Preparatory education for university entrance examinations is an important rite of passage for many Japanese teenagers. This period of preparation can be a time of profound personal growth, confidence-building, and personal triumph for many of these ambitious youths. Toward that end, Tokyo-based, Mustard Seed Academy (MSA) recently celebrated the debut of its new campus in Shizuoka City last month, introducing to the community a unique approach to preparatory education in Japan. According to author, school dean, and senior English instructor Hajime Nakazawa, “If students deeply experience their worth and value, …

Kirsten Dunst is eating up Akihabara in a new video which covers the Vapor’s “Turning Japanese.”

Pictures of her were taken a few months back in cosplay and “Akihabara Majokko Princess” must be the final result. The famous Japanese artist Takashi Murakami produced the video.

Suzuki Toshio’s radio show Ghibli Asemamire airs every week. The main guest a couple of weeks ago was Google Japan president Tsujino Koichiro and during their talk, Studio Ghibli producer Suzuki told that the famed Japanese animation studio is making a new short film; 10 minutes in length and made by Miyazaki Hayao. As many of the studio’s animators are working on the new feature Karigurashi no Arrietty, Miyazaki himself is even working on animating it as well. Though the short will have no dialogue, Suzuki mentioned it is very interesting, but can’t tell anymore details yet.

Vocaloid Hatsune Miku dances and sings to “Ren’ai Circulation,” a song by Kana Hanazawa.

Sakura-Con is going to be bigger and better than ever this year!
With Appearances by:

Tsuyoshi Nonaka is a Mechanical designer known for his work on D.I.C.E. (TV) and Shin Mazinger Shogeki! Z-Hen. This will be Nonaka-San’s first Sakura-Con.

Yasuhiro Imagawa has directed several unconventional updates of classic Japanese robot stories, such as Giant Robo, Mobile Fighter G Gundam, and most recently, Shin Mazinger Shogeki! Z-Hen. He also wrote scrips for Pet Shop of Horrors, Violinist of Hamelin, Beserk and Harelya II Boy. This is Imagawa-San’s first Sakura-Con.

Yutaka Minowa is …

Three female “ambassadors of cute” were appointed by the Foreign Ministry last year to spread the word of “kawii” aboard.
Many youth around the world are fascinated with anime and “cosplay,” or the hobby of dressing up in costumes based on their favorite characters. So, inspired by the characters in Japan’s distinctive “anime” films and “manga”, one of the new ambassadors dresses as a schoolgirl(Shizuka Fujioka) and another as a Victorian doll(Misako Aoki) in voluminous frilly skirts. The remaining of the trio is a very fashionable singer(Yu Kimura) that would …

At 14-years old Beckii’s popularity in Japan rocketed after her YouTube videos were picked up by the popular Japanese website Niko Niko Douga. Her Japanese DVD debut, This is Beckii Cruel: Too Cute to be Real, was released last November and debuted at number eight on Japan’s DVD charts.

Their stocks are plunging and they are preparing to file for bankruptcy, but that’s not stopping the struggling Japan Airlines (JAL) from offering travelers the opportunity to fly with Doraemon, the beloved cartoon robo-cat.

According to a press release on the company website, JAL will begin operating the “Doraemon Jet” — a Boeing 777-300 decorated with large colorful images of Doraemon characters…

Earthquakes are an every day occurrence in Japan, but every 80 years it is predicted that Tokyo will be hit by a really huge earthquake. And now there’s a new anime about to be released with just that doomsday scenario as its premise. The anime draws its inspiration on the statistic that there is a 70% or higher possibility that a magnitude 7.0 earthquake will occur in Tokyo in the next 30 years.

Loaded with Yamaha’s Vocaloid singing voice synthesizer software, the HRP-4C female fashion model/humanoid robot can now give her animated counterparts a go for their money.

The HRP-4C robot was developed by AIST. The anime-faced humanoid with slightly oversized eyes, a tiny nose and shoulder length hair boasts 42 motion motors programmed to mimic the movements of flesh-and-blood fashion models.