Free Monthly Magazine ZOOM JAPAN in the UK

21/02/2025

📣 New article online !
In the world of Japanese comics, the ever-busy editors are constantly on the lookout for interesting subjects to turn into potential best-sellers. Any topic is considered fair game, and fishing is no exception. Indeed, fishing has long been a favorite manga subject. The 1970s are considered the golden age of fishing manga, while more recently, many new comics have appeared on the bookstore shelves.

📷 © Odaira Namihei & Slow Loop – Uchino Maiko

Discover more about Manga and Nature !
➡️ https://www.zoomjapan.info/2025/02/17/n-147-focus-manga-and-nature-the-right-stroke/

19/02/2025

📣 New article online !
Miyazaki Hayao’s work is often defined as quintessentially Japanese, particularly in the way he portrays nature. This is certainly true, though it must be pointed out that his films seldom feature traditionally beautiful scenery, the only exception probably being My Neighbor Totoro.

📷 © Ghibli

Discover more about Miyazaki and his spiritual approach !
➡️ https://www.zoomjapan.info/2025/02/17/n147-focus-cinema-miyazaki-or-the-spiritual-approach/

17/02/2025

📣 New article online !
The rolling inaka (countryside) of Saitama is the real-life home of Mei, Satsuki and, of course, Totoro. Director Miyazaki Hayao visited Sayama Hills – also called Totoro no Mori (Totoro’s Forest) – for inspiration when he made My Neighbor Totoro (1988) where Mei and Satsuki spend long afternoons running through nature and befriending spirits.

📷 © Eric Rechsteiner

Discover more about Totoro's forest !
➡️ https://www.zoomjapan.info/2025/02/17/n147-travel-meeting-totoro/

14/01/2025

📣 New article online !

Having visited the 1970 Expo 18 times, Hashizume Shin'ya hopes the 2025 event will achieve the same success.

What did exhibition ’70 really feel like, and how does it compare with the upcoming new exhibition? We asked Hashizume Shin’ya, an architectural historian and urban planner who teaches at Osaka Municipal University and has published several books about the Osaka exhibition. An expert in urban policies and culture in Osaka and the Kansai region, Hashizume is active as a member of local government committees and advisor to urban development-related organizations. In 2007, he also ran as an independent for the Osaka mayoral election on the platform of recreating Osaka through a "generational change."

Discover more about Osaka exhibition '70
➡️zoomjapan.info/2025/01/08/n146-exhibition-interview-the-one-who-knows-it-best/

11/01/2025

📣 New article online !

How would you like to get reborn in the remote mountains of Tohoku on your next trip to Japan? Well, now it´s possible, thanks to the mountain-worshipping mystics known as the Yamabushi. A recent post on the Japanese government’s Japangov social media page, stated that the Yamabushi “have long sought supernatural powers and enlightenment through ascetic training in the mountains.”

he Yamabushi have been walking the mountains of Japan for over 1400 years. Traditionally, they would leave their communities to immerse themselves in the wild mountains. There, through extreme self-discipline and intense training, they obtained special powers called genriki, which could then be used to help others. These powers included the ability to heal others, exorcise demons, commune with kami (deities) for assistance, and maintain youthful health well into old age.

Discover more about Yamabushi
➡️zoomjapan.info/2025/01/08/n146-travel-a-second-breath-in-tohoku/

10/01/2025

📣 New article online !
If the memory of the 1970 exhibition still survives to this day, it is also thanks to its most iconic work, the Tower of the Sun, which in time has become both the exhibition’s symbol and one of Osaka’s more popular landmarks.
Designed by artist Okamoto Taro as part of the theme pavilion, the tower was planned as a temporary structure that was supposed to be dismantled after the exhibition closed. However, a petition campaign was launched against its removal, and in March 1975 it was decided to preserve it permanently in the exhibition Commemoration Park.
Discover more about Okamoto Taro's Tower of the sun !
➡️zoomjapan.info/2025/01/08/n146-focus-the-tower-of-the-sun-still-shines/

08/01/2025

📣 New article online !

Universal exhibitions are strange beasts. These events are akin to gargantuan circuses whose goals include showcasing new cutting-edge technology, cultural exchange, and nation branding. They vary in size, scope and global reach, and Osaka has hosted one of the most successful editions ever.

Discover more about Expo2025 in Osaka
➡️https://www.zoomjapan.info/2025/01/08/n146-focus-osaka-land-of-exhibitions/

23/12/2024

[Live From Japan] Akita, located in the north of Japan, Is well Known for its beautiful landskapes but alos for its food specialities ! 🍜

13/12/2024

[Live from Japan] In Sendai, (Miyagi Prefecture) lies the tomb of Date Masamune, an iconic figure in Japan's history. Visionary lord and formidable strategist, he vastly participated to the expansion of known as Miyagi Prefecture.

12/12/2024

[PR]📣 New article online !

Each year, the digital gastronomic guide La Liste selects the 1000 best restaurants in the world. This year, once again confirming Japan’s status as a major international culinary destination, La Liste organized for the fifth time a special ceremony at the French Embassy to honor the selected chefs and award special prizes. On this occasion, Fukuoka Prefecture was given particular prominence for its gastronomic and artisanal offerings.

Discover more about Fukuoka's nomination 🍜 :
➡️https://www.zoomjapan.info/2024/12/09/fukuoka-japans-new-gourmet-destination-la-liste-2025/

Sponsored article Each year, the digital gastronomic guide La Liste selects the 1000 best restaurants in the world. This year, once again confirming

11/12/2024

📣 New article online !

To discover the capital in an original way, we invite you to follow in the footsteps of the famous kaijū.

Francois Truffaut’s haunting film The Woman Next Door ends with the narrator proposing an epitaph for the two doomed lovers: “Neither with you nor without you.” These words suit Godzilla’s tumultuous love affair with Tokyo to a T. Indeed, the undisputed king of Japanese kaiju (monsters) seems irresistibly attracted to Japan’s capital, only to smash it to pieces every time they are reunited.

Discover more about Godzilla
➡️https://www.zoomjapan.info/2024/12/03/n145-travel-a-quick-trip-to-tokyo-with-godzilla/

10/12/2024

📣 New article online !
Japanese manga is not only a collective memory for younger and older generations in Taiwan, but also has a great impact on the local comic industry and its cultural life.

Over half a century ago, when pirated and duplicated Japanese manga comics swarmed into Taiwan’s comic market, they were considered as a time-wasting “picture book”. Parents always tried to keep their children away from them, but in vain. Children would sneak into a comic book rental store after school and indulged themselves into shelves full of comic books, or hid under the blanket and read comics behind their parents after bedtime.

Discover more about manga and comics in Taiwan
➡️https://www.zoomjapan.info/2024/12/04/n144-culture-taichung-likes-manga/

09/12/2024

📣 New article online !

The monster that first appeared on screen in 1954 has become a national and international symbol.

In Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001), one of the film’s main characters, TV producer Kadokura Haruki, a jaded media guy who thinks that most of the programs he makes are stupid, declares that “Godzilla is passé.” However, that film was seen by nearly 2.5 million people, eventually grossing 2.7 billion yen and becoming the third-highest-grossing domestic film in 2002.

Discover more about Godzilla
➡️https://www.zoomjapan.info/2024/12/03/n145-focus-godzilla-a-phenomenon-forever-in-our-memories/

06/12/2024

📣 New article online !

It’s the same old story: everybody knows such iconic pop culture characters as Superman, Batman, Hello Kitty and James Bond, but few people can name their creators – same thing for Godzilla. So far, the Big G has appeared in 33 Japanese and five American feature films. Still, only hardcore fans of the King of the Monsters know Honda Ishiro, the man who directed eight of those films, including the original 1954 Gojira, and can be considered the most internationally successful Japanese filmmaker before Miyazaki Hayao.

Discover more about Godzilla
➡️https://www.zoomjapan.info/2024/12/03/n145-focus-godzilla-fate-born-of-an-almost-unknown-father/

03/12/2024

📣 New article online !

A series of circumstances and a unique context contributed to the emergence of the famous Japanese monster.

In the 1950s, Japan was a country in transition; still dealing with the recent painful memories of the Pacific War, trying to move on, mend the physical and psychological wounds, and regain a place in the international arena. As we will see, it is no coincidence that the original Godzilla came out in 1954. Indeed, its release can be seen as the culmination of a long political and cultural process.

Discover more about Godzilla
➡️https://www.zoomjapan.info/2024/12/03/n145-focus-godzilla-and-1954s-japan/

30/11/2024

[Culture] When Autumn leaves turn golden, the 'shichigosan' celebration takes place, honouring the growth of children who have reached the ages of 7, 5 and 3 years old, through three distinctive ceremonies introduced during the Meiji era.

(Re)read more in our article 'Autumn leaves and celebrations of childhood' in the archives of our 35th issue 👶🏻🍁

➡ https://www.zoomjapan.info/2015/10/12/no35-traditional-autumn-leaves-and-celebrations-of-childhood/

#日本 #秋 #子供 #七五三

November sees the people of Japan searching out autumn leaves and celebrating three big milestones of childhood. November is the time of year to enjoy autum

27/11/2024

[Zoom Gourmand] Like artisan olive oil or fine wine, shoyu comes in different tastes and flavours. Thanks to the increasing interest of young Japanese, small-scale producers are attracting new customers.

(Re)read more in our article 'A return to favour for shoyu' in the archives of our 99th issue 😋

➡ https://www.zoomjapan.info/2022/11/15/no-99-taste-a-return-to-favour-for-shoyu-2/

#日本 #食べ物 #醤油

In Bar Flute Flute, champagne has found an unusual companion: soy sauce./ All Rights Reserved The commitment of small-scale producers is succeeding in attra

20/11/2024

[Live from Japan]

Each year, in mid-November, shinto shrines put on pretty colours during the ritual of shichi-go-san (七五三), literally meaning ‘seven-five-three’.

These numbers refer to the ages when parents dress their kids with kimono to go and pray to deities for their good health. The shinto priest then summons the benevolence of the kami (神 - god), that resides inside.

This very old ceremony has evolved through the centuries but still remains a feast for the eyes.

📷 © Horizons du Japon

#日本 #七五三 #子供