In Japan, tattoos have long been associated with yakuza gang members. Today, tattoos represent a form of self-expression that is here to stay.

Tattoo You

Tattooing through the Ages

For centuries, many cultures around the world have practiced the art of tattooing including tribal groups in Borneo, Cambodia, Europe, Japan, the Mentawai Islands, Micronesia, New Zealand, Nigeria, North America, the Philippines, South America, Taiwan, and Turkey. “Britons” translates as “people of the designs” and the British remain the most tattooed in Europe.

Tattoos no longer taboo?

The cultural status of tattooing has evolved from being considered an anti-social activity in the 1960s to a trendy fashion statement in the 1990s. No longer are tattoos limited to the bikers, gangsters, rock stars and the military. Today, movie stars, professional sports figures, fashion models and other public figures who play a significant role in setting cultural norms and behavioral patterns are sporting tattoos.

Japanese comics are no laughing matter. Manga and anime have grown in global popularity and have captivated a legion of seriously devoted worldwide fans.

Manga & Anime Expos

Anime Expo 2012

Anime Expo (AX), North America’s largest anime, manga and Japanese pop culture convention, celebrated its busiest event ever in its 21-year history in 2012 with a record 49,400-plus unique attendees and a turn- stile attendance of over 130,000 during its four days at the Los Angeles Convention Center. It ran between June 29 and July 2.

Tokyo Journal looks at the future of e-books and raises the question of whether e-books are worth the paper they are not printed on.

Famous last words: "E-books are never going to take off!"

In the mid-nineties, the owner of an online university approached the president of a major publishing company to express his excitement over technology, the Internet and the thought that e-books were the future. He urged the market-leading publisher to produce more books in their electronic format so students worldwide could gain convenient and instant access to textbooks. The owner’s delight, however, was quickly defused as the publisher responded, “E-books are never going to take off.” This was at a time when scanners were not near the speed or quality of today and authors were still submitting paper manuscripts. This led the publisher to add, “If we wanted to start converting books into e-books, we would need to start scanning every single page beginning with the Bible. Can you imagine how long that would take?”

International Car Show

Tokyo Journal checked out California’s 2013-Model Orange County International Auto Show at Anaheim Convention Center to see the hottest new cars and trucks, exotics, and tricked-out rides. Highlights included:

See the latest tricked-out cars including Industrial Light & Magic (Lucasfilm Division)'s "Vader's Ride", Will.i.am's '59 Corvette, "American Pride", the "Tekken" Ferrari, a Transformers Sports Car, and the lowest low riders around! Photos taken at the October 6, 2012 Orange County International Auto Show in California.

See TJ's top recommended places to stay in Seoul - a hot spot for foreign travelers, and a superior stay in Seoul!

A Superior Stay in Seoul

The Westin Chosun

The Westin Chosun Seoul is Korea’s first international hotel. This classic hotel was built in 1914 with the first running water, elevator and ice cream in the country, attracting celebrities like Marilyn Monroe and Bob Hope. Rebuilt in the 1960s and fully renovated since then, The Westin Chosun is within walking distance of the headquarters of major international banks, local government offices, historic landmarks and thriving shopping districts.

The hotel has 462 guest rooms and 40 suites with the Westin Heavenly Bed, anti-allergy carpets, self-serve espresso coffee machines, mobile phones and high-speed Internet access. Guests can access a business center with state-of-the-art conference rooms and a drug store, barbershop, beauty salon and souvenir shop as well as the City Athletic Club, a Pilates studio, a swimming pool, steam and dry saunas and whirlpools. For corporate events and weddings, there is the Grand Banquet Hall, six mid-sized banquet halls and conference rooms.

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.

Accessible only by floatplane, a luxurious floating lodge operates for four months a year in the heart of British Columbia’s Great Bear Rainforest, one of the last untouched corners of Canada and the world.

King Pacific Lodge

Sustainable Luxury

How do you build a five-star hotel in one of the last untouched corners of the world without hurting the environment or building roads? Make it float. The King Pacific Lodge does just that. Owned by Hideo “Joe” Morita, son of the late Sony founder Akio Morita, the lodge operates for four months of the year from June to September. It is towed to and from its docking location 380 km north of Vancouver at the beginning and end of each season, and guests arrive by floatplane.

Tokyo’s Harajuku District, a fashion paradise where the catwalk got its claws, rivals L.A.’s Venice Beach for uniqueness. So why then does the Harajuku/Omotesando district trump what Venice Beach has to offer?

Harajuku Girls, you've got that wicked style

Street Fashion meets the Concrete Catwalk

A fashion center of the world, Tokyo’s Harajuku District has long been renowned for its unique street fashion. Ranging from Gothic Lolita to Visual Kei, Decora, Mori Girl (Forest Girl) and Dolly Kei, Harajuku has been a haven for pop culture trendsetters, helping to launch prominent designers and fashion ideas on the international scene. While not strictly fashion, cosplay (costume play) also emerged from the district to gain world attention. In her 2004 hit song “Harajuku Girls,” American singer Gwen Stefani helped popularize the concept of Harajuku in the Western world and described why she is such a huge fan: “You’re looking so distinctive like D.N.A., like nothing I’ve ever seen in the U.S.A.”

Japan’s leading entrepreneurial companies, Rakuten and Uniqlo, are taking a no-nonsense approach toward going global by adopting English as the official workplace language.

Speaking the Global Language of Business

Drastic times call for drastic measures

Two of Japan’s top entrepreneurial companies have adopted English as the official language of their workplace. This is in a country with companies known for avoiding risk whenever possible. So why would Rakuten and Uniqlo take such atypical measures at a time when English-language proficiency is low in the country? TOEFL (Test Of English as a Foreign Language) score data from 2004 to 2005 placed Japan second to last in Asia in terms of English language skills with 191 points, only one point higher than North Korea. Not helping, the collapse of two of Japan’s largest English language school chains, Nova and GEOS, over the past six years has reduced the number of opportunities for adults to study English at private language schools. So this ‘sink or swim’ approach by Rakuten and Uniqlo to speak English in the workplace is a bold but strategic maneuver at a time when they are expanding to compete in the global marketplace where the official language of business is English.

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.