Lecture: Lesley Downer – The New Japan and the Last Samurai
Monday 18 June 2012 at 6.45pm 
The Oriental Club Stratford House 11 Stratford Place London W1C 1ES
Free – booking recommended
A pay bar is available before the lecture Please note: Oriental Club rules require gentlemen to wear jacket and tie Read more…
Competition: WIN Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex-Solid State Society On Blu-Ray (Double Play Edition)
ENTER NOW TO WIN – IT’S EASY!
It’s competition time, folks, at Diverse Japan!
To celebrate 21st May UK Blu-Ray (Double Play) release of Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex-Solid State Society OVA (Manga Entertainment) we are offering you the chance to win a copy of Ghost In The Shell on Blu-Ray (Double Play edition).
The stunning Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex-Solid State Society OVA boasts an extraordinary storyline that will delight and astonish fans in equal measure. Written and directed by Read more…
DVD Review: Hara-kiri: Death Of A Samurai – A Film By Takashi Miike
An epically beautiful film!
Takashi Miike (Audition, Ichi the Killer) follows up his martial-arts-heavy 13 Assassins with a more thoughtful, contemplative film that considers the role of ritual suicide in the ranks of the Samurai in 17th Century Japan. Hara-Kiri: Death of A Samurai, a remake of the Yasuhiko Takiguchi 1963 classic, is told in most part by two long flashbacks, the movie tells the tale of a young unemployed samurai, Motome Chijiiwa (Eita), who is forced to commit ritual suicide by cutting open his stomach (seppuku) as punishment for Read more…
DA&D Presents PechaKucha: Japan In Aid Of The Ashinaga Organisation
PechaKucha: Japan 23 May, Doors open at 6.00pm, lecture starts at 7pm Logan Hall, Institute of Education
Just over a year after the tsunami sent shockwaves through a country and around the world, DA&D are putting together a collection of the design and communication world’s greatest stars to share stories about Read more…
Shonen Knife Soon To Release New Album Pop Tune & Promo Video
Release date: 6th June 2012
A new album by all-female super-group, Shonen Knife, entitled Pop Tune will be released on CD and digital download on 6th June. It features ten original songs (see below for listing and to hear samples), including ‘Osaka Rock City’, which has been selected as the theme song for the movie adaptation of Robin Shio’s “Soul Train Flower”, directed by Hiroshi Nishio and to be Read more…
NEO’s Profile Series Continues With Video Game & Anime Producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi
NEO magazine issue 98 on sale from 17th May 2012!
In the latest edition of NEO’s profile series, Diverse Japan’s creator and administrator, Spencer Lloyd Peet, focuses on video game and anime extraordinaire, Hiroyuki Kobayashi, best known for his involvement with the Resident Evil franchise. Other exciting features in issue 98 include:
THE UK’S ANIME, manga and Asian pop culture magazine is going super saiyan over the release of Dragon Ball Z this summer. Read more…
Blu-ray Review: Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex – Solid State Society OVA
Deals with the underlying themes of reality vs. technology!
Since the release of The Matrix in 1999, the Masamune Shirow ‘Ghost In The Shell’ series has become iconic amongst Western anime and science fiction fans alike. Championed by the Wachowski brothers, this series of well crafted and inspirational sci-fi detective movies became better known among the mainstream Western audiences; whilst seasoned fans of Japanimation sat back with an air of smugness now that this gem of a franchise had finally started getting the Read more…
