Event: Hyper Japan Christmas Market 2016 In Pictures

A colourful weekend full of music, food and fun!

Photo feature by James Fielding.

This years’ Hyper Japan Christmas Market took place at Tobacco Dock between the 25th-27th of November.   Although it was three day event, sadly Diverse Japan could only attend on the Saturday.

As usual at Hyper Japan, a wide range of activities took place over the weekend along with some great stage performances.

Hyper Japan 2014 In Pictures

The UK’s biggest celebration of Japanese culture!

Every year since it first began back in 2010, the annual London event Hyper Japan keeps getting better and better, not to mention bigger and bigger, and this year’s extravaganza held on 25 – 27 July at the Earls Court Exhibition Centre was no exception.

The fantastic line-up catered to all tastes in Japanese pop-culture from traditional dancers and musicians like the very popular Hyper Japan regulars Hibiki Ichikawa and Akari Mochizuki, who this time around were accompanied by guitarist Hide Takemoto, to contemporary

Interview: YANAKIKU – Female J-pop Duo With A Difference

Their mission is to share the wonders of Japan with the world!

Japanese duo YANAKIKU are more than just a pop group. They do KIMONO cosplay and represent Japanese pop & decora culture!

Since forming in 2012, dynamic J-pop duo YANAKIKU have been causing much excitement with their catchy tunes and cool decorative costumes and entertaining performances at packed venues like the Tokyo Dome, the

J-Pop Idol Group Morning Musume Needs Your Help!

A message from Team J-MELO for all Morning Musume fans out there!

We’ll soon be making our 400th edition of J-MELO. The girls of Morning Musume are going to help us celebrate by recording a track for the J-MELO New Song Project. And they want you to inspire them and their producer by answering a few questions about your feelings. So if you’d like a chance to work on a song with Morning Musume, please check out the details on the J-MELO website then get in touch. We can’t wait

Koichi Sakamoto Directs Nao Nagasawa And Ayumi Kinoshita In Travelers: Dimension Police

Sexy Nagasawa and Kinoshita kick ass in new action-packed sci-fi drama!

You may recall in February 2012 when Diverse Japan interviewed Nao Nagasawa (Ninpuu Sentai Hurricaneger, GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka, Playgirls 2012) that she mentioned she was going to Taiwan the following month to begin shooting her next action movie. DJ can now reveal that the film she spoke of is a sci-fi action adventure called Travelers: Dimension Police directed by

NEO Magazine Issue107 Profiles Gravure Idol/Actress Saaya Irie – OUT NOW!

Double cover issue – Plus the Best Of 2012 as voted for by YOU!!

NEO magazine profiles sexy idol and actress Saaya [Irie] highlighting some of her best bits. PLUS the votes are in! Find out the hottest names in anime, manga and 11 other categories in Asian entertainment as voted for by YOU, the British public. Oh yes, the winners of the NEO Awards 2012, sponsored by MCM Comic Con, are here and

DVD Review: Crime Or Punishment!?! A Film By Keralino Sandorovich

A zany slapstick comedy from Third Window Films!

Crime or punishment!?! is the latest offering from writer/director Keralino Sandorovich and is a multi-layered, multi-character comedy with elements of almost all other genres thrown in for good measure. When people in the West think of Japanese films many may presume that all there is on offer is horror/ thriller. One reason for this is because films of this genre are what Western audiences can identify easiest with because horror/thriller themes are universal and will work in any language, whereas a comedy can be country-specific or even region specific in its themes. Also, to watch only one

NEO Magazine Announces Photo & Cosplay Competition At MCM Expo

Join NEO at MCM Expo London 25 – 27 May 2012

Win Anime Boxsets Every Day of the MCM Expo with NEO Magazine’s Photo Competition!

NEO Magazine will be holding a competition each day of the London MCM Expo Comic Con where a talented individual will win K-On! Complete and Naruto Shippuden Season 2 boxsets, courtesy of

DVD Release: Crime or Punishment?!? – A film by Keralino Sandorovich!

DVD release date: 14th May 2012

Have you ever experienced a day when you are carrying on as usual just like the day before but strange things keep happening one after another on that particular day? This is a slapstick comedy, like Kafka’s novel, filled with incongruous nightmares and nonsensical laughter.

Ayame (Riko Narumi) is an unsuccessful girl celebrity, who happens to take on the PR role of a “police chief for a day”. The job of a campaign girl is to smile and act as a police chief for one day. It should have been a simple job, however, the police station staff treat her like

NEO Magazine Launches New Profile Series Kicking Off With Action Idol Nao Nagasawa

NEO magazine issue 97 OUT NOW!

In the latest issue, Neo magazine introduces a new profile series starting off with actress/idol Nao Nagasawa. The monthly series is written by Diverse Japan creator and administrator, Spencer Lloyd Peet, who interviewed Miss. Nagasawa in January 2012, and focuses on individual Japanese talent/personalities within the entertainment business. Also

DVD Review: TOMIE Unlimited – A J-Horror Film By Noboru Iguchi

Warning: Review contains graphic images!

The film’s strength lies within its absurdities.

The Cronenberg-style horror flick, TOMIE Unlimited, is the ninth, and nastiest, entry in the film series based on a popular manga by Junji Ito. Renowned for directing AV (Adult Video) and action/horror films on a meagre budget, Noboru Iguchi, true to form, delivers a totally in-your-face splatterfest that is rife with buckets of blood and dismembered bodies.

Schoolgirl Tsukiko (Moe Arai) is a photography enthusiast with an inferiority complex caused by the jealousy she has towards her

DVD Review: Ninja Battle – A Film By Seiji Chiba Starring Actress/Idol Aki Ito

More ninja action from cult director Seiji Chiba!

In 1581, the Iga province of Japan was annihilated by Oda Nobunaga and the Koga allied forces with many blaming the Iga’s downfall on the treachery of the Iga shinobi Shimoyama Kai. Prior to these events, a team of ninja agents were dispatched on a covert mission to prevent Oda and the Koga from gaining the upper hand. This is their story…

When a small group of Iga ninjas find their comrade Yoshimori lying dead in a cave next to a bound a gagged girl, they immediately suspect her of somehow being involved in

Exclusive Interview: Nao Nagasawa – Actress, Singer And Idol – Super Sentai And Kamen Rider Heroine

“I want to be in a Hollywood movie in the future.” Nao Nagasawa

Nao Nagasawa (長澤 奈央 ), best known to her fans for her roles in various Super Sentai and Kamen Rider TV shows, is someone with more than just a pretty face and a gorgeous body. She’s been a recording artist, releasing singles like “Kiss, Kiss” and “Game”, and a dancer. But it’s her skills as an actress were she excels and has even led to her winning the Best Actress Award at the Myrtle Film Festival for her English-speaking lead role in

DVD Review: Gravure Idol Saaya Irie: “17 – Sexy” & “17 – Pure”

Apart from the obvious, Saaya has many redeeming features!

Between March and April 2011, two editions of the Saaya “17” idol DVD were released – the first, “Sexy”, came out on 16th March, and the second, “Pure”, on 20th April. As with many Saaya gravure idol DVDs these ones come with a stunning 5×3 Collectors Photo and a reversible sleeve (see images below).

Previous to these releases, there have been no less than 14 Saaya idol DVDs available on the market. It’s not

The Girls Are Back In Town! “Maid Planet Autumn Music Party” London

Come and experience a maid cafe like no other with delicious food and beautiful live music!

The popular maid cafe outfit, Maid Planet, will be holding their very first sole maid event on Saturday 8th October, between 12 noon and 4pm, at the Japanese-run Crane and Tortoise cafe-bar.

The unit has collaborated with other Japanese subculture events in the past such as the Brighton Moshi Moshi Festival and Hyper Japan. The later event resulted in the maids catering to more than 400 customers over a three-day period. Their genuine Japanese maid-style formula with a twist has won them many loyal fans in and around London, and so setting up their own fully-fledge cafe event, which they have called

Gravure Idol & Actress Saaya Irie Becomes Biohazard (Resident Evil) Ambassador

Bikini idol becomes game ambassador September 2011 – March 2012.

During the four-day Tokyo Game Show 2011 event, which started on Thursday 15th September, it was announced that actress, singer and bikini idol Saaya [Irie] had been chosen to be the ambassador for the hugely successful video game franchise Biohazard (aka Resident Evil) from September 2011 until March 2012. She appeared at the event in cosplay as Special Operations Agent (SOA) of the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance, Jill Valentine. She told DJ, “Jill Valentine is very tall with a quiet sense of self-possession, which is much different from me; I’m talkative and funny.”

Interview: Mio Himemiya/Mooma – J-Pop Singer/Songwriter, Voice Actress & Race Queen

“I’m like a child. If I’m interested in something, I think about it all the time.” (Mio Himemiya)

Born into an artistic family, Mio was exposed to music, art, and animation at a young age. After graduating from Keio University, she started performing. Not only doing music, Mio has a talent in design, MCing, and modelling. She reached the 1st Rank in Myspace Japan’s “Pretty Collection” contest. In 2010 she began working as a voice actress and started her solo music career as Mooma.

With her beautiful singing voice and a talent for writing lyrics, Mio is set for great things.

J-Pop Idols Unite To Give Rare Performance At Charity Concert In London!

Popular J-Pop Idols and renowned musicians perform in London to help raise money for earthquake and tsunami victims.

The catastrophe that hit Japan in March 2011 shook the whole world and left most of us feeling helpless. The devastating aftermath has lead to numerous events and exhibitions taking place all around the globe to help raise funds for those affected by the tragedy. Countless people are attending as many of these events as they possibly can in order to show their compassion and support and to let the people of Japan know that they are not alone.

One such event which was held recently was the London charity concert “Japan, We’ve Not Forgotten You”, which was organised by Japan Underground and Naomi Suzuki and featured several successful Japanese musicians and performers including Naomi.

J-MELO New Song Project With MAY’S & Hiromitsu Agatsuma

Create a Christmas song with some of Japan’s most talented artists!

The J-MELO New Song Project is your chance to create songs with top Japanese artists. The Japanese English-language TV Pop show shown weekly on NHK WORLD has teamed up with R&B duo MAY’S to create a song for Christmas. Shamisen virtuoso Hiromitsu Agatsuma will be joining the recording as a special
guest.