Sylvian and Japan
Glam rock’s history is clustered into two distinct eras: its initial early 70s glitter-pop boom (T.Rex, Sweet, Slade, Suzi, Bowie, New York Dolls) and its…
Back to the Future: Bryan Ferry live in concert, Japan 1977
In 1983, Dexy’s Midnight Runners’ frontman Kevin Rowland managed to get his band booted off their prestigious support gig on David Bowie’s Serious Moonlight tour.…
Big in Japan: Cheesy vintage ads for arcade and video games from the 1980s
That moment in Field of Dreams when Kevin Costner hears a voice saying “If you build it, he will come” was really bad financial advice.…
Friend or enema: Japan’s latest supercute mascot goes where the sun don’t shine
Adorable mascots are an ingrained part of Japanese culture in a way that isn’t true in the U.S. or Britain. According to the 2011 book…
Crime and punishment in Japan during the Edo Period included tattooing the faces & arms of criminals
An example of the various face tattoos given to criminals in Japan during the Edo Period. The art of tattooing has a very long history…
The hard hitting hair metal puppet journalism of Japan’s ‘Pure Rock Digest’
Given its highly visual element, 80s glam metal was tailor-made for the MTV age. It was born, matured and died on heavy video rotation, perhaps…
There’s a Cup Noodles Museum in Japan. Let’s take a peek inside.
I had no idea there was actually a museum dedicated to Cup Noodles. But there is! And it’s located in Yokohama, Japan, not a college…
Xeni Jardin interviews Yoko Ono in Japan
Boing Boing’s Xeni Jardin, currently traveling in Japan, met up with Yoko Ono and conducted a great interview with the artist/humanitarian, who had just been…
Charlie Brooker on the Media’s Japan coverage
In 1992 I attended a lecture by Noam Chomsky at a high school auditorium in Los Angeles. During the Q&A Professor Chomsky was asked what…