Japundit reader Colin Fletcher writes in to alert us to a report about a maid coffee shop that has newly opened in Culver City, California.

Sandra Westwood, who oversees the cafe, worked most recently at the restaurants Bread and Brown Cafe in Manhattan. Earlier in her career, as a fashion model in Japan and Paris, she […]

A brand new bakery opened in Tokyo on May 5th. The shop is called Shirohige no shou cream kobo (which means White-bearded’ cream puff workshop).
A perfect opening for Kodomo no Hi (Children’s Day), the shop sells cream puff Totoros and sold out of them in the first ten minutes of opening!
The store […]

Japan’s defeat in World War II was a huge emotional blow to the country which is still felt today. Although more than sixty years have passed, the subject of the war is still in many ways “taboo,” and not discussed very often outside of certain specific situations. (Kind of reminds me of growing up in […]

Popee is a brilliant series of animations that is longer being made, apparently because of complaints that it might be bad for kids. It is no more violent than Tom & Jerry, but certainly creepier and incomparably esoteric.
For better or worse, my daughter loves these. The same animator also made a series called Stain, well […]

I’m currently in love with this watch by LA based designer Tokidoki. The designer, Simone Legno, is actually from Italy, but with a keen eye, and a sense of humor (not to mention a Japanese girlfriend), he’s created a world of charming characters that remind one of the playful sensibility pervading the world of anime. […]

If you are in New York you might like to know that the Brooklyn Museum is hosting an exihibit of the work of Takashi Murakami.
Who knew that the first Louis Vuitton boutique in Brooklyn would touch down smack in the middle of an exhibition in one of the borough’s most venerable art institutions?
But there it […]

Thanks to go55man

Last July, Natsuki Matsumoto rummaged around at an Osaka antique store and made a wonderful discovery- short, silent anime films over 90 years old- the oldest ever found.
The National Film Center in Tokyo has restored both anime films: “Nakamura Katana”- A 2 minute silent film about a samuari and “Urashima Taro” based on an […]

From CBC News:
Japan has created an unusual government post to promote animation, and named a perfect figure to the position: a popular cartoon robot cat named Doraemon.
Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura appointed the cat as “anime ambassador” at an inauguration ceremony Wednesday.

I always expected that the first American anime/music video hit would come from Utada Hikaru–I thought it would be a great way for her to showcase her talent and capitalize on the whole Japanimation fascination that seems everywhere these days. And I still think so (Hikki–please hurry up! Can’t you, like, hire Miyazaki or something? […]

remember those blow up jumping castles that you had at your birthday party as a child? well leave it to japan to pervert those too.

boldly going where only ash (satochi) has gone before

in what is one of the more disturbing trends in contemporary japan, the maid cafes and other perverted male otaku hang outs have spawned a new branch of cafes for female otaku, ones based one gay comic book porn. that’s right, women who want to indulge their childhood fantasy of young effeminate men dressed […]

While strolling through Utsunomiya Station with the charming and delightful Mrs. JP today, we spotted a pair of real live kigurumin (girls who wear a type of pajama-suit that resembles an animal and sometimes cartoon characters) strolling along off in the distance.
Much to the dismay of Mrs. JP, I was off in a flash, […]

I was originally tipped to the following video of a Japanese anime about whaling thanks to a comment by JAPUNDIT reader vittel in last week’s Open Thread.
I was able to find a another version with English subtitles. Though the English is a bit funny and obviously written by a native speaker of Japanese, I […]

The Internet truly is a wealth of knowledge, both useful and otherwise.
Today while surfing around, I found out the meaning of Pikachu’s name. . .
Apparently it comes from the Japanese, pikapika, which means to glitter or sparkle, and chuchu, which is the sound a mouse supposedly makes in Japan. Put it together and you […]

Sometimes it is fun to see how people from one country are depicted by the popular media in another country.
Click here is see a video of a Japanese TV anime that shows how super-cool Japanese guys deal with a bigger and stronger black American and his Japanese girlfriend.
Now click here to see an old […]

Anime has really gotten big in the U.S. in recent years, changing the face of popular culture as people are more in sync with the anime world. This isn’t a new phenomenon in Japan, of course, where animation has been a part of everyone’s lives since the old days of Mighty Atom, Giants no Hoshi […]

Walt Disney Co. has announced plans to launch a mobile phone service in Japan next near in cooperation with Softbank, which will offer users animated content. The two companies plan to work together to develop handsets.
While the tie-up would secure Softbank stable revenues from leasing unused frequencies, Disney’s entrance into Japan as a mobile […]