Fashion! Art! Culture! Satisfy your artistic and cultural mind with articles curated to tickle your fancy and understand Japan more.

 

A Prison of Love:

Tattooing in Tokyo with Artist Alice Korotaeva This article was originally featured in the December 2024 issue of Connect. Sabrina Greene (Chiba Prefecture) What’s your passion? How far would you go to follow it? Tattoo artists in ...

Making Kimono Old Again:

East Meets West with Elise Fischer’s 1950s Flair This article was originally featured in the December 2024 issue of Connect. Sabrina Greene (Chiba Prefecture) What would you do with an old kimono? Maybe it has rips and ...

Behind the Swindle

An Interview with Ko Shinjo Mike Taylor (Ishikawa) interviewing Ko Shinjo and Charles De Wolf Translated by Tamao Taylor (Ishikawa) Tokyo Swindlers is a novel about a group of real-estate scammers released to critical acclaim ...

Blade Runner: Tokyo Nexus Debut Event

Insights into Writing and Japan with Kianna Shore This article was originally featured in the October 2024 issue of Connect. Chantal Gervais (Tokyo) It seemed like a scam. Kianna Shore received a message via Twitter from an unfamiliar ...

Otherworldly Passion and Unbridled Celebration

A Look into Comiket This article was originally featured in the October 2024 issue of Connect. Chantal Gervais (Tokyo) The feverish creation and consumption culture of Comic Market, or more commonly known as Comiket is jarring at times ...

Hiroshima’s Lantern Ceremony

Remembering Those Lost in The Bombing This article was originally featured in the October 2024 issue of Connect. Veronica Nielsen (Hiroshima) Imagine hundreds of bright, colorful paper lanterns floating peacefully down the Motoyasu River before the Hiroshima Atomic ...

Hiroshima and Kyoto, Mes Amours

A Local Discusses Two of Japan’s Most Famous Cities and Their Cultures This article was originally featured in the October 2024 issue of Connect. Brooklyn Vander Wel (Hokkaido) It’s been almost twenty years since Hiroshima native Kayo Takemoto ...

Harajuku is Not Dead

International Fans Keep the Community Alive This article was originally featured in the October 2024 issue of Connect. Sabrina Greene (Chiba)Rey Takahashi (Chiba) “Harajuku Is Not Dead,” declare four kanji—原宿不滅 (harajuku fumetsu)—hand-cut and pasted with care on ...

Vintage Shopping Gets Tech-Savvy

E-Commerce and Tokyo’s Changing Vintage Scene This article was originally featured in the October 2024 issue of Connect. Samuel Eng (Tokyo) When it comes to Japanese fashion in Tokyo, beloved shopping districts have drawn much attention online ...

From Miko to Monster Hunter: The Journey of WCS Representative Nanasemeron

This article is a web originalMark Christensen (Fukuoka) Among the various arts and crafts, one of the most unique to arise in recent years is the hobby of cosplay. Sometimes associated with extreme fans, cosplay ...