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August 26th, 2009  The famous JRock band Glay is planning on having a concert at the House of Blues off the Sunset Strip. Performing for only two nights, you get the opportunity to see them live on Sept 11 and Sept 12. Best part, tickets are less than $40. June 3rd, 2009 A gundam exhibit will be held in Shinagawa this summer and can be viewed with our Akadot and Iron Chef Tour
 Inspired by the popular anime ''Mobile Suit Gundam'' Tokyo Metropolitan Park Association will be exhibiting a 60ft life-size Gundam model in Shinagawa from July 11 to August 31. There has even been an announcement that in August, for one month, the Gundam's right arm will be used for the 2016 Olympic bid logo. Having the Gundam model and the greenery of the city will be an attraction in which the the city can take advantage in their bid for the Summer Olympics. It is estimated that 1,500,000 people will visit for the duration of the exhibition. If you are a fan of Gundam and want to see it, try our Akadot Tour and the Iron Chef Tour. We will be able to take to Shingawa to witness it. More info, including sign up sheet, can be found here! and here! March 2nd, 2009  This is just a quick little heads up for people in the LA area. My favorite artist, KAWS (who's store, Original Fake, is located in Aoyama, Tokyo), has a gallery exhibit going on right now at the Honor Fraser gallery. I went to the opening reception as was absolutely blown away by the colors, precision, and overall cleaness that the author's works have to offer. I really can't reccomend this exhibit enough! Go check it out if you're in the area. It's free!! Click here for more information. January 14th, 2009 We got a little surprise in our inbox today from Ai Aota, an animator who's been working with Production I.G. to bring you the video you'll find below. It's called "Abunai Sisters" and utilizes a bright CG color scheme and some hilarious dialogue and comical situations, breathing new life into the otherwise cliched "girls with guns" genre. Check it out below and let us know what you think on the PJT forums!
January 5th, 2009   Looking for something to buy with all that leftover holiday cash? Check out our friends over at Pop Monster in Torrance, CA. They're doing something a bit more interesting than the vinyl toy dealers you might find in LA. Recently, they introduced a "Toy Trading Cabinet," where you can come into their store with toys you don't want (perhaps blind box toys you already have) and trade them for other collectibles in the cabinet. I think it's an awesome idea, and have already made good use in increasing my Bearbrick collection. In addition, Pop Monster carries a full assortment of Tokidoki apparel, bags, watches, Kid Robot Dunnys, all sorts of blind box toys, Gloomy Bears, and much much more! Check them out!! November 20th, 2008  The 2009 Michelin Guide: Tokyo, which rates exceptional restaurants around the world, has awarded its highest rating of 3 stars to a handful of Tokyo chefs. The number of 3-star-rated restaurants has increased by one to total 9 for the capital. All told, 173 restaurants were awarded stars, making Tokyo the most-starred city in the world--THE "Cuisine Capital"--for the second year in a row. Isn't it time you visit the city that has ousted Paris, New York, and Madrid in culinary excellence? Stay tuned for Pop Japan Travel's IRON CHEF TOUR!! November 11th, 2008   October 21st, 2008  My personal favorite Japanese clothing/toy brand, Original Fake, has updated their website with a new picture featuring an all black 4 foot tall Companion doll.... September 16th, 2008  Capcom recently announced the 9th entry in the MegaMan franchise. Known as RockMan in Japan, MegaMan is the blue bomber known for destroying robotic bosses and utilizing their secret weapons. The game is going to look and play just like one of the old-school Nintendo MegaMan games, so don't expect any HD cut scenes here. Rumor has it the developers even went so far as including the same bugs that plagued the old MegaMan games. July 24th, 2008 Japanese niche fashion retailer Marui One and the Japan Foundation have teamed up to run a fashion contest for non-Japanese citizens. The grand prize: two round-trip air tickets to Japan. June 2nd, 2008 Fireworks season begins July 26 in Tokyo with the 30th anniversary of the Sumida River Fireworks. Around 22,000 fireworks will be set in this incredible display. The Tokyo Bay fireworks will be held every weekend from July to mid-August, with the climax at the second Saturday in August. The number of fireworks launched can reach 12,000, lighting up the whole eastern part of the city. For more information, click
here.
May 19th, 2008 A celebration of 30 years of Leiji Matsumoto's space epic will open May 27 at the Suginami Animation Museum. May 12th, 2008 Our friend Jamie at Japan L.A. let us know that the J-pop band Love Psychedelico will be in Los Angeles this Wednesday to play a show at Bordello near Little Tokyo. Admission is free with an RSVP, plus free Asahi from 9 to 10 p.m. May 12th, 2008 The first glimpse at what the "Dragon Ball" Hollywood adaptation might look like is in this week's Shonen Jump, the original publisher of the classic manga by Akira Toriyama. May 6th, 2008 The Wachowskis' film adaptation of the classic "Speed Racer," itself an Americanization of Tatsunoko Pro's "Mach Go Go Go," opens in American theaters this Friday. (And if you need even more Speed, the original manga by Tatsuo Yoshida is now on sale from Akadot affiliate Digital Manga.) May 1st, 2008 Storyboards from "Howl's Moving Castle" drawn by Mamoru Hosoda ("The Girl Who Leapt Through Time"), the original director of the project who was later replaced by Hayao Miyazaki, have turned up online at GhibliWorld. April 10th, 2008 The formerly tiny Akiba Mandarake has been replaced by a larger dojin and anime goods shop dubbed "Mandarake Complex" a block away. April 9th, 2008 The picturesque Tokyo neighborhood finally gets a branch of the famous dojinshi and manga shop. April 4th, 2008 Cosplayers marched down the main drag in the otaku neighborhood of Denden Town in Nipponbashi, Osaka March 20, Iza News Reports. They were protesting nothing in particular, but there was a guy dressed like Porco Rosso. April 3rd, 2008 The old Namba Osaka location of Mandarake, the Japanese comics and doujinshi chain, has closed to make room for Mandarake Grand Chaos, a new store in Amerika-mura, a fashion neighborhood not known for otaku. April 2nd, 2008 Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura appointed Doraemon, the cartoon robot cat well-loved in Japan and Asia but little-known in the United States, last week to be Japan's world ambassador for anime. March 20th, 2008 Board a train at Kami-Igusa Station in Tokyo's Suginami Ward, and instead of some dull chime informing you the doors are closing, you'll hear the strains of "Fly, Gundam," the theme song to the original "Mobile Suit Gundam." March 18th, 2008 Hayao Miyazaki has revealed that his closely guarded upcoming film will be a retelling of "The Little Mermaid," set in Japan. March 18th, 2008 About 250 priceless cels, backgrounds and other artwork from early Walt Disney films, discovered in storage at Chiba University near Tokyo in 2005, will be returned to the Walt Disney Co. in the United States. March 17th, 2008 Fourteen shops selling merchandise from movies, manga and anime, plus one restaurant, located in the underground shopping arcades at Tokyo Station have officially organized. March 13th, 2008 Disney's first Japan-produced is a short about two robots tasked to take care of a girl in the near future. |