Highlighting JAPAN

through images

Using photographs, illustrations, and videos, this online magazine helps people throughout the world know more about Japan from a variety of aspects.

November 2009

Discovering Cool Japan

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COVER STORY
Discovering Cool Japan

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Japan's "soft power" seems to have captured the hearts and minds of people around the world. Examples abound. Japanese animation is loved by children the world over, while domestic women's fashion magazines are very popular overseas. Japanese industrial design and lighting design-which marry a high degree of functionality with beautiful form-have also earned a high level of international acclaim. What exactly is it that makes this diverse array of products so cool? Read on to find out as in this edition we tackle the theme of the power of "cool Japan."

Tokyo hosted a series of major events putting together made-in-Japan content on September 24-October 28. Called the Japan International Contents Festival, nicknamed "CoFesta," it was supported by the Japanese government and became one of the largest content festivals in the world. During the festival, a variety of proud Japanese content?games, animation, comic strips, anime characters, music, movies, fashion and design?were shown in succession, in concert with one another.

ON THE COVER: A scene from the Tokyo Collection portion of the Japan Fashion Week featuring spring/summer fashion, staged at the Tokyo Midtown complex as part of the Japan International Contents Festival (CoFesta). Shown are the latest works of up-and-coming Japanese designer Toshikazu Iwaya. His works incorporate plastic materials and a pop-art color scheme in combination with a multi-sided shape, which was inspired by the thinking of famed painter Pablo Picasso.

TOPICS / Prime Minister
HATOYAMA CONFERS WITH LEADERS OF CHINA, ROK, ASEAN

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Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama visited Beijing on October 10 to attend the second Japan-China-Republic of Korea (ROK) Summit with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and ROK President Lee Myung Bak.

Prime Minister Hatoyama also visited Cha-am Hua Hin, Thailand, on October 24 to attend a meeting of the leaders of Japan and the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY / Science Museum
BUCKLE UP & PREPARE FOR TAKEOFF

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The Museum of Aeronautical Sciences is situated near Narita International Airport. On display is a 10-meter motorized model of a Boeing 747 as well as a Douglas DC-8 flight simulator. Visitors can experience what it is like to fly a plane and feel as if they have really taken to the sky.

TOPICS / State Guest House
STATE GUEST HOUSE GETS A MAKEOVER

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Major renovations of the State Guest House Akasaka Palace, which has been used to host national and government guests as well as for summits and receptions, have been completed and the building is being used to receive guests again.

TOURISM / Yokoso! Japan
ILLUMINATING THE ESSENCE OF BUDDHISM

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Yokoso! Japan Ambassador Tensho Goto, Kodai-ji Temple Administrator, started night illumination of the temple 15 years ago. While Kodai-ji Temple was the first Kyoto temple to implement this practice, it has since spread to more than 10 temples and become a driving force in promoting Kyoto tourism.

NATURE / The City of NARA
ANCIENT CAPITAL NARA ABLAZE WITH AUTUMN TINTS

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The city of Nara, which once prospered as the ancient capital of Japan, produces a myriad of beautiful scenery during the four seasons of the year thanks to the city's unique mixture of history and nature. Nara is especially beautiful in autumn. In 2008, a record 520,000 foreign tourists visited Nara.

all of the documents (6,636KB)

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