 A kimono designer is attempting to save the endangered art by introducing it to today's gadget-loving younger generation. Nobuaki Tomita has created cases for Apple Inc.'s iPad tablet computers made of fabric for kimono sashes worn by "maiko" apprentice geisha. "I want to save the true tradition in one way or another while it is still alive," Tomita said.
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.
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.
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.
 A Buddhist temple in Kyoto is displaying its historic sculptures in 3D on iPads in a bid to provide 21st century appreciation of the artefacts. The project has been launched at Byodoin, one of the nation's oldest temples dating back nearly 1,000 years and a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site.Five iPads have been installed alongside a series of historic Buddhist sculptures in the temple, located in the Kyoto region, displaying images of the artworks in three-dimensional form.
 The increase in the tax on cigarettes in October has reignited sales of loose tobacco in Japan, which is designed to be smoked in old-fashioned pipes known as "kiseru." The Japanese government raised the tax on cigarettes and other tobacco products as much as 40 percent on October 1, with retailers reporting "panic buying" in the weeks leading up to that date. Kimono Making in Japan is a Dying Art 10/28/2010
 For centuries Japanese have worn beautiful, hand-crafted kimonos, but soon there will be no one left with the skills to make one of the nation's most enduring cultural symbols. Yasutaka Komiya, an 84-year-old craftsman, is flicking through piles of exquisitely decorated rainbow-hued silk. "I started learning how to dye kimono fabrics in this style when I was 12," he said. "A few hundred years ago, thousands of people were doing this. But today? We are one of only three families left in Japan who can do this work."
 It wasn't too long ago that Owen Westman's customers at Rickhouse Bar didn't even know there were Japanese whiskies available, let alone ask for them by name. "They certainly do now," he says. Although best known for sake, Japan has a whisky tradition stretching back more than a century. It's not widely available in the U.S., but that's changing as companies like major producer Suntory work to boost overseas sales.  Learning to taste and appreciate a new spirit is like trying to speak a new language. Sure, you can jump in with a few basic words and expressions and manage for a while. To reach true understanding, however, you're going to have to learn the grammar. New hobbies for swinging into spring 05/10/2010
 The beginning of April marks a new start for most Japanese, not only is it the new start of the financial year but it’s also the beginning of the academic year. It’s also the time when many people decide to try their hand at a new hobby, so with this in mind we decided to investigate what activities are popular this year and try to look at the reasons why these hobbies are trending. | Welcome to
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