Must see: ‘Uncool’ Cool Japan Video Goes Viral
Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has never been known as a particularly hip place — even though it’s in charge of the government’s “Cool Japan” push to promote trendy industries like anime, fashion, and Japanese cuisine overseas. But a home-made Cool Japan video shot by two ministry officials and uploaded to YouTube last month has attracted so much criticism that it’s gone viral, prompting Japan’s online community to ask: Can something be so uncool that it’s actually cool? “We made the video half as a joke, but the scale of...
read moreThings to do: Hotel Okura Tokyo charity art exhibit (Aug. 7 to Sept. 1)
Hotel Okura Tokyo charity art exhibit. From Aug. 7 to Sept. 1, the Hotel Okura Tokyo will hold a charity art exhibition, “The Great Masters of Japanand France with Monet, Utrillo and Saeki,” at the hotel’s Ascot Hall on the second basement level of the South Wing. The exhibition will be hosted by the Corporate Cultural Exchange Committee to show masterpieces that are owned by companies, organizations and individuals and so cannot ordinarily be viewed. This year, the hotel will hold its 19th exhibition and donate all the net profit to...
read moreWhere to eat: Where to get the best (chocolate) ice cream in Tokyo
Chocolate gelato at its most intense. Who eats chocolate in summer? Very few people who I know. It’s not just that chocolate bars melt in seconds: The taste can seem too heavy and the texture too cloying. It simply doesn’t seem to suit Japan’s muggy heat. But there’s one exception to that rule I’ll gladly and frequently make — when the chocolate comes in gelato form. Obviously, ice cream of any stripe hits the spot at this time of year. But chocolate is always my go-to first-choice flavor, precisely because I’m not getting that cacao hit in...
read moreCheck out the largest photo of Tokyo ever taken. It’s zoomable!
The largest photo ever taken of Tokyo is zoomable, and it is glorious It took photographer Jeffrey Martin two days of shooting and four months of editing to create the interactive panorama you’re about to experience. At 600,000 pixels wide, it would measure 50 meters by 100 meters if printed at photographic resolution. And yes, it is every bit as awesome as it sounds. Go ahead. Try it. Zoom in on anything you want, like that guy off in the distance taking a photo from his apartment balcony. What’s that? You can’t see him? Here, let us point...
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