August 2019 Tea Tasting Event

Sample some of the best high quality Japanese teas available in the UK!

Venue: Minamoto Kitchoan 44 Piccadilly, London

Date: 31st August 2019

Time: 14.00– 17.00

Admission: FREE

Review: ‘Manga マンガ’at the British Museum 23 May – 26 August 2019

Dedicated to the victims of the Kyoto Animation fire in Uji City!

Belonging to Kōzan-ji temple in Kyōto the Japanese National Treasures the eight ‘Scrolls of Frolicking Animals’ and the ‘Scrolls of Frolicking Animals and Humans’ called ‘Chōjū-jinbutsu-giga’ (animal-person caricatures) were painted between the 12^th and 13^th centuries by, it is thought, the artist-monk Toba Sōjō. They are credited by many as the earliest form of manga.

Fast forward nearly a thousand years and the Citi Exhibition ‘Manga マンガ’ at the British Museum (supported by CITI with logistics partner IAGCargo) is touted as the biggest

July 2017 Tea Tasting Event At Minamoto London

Sample some of the best high quality Japanese teas available in the UK!

Venue: Minamoto Kitchoan 44 Piccadilly, London

Date: 29th July 2017

Time: 14.00– 18.30

Admission: FREE

January 2017 Tea Tasting Event At Minamoto London

Sample some of the best high quality Japanese teas available in the UK!

Venue: Minamoto Kitchoan 44 Piccadilly, London

Date: 28th January 2017

Time: 14.00– 19.00

Admission: FREE

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.

Ghost In The Shell: Can DreamWorks Crack It?

“We needed a launch that was as unique and original as the property itself.” – Paramount Pictures

Since the announcement that Scarlett Johansson (Lost in Translation, Avengers, Lucy) is to play the lead character, Major, in the up and coming live action adaptation of the hugely popular manga/anime franchise, GHOST IN THE SHELL, in which Johansson was reportedly offered $10m to take the role, DreamWorks has come under fire from many quarters for whitewashing and potentially

Japan Matsuri 2016 London

Celebrating 125 years of Friendship!

Date: Sunday 25th September

Time: 10:00 – 20:00

Venue: Trafalgar Square

Admission: Free (no tickets)

http://www.japanmatsuri.com

September 2016 Tea Tasting Event At Minamoto London

Sample some of the best high quality Japanese teas available in the UK!

Venue: Minamoto Kitchoan 44 Piccadilly, London

Date: 17 September 2016

Time: 14.00– 18.30

Admission: FREE

Book Review: Samurai Revolution By Romulus Hillsborough

The Dawn of Modern Japan as seen through the eyes of the Shōgun’s Last Samurai!

This book, based on twenty-five years of research by Romulus Hillsborough who spent sixteen years living in Japan, joins his growing portfolio of his other works on the pivotal characters and themes of the Bakumatsu Period and the Meiji Restoration bringing many of them together in a welcome work that covers the pivotal period that heralded the end of the Japanese feudal era and the beginning of the industrial and political modernisation of Japan.

Something of a tome ‘Samurai Revolution’ is written as two books. The first covers the conflicting interests of the Tokugawa Bakufu in Edo (modern day Tōkyō) and the Imperial Court in Kyōto and the inter clan alliances which had been forged nearly three hundred years before in the triumphs and

Interview: Sebastian Masuda – Art Director and J-Pop Culture Pioneer

Internationally-renowned artist Sebastian Masuda brings global participatory art project to London with NHK WORLD TV for Hyper Japan!

In the run up to Hyper Japan, which took place on July 15 – 17 July, internationally-renowned artist and Japanese pop culture expert Sebastian Masuda – who is art director for Kawaii International  – brought his global art project to London with NHK WORLD TV.

Time After Time Capsule is a five-year participatory artwork in which Masuda, invites people to share their love of kawaii. It has been created in collaboration with NHK WORLD TV to

July 2016 Tea Tasting Event At Minamoto London

Sample some of the best high quality Japanese teas available in the UK!

Venue: Minamoto Kitchoan 44 Piccadilly, London

Date: 30 July 2016

Time: 14.00– 18.30

Admission: FREE

Music Review: No Cars – YOKO GOES TO BOLLYWOOD

The album gives people lots of smiles, and one can’t resist laughing, thinking ‘they are bonkers’!

Follow NO CARS (read Diverse Japan’s interview with the band) as they travel down the Silk Road to India; their journey is not an easy one as hunger, thirst, and vast amounts of tip-ex await them but it is certainly enjoyable. Luckily for us these intrepid travellers have recorded their adventures as infectious pop-punk melodies in the album YOKO GOES TO BOLLYWOOD.

These three Japanese girls and their Raccoon drummer have created a rather fun story in their latest album. It gives you the chance to imagine the quartet as they walk all the way to

Reel Japan Film Festival 2016

Press Release.

Real Cinema. Real Culture. Reel Japan.

Date: Bank Holiday Weekend, Sat April 30th/Sun May 1st

Tickets: Available from April 1st, £5 per film（limited to 100 seats per screening) Day ticket £15 (4 screenings), Weekend ticket £25 (8 screenings)

Venue: The Yard Theatre Unit 2A, Queen’s Yard, White Post Lane, Hackney Wick, London, E9 5EN

Hit The Road With NHK WORLD TV This Spring

Japan’s international English-language channel launches travel season

This spring NHK WORLD TV, the 24-hour international English language channel from Japan’s public service provider NHK, presents an exciting season of travel programmes offering unique insights into Japanese culture, both ancient and modern.

Kicking off this April, the season of travel programmes form part of NHK WORLD TV’s extensive resource of materials for anyone studying Japanese, planning a trip, or interested in learning more about the country in the run up to Japan’s Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Interview: NO CARS Talk Samosa, Cress, And The Mystery of Yoko

A tongue-in-cheek pub-rock band that merges jazz, punk and even Punjabi!

NO CARS are having the time of their lives on stage as they play their headline show at the Spice of Life in London. Dressed in brightly coloured Saris and a racoon onesie, the band is getting the audience to chant “Samosa” alongside them before they dive head first into their comic set of songs. If there’s one thing that should be taken from this performance, it’s that NO CARS know how to put on an entertaining

Closed! WIN A Pack Of Gyokuro – High Quality Loose Japanese White Tea

Hooray! It’s competition time again! (UK Residents only)

12 packs of premier Japanese tea to giveaway!

Thanks to ES Food Trading, Diverse Japan is thrilled to be giving away 12 packets (one per winner) of Gyokuro, a high quality delicately sweet Japanese white tea, often referred to as the connoisseur’s Japanese tea, farmed in Kyoto, Japan, imported and exclusively sold in the UK to selective London stores including the wagashi (Japanese confectionery) outlet, Minamoto Kitchoan, and the prestigious food store Partridges .

Each pack (worth £24.00) contains 100 gms of loose leaf tea.

To enter, see competition rules at bottom of page.

Book Review: Nightshade – An Only In Tokyo Mystery By Jonelle Patrick

First in a series of mysteries that could happen only in Tokyo!

Yumi Hata has returned to Tokyo after a stint in the U.S. She works as a translator whose only friend in the whole of the city is Rika. She keeps her from the total isolation she feels during her stay, but when she is found dead, Yumi feels alone again, the isolation and loneliness creeping up on her.

For most people, knowing a friend is what can make them question why someone so dear would kill herself and Yumi does this as she remembers what kind of girl Rika was. Rika had no problems, was happy and had no suicidal tendencies as far as she was aware. She could be wrong, but

Naruto Shippuden Movie 3 Competition Closed And The Winner Is…

Competition is now closed and a winner has been chosen!

Thanks to everyone who entered the competition to win a copy of Naruto Shippuden Movie 3 Blu-ray. Sadly, there can only be one winner.

And the winner is…

MCM Expo London Comic Con Line-up – Anime, Cosplay, Movies And Much More…

MCM London Comic Con – Excel London – 25-27 May 2012

What’s On At May’s Comic Con?

Britain’s biggest pop culture festival, MCM Expo London Comic Con returns to ExCel London on 25-27 May with an awesome line-up of movie, videogame, sci-fi, comics, anime