Places and Landmarks in Tokyo

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Please Note:

The question for 30 ACROSS was created in error. It should have read, "One of Tokyo's 23 wards, this place was the first post-town a traveler would reach after setting out from Nihonbashi on the Tokkaido Highway from Edo to Kyoto"

The answer for 6 DOWN was spelled incorrectly as "Ryugoku". The correct answer is "Ryogoku".

Sophisticated yet trendy, simplistic yet vibrant... no matter how you describe it, Tokyo chic is so cool its appeal is spreading to the west

Simplicity and Sophistication

Japan Takes the Best of the World and Makes it Her Own

The 1992 movie “Mr. Baseball” starring Tom Selleck didn’t earn any Oscars, but a quote from the movie says a lot about Japan and especially it’s style. In the movie, Hiroko, the love interest of Tom Selleck’s character, tells him, “Japan takes the best of the world and makes it her own.” This can be seen in the sophisticated and chic interior designs of bars, cafes, and restaurants throughout the gargantuan metropolis of Tokyo. There is something very Japan-esque about the designs and yet very European at the same time, just like Hiroko says. Japanese modern interiors are designed with a perfect chemistry for Italian and European modern furniture, combining utility with beauty while maximizing the usage of space. Simple. Clean. Elegant.

Monocle Cafe

Let’s take a look at Monocle Cafe in the Hankyu Men’s Tokyo department store in the business district of Yurakucho. The cafe is owned by British global affairs magazine Monocle, and the understated interior design is very Japanese chic while retaining the company’s modern image and branding. The interior design uses Vitsoe shelving, Bolichwerke lampshades by Germany’s Manufactum and natural wood materials featuring furniture from the Maruni Collection created in collaboration with Japanese product designer Naoto Fukasawa. According to Fukasawa, the furniture collection seeks to convey a highly detailed and clean image while retaining a sense of human warmth.

Asia’s Korean band fad is going global with top Western entertainment venues hosting performances by Korean dancers and musical artists.

K-Pop Goes the World

Surprising Attendance in California

The lights go on. The pounding dance beat starts. And 12,000 screaming fans rise to their feet in the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Acclaimed record producer Quincy Jones watches from his suite. Is this Beyonce? Rhianna? Lady Gaga? Nope. It’s an all-star concert featuring the likes of Girls Generation, Super Junior, BoA, TVXQ, f(x), EXO and SHINee. How can bands not played on American Top 40 radio fill a U.S. arena? Well, these are Korea’s top pop bands, and they played S.M. Entertainment’s third world tour on May 20, 2012. SME, a Seoul-based independent record producer, has held previous world tours with stops in New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Tokyo, Shanghai, Beijing and Taipei. Yeah, but was Anaheim’s Honda Center filled with 12,000 Koreans and Korean Americans? Nope. Around two thirds of the fans were non- Korean, a sign of the spreading popularity of Korean pop.