 When a 9.0 earthquake struck northern Japan in March, Yukihiro Osawa felt prepared. Like most fishermen in his village on Miyagi Prefecture’s Oshika Peninsula, he docked two of his boats on a nearby island where they would be sheltered from the coming tsunami. He then hurried to shelter, and looked out to sea.
The New Creative Mind Behind ‘Cool Japan’ 10/20/2011
 Kashiwa Sato is the face behind many of Japan’s most famous designs — from the logos for Fast Retailing’s casual-clothing chain Uniqlo to artwork for Japan’s popular boy band SMAP and premier fashion designer Issey Miyake. Now he is taking on a new challenge as the creative mind behind the country’s new logo and message representing “Cool Japan,” the government’s campaign to promote modern Japanese culture abroad. It will be used by Japanese agencies and companies.
Japan - Land of the Rising Tourist Numbers? 10/05/2011
 The Asahi beer is ice-cold. Naoki Doi takes sips from it between bites of curry. The bespectacled tour guide has asked me and my family to eat fast: he's taking us around some of Kyoto's outstanding shrines and temples, and there's a lot of them to see. He is, he says, relieved to have some business again. In March this year, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck off the coast of East Japan, sending a devastating tsunami towards the shore.
Tokyo Disnleyland is a Tourist-Magnet again 09/05/2011
 Visitors to Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea increased on a year-on-year basis in August, recovering from the sharp dropoff following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, the president of operator Oriental Land Co. said in a recent interview. Oriental Land will be able to book a profit for the business year to next March despite a loss of ¥3.8 billion in the April-June first quarter "if the number of visitors continues to increase," Kyoichiro Uenishi said.
Twitter Popularity Grows in Japan 08/10/2011
 Twitter users in Japan have generated some of the biggest traffic spikes in the microblogging service's five-year history. Now a new study may help explain Twitter's growing popularity in Japan - the short, 140-character tweets may have struck a deep cultural chord because of structural similarities to the country's traditional, emotive haiku poetry.
 An exhibition in Osaka, western Japan, is giving visitors a chance to see real-life renderings of inventions and gadgets featured in the popular comic and animated series "Doraemon." In the long-running series, the titular cat-shaped robot from the 22nd century uses a variety of devices dubbed "secret tools" to help Nobita, a schoolboy in present-day Tokyo.
Will Japan give Google+ a +1? 07/22/2011
 Despite only being in closed beta testing at the moment, Google's new social-network service, Google+, is rapidly proving to be huge, with more than 10 million users joining since it was announced on June 28. And thanks to their international connections, Net-savvy Japanese too were soon getting invitations to join "circles," which is how the service organizes members. Within a day or two of invitations being sent out, I observed a lot of Japanese users joining — with a speed much faster than when social-networking services like Orkut, Mixi, Gree, Twitter and Facebook launched.
Bonsai: It's What's Underneath That Counts 05/07/2011
 Bonsai master Yasuo Mitsuya knows what a bonsai tree needs, and he s not afraid to strong arm one to make it happen. Just ask Carl, a volunteer at Lake Merritt s serenely beautiful Bonsai Garden where Mitsuya is holding classes this weekend. Carl said he watched in horror as the bonsai master stretched and straightened the curved trunk of an Atlas Cedar that he had nurtured for years.
 When first-time visitors arrive in Japan, a few things they may notice right off the bat include the juxtaposition of the high-tech and the ancient, the unfailing politeness of locals, and a curious fixation with cuteness — to wit, all the cute mascots that promote regions, historic sites, local specialties and events, the police, you name it.
Japan does not "Like" Facebook 11/30/2010
 While internet users worldwide are now proudly boasting a growing online contacts list made up of people they know, people they used to know, people they can’t remember how they know, people they would rather not know (but can’t say NO to), and people who they want to know, a recent study has revealed that Japan just doesn’t want to know.
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