East Asian popular culture is on the rise, spearheaded by the global phenomenon of the Hallyu wave. K-pop idol music has played a critical part in this: it’s experienced a…

By Henry Rogers Fujitec, a major Japanese company that has been in business for the last 75 years, has come into the spotlight over the last couple of months. Fujitec…

By Henry Rogers Between 2007 and 2008, Tibetan filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen traveled around Tibet, interviewing Tibetans about their plight against neighboring China. The resulting film, Leaving Fear Behind, was pivotal…

By Henry Rogers In Japan, Hokkaido has a reputation for being the place where everything is better: the beer, the skiing, the milk, the vegetables, even the hot springs. But…

Beyblades: A toy, or much more? By Henry Rogers Two children sit in a dark basement with stern looks on their faces. Between them sits an arena, a place where…

A merciless curiosity to taste mysterious blue muffins led me to volunteer for the world’s largest nutrition study, Predict 2.

Once they get married, Japanese women will do pretty much everything they want, because age - looming on the horizon like Godzilla lurching closer with each passing year - justifies…

After the past couple of years, we could all do with more laughs. Yet when Ben “BJ” Fox proposed opening a comedy venue in the middle of a pandemic, many…

This coming Sunday (May 15, starting 10am), sees a unique event at the Yokohama campus of Meiji Gakuin University and online via Zoom, called THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME, marking the…

May 4th has become an iconic day for Star Wars fans across the universe.  “May The 4th Be With You” becomes “May The Force Be With You” quite nicely.  (If…