10 things about Tokyo that will blow your mind by MatadorTrips.  Mind-blowing, maybe not, but still an interesting read.

Busses in Japan are a cost effective alternative to taking the famous bullet train, better know as the shinkansen, in Japan.

The Rough Guide to the Music of Japan offers 73 minutes of traditional music from the land of the rising sun.  Paul Fisher compiled the CD and was interviewed by The Japan Times.

Ageing gracefully in Japan? The myths surrounding the perfectly cute 50 year old.

Critics dispute Michelin regard for Tokyo but there are some restaurants that everyone agrees on.

With an ageing population, Japan’s temples struggle to remain financially self sufficient.

Image Credit: Flickr, Nothing to Hide

Post from: The Tokyo Traveler

Don’t forget to participate in the poll in the sidebar and leave me a comment at “What do you want to know about Tokyo?“. I’ll be featuring some of the questions and providing answers throughout the month of June.

Anime and Manga are hot in Hollywood – but other American cities are getting in on this popular trend as well.

The Mob in Japan – a true tale of a foreign crime writer who now fears his safety and that of his family because of his reporting on the Yakuza.

The New Age Of Japanese Baseball Player Media Coverage is interesting reading. It provides a some historical perspective on Japanese players in the MLB and also discuss the process that those players need to go through to be eligible to play n the United States.

How Toyota used kaizen, the Japanese principle of slow and steady improvement, to sell 160,000 more cars than GM in the first quarter of 2008. In a culture where it is commonly believed that the top down approach to management is prevalent, Toyota receives and implements about 1 million ideas a year mostly from the workers on the factory floor.

Identifying underage smokers with facial recognition software could be implemented when you try to purchase cigarettes from vending machines in Japan.

Lastly,is Japan growing opium poppies?

Photo Credit: Anime Los Angeles 2008

Post from: The Tokyo Traveler