Cool Japanese Culture

Japanese Music Search

What is the Japanese Music Search? Well, it's a collection of music videos (often known as music PVs - music promo videos - in Japan) and live performances by Japanese bands to give you an idea of the different types of music that are popular with Japanese youths. It's a mixture of JPop and JRock, designed to give you a good cross-section of the different musical styles that have a place in Japanese youth culture.

The Art of Miyazaki's Spirited Away - Book

When Studio Ghibli released the animated movie Spirited Away in 2001, it was a big day for Japanese anime. It won the Oscar for "Best Animated Feature" and even knocked Titanic off the top of the Japanese box office charts. What really added to the charm of Spirited Away, and what probably did a lot to win over the Western audiences, was the beautiful look of the film, created by director Hayao Miyazaki. The characters were well drawn and the background art was just stunning. The whole movie was a joy to look at and it really helped to raise the stature of Japanese anime in the eyes of Westerners.

One of the unfortunate things about Spirited Away (if you can really call it unfortunate) is that the story itself is so great that you don't really get the chance to sit back and appreciate the artwork. I suppose it's testament to Hayao Miyazaki and his team at Studio Ghibli that the backgrounds blended so well that you almost took the scenery for granted rather than it shouting at you and distracting you from the story. However, Studio Ghibli have given us the chance to appreciate all that fabulous artwork at our own pace in the book The Art of Miyazaki's Spirited Away...

Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Dome

After visiting the Peace Memorial Park and the Peace Memorial Museum, there was one more place for me to go in Hiroshima, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, more commonly known as the Atomic Bomb Dome. On other pages on this site I've added pictures and details of the Peace Memorial Museum and the Peace Memorial Park. However, this page is dedicated to the A-bomb Dome, or the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall as it was known before 6th August 1945 when the atomic bomb was dropped.

Fraulein Revoltech Yoko Figure

When I headed out on my trip to Japan, I'd intended to pick up some items to decorate my inspirational writing area back home. Whilst browsing some websites prior to my trip, I saw the latest range of Japanese action figures. They were based on modern manga and anime characters rather than more traditional Japanese dolls and they had a style that seemed uniquely Japanese so they seemed like the perfect things to give that Japanese feel to my writing area. A bit of research told me that Akihabara was the area of Tokyo where all the anime and hobby shops that sell those sorts of Japanese figures were.

The figure that I really wanted to buy in Akihabara was a 1/5 scale model of sniper Yoko Littner from the anime series Gurren Lagann. This particular figure was manufactured by a company called Gift and was just stunning in its detail and design. However, when I saw the Gift figure in a shop in Akihabara, I was shocked by how big the box was. There didn't seem to be any way that I'd be able to transport it back home in my luggage so I started looking around for small alternatives.

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park

One thing that I really wanted to do on my recent trip to Japan was visit Hiroshima. I didn't get a chance to go when I was in Japan in 2005 so it was one of the first places I put on my itinerary when planning this trip. I know that to some people, visiting Hiroshima is a tourist cliche like visiting the pyramids in Egypt but to other people, including me, it has a deeper meaning.

Obviously, the three main places to visit while in Hiroshima are the Peace Memorial Park, the Peace Memorial Museum, and the A-bomb Dome. On other pages on this site I've added pictures and details of the Peace Memorial Museum and the A-bomb Dome. However, this page is dedicated to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.

Gift Yoko Figure

I must admit that I've never been a collector of dolls. Not dolls for boys and not dolls for girls. As a small child, I never owned an Action Man and I most certainly never owned a Sindy or a Barbie. However, as I was browsing sites dedicated to Japanese culture one day, I came across photos of modern Japanese action figures.

At first look, I was dismissive of the Japanese figures that I saw. Sure, they were based on modern manga and anime-style characters rather than more traditional Japanese dolls but they still weren't something that would interest me. The more I looked at these sites though, the more I started to see something in them. They had a style that seemed uniquely Japanese and they seemed like the perfect thing to add to my Japanese-themed inspirational writing area.

Park Hyatt Tokyo Hotel Review

Punkspring 2010 Music Festival - Tokyo

On Sunday 4th April, I caught the train from Shinjuku out to Kaihin Makuhari to rock out at the Tokyo leg of the Punkspring festival at the Makuhari Messe centre.