NOTEBOOK — Arts Culture Tourism from Tokyo

An earthquake measuring 6.1 struck the east of Hokkaido last Saturday, as hot air balloons took off from Ojiya in Niigata prefecture for the first time in four years the very same day. And in the Chiba town of Katsuura, a display of 30,000 traditional miniature dolls celebrates Hinamatsuri or Girls’ Day this year, with dolls donated from all different parts of the country. Meanwhile, with the 95th Academy Awards taking place in Hollywood next month, films such as “Small, Slow but Steady,” has been named film of the year following a screening at the Berlin International Film Festival. This year's entry was Makoto Shinkai’s “Suzume,” hi first animated film in three years and the first Japanese animated film competing for the award in 21 years, after Hayao Miyazaki’s “Spirited Away” clinched the Golden Bear in 2002.

—

Get in touch: [email protected]

Leave a message: speakpipe.com/notebook

Instagram: @notebook_pod

Twitter: @notebook_pod

—

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A Japanese startup has announced its plans to launch a commercial space viewing balloon. The National Breakdance Championships took place last Sunday at Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo. While a metal ball measuring 1 and-a-half meters in diameter has been found washed up on a Pacific coast beach, yet no can agree on what it is. And with all this flotsam and jetsam in mind, here is a round-up of recent art exhibitions that are either drawing to a close or about to start, at RootK Contemporary, Goya Curtain, Fig., Hagiwara Projects, Talion Gallery and Mizuma Art Gallery.

—

Get in touch: [email protected]

Leave a message: speakpipe.com/notebook

Instagram: @notebook_pod

Twitter: @notebook_pod

—

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A team of Japanese scientists has developed a new method for reducing abnormal amounts of protein believed to trigger Alzheimer’s Disease. Meanwhile, a newspaper poll last weekend shows that 72% of voters believe Japan should legalize same-sex marriages, compared with 18% who don’t. In Tokyo, the Himiko, Hotaluna, and Emeraldas river cruisers travel a stretch of the river from Asakusa to Odaiba Seaside Park, all designed by Reiji Matsumoto (1938-2023), the manga artist known for “Space Battleship Yamato,” “Galaxy Express 999" and videos for Daft Punk who died last Monday aged 85.

—

Get in touch: [email protected]

Leave a message: speakpipe.com/notebook

Instagram: @notebook_pod

Twitter: @notebook_pod

—

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Japan’s Immigration Services Agency announced last week its intention to “simplify” visas with a new system aimed at high earners and graduates from some of the world’s top universities. In the north, dozens of men gathered in the town of Misato last Wednesday evening for the traditional “Takeuchi” festival, while Xiang Xiang, the first giant panda born and raised at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo in almost three decades, will be sent to China tomorrow after repeated delays. And the year before the arrival of giant pandas Kang Kang and Lan Lan to Ueno Zoo in 1972, the New Shimbashi Building, facing the Yamanote line and Shimbashi JR station, marked the start of an altogether new breed of building in the capitol.

—

Get in touch: [email protected]

Leave a message: speakpipe.com/notebook

Instagram: @notebook_pod

Twitter: @notebook_pod

—

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For the first time in 35 years Japan has recounted its islands, more than doubling the original number of just under 7,000 to just over 14,000. Japanese chipmaker Rapidus is said to be mulling plans to build a factory in Hokkaido and to revive the country's semiconductor industry. The first ever SpoGOMI World Cup with its 'Sport' of collecting 'Rubbish' will take place in Tokyo this November, while Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi has said Japan will invite his Ukrainian counterpart to the G7 meeting of foreign ministers held tomorrow in Germany, just prior to the first anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In Tokyo, EASTEAST_ is taking place this weekend showcasing the best up-and-coming galleries and artists from Tokyo and Japan.

—

Get in touch: [email protected]

Leave a message: speakpipe.com/notebook

Instagram: @notebook_pod

Twitter: @notebook_pod

—

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One company is hoping to run every single yakatabune river boat in the capitol on SUSTEO, a next-generation biodiesel fuel making these floating dining halls as carbon-neutral as possible. Activists are battling Tokyo gov't to preserve Jingu Stadium, the world's fourth-oldest baseball ground, the 75 year-old Prince Chichibu Stadium, home to Japan’s Rugby Football Union and the iconic tree-lined avenue of the Meiji Jingu. Meanwhile, ice on Lake Nukabira is erupting with mushroom-shaped ice during its annual freeze. It will be visible near the Hokkaido town of Kamishihoro until the end of February alongside the Taushubetsu River Bridge, nicknamed 'The Phantom Bridge'. And with the price of chocolate going up, some are looking for alternatives to Valentine’s Day this year, with February 14th also known for two very different, well-established reasons: Niboshi-no-hi (dried sardine day) and Fundoshi-no-hi, or 'loincloth day' which more a test of endurance than expression of love.

—

Get in touch: [email protected]

Leave a message: speakpipe.com/notebook

Instagram: @notebook_pod

Twitter: @notebook_pod

—

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Japan will end its request for mask wearing from March 13th, finally leaving the question of whether to wear one, or not, up to you. Several members of a Tokyo-based investment consultancy were arrested for its plan to build a resort nicknamed Neverland on a deserted island using client funds. Chiba city is testing a new image-based AI chatbot to help residents dispose of rubbish more easily and ethically. And following last weeks note on Alice in Borderland, we look at other films by director Shunsuke Sato, from Gantz (2010) Gantz: Perfect Answer (2011) Library Wars (2013) and Inuyashiki (2018) to his latest installment in the Kingdom series set in feudal China, due to open in cinemas this July.

—

Get in touch: [email protected]

Leave a message: speakpipe.com/notebook

Instagram: @notebook_pod

Twitter: @notebook_pod

—

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sapporo in Hokkaido is favorite to host the 2030 Winter Games despite the news of corruption related to the Tokyo 2020 Summer Games. Elsewhere in Hokkaido, sightseeing tours navigate drift ice off the north coast this time of year. Japan waits for tourists to return and inbound revenue to skyrocket, while parts of rural Japan are being targeted to make use of their local culture. Some areas cannot wait though. The volcano on Sakurajima Island near Kyushu erupted Wednesday, the first since 2018. And as snow descends on Tokyo, attention turns to photography and Spring, from Kazuo Yoshida at Cage, to Wolfgang Tillmans at Espace Louis Vuitton Tokyo and Asako Narahashi with "Dawn of Spring" at PGI in Tokyo.

—

Get in touch: [email protected]

Leave a message: speakpipe.com/notebook

Instagram: @notebook_pod

Twitter: @notebook_pod

—

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Female Ski Jumpers win a clean sweep of medals at the Ski Jumping World Cup in Germany, as doubles Tennis players secure victory in the Davis Cup playoffs. Trains grind to a halt with a suspicious substance discovered at Ueno Station. And prior to today's state visit by Philippine President Marcos, Japanese police visit the Philippine capital Manila to return two Japanese nationals suspected of organizing robberies that caused loss of life. And with games in mind and crossing borders the order of the day, Netflix drama Alice in Borderland takes a precocious, curious young gamer and sends him down a rabbit hole into Tokyo bereft of people in order to play games and ultimately stay alive.

—

Get in touch: [email protected]

Leave a message: speakpipe.com/notebook

Instagram: @notebook_pod

Twitter: @notebook_pod

—

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kyoto’s transportation authority plans to abolish its One-Day Bus Pass at the end of March 2024 in a bid to ease congestion. The annual Sapporo Snow Festival continues this week until February 11th, while Japan is planning to expand its offshore wind farms in a push for clean energy to rival its dependance on nuclear power, coal-fired power stations and thermal energy. Close to Mt. Fuji in Hakone, the Motoyu Kansuirō ryokan guest house sits on the banks of the Hayakawa, The four storey building dating back to 1919 is a short walk from Tonosawa, famed for its own hot spring, and the Hakone-tozen train line.

—

Get in touch: [email protected]

Leave a message: speakpipe.com/notebook

Instagram: @notebook_pod

Twitter: @notebook_pod

—

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices