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Need An Island? Just Make A New One!

Everybody knows the old saying “Necessity is the mother of invention,” but the Japanese seems to really take it to heart. Japan has a lot of strange, unique needs, and out of those needs come cool, unusual inventions. One of Japan’s biggest needs has been space. Japan is a pretty small country with a lot [...]

Where All the Cool Cats Hang in Tokyo

Shimokitazawa (下北沢) is just about the trendiest neighborhood in Tokyo. Also known as Shimokita for short, the district is a hub for stage theater and live music. With its numerous cafes, music outlets, vintage clothing stores, live music clubs, and cheap noodle shops, Shimokitazawa is incredibly popular with trendy students and hip young peoples all [...]

Is Dancing Illegal In Japan?

Over the last six months or so, Japanese police have been cracking down on nightclubs, breaking up illegal activity and arresting people. What’s going on in these clubs? Are people fighting, doing copious amounts of drugs, or counterfeiting money? Believe it or not, this flurry of police activity has been about dancing. That’s right, if [...]

Japanese Web Design: Why You So 2003?

When I think of Japan I tend to think of beautiful design. Zen gardens, temples, shrines, tea ceremonies, manga, anime, wabi-sabi… the list goes on and on. Yet for some reason Japan just can’t put any of this together to make a decent looking website. Where did they go wrong? What in the world happened? [...]