Latest news with #Matsumoto
Tokyo Weekender
17 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Tokyo Weekender
Upcoming Anime and Manga Events in Tokyo: June 2025
Looking for an anime event to nerd out at? We've got you covered for the month of June. Take a look at all of the exciting anime-themed pop-up shops, cafes and art exhibitions in our list below. List of Contents: Tokyo Anime and Manga Events in June Related Posts Tokyo Anime and Manga Events in June Bleach: The Locus of the Brave II From June 11 to July 13, dive into the world of Bleach with this special Tokyo exhibition! Explore exclusive production materials, behind-the-scenes footage, immersive experiences, and stylish photo spots. Also, don't miss the mysterious "Kurosaki" corner and tons of exclusive Bleach goods. Date & Time Jun 13-Jul 13・11:00-20:00 Price TBA Location Sunshine 60 Observatory Tenbou-Park More Details Leiji Matsumoto Manga Exhibition The "Leiji Matsumoto Exhibition: A Journey of Creation" exhibit at Tokyo City View showcases more than 300 original drawings, including Matsumoto's early works and never-before-seen content from "Galaxy Express 999" and "Space Pirate Captain Harlock." Date & Time Jun 20-Sep 07・10:00-20:00 Price Location Tokyo City View More Details My Hero Academia Original Art Exhibition The globally acclaimed manga series My Hero Academia is being honored with a special exhibition in Tokyo, celebrating creator Kohei Horikoshi's artistic journey and the series' conclusion after a remarkable 10-year run. This exhibition offers fans a rare opportunity to experience the evolution of one of Japan's most successful modern manga series up close. Date & Time Jun 21-Aug 31・10:00-20:00 Price ¥2200 Location CREATIVE MUSEUM TOKYO More Info Discounts for students More Details © Sotsu, Sunrise Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX -Beginning- Exhibition A special exhibition of the latest work in the Gundam series, Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuuX (Siege Ax) -Beginning-, is currently being held. Date & Time May 24-Aug 11・11:00-19:00 Price Free Location Anime Tokyo Station More Details Ghibli 3D Sculpture Exhibition In 2003, Tokyo was blessed with the Ghilbli 3D sculpture exhibition. Now, 22 years later, it is back and bigger than ever. Dive into the worlds of My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away and Pom Poko with full-scale sculptures from the films. You can even see the Savoia S-21 flying boat from Porco Rosso. Date & Time May 27-Sep 23・09:30-20:00・Last Entry at 19:00 Price ¥1,900 Location Warehouse TERRADA B&C HALL More Details Related Posts Japan's First AI-Powered Anime Set To Debut This March Prophetic Manga predicts a Great Cataclysm Will Hit Japan in July 2025 Manga Manners: How Sailor Moon and Eren Yaeger Are Teaching Japanese Etiquette in JR Stations
Business Insider
3 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
Nomura Sticks to Its Hold Rating for JFE Holdings (JFEEF)
Nomura analyst Yuji Matsumoto maintained a Hold rating on JFE Holdings (JFEEF – Research Report) yesterday and set a price target of Yen1,800.00. Confident Investing Starts Here: Easily unpack a company's performance with TipRanks' new KPI Data for smart investment decisions Receive undervalued, market resilient stocks right to your inbox with TipRanks' Smart Value Newsletter According to TipRanks, Matsumoto is a 3-star analyst with an average return of 3.7% and a 52.63% success rate. Matsumoto covers the Basic Materials sector, focusing on stocks such as JFE Holdings, Mitsubishi Materials, and NIPPON STEEL. Currently, the analyst consensus on JFE Holdings is a Hold with an average price target of $12.50.
Japan Times
28-04-2025
- General
- Japan Times
Reclaiming Sanya, one meal at a time
Sanya, a low-income neighborhood straddling Tokyo's Taito and Arakawa wards, may be a name that some would like to forget — it was scrubbed from city maps in 1966 — but the kindness of its residents reverberates across the lives of many today. For 65-year-old Danny Matsumoto, it was the kindness of one person in particular whom he says saved his life. Born in Japan but raised in the U.S., Matsumoto was deported to Narita International Airport in 2019 after missing a probation appointment. With no knowledge of Japanese or family contacts in the country, he lived in the airport for several weeks before connecting with the Meguro Catholic Church. In 2022, the church introduced him to Magokoro Yoshihira, managing director of Yui Associates, a nonprofit that helps those who have ended up on the streets. 'She saved me, she really cares,' says Matsumoto. 'I call her 'Mother Mago.'' Yoshihira, 51, is the woman behind Sanya Cafe, a modest establishment opened in 2018 that serves as a hub for a multifaceted and multinational community. She provided Matsumoto with a place to stay and work, offering him an ear when he needed it most. Danny Matsumoto (left) struggled to find his footing after being deported from the U.S. Magokoro Yoshihira helped him get settled, and now he volunteers as a cleaner at some of Yui Associates' establishments. 'She saved me,' he says. | Kim Kahan 'You've got a lot of people who are grateful to (Yoshihira) around here,' says Matsumoto, who volunteers as a cleaner at Yoshihira's other establishments. 'He refuses to take any money for it,' says Yoshihira. A stark juxtaposition Following World War II, Sanya was home to many of the day laborers who flooded the capital to help with the rebuilding of Tokyo. The neighborhood was officially split into two districts in 1966: Kiyokawa and Nihonzutsumi. In the subsequent decades, Tokyo's former slum district was all but untraceable to those who weren't in the know. Sitting on a 1.5-kilometer stretch along the Sumida River, Sanya historically had a reputation for widespread alcoholism and even violence. Two documentary filmmakers, Mitsuo Sato and Kyoichi Yamaoka, were both murdered by yakuza amid their efforts to cover issues pertaining to the area in the 1985 film 'Yama — Attack to Attack.' Today, the neighborhood retains a working-class shitamachi (low-lying urban area) vibe despite the smattering of fancy new apartment blocks that have sprouted up around Minamisenju Station. Smiling tourists with oversized backpacks wander the streets, looking for a slice of authenticity as much as they do in other parts of the capital. Hints of that old character are easy to spot. Head south in the shadow of Tokyo Skytree and you'll pass rough yakitori stalls, where middle-aged men sit outside on rickety plastic chairs, drinking the cheapest pints in the city at all hours of day and night. In the backstreets, you'll find retired laborers making merry, leaning against walls and shouting playfully at each other. The longtime residents of the area have had their share of friction with newer transplants, however, and this is where Yoshihira steps in. Yui Associates hopes to foster relationships between the different strata of residents and visitors through two hotels, Juyoh and Meigetsu, and two residential facilities, Ariake and Shiho, close to Minamisenju Station. The latter two are what are called doya, facilities with bedrooms rented cheaply to Japanese welfare recipients. Matsumoto was provided with a room at Juyoh when he arrived during the pandemic. And Sanya Cafe, housed on the first floor of Juyoh Hotel, is a place where everyone can come together. The cafe reclaims the name 'Sanya' and endows it with new meaning — perhaps even a sense of solidarity. New beginnings Yusuke Takahashi, 32, is one of Sanya Cafe's success stories. After being let go from his job as a chef in Tokyo during the pandemic, and not having much luck in his hometown in Gunma Prefecture, he returned to the capital in 2022 to get back on his feet. He found a space in Ariake and stayed there for a month before being assigned welfare in a different part of Tokyo. As he was readying himself to move, however, Yoshihira asked him to help prepare meals for a weekly food drive being run out of Sanya Cafe. The drive came in response to a pause in government food distribution to those in need as part of efforts to avoid COVID-19 cluster infections, says Yoshihira, who then stepped in to fill the gap. (The program is still in operation, bringing hot meals to laborers and others living rough. Additionally, a volunteer nurse is on hand to provide medical consultations.) Overseeing food prep became a regular gig for Takahashi. 'I rediscovered how great it was to be doing something useful,' he says. The cafe itself temporarily ceased operation during the pandemic, when most of Juyoh Hotel's international customer base was locked out of the country. After borders reopened, Takahashi was ready for action. Catering to a wide variety of customers, his menu includes Asian and Western classics, such as gapao (basil stir-fry) rice made with herbs from Ariake's rooftop garden, pasta, pizza and sweet treats like canele pastries and cheesecake. 'Serving this community is one of my favorite things about the job,' says Takahashi, whose customers include both tourists and area residents. 'It often feels like a cultural exchange. We get a lot of international guests, as well as (local) moms who come in after picking up or dropping off their kids.' The staff at the hotel and cafe are just as diverse. Nancy Anne (who asked that only her first name be used due to privacy concerns) is the deputy manager at Juyoh Hotel. Originally from the Philippines, she says she simply 'answered a job posting, and now I've been here for nearly 10 years.' At first, she wasn't sure how her basic Japanese would fare when she first started the position in her 40s. 'Everyone at Juyoh was welcoming,' she says, adding that she's now studying for the Japanese-Language Proficiency Test at the N2 level. She attributes her confidence in the language to her work experience there. Nancy Anne has come into contact with myriad characters at the hotel. She says the clientele mostly comprises overseas guests — with Europeans as an overwhelming majority — and a smaller number of domestic tourists. 'One of the perks of this job is meeting such a wide range of people,' she says. 'It has allowed me to interact with many different cultures.' While the old image of Sanya is one of crime and poverty, Nancy Anne says that she finds it quiet and peaceful. 'I really like this area,' she says. It's this community spirit that shines through in the spaces and activities of Yui Associates, whether the rooftop garden atop Ariake, the welcoming environment of Sanya Cafe or the Friday evening food drives. Yoshihira says her goal at Yui Associates is to reclaim and reinvent the image of Sanya, which has long been 'stigmatized' — and was even 'obliterated as a place name.' Little by little, her efforts seem to be paying off. Indeed, for many people, the neighborhood has been a place of redemption. As Matsumoto says, 'Being in Sanya is something to be proud of.' Juyoh Hotel and Sanya Cafe are currently recruiting part-time staff positions. For more info, please visit
Japan Times
14-04-2025
- General
- Japan Times
The man behind Fukushima town's 'Strawberry Sheep'
When Ryuji Matsumoto moved from Tokyo to the town of Okuma in Fukushima Prefecture about six years ago, mutton was probably the last thing on his mind. His relocation had come about because the construction company he ran in the capital got involved in projects in the town. While working on the demolition of houses and decontamination in Okuma, which hosts the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, the thought came to him that he needed to do more to help revitalize the town, which bore the brunt of the tsunami and nuclear meltdown caused by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. It culminated in him rearing what he dubs Strawberry Sheep, whose meat has proven popular for its distinct sweetness, the result of the animals consuming feed containing locally grown strawberries. The mutton is expected to be added to a list of return gifts for people who make donations to Okuma under the furusato nōzei hometown tax donation system as early as this spring. "I hope to help the community regain its vibrancy," Matsumoto, 54, said. In a breeding facility in the town's Ogawara district, the bleating of some 40 sheep is heard as Matsumoto, who had no prior experience in livestock farming, feeds them and cleans their shed. He recalled how new buildings were being completed in various parts of the town and the community was seemingly being steadily rebuilt. And yet, he felt there was something lacking to attract more people there. Matsumoto is no stranger to the area. His parents are from the nearby city of Iwaki and, since being a child, he had often visited the coastal area of Fukushima Prefecture where the city and Okuma are located. 'I started to wonder if there was anything I could do for Okuma,' he said. As he was pondering on this, an acquaintance of his who runs a Mongolian barbecue restaurant in Tokyo related to him that Japanese mutton formed less than 1% of all meat marketed in Japan. This was Matsumoto's light-bulb moment. If he could rear sheep in Okuma and make a name for them, surely it would lead to a revitalization of the town, he thought. And so began his journey into sheep farming. He started studying how to rear sheep roughly three years ago, including how to feed them and clean their breeding facility. The more he learned, the more he realized that in order to make Okuma sheep stand out, they needed to have a distinguishing element. He eventually got acquainted with Ushiya, a livestock farming company in the neighboring village of Katsurao, which also produces mutton. Over several discussions with the company, an idea came to him about incorporating a local specialty into his feed. Around the same time, strawberry farming was taking off in Okuma as a new industry, so Matsumoto paid a visit to Nexus Farm Okuma, a public-private venture funded by the town that engaged in strawberry farming in 2019. He obtained from the company rejected fruit that would have otherwise been discarded to incorporate into his feed. He joined Okuma Mirai, a local company engaging in projects to revitalize agriculture in the town as its executive officer, and with the support of two of the firm's employees, started raising four sheep in August 2023. He started to mix dried strawberries into the pasture grass that he fed his sheep. Over time, he started to notice changes in the texture of the sheep's meat. Last October, Matsumoto served mutton from his farm to a group of people for the first time, and all of them commented that the meat tasted sweet and had little odor. And thus, the concept of Strawberry Sheep was born. Recognizing the quality of Matsumoto's sheep, Okuma has decided to add his mutton to its list of return gifts under the hometown tax system. Matsumoto hopes to open a restaurant that serves mutton one day, and also cooperate with Ushiya in the future. 'I want to make the district a major mutton-producing area and utilize it to attract tourists so that it will lead to an expansion of the nonresident population,' he said. This section features topics and issues covered by the Fukushima Minpo, the prefecture's largest newspaper. The original article was published March 3.
Japan Times
06-04-2025
- Business
- Japan Times
How the U.S. and Japan can keep partnering for the future
As we approach the 80th anniversary of the end of the Pacific War on Sept. 2, we are at another turning point — not only for the alliance between Japan and the United States, but the world. Eight decades ago, this pivotal period was shaped by people such as philanthropist John D. Rockefeller III, the grandson of John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937). In the 1950s, just after the end of the American occupation of Japan, Rockefeller III led the postwar renaissance of New York's Japan Society as a nexus for cultural exchange between the U.S. and Japan. He also co-founded the International House of Japan (I-House) in Tokyo, dedicated to the internationalization of Japan, together with Shigeharu Matsumoto, a journalist from an elite Japanese family who had been educated overseas. Looking at the present moment, we are tackling this new, uncertain era with a renewed and strengthened partnership between Japan Society and I-House as a point of connection for the future, building on the legacy of our shared history and the friendship between Rockefeller and Matsumoto. Both of our organizations have been guided and informed by people-to-people connections, showing us how kizuna, the lasting bonds between people formed through mutual trust and support, can shape what lies ahead. The relationship between Rockefeller and Matsumoto began in 1929 with a chance encounter in Kyoto at a conference on Manchuria held by the Institute of Pacific Relations, when Rockefeller was traveling in Asia after graduating from college and Matsumoto was beginning his career as a journalist. The meeting took place shortly before the American stock market crash that led to the Great Depression, when the U.S. was still in the midst of the Roaring Twenties. At the time, Japan's nascent democracy was being subverted by its military, with the 1931 invasion of Manchuria, soon followed by Sino-Japanese War and then the Pacific War in 1941. Born into an elite family imbued with a strong sense of duty, Rockefeller III was a quiet thinker and builder with a strong affection for Asia, especially for Japan. Geopolitically savvy and comfortable with taking risks, he founded over 100 organizations throughout his life, leading the Japan Society throughout its postwar renaissance first as president, then as chairman until his death in 1978. Following the end of the war, Rockefeller was chosen as cultural consultant to John Foster Dulles' 1951 peace mission. Because peace was going to be a longer-term prospect than just the signing of a treaty, Rockefeller knew that, beyond government initiatives, there needed to be an investment in cultural understanding — and he made that happen, both in New York and Tokyo. By 1952, speaking in Tokyo two days before sovereignty was returned to Japan, Rockefeller presented himself not as a former member of the Dulles mission but as president of Japan Society. He was instrumental in obtaining the Rockefeller Foundation's backing for a cultural center in Tokyo, meeting with leading Japanese intellectuals — among them Matsumoto — to develop a committee for this purpose. Japanese donors raised the equivalent amount. I-House was established in August 1952 as a center for the promotion of international understanding through cultural exchange and for the rebuilding of postwar U.S.-Japan cultural relations. Today, its mission is to contribute to building a free, open and sustainable future through intellectual dialogue, policy research and cultural exchange. Today, we are at another turning point. The world confronts another major season of geopolitical changes — not seen since the 1950s or the 1920s. The rise in the U.S.-China rivalry, questions about U.S. commitment to Europe and the rise of the Global South are fundamental changes to the postwar international order that will no doubt affect — and challenge — U.S.-Japan relations. Both of our countries need to work together toward building sustainable and peaceful relationships. Regardless of what happens in geopolitics, both Japan Society and the International House of Japan will continue to act as advocates for the U.S.-Japan relationship by bringing like-minded people together in different ways. Even as the American system of alliances shifts, we believe in the need to continue building sustainable and peaceful relationships. [bop]Joshua W. Walker is president and CEO of Japan Society. James Kondo is chairman of the International House of Japan.[/bio]
