Japan

Nightmare Fuel: Ramen Ice Cream Is A Real Thing

As Wake Up Call has frequently highlighted, the Japanese and Asia on the whole are fearless culinary travelers, nomnauts if you will. But even by the most generous of standards, miso ramen flavored ice cream is pretty strange and apparently not exactly delicious. See Also: --Wendy's Japan Presents ... More >>

Far East Movements

Wendy's Japan Presents: A Lobster Burger for $16

See Also: The $666 Douche Burger. For Real. See Also: Burger King Japan Will Give You 15 Pieces of Bacon For 100 Yen Apparently Wendy's in Japan is trying to break into the crowded Japanese fast food market by going highbrow. Way, way highbrow. In addition to their instantly recognizable square h ... More >>

Soft Serve Beer Foam

Japan has brought us some pretty strange stuff. All of it looks cool but not all of it is exactly, appetizing. See Also: Powdered Food DIY Kits From Japan Are Kinda Creepy but Also Awesome See Also: Burger King Japan Will Give You 15 Pieces of Bacon For 100 Yen But this, this is awesome. Japanese ... More >>

Japanese Flying Squid Inseminates Woman's Mouth From Beyond the Grave

The cephalopod specialist over at the "Squid a Day" blog has pointed at the unusual case of a 63-year-old Korean woman who came to an emergency room complaining of "severe pain" and "a pricking and foreign-body sensation" in her mouth. These symptoms emerged immediately after attempting to consume ... More >>

Juice Boxes Made Completely From Real Fruit

This is potentially the ultimate in truth in advertising, perhaps even the anti-Fauxbe beef. Brazilian fruit juice company Camp wanted to take their claims of being "made with 100 percent fruit juice" one brilliant advertising step further. Advertising firm Ageisobar spent two years developing molds ... More >>

Knesset @ Phoenix Art Museum

Powdered Food DIY Kits From Japan Are Kinda Creepy but Also Awesome

What on Earth am I looking at? You're looking at a Kracie Happy Kitchen DIY Hamburger set. From what we can tell, everything up there tastes like it's supposed to. The drink is a fizzy cola, the burgers taste like meat, the fries like potato, etc. Terrific, but what is it? Did you ever gaze lovin ... More >>

Authority Zero Over the Weekend

Maria Vassett​As we reported a few weeks ago, Authority Zero is getting ready to head across the pond for a tour of Japan. "Japan has come about from a combination of two things: one, the four records we have released over there since 2001, and two, the promoters we work with who bring us. Shun ( ... More >>

Authority Zero Is Turning Japanese

​I really think so. It's been a busy year for Mesa's leading reggae/punk export, Authority Zero. The band is in the midst of a national tour that includes a date at Marquee Theatre on November 5, which will be a hometown sendoff of sorts before the band heads to Japan at the end of the month ... More >>

Rebecca Black Releases Crappy But Not As Bad Second Single and Video, 'My Moment'

​Rebecca Black is back, according to Rolling Stone.Thankfully her new song and video, "My Moment," isn't as bed as her mess of a first single, "Friday."The new song is essentially about the last song. She's sticking it to the man and addressing her haters by rubbing it in her face that she's going ... More >>

DJ Element Debuts FreeStyle Session Japan Mixtape Tonight at Blunt Club

​Do you want a copy of DJ Element's new mixtape, FreeStyle Session Japan? It's been hailed as a "funk odyssey" by no less than, um, the Phoenix New Times.   For real though, the first 50 peeps in the door tonight at tonight's Blunt Club installment at The Yucca Tap Room will receive a fr ... More >>

X Japan's Single "Jade" Gets June 28 Release Date

The cover art for X Japan's new single "Jade." X Japan band leader Yoshiki Hayashi shot this photo.​Last Year, America got a pumping rock-fist of Japanese Music when X Japan, the most popular J-Rock band ever, played their debut U.S. show at Lollapalooza before rocking through a few major cities o ... More >>

May 12 In Blogs: Phoenix Artists, Yoshiki, Elote, and Undocumented Students

Jackalope Ranch: Six Calls for Phoenix Artists Stephen Revering's Westward Ho Up on the Sun: X Japan Leader Yoshiki Launches Celebrity Auction to Benefit Japan's Earthquake Recovery Top Ten Best You Asked For It Songs Chow Bella: Elote: Mexican Grilled Corn from Tortas Paquime Nathan Thompson a ... More >>

Late Night Japanese Street Food at Posh -- for a Good Cause

  courtesy of Posh​Chef, you had us at "late night Japanese street food." From 10 to midnight this Thursday, March 24, Josh Hebert at Posh restaurant in Scottsdale will donate half his proceeds to the Red Cross in support of disaster relief efforts in Japan. The fare at Posh is "glo ... More >>

Saving Japan at SXSW

Help Save Japan @ SXSWCasino Kids standing in front of the Help Save Japan at SXSW booth at the Austin Convention Center. ​Debilitating earthquakes. Aftershocks. Tsunamis that swept away entire towns and destroyed countless agricultural fields. Thousands of dead and missing. All of this occurr ... More >>

Contact Hai

Drum and Drummer

Japan's celebrated Kodo drummers thunder into the Valley

X Japan Signs With EMI, Plans New Tour

X Japan during their North American tour in 2010.​Just a few short months ago, I watched X Japan play their first U.S. performance ever in front of hundreds of sunburned Lollapalooza attendees.It was a dynamite performance, but mostly because of pyrotechnics - not the audience reaction. The band f ... More >>

Market Research

Check out this body-parts-free zone

X Japan Is the Biggest Rock Band in Their Homeland -- Can They Finally Break Through in the States?

X Japan, Hayley Williams, Hanson, and More in This Week's Issue

X Japan at Lollapalooza 2010​This week's music feature is on X Japan's breakthrough into the American music scene. They recently performed in the U.S. for the very first time and made their debut at Lollapalooza. The Japanese metal super group has grown to have an impressive cult-like following, a ... More >>

Eatrip Shows at the Chef's Loft in Scottsdale Sept. 29

A food journey through Japan for less than $20 without leaving the Valley? Count us in. Eatrip, a documentary about the connections between food and people in Japan, is coming to Scottsdale's Chef Loft Sept. 29 for two screenings with a reception between.

Anarbor at Warped Tour, Virginia's Secret Treasure, and Blitzen Trapper on Not Boycotting AZ in This Week's Issue

Anarbor.​This week's music feature is on the local band Anarbor. Though their recent tour to Japan may have been a bit of a flop, involving lost teeth and a select band members lying in a pool of his own blood, they're poised to rock the Warped Tour, and are hoping that they'll come out of it with ... More >>

Perchance to Dream

Film shows what you don’t know about Tokyo

The Ice Ball Maker: Because Ice Cubes Are Just So ... Square

coconutgrovegrapevine.blogspot.comNot only does it look pretty, the ice ball also keeps your drink cold for longer.​When it comes to a cold drink on a hot day, bigger (and rounder) is better—for ice anyway. The ice ball trend started in Japan, where artisans hand-carve them with icepick ... More >>

Real Talk

Creative types dish about their passions for six minutes and forty seconds

SxSW: Japan Nite and the Future of Japanese Music in America

Jonathan McNamaraJinnyOops! performing at Japan Nite 2010. See more shots in our Japan Nite slide show. ​The chances are fairly good that you have never heard of Japan Nite. Never mind the fact that this SxSW showcase has been going on for 15 years; the odds are you won't recognize any of the band ... More >>

SXSW, AZ Derby Dames, Chandler BBQ, and Doughnuts Paired With Beer Over the Weekend

​SXSW: Japan Nite There was no shortage of variety to the musical stylings presented at this year's SXSW Music Conference, but you'd be hard-pressed to find more genres represented at a single showcase outside of Japan Nite at Austin's Elysium venue. Featuring the likes of Omodaka, Okamoto's, ... More >>

Brute Sonic Force

Japanese percussion ensemble shakes the walls at MAC

Strange Brews: Japan's Abashiri Brewery

Taste the rainbow.​Here in the states we count on Japan for all things innovative and weird (especially when there's no reason or practical application), so we were delighted to see that Abashiri Brewery, located on Japan's northernmost island of Hokkaido, specializes in "unique" beers.

Phoenix’s Emperors of Japan to Release Ice Queen

Immortal Anime

Studio Bones unveils new samurai classic

Today's Bitchfest: Kurobuta

I've had it. This week I've read menus from three different fancy restaurants, all pimping their "kurobota" or "korubuta" or some other misspelling of kurobuta, a word you shouldn't use unless you expect at least half of your diners to know what the hell it is in the first place (especially consider ... More >>

That Old Block Magic

Artists draw on ancient form for contemporary insight

Brew Review: Hitachino Nest's White Ale

Last Minute Tuesday: Old Haunts, Emperors of Japan, Black Jacket & Mike Montoya at Trunk Space

Cactus League, Week 4

Give Peaceful a Chance

Soothing Japanese fest has the cure for what ails you

Culture Shock

Shape-shifing Japanese rockers Dir en grey bring blood-stained agony

Eastern Youth

Emo of the rising sun

This Week's Day-by-Day Picks

'Toon In Tokyo

Animefest draws a crowd

Literary Lowdown

A pocket guide to featured books

BEST JAPANESE BAKERY

Arai Pastry

East Meets West

A weekend of cherry rides and zoot-suited friends

Noh It All

A new exhibit of costumes is heavy with history

Valley of the Rising Sun

Heritage Park hosts two days of arts, culture and food

Big in Japan

Destroy the New Rock(Honest Don's)