The reopening of the recently rennovated McDonald's near Akihabara station got so wild today that it manifested Ronald.

We used to be a proper country

I would like to thank my local supermarket in #Tokyo for changing their background music from Ghibli songs (ugh) to the theme tunes from Space Cobra and Fist of the North Star today! www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnzg...

#Japan wants overseas #manga sales to hit ¥1 trillion (about $6.2B) by 2033. A new Agency for Cultural Affairs public-private consortium will push official distribution, AI-assisted translation, anti-piracy efforts, and even discuss a homegrown digital manga platform.

On June 18, about 30 minutes of #Supergirl screened in #Japan for the first time, with DC fans, influencers, and cosplayers (including a Krypto?) in attendance. The film opens here on June 26, meaning it has about a week before the inevitable Toy Story 5 stampede.

Where were you in '92?

AK-GARDEN, a #Tokyo event for fans of small-scale models and dolls, was held on June 14. New items on display included the usual suspects plus a new figure referred to only as "ano hito" ("that person").

A new version of the oft-filmed murder mystery Village of the Eight Gravestones is coming to theaters in #Japan this September. Directed by #jhorror and Ju-On filmmaker Takashi Shimizu, the film stars kabuki actor Matsuya Onoe as detective Kosuke Kindaichi. Here's the key visual and poster.

Despite bad box office back home, #StarWars is still “big in #Japan”. On 6/17, the first IMAX “cheer screening” for The Mandalorian and Grogu—a fan screening where shouting, cheering, cosplay, and glow sticks are allowed—sold out all seats in Ikebukuro, #Tokyo. About 80% of the crowd was female.

Eat your heart out, Kennedy Center! The large “SEIBU” signboard at Ikebukuro East Exit has been covered up and presumably removed due to renovations for the new Yodobashi Camera set to open there soon. Is this the golden age of dramatic sign removal?

Men, why can't you dress like this

#Japan’s TV exodus is getting real: an NHK survey found about 70% of teens and people in their 20s, and nearly 60% of people in their 30s, barely watch real-time TV anymore. At this point, the TV is just the large black rectangle behind the Nintendo Switch. www.asahi.com/articles/ASV...

#Japan’s antitrust watchdog raided 6 major ice cream makers over suspected price-fixing. Meiji, Morinaga, Lotte, Akagi, and Glico all raised prices in 2024, citing higher costs. Officials now suspect the real flavor may have been "Cartel" (not to be confused with Carvel). mainichi.jp/articles/202...

From June 30, the SEIBU department store in Ikebukuro will house a new Yodobashi Camera, one of the largest in #Japan's Kanto region. I predict Yodobashi will also move into the SEIBU in Shibuya too. In the meantime, when was the last time you went to a big store to buy a camera?

Japanese movie theater deathwatch: RIP Cine Switch in #Tokyo's Ginza district. The two-screen theater originally opened in 1955 before a 1987 renewal and a new focus on foreign and domestic indie films. The last picture show there will be on 10/25.

Episode 169 of the PURE TOKYOSCOPE Podcast is live! This time, Matt Alt (mattalt.bsky.social) and I talk about a recent visit to a #Tokyo hostess club (for work!). Also, a close encounter with the 1977 #kaiju film The Last Dinosaur! Listen now at: www.tokyoscope.blog/p/pure-tokyo...

The Roppongi Banana Boys Are still out there

RIP golden age of Japanese Cinema actress Tamao Nakamura. She was married to Shintaro Katsu (which probably was kinda hectic). She was 86.

@patrickmacias.bsky.social and I are back for another chocolate-frosted episode of PURE TOKYOSCOPE. This time, we talk about my being dragged to a hostess club in Ginza: www.tokyoscope.blog/p/pure-tokyo...

Has anyone made a AI video yet of Roger Ebert and Rex Reed opening the gates of heaven to welcome in Gene Shalit (RIP)? Should they?

Episode 169 of the PURE TOKYOSCOPE Podcast is live! This time, Matt Alt (mattalt.bsky.social) and I talk about a recent visit to a #Tokyo hostess club (for work!). Also, a close encounter with the 1977 #kaiju film The Last Dinosaur! Listen now at: www.tokyoscope.blog/p/pure-tokyo...

Scenes from an abandoned video rental store in #Japan. The sun-bleached copies of Urotsukidoji are the chef’s kiss.

TokyoScope News: #Pokémon, Tamagotchi, and Detective Conan all turn 30 in 2026, marking the year Japan’s modern pop culture economy took shape across #anime, games, toys, characters, and nostalgia. Full story: www.tokyoscope.blog/p/pokemon-ta...

The fist kickstreamers went the hardest

Why didn't you tell me

Is this what the kids mean when they call a song a banger

It’s been 18 years since the Akihabara massacre in #Tokyo on June 8, 2008. People continue to leave flowers at the site to memorialize the victims, although the photographer of these pics notes that the number has decreased over the years.

Is this a scene from Backrooms?

When will things get back to normal?

Join @patrickmacias.bsky.social and I for a new episode of the Pure Tokyoscope Podcast, broadcast live from Macross City: www.tokyoscope.blog/p/pure-tokyo...

Episode 168 of the PURE TOKYOSCOPE Podcast is live! This time, Matt Alt and I dive into Japan’s plan for entertainment stocks, say bye to the founder of 7-Eleven #Japan and the director of Tokyo Gore Police, and lose our minds over a new #Macross toy! Listen now: www.tokyoscope.blog/p/pure-tokyo...

Culture warriors are bloviating about the supposedly “woke” translation of Homer’s “Odyssey” used by Christopher Nolan for his film. Anime and manga translators are all too familiar with this kind of thing, as I wrote about last year: blog.pureinventionbook.com/p/the-first-...

Imagining the conversation here going:“I couldn’t get any traction for any new projects until I sold out to AI…” “That’s funny, I thought I was the only one!” "So did I!" While De Niro just sort of nods and twitches like he do in Jackie Brown

An experiential exhibition touching on the art of Japanese horror films is being held in Osaka, featuring an unsettling worldview from the Showa era. www.shochiku.co.jp/pj/obakeyaho...

I’m not sharing that new rage-bait article about conbini, but seriously... how much longer are people going to say #Tokyo looks like Blade Runner? The original came out in 1982; the future it’s set in was 2019. I always thought it just looked like downtown LA with miniatures and matte paintings.

Episode 168 of the PURE TOKYOSCOPE Podcast is live! This time, Matt Alt and I dive into Japan’s plan for entertainment stocks, say bye to the founder of 7-Eleven #Japan and the director of Tokyo Gore Police, and lose our minds over a new #Macross toy! Listen now: www.tokyoscope.blog/p/pure-tokyo...

Just gonna leave this here

Has anyone licensed the ZZ Top #manga yet?

TokyoScope News: The Mandalorian and Grogu may be losing steam in the U.S., but in #Japan it is still holding the No. 1 box office spot, showing that #StarWars remains a reliable big-screen brand there. Full story: www.tokyoscope.blog/p/why-star-w...

There's a crazy looking Kazuo Umezu DRIFTING CLASSROOM horror manga pop-up shop underway right now at Hands #Shibuya in #Tokyo. Still bummed these guys are closing later this year!

Do you guys think "SHOGUN BURGER" is historically accurate

If you think the news is bad in your neck of the woods, #Japan is on a whole other level

Typhoon No. 6 in #Japan has been upgraded to a Sushi Typhoon in honor of Yoshihiro Nishimura (RIP)

Michael finally opens in #Japan this Friday, and things are gonna get a little loco