Thomas the Tank Engine from “Thomas and Friends” is one of the most beloved characters in the children’s’ television world. He is very popular with young Japanese viewers as well….

  A Nissin Cup Noodles’ TV spot titled “Samurai in Brazil” is rapidly gaining popularity since its June 8 debut. This is a World Cup year,  the creative minds at…

  There are lots of regional characters in Japan, Most of which officially belong to certain prefectures, cities, towns and so on. A well-known character, Hikonyan, is Hikone city’s official…

  Is fruit an ingredient for cooking (aside from sweets) in your country? I guess many counties use various kinds of fruit for cooking, but we usually don’t use them…

Kewpie is an American-born character, but it has been loved by Japanese since its Japanese production started in 1913.  Like Hello Kitty, Kewpie has a wide variety of regional specific…

Today I would like to share an outstanding TV commercial. First, a kawaii young girl in a lovely pink dress appears…   This classic feminine dress looks very good on…

  As we mentioned in an earlier article, recently in Japan a new phrase, “marshmallow joshi(=girls)”, referring to chubby girls, was coined and has become becoming very common. This phrase…

  Jalan, the popular Japanese travel website/magazine, has the cutest feline mascots named “Nyaran” (the master) and “Deshi” (the follower) . These two cats journey to many alluring places in…

  A few years ago, JAPAN Style posted an article about a  popular Japanese home-remodeling TV show, “Gekiteki (=dramatic) Before After”. In the recent episode, one of the “takumi (= grandmaster…

  Recently in Japan, two TV commercials were cancelled due to a surge of viewer complaints. In addition, a TV drama showcasing a story about orphans became very controversial. I don’t…

  A few months ago, I found a Japanese TV program that profiles Japanese women who are married to foreign men and live in their husbands’ countries. First, viewers see a featured…