Category > Culture
Fans of Japanese music will want to tune into NHK World this weekend to watch Entertainment Nippon's coverage Asian Kung-Fu Generation.
The band has been running for 20 years, you may know their music from the hugely popular anime show Erased. Entertainment Nippon is due to air Saturday 5th March 2016 at 4:10, 11:10, 16:10 and 22:10 (UTC).
NHK World is a free to air station, and is broadcast dubbed into English or with English subtitles.
NHK World is available in the UK on the following
Sky Channel 507
Freestat Channel 209
Virgin Media Channel 625
They offer free live streaming if you don't have a service able to watch it.
It's also widely available around the world, so could be available in your region.
Read More... | Souce: NHK World
Category > Events
The MCM London Comic Con is always good for fans of Japanese culture, with plenty of cosplay, anime, video games and manga being represented. The good folks from the event have just sent us details that will appeal to fans of the J-Music scene. Amatsuki & Band-Maid will make their UK debuts at the MCM London Comic Con.
Amatsuki started out on popular Japanese video service NicoNico Douga. He became internet famous racking up over over 35 million views, and made the transition to the mainstream with his debut album Hello World, which reached number four in Japan’s national chart.
Band-Maid combine cute Japanese maid aesthetics with powerful, skilled musicianship. Forged from founder Miku's epxeriences in the maid cafes in otaku capital Akihabara, the combine geek culture with a passion for rock music.
Both acts will be performing live, signing autographs and taking part in on-stage Q&As at the MCM London Comic Con.
The May edition of event is set to run from Friday 27th to Sunday 29th May 2016 at the ExCel Centre in London.
Read More... | Souce: MCM London Comic Con
Category > Manga
Fans of a certain Baker Street Detective will be very pleased to hear that comic publisher Titan have announced that they'll be publishing the Sherlock Manga in the UK and US. Comic Book Resources revealed that Titan Comics announced at ComicsPro retailer summit that Sherlock: A Study in Pink will debut in June 2016.
The officially licensed Sherlock manga was published by Kadokawa Comics in Japan in 2012 in Young Ace magazine. It was published as a tankobon (standalone book) in Japanese in 2013. The manga closely follows the original BBC Sherlock episode featuring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman.
As of yet, it's not clear if Titan will be publishing the manga in it's original Japanese right to left format or if they'll flip it.
Souce: Comic Book Resources
The good folks from third window films have sent us details of their up coming blu-ray release of Kikujiro. Directed byTakeshi Kitano's the award-winning classic follows the exploits of little Masao and Kikujiro. The film can be described as both whimsical and bittersweet. It's not the normal Beat Takeshi blood bath movie. The blu-ray only release is out on Monday 22nd February 2016.
You can pre-order the movie on Blu-ray from Amazon.co.uk.
Read More... | Souce: Third Window Films
Category > Culture
With the release of Miss Hokusai Ukiyo-e prints are in the spotlight. Iconic band KISS have launched the KISS x Ukiyo-e Project which involves a collaboration with Japanese traditional Ukiyo-e art creators the Ukiyo-e Project. It features the KISS iconic style thrown into the world of traditional Japanese woodblook prints.
The Sunset Marquis/Morrison Gallery Hotel in Los Angeles will be hosting a KISS retrospective exhibition which will showcase the debut of the collaborative Ukiyo-e art pieces from Saturday 13th February 2016.
This is not the first time KISS have collaborated with Japanese culture icons, they've collaborated with Japanese super star Hello Kitty for KISS x Hello Kitty, which had a line of clothes and cool vinyl figures (this was one of our favourite collaborations with Hello Kitty since she teamed up with Gloomy Bear). KISS also teamed up with Japanese idol group Momoiro Clover Z.
Read More... | Souce: KISS
Category > Events
London based readers of Japanese Noir will be very interested in an up coming event Japanese Noir: Author Fuminori Nakamura in conversation. The event is set to run on Sunday 28th February 2016 from 2:30pm at Foyles Bookshop (107 Charing Cross Road, London WC2H 0D).
Fuminori Nakamura is part of younger generation of Japanese Noir authors following in the footsteps of Haruki Murakami and gaining more recognition internationally. The event is free to attend, but booking in advance is required. As always with events like this, we advise booking early to avoid disappointment.
Read More... | Souce: The Japan Foundation London
Category > Features
Production I.G's latest cinematic masterpiece Miss Hokusai has just hit cinema screens in the UK. We've seen it and recommend you do too. Although a lot is know about the master himself, we were curious to know more about the real life Miss Hokusai. We started to research her history, then remembered we know experts in Japanese woodblock prints! The Japanese Gallery who sell Japanese woodblock prints, antiques and even anime cels, they would already know a lot about Hokusai and his artistic daughter. We asked them what tell us all about the real O-Ei.
Read More... | Souce: Otaku News
Category > Features
Whether I'm reviewing or not, when I go in to watch a new feature film, I try to read up on it as little as possible. With Miss Hokusai, I had only seen the short Japanese trailer (on purpose, so I wouldn't understand everything), and later skimmed the first few paragraphs of the production notes, handed to me when I walked into the screening. What I was expecting was something of a behind-the-scenes, biographical approach to Katsushika Hokusai's life, through his daughter's eyes. But instead I got something a little different.
Read More... | Souce: Otaku News
Category > Events
As 2016 has just started it's time to plan ahead for those geek events. We've got a list of the MCM Comic Cons for 2016.
The MCM Event Calendar kicks off on 13th February with the MCM Midlands Comic Con. There's plenty more to follow throughout the year. The events always have something good to offer for anime fans too and often feature a guest or two from the anime and manga industry. The schedule is as follows:
13 February: MCM Midlands Comic Con
12-13 March: MCM Liverpool Comic Con
19-20 March: MCM Birmingham Comic Con
27-29 May: MCM London Comic Con
25-26 June: MCM Belfast Comic Con
2-3 July: MCM Ireland Comic Con (Dublin)
30-31 July: MCM Manchester Comic Con
23-24 September: MCM Scotland Comic Con (Glasgow)
28-30 October: MCM London Comic Con
19-20 November: MCM Birmingham Comic Con
The folks at MCM have also sent us details of two new events in Germany and Brussels. MCM Hannover Comic Con coming to Hannover Messe on 4-5 June 2016 and MCM Belgium Comic Con taking place at Brussels Expo on 11-12 June.
Also don't forget Comic Con Copenhagen 24-25 September 2016 and Comic Con Stockholm on 4-6 November 2016,
As always we've also updated the Otaku Calendar with details of these events.
Read More... | Souce: MCM Comic Con
Category > Cuisine
London based readers who like Ramen will be pleased to hear that pop-up Monohon Ramen is returning at the end of January to Stoke Newington High Street's Rogue.
They'll be running two per day on Sunday 31st January 2016 and Saturday 6th February 2016.
Tickets are £10 each and it's a bring your own bottle set up.
You can book on-line or by visiting Rouge.
Read More... | Souce: Monohon Ramen
UK anime fans will be pleased to hear about the Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme.
It's set to run around the UK from Friday 5th February to Saturday 26th March 2016. Everything kicks off at the ICA in London, and then will tour a further 12 venues. All the films look interesting, but if we really, really had to pick one, we'd say Miss Hokusai, we've already seen it and can confirm it's one of those rare must see anime films. It shows you that there's so much more to anime. It's lavishly animated and tells the tale of Hokusai's daughter.
If you can't catch it in the cinema Miss Hokusai will be released on 31st March 2016 on DVD, Blu-ray and Collector's Edition Blu-ray by Anime Limited.
Anime Anthem of the Heart also forms part of the film tour. It's a story about a girl who can no longer speak and bottles up her emotions following a magical encounter with an "Egg Fairy".
The festival also has plenty of other very interesting Japanese films that would be worth your attention.
With all screenings like this, we strongly advise booking early to avoid disappointment. It's always good to see anime on a big cinema screen.
Souce: Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme
Category > Events
Fans of J-Rock will want to tune into NHK World on Friday 8th or Saturday 9th January 2016 to catch a special show called Japan Night in London. The free to air channel (that shows content in English), will be broadcasting the performances by VAMPS, [Alexandros], OKAMOTO's and Ling tosite sigure.
The show will be broadcast several times this weekend (all times in UTC).
Friday 8th January 2016:
23:10
Saturday 9th January 2016:
5:10, 10:10, 17:10
NHK World is available in the UK on the following
Sky Channel 507
Freestat Channel 209
Virgin Media Channel 625
It's also widely available around the world, so could be available in your region.
Read More... | Souce: NHK World
Category > Events
UK based readers looking for something fun to do this weekend will want to head over Tobacco Dock in London for the Hyper Japan Christmas Market. It's set to run from Friday 27th to Sunday 29th November 2015. We've already mentioned what's going to happen over the weekend.
We've been sent news of a special performance by IA a virtual idol based on Vocaloid technology. She'll be making her UK debut on Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th November 2015 at Hyper Japan.
Read More... | Souce: IA Offical Website
Category > Events
London based fans of Shojo Manga will want to head over to a talk run by the Japan Foundation. What Girls Want - The World of Shojo Manga (Girls' Comics) is set to run on Monday 14th December 2015 at Foyles on Charing Cross Road from 6:30pm.
"In this talk Nozomi Masuda, Associate Professor, Konan Women’s University, Japan, will trace the origins of Shojo Manga from its beginnings in girls’ magazine through to its more recent transformations today, questioning what significance the genre has in Japanese society, and what it has been expressing over its diverse and complex themes."
Manga artist Eiko Hanamura will also be there to talk to Paul Gravett and Nozomi Masuda about Shojo Manga.
The talk is free to attend, but as always we advise booking early to avoid disappointment.
Read More... | Souce: The Japan Foundation London
Category > Events
London based fans of Japanese cinema will be interested in the Japan Foundation's screening and discussion of Samurai Warrior Queens. The event is set to run on Saturday 21st November 2015 from 2pm at the Courthouse Cinema in London.
The event is free to attend book is required. To reserve a place, please email your name and the title of the event you would like to attend to event@jpf.org.uk. As always we advise booking early to avoid disappointment.
Read More... | Souce: The Japan Foundation London
Category > Events
Fans of Japanese culture looking for something fun to do near Christmas will be interested in Hyper Japan Christmas Market. It's set to run from Friday 27th to Sunday 29th November 2015 at Tobacco Dock in London.
There's a ton of things to do at this event. They'll be lots of Japanese food, plenty of stalls with things to buy. Along with a whole host of musical performances from the virtual artist IA to the the cute and rather strange Lady Baby.
Cosplayers and fashion fans will be well represented too.
Anime fans will be pleased to hear that anime studio Production I.G will be represented too with anime director Naoyoshi Shiotani (who directed the Psycho-Pass TV series and movie) and producer Rui Kuroki, who will be giving talks throughout the event.
Read More... | Souce: Hyper Japan Christmas Market
Category > Features
The May and October MCM London Comic Cons are without doubt the biggest geek events in the UK. With over 130,000 people attending this October. It caters for all geeky tastes. Anime fans are also well looked after, each event regularly has an anime guest of honour. The October Comic con played host to Shigeto Koyama, renowned designer, he designed Baymax from Disney movie Big Hero 6. He was also involved in the character designs for fan favourite anime show Kill La Kill, as well as designing the weapons and lots of gear in the well loved game No More Heroes. We were lucky enough to catch up with him and ask some interesting questions.
Read More... | Souce: Otaku News
Category > Manga
The good folks from publishers Stone Bridge Press have just sent us details for a new book out in July 2016. They'll be publishing The Osamu Tezuka Story A Life in Manga and Anime by Toshio Ban & Tezuka Productions. This is going to be a huge book weighing in at over 900 pages, it covers the entire life of Osamu Tezuka, the creator of Astro Boy and man seen as the founding father of modern manga and anime.
This book is translated by Frederik L. Schodt. He's known for many things in including translating the original Ghost In the Shell manga into English (with Toren Smith). He's also written numerous award winning books books on manga. He knows his stuff!
You can pre-order the book from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com.
Stone Bridge Press publish high quality books on Japanese culture, anime and manga. They're the publishers behind the The Anime Encyclopedia.
Read More... | Souce: Stone Bridge Press
Category > Events
Do you like Ramen? Oh nom nom nom. Londoners who do are in for a treat as they can visit some of the up coming ramen pop ups being run by Monohon Ramen. The first appears at 7:15pm on Saturday 17th October 2015 in a traditional pie and mash cafe F. Cooke on Broadway Market.
They'll also be running two sittings at Rouge one at 5:30pm and the second at 7:00pm on Sunday 1st November 2015. Where they'll be serving a lesser known Japanese ramen dish Abura soba. During this event, they will give a demonstration of the dish and customers will get a chance to assemble their own bowl.
All the pop-ups require booking in advance and cost £10 a head, which includes the ramen, plus a side dish. All events are bring your own bottle.
Read More... | Souce: Monohon Ramen
Category > Events
We keep saying that the MCM Comic Con keep having interesting anime guests at their events. The October run of the MCM London Comic Con is no different. This time around Shigeto Koyama will be the anime guest of honour. He's been responsible for the design of Big Hero 6's robot Baymax, and been involved with Kill la Kill and Hideaki Anno's Rebuild of Evangelion movies. He's got a whole host of credits to his name for A-list anime titles including Gurren Lagann, Space Dandy and Ghost in the Shell SAC: Solid State Society.
The MCM London Comic Con is set to run from Friday 23rd to Sunday 25th October 2015. Anime fans will also be interested in the MCM Loves Anime side event.
Read More... | Souce: MCM London Comic Con
Category > Events
The virtual singing sensation Hatsune Miku is well known to fans of Japan. The Japan Foundation have arranged a collection of events to London on Saturday 24th October 2015. The events will be held at Rich Mix in Shoreditch. The events are free and some require booking. As always we advise booking early to avoid disappointment.
They've got the following events:
2pm: Lecture by Hatsune Miku creator, Hiroyuki Itoh.
Booking: hatsune-miku-programme1.eventbrite.co.uk
4pm: Hatsune Miku Live Concert Screening
Booking: hatsune-miku-programme2.eventbrite.co.uk
1:30pm - 5:30pm Hatsune Miku Workshops for Everyone!
No booking required – please feel free just to drop in any time between 1:30pm and 5:30pm.
Read More... | Souce: The Japan Foundation London
Category > Features
MCM Group Events are always great for anime fans. At the end of September 2015 Kotomi Deai and Hiroshi Shimizu of WIT Studio were anime guests at the MCM Scotland Comic Con in Glasgow. We were lucky enough to be able to interview them and discuss their latest project The Rolling Girls and what it's really like to work in the anime industry.
Read More... | Souce: Otaku News
Category > Freaky Things
Gundam fans who have got it all will be interested in this latest cross over. Bandai Namco have teamed up with Toyota to produce a special Zeonic Toyota Auris. The car is available in forms the racy red MS-185H-CA02, which matches Char Aznable's own mech paint scheme, they also have a "PROCUCTION MODEL" that matches the classic Zaku green colour scheme.
This is a simple colour and transfer release, the cars actually have custom detailing including mech like fins on the rear, special front and rear bumpers, new mech-like wheel arches and air intakes too. It even includes red alloy wheels, along with Zeonic Toyota branded sport seats, gear stick. There's a ton of extras included too, such as the sat-nav using the Gundam voice actors Shuuichi Ikeda and Keiko Han.
The car retails around 2,900,000 to 3,700,000 JPY (which is about 15,900 to 20,300 GBP or 24,150 to 30,800 USD), depending on which options you get for it. You can read more details about this Auris on the Toyota Japan website.
You can also watch various promotional videos on YouTube.
As cars sold in Japan are right hand drive, we're wondering if any British Gundam fans would import this car?
Read More... | Souce: Toyota UK Blog
Category > Events
Ramen in on trend for foodies at the moment, which is why the good folks at Monohon are currently popping up over London. They've been running a couple of ramen pop ups in Hackney since August 2015, and are going for another London pop up on Thursday 1st October 2015. It'll be held at Japanese cafe Toconoco near Haggerston Overground.
They'll be open from 6.45pm with last orders 9.15pm. The event requires a ticket, which costs £10 per head, this includes the ramen and some edamame too. It's a bring your own bottle event. So if you fancy a drink you'll need to bring one.
Read More... | Souce: Monohon Ramen
Category > Events
Fans of Japanese culture who can get to London on Saturday 19th September 2015, will want to head to Trafalgar Square for the Japan Matsuri. The event free to attend and is set to run from 10am to 8pm with events running pretty much constantly on the main stage, while there are many stalls to interest anyone who's a fan of Japan. They've got a wide selection of food stalls, stalls selling Japanese related merchandise, plus a range of travel agents if you're ever interested in going to Japan, along with a few Japanese cultural organisations and societies.
As always this event is also listed on our sister site the Otaku Calendar.
Souce: Japan Matsuri 2015
Category > Events
Anime fans in Glasgow are in for a treat, we've already mentioned Scotland Loves Anime 2015, however just before that the MCM Scotland Comic Con is set to run on Saturday 26th to Sunday 27th September 2015. The anime guests this time around are are WIT Studio's Kotomi Deai and Hiroshi Shimizu. WIT Studio are best known for the megahit anime Attack on Titan.
Both are experienced in the anime industry, and have been involved in titles such as The Rolling Girls, Silver Spoon, Kids on the Slope, Sword Art Online, Samurai Champloo and Space Dandy.
They'll be presenting panels, meeting fans and signing autographs at the Comic Con.
This is not first time WIT Studio staff have appeared at an MCM Event, we caught up with WIT Studio at the October 2013 MCM London Comic Con. The next MCM London Comic Con set set to run from Friday 23rd to Sunday 25th October 2015.
Read More... | Souce: MCM Scotland Comic Con
Fans of Japanese cinema in London will be keen to go to the Shinya Tsukamoto: Filmmaker Talk on Saturday 26th September 2015 at 2:30pm at the Impact Hub Westminster. The talk is hosted by the Japan Foundation London and is free to attend, but booking is essential to avoid disappointment.
Read More... | Souce: The Japan Foundation London
UK Ghibli fans will want to head to London in October to catch screenings of When Marnie Was There at the BFI London Film Festival.
The Film will be screened at the Haymarket Cineworld at 14:30 on Saturday 10th October 2015 and 18:15 on Wednesday 14th October 2015 at the BFI Southbank.
This is Studio Ghibli's final film.
The BFI London Film Festival 2015 also has other films of interest, including Mamoru Hosoda's The Boy and the Beast. If you like Summer Wars, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and Wolf Children, you'll want to catch this feature.
Read More... | Souce: BFI London Film Festival
Category > Anime
Anime fans in Scotland are in for a treat this October as popular anime film festival Scotland Loves Anime returns to Edinburgh and Glasgow for it's 6th consecutive year. They'll also have some screenings in Aberdeen too.
Scotland Loves Anime have just announced the event is set to run in Glasgow from Friday 9th to Sunday 11th October 2015 and Edinburgh from Monday 12th to Sunday 18th October 2015. The line up as always is awesome. They've got all sorts of anime, plus the new live action Attack on Titan movies. Guest wise anime director Keiichi Hara who recently directed Sarusuberi: Miss Hokusai, will be at Glasgow, along with renowned anime expert Jonathan Clements (saying he's an expert is a bit of an understament, as) he's written tons about anime in books and magazines, plus is the co-author of the The Anime Encyclopedia.
Scotland Loves Anime 2015: Edinburgh Line-Up
Monday 12th to Sunday 18th October 2015
Sarusuberi: Miss Hokusai
Empire Of Corpses
Expelled From Paradise
The Case Of Alice & Hana
Dragonball Z: Resurrection ‘F’
Attack On Titan – Live Action Film 1
The Last: Naruto The Movie
Boruto: Naruto The Movie
Love Live! The Movie
Madoka Magica – Film 3: Rebellion
Attack On Titan – Part 1
Attack On Titan Part 2 – Jiyuu No Tsubasa
Ghost In The Shell: The New Movie (2015)
Scotland Loves Anime 2015: Glasgow Line-Up
Friday 9th to Sunday 11th October 2015
Sarusuberi: Miss Hokusai
Empire Of Corpses
The Case Of Alice & Hana
Dragonball Z: Resurrection ‘F’
Attack On Titan – Live Action Film 1
Attack On Titan – Live Action Film 2
Boruto: Naruto The Movie
Read More... | Souce: Scotland Loves Anime
Category > Anime
Anime fans keen to know about the origins of their hobby will be very interested to tune into NHK World this weekend to catch Artist in Motion: Anime Pioneer Osamu Tezuka. The documentary looks at the famed manga and anime creator who often considered the founding father of modern anime. It focuses on the triumphs and tribulations of an artist driven to new forms of expression.
It will be broadcast on NHK World on
Saturday 29th August
23:10
Sunday 30th August
5:10, 10:10 and 17:10
All times are in UTC (as NHK world is a global channel).
NHK World is free to access, and is broadcast on most satellite providers. It broadcasts it's content in English, either dubbed into English, or in Japanese with English subtitles. Details on how to watch it can be found here.
UK based readers can find NHK World on:
Sky Channel 507
Freesat Channel 209
Virgin Media (with certain packages) Channel 625
Australian based readers can catch it on Foxtel Channel 656
American readers can get it with different cable or satellite providers.
You can also watch a live stream on the NHK World Website or download their live streaming app for your tablet or smartphone.
Read More... | Souce: NHK World
Category > Events
London based fans of everyone's favourite Vocaloid will want to head down to The Photographers' Gallery in Central London. Their media wall is currently showing Hatsune Miku as part of the d(^_^)b Exhibit, which runs up until Tuesday 15th September 2015.
Fans will also want to attend the Vocaloids and Alternative Universes talk which is set to run at the gallery at 6pm on Tuesday 8th September 2015. It's set to explore the theme of "How are new forums are being created online through fan and user generated music and images?" It should be an interesting discussion, but we wonder why no-one who is a Japanese Culture expert is on the panel? The talk costs £8 to attend or £5 for TPG members and concessions. It certainly does look interesting and worth attending.
Read More... | Souce: The Photographers\' Gallery
Category > Culture
Mayumi International displays over 100 artworks by 50 artists...
Read More... | Souce: Mayumi International
Category > Culture
While we normally focus on UK events in London, our readers in Ashburton in Devon are in for a cultural delight this weekend. Graphic novel and comics shop Gnash will be running a Kamishibai workshop in their shop on Sunday 23rd August 2015.
Kamishibai traditional form of paper theatre, where the performer would tell stories, and show accompanying pictures. The story teller would change each picture during the story as the narrative goes along. Most performers uses this as a method of selling sweets. They'd ride along from neighbourhood to neighbourhood telling the stories to local children.
Gnash will be running 2 sessions one at 11:30 am and one at 2:30pm. Priced at £8.50 per attendee.
Read More... | Souce: Gnash
Category > Anime
The good folks from the Japanese Gallery in London have sent us details of a new website they've just launched. Cel-ga.com showcases anime cels that the gallery has for sale. You can buy them on-line and get them shipped to you. Alternatively, you can always walk into their London shop and buy it in the real world.
Read More... | Souce: Cel-ga.com
Category > Anime
Anime fans will be keen to hear that the Japanese cultural icon Doraemon will arrive on UK TV from Monday 17th August 2015. The blue cat from the future will make his UK debut on kids TV station Boomerang at 7:30 am. With new episodes airing after that daily. Boomerang is available on Sky, Virgin Media, BT Vision and other TV services in the UK and Ireland.
In Japan Doraemon is huge, the manga started in 1969 and went on to sell over 100 million copies. He's had anime shows, feature films and (as you'd expect) plenty of merchandise. He quintessentially an example of Japanese children's manga. A true classic you should see.
The version being aired will be the 2005 version of the show.
Doraemon has recently been making inroads in the US since it's been showing on Disney XD.
Souce: Wired UK
Category > Features
It's no secret that our editor has a soft spot for moe anime show Kinmoza. We even took a trip to see Alice's house a while ago, revealing the location used to the world.
There are other locations used on the show that fans might be interested in visiting. Caron Cooper of Fosse Farm B&B has just told us about a local bridge featured on the show.
Read More... | Souce: Otaku News
Category > Art
Readers with an artistic streak will be pleased to hear that the Embassy of Japan in the UK has announced the Manga Jiman Competition 2015.
There are 2 categories Manga Jiman for people aged 14 and over (there is no upper age limit), and Yonkoma Manga for 11 to 13 year olds.
Each year has a theme, this years theme is bright young things.
The competition is only open to UK residents, if you are artistic we strongly advise you to enter as the first prize is a return flight for 2 people to Japan.
You can see previous entries here.
Last year's winner was Cogs by Lorenzo Fruzza.
Read More... | Souce: Embassy of Japan in the UK
UK based readers will be pleased to hear that BBC Two will be showing a nature documentary Japan: Earth's Enchanted Islands. The programme starts at 21:00 on Monday 8th June 2015. Each episode will be available on BBC iPlayer shortly after broadcast. Every episode will focus on a different Japanese island, starting with Honshu, then The Southwest Islands and concluding with the icy Hokkaido They'll have lots of interesting things, including monkeys, tanuki and deer.
Souce: BBC Two
Category > Features
As children we've often spent our time drawing giant robots and fighter jets. Many of our readers would still do this for fun now and again. But what if you want to do it professionally? We were lucky enough to meet one such man - Mecha Designer Hidetaka Tenjin. He's does technical illustrations and designs cool mechanical things. He's done technical illustration for Macross Zero, Macross Frontier, Macross Frontier: The False Diva and Macross Frontier: The Wings of Goodbye.
He's got a few art books to his name too. Plus he also does lots of box art for model kits.
We were lucky enough to catch up with Hidetaka Tenjin at the May 2015 MCM London Comic Con where he was invited by streaming service Viewster to be the anime guest of honour.
Read More... | Souce: Otaku News
Category > Events
UK based fans of Japanese culture will be interested in Hyper Japan. The regular Japanese Culture event is set to return to London, this time at The O2.
The event is set to run from Friday 10th to Sunday 12 July 2015. As always it's listed on the Otaku Calendar.
There'll be lots to see and do there, highlights include as always all the food, plus anime music singer Eir Aoi, best known for her work on Sword Art Online and Kill La Kill. Anime is also well represented with anime director Kobun Shizuno. They'll be lots of gaming goodness too, plus things like Japanese clothes, and music.
Read More... | Souce: Hyper Japan
Category > Culture
Fans of Japanese Pop Culture inspired theatre will be interested in the new play Harajuku Girls which is currently running at the Finborough Theatre in London.
The play focuses on 3 young women who drift into the seedy underworld of Kabukicho. In a place were everything can be bought and sold they have to decide how far their willing to go
The performance is running from Tuesday 24th February 2015 to Saturday 21st March 2015.
Read More... | Souce: Finborough Theatre
UK readers looking for something a bit different will be interested to hear about BBC 4's Storyville Documentary on Love Hotels. This documentary explores daily life inside a Japanese 'love hotel' and the people that frequent . The feature will be broadcast at 10pm on Monday 16th February 2015. It'll also be available on BBC iPlayer shortly after broadcast.
BBC 4 can be viewed on:
Freeview Channel 9
Freeview HD 106
Freesat Channel 107
Sky Channel 116
Virgin Channel 107
Virgin HD 164
Read More... | Souce: BBC 4
UK based fans of Japanese cinema are in for treat for the next couple of months when The Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2015 hits the UK. Scheduled to run at the ICA in London from 30th January to 5th February 2015 then 5th February - 26th March 2015 nationwide.
Anime fans can enjoy a screening of A Letter to Momo.
Plus the ICA Screening of Short Peace, will be accompanied with an intro and post-show Q&A with Japanese anime expert Helen McCarthy (she's written lots of books on anime, and given lots of talks on the subject too to say the least).
Live action film Wood Job also features a Q&A with the director Shinobu Yaguchi in London at 6:30pm on January 2015 and 6:15pm 3rd February 2015. The director will also be appearing at the Bristol, Derby and Sheffield.
If you're in the UK, hopefully you can get to one the following locations -
Belfast
Birmingham
Bristol
Cumbria
Derby
Dundee
Edinburgh
London
Newcastle upon Tyne
Nottingham
Sheffield
As always with cinema screenings like this we advise booking in advance to avoid disappointment.
Read More... | Souce: The Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme
Category > Features
For a Ghibli fan heading to Japan, Mitaka is a the natural place to go for a pilgrimage to the Ghibli Museum. However the modern Tokyo district of Shiodome should not be overlooked for something something interesting and entertaining: the Nittele Big Clock (Nippon TV Really Big Clock).
Read More... | Souce: Otaku News
Category > Anime
Fans of all things Tokusatsu will want to tune into NHK World on Saturday 20th December 2014. They'll be broadcasting a special show about the Fascinating Tokusatsu Museum. It's set to feature Hideaki Anno the famed anime director behind Neon Genesis Evangelion.
It'll be broadcast the following times - 4:10, 10:10, 16:10 and 22:10 (all UTC). The NHK World schedule page will allow you to figure out how this converts to your local time.
You can watch NHK in many regions around the world.
UK viewers can catch it on Sky Channel 507, Freesat Channel 209 and Virgin Medial 625. NHK
World generally broadcast in either English or in Japanese with English subtitles depending on the programme and context. They'll also have some great Viewers Choice content during the end of December.
Souce: NHK World
As we've mentioned before the second Kenshin movie - Rurouni Kenshin 2: Kyoto Inferno will be hitting UK cinemas on Friday 28th November 2014.
Warner Bros. UK have just added the trailer to YouTube.
We can also confirm that the following cinemas will be screening the film:
Cineworld Enfield, Crawley, Sheffield, West India Quay, Glasgow RS, Cardiff, Stevenage, Bolton and Vue Piccadilly
So if you fancy some samurai action head to your nearest cinema screening the Kyoto adventures of Kenshin.
Souce: Warner Bros. UK
UK Studio Ghibli fans looking for something interesting to buy on DVD will be pleased to hear about the UK DVD release of The Kingdom Of Dreams And Madness. The documentary goes behind the scenes of Studio Ghibli focusing on Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata at work at the studio as they prepare for their latest films The Wind Rises (Miyazaki) and The Tale of Princess Kaguya (Takahata).
The DVD is released on Monday 1st December 2014. You can pre-order it now from Amazon.co.uk.
The movie is also showing at London's ICA until Thursday 20th November 2014.
Ghibli Fans looking for something else to get this Christmas would probably want to consider the soon to be released Hayao Miyazaki Box Set Blu-ray.
Read More... | Souce: Studio Canal
Category > Press Releases
Ten years ago a new UK anime and manga magazine appeared on the scene. Ten years later that magazine is still going strong. Neo Magazine are celebrating this with the launch of issue 130 which is on sale now. They've got a lot of prizes to give away this month too.
10 years ago we posted about NEO Magazine's launch, and more recently their 100th issue.
Read More... | Souce: NEO Magazine
Category > Anime
UK based fans of Oscar winning anime director Hayao Miyazaki will be very pleased to hear about Studio Canal's latest boxset. The Hayao Miyazaki Box Set is due out Monday 8th December 2014, just in time Christmas. The blu-ray collection features 11 of his films from Castle of Cagliostro to The Wind Rises.
The limited edition set comes with an exclusive bonus disc, a booklet plus a box featuring a self portrait of the epic director in his classic pig style. Each disc is also presented in a special art sleeve.
The set is available for pre-order on Amazon.co.uk. It retails at £180.
Read More... | Souce: Studio Canal
Category > Features
Renowned manga artist Junko Mizuno is jetting over to the UK. She'll be here to attend Comica Festival and Lakes International Comic Art Festival. She'll also be visiting London to give an exclusive talk. Art gallery Atomica will be exhibiting and selling her original works in London.
Just before jetting off from the United States to the UK we were lucky enough to catch up with her for an exclusive interview.
Read More... | Souce: Otaku News
Category > Art
London based manga fans will be very excited to hear about a talk hosted manga artist Junko Mizuno. She'll be in London giving an exclusive talk for Comica Festival at popular bookshop Foyles at Charing Cross Road on Wednesday 22nd October 2014. Arrive at 6.30pm for 7.00-8.30pm. Tickets cost £8. As always we suggest booking as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.
There will also be the first ever selling exhibition of her originals, prints and other items in London. Which will run at Atomica Gallery, 29 Shorts Gardens, London WC2H 9AP from October 20th to 28th as part of Comica Festival. With thanks to GB Sasakawa Foundation, Brewery Arts Centre Kendal, and Lakes International Comic Art Festival from Friday 17th to Sunday 19th October 2014.
Read More... | Souce: Comica Festival