Japanese Indie Games
A guide to Japan’s independent and dōjin game cultures, their home-computer roots, distribution networks, tools, festivals, and global circulation.
Japanese Popular Culture
LUNA SEA
A history of LUNA SEA’s five-member rock language, from the Kanagawa live-house circuit and visual kei to reunion, self-reinterpretation and its 2026 transition.
X Japan
A history of X Japan, the rock band whose speed, ballads, theatrical image and independent strategy helped shape visual kei and Japanese arena rock.
&TEAM
An overview of &TEAM, the nine-member Japan-based global group formed through &AUDITION and developed through transnational idol production, choreography and multilingual media.
Yoshida Brothers
An introduction to Ryoichiro and Kenichi Yoshida, the Hokkaido-born duo whose Tsugaru-shamisen performance joins competition, improvisation, recording and global collaboration.
Shiina Ringo
A biography of Shiina Ringo, the Japanese songwriter, composer, arranger and performer whose solo work and Tokyo Incidents connect pop, rock and wider media.
Tokyo Incidents
A guide to Tokyo Incidents, the ensemble built around Shiina Ringo and a five-member approach to songwriting, arrangement, jazz-inflected rock and pop.
Wagakki Band
An introduction to Wagakki Band’s eight-member fusion of shigin, Japanese instruments and rock, from Vocaloid covers to international touring and indefinite hiatus.
J-pop — Japanese Popular Music
An overview of J-pop as a changing umbrella for Japanese popular music, from its late-1980s label to its sounds, industries, media and audiences.
Pokémon GO
Pokémon GO connects a Japanese media franchise to location-based mobile play, turning maps, landmarks, walking, and live city events into game systems.