27/03/2026

LYFE FRIDAY | MAR 27, 2026

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Japan: Fact versus fantasy

T AKE an everyday video on any suburban transport network, add anime-style music and a rosy filter, and it is suddenly a scene from the Japanese holiday of your dreams. That’s the “Japan effect”: A Gen Z social media trend satirising the often-romanticised image of the Asian country, which welcomed a record number of visitors last year. Residents of Kyoto and other tourist hotspots have expressed exasperation with selfie-taking crowds, and now an online backlash against Japan fever is growing. The short video posts on platforms such as TikTok show how even just the words “Tokyo, Japan” with a cherry blossom emoji can make an otherwise banal street scene more appealing for some users. “The point is to make fun of Japan’s ‘cute’ image online, with all its cliches and stereotypes,” 25-year-old French YouTuber Rocky Louzembi, who analyses internet culture, told AFP. Along with the chronically weak yen, the booming popularity of anime and game franchises such as Pokemon is drawing tourists to the nation. But some people take their love of Japan too far, said Louzembi, who goes by the handle rockylevrai. To describe the phenomenon, he used the slang word “glazing” – to excessively praise something. A “Japan glazer” is “someone who puts everything that comes from Japan on a pedestal, while disparaging things that come from their own country”, Louzembi said. o Romantisation of country sparks Gen Z social media backlash

Minecraft to come to life with UK theme park BRITAIN is to welcome the world’s first Minecraft roller-coaster and attractions with the opening of Minecraft World in 2027, the studio behind the video game announced recently. “Merlin Entertainments and Mojang Studios have today announced Minecraft World, the world’s first fully immersive Minecraft theme park land,” the Sweden-based video game developer and UK theme park company said. The £50-million (RM266.6 million) project will be part of the Chessington World of Adventures Resort, a theme park complex southwest of London. It will be inspired by the“biomes, mobs and items” of the beloved Minecraft universe, according to a press release, and will feature a coaster,“block built playscapes”and themed retail and dining. The attraction builds on the popularity of one of the best-selling video games of all time in which players build a three- dimensional world. Minecraft was first made available on computers in 2011 and has since been released on mobile phones and several gaming consoles. A Minecraft Movie proved a box office hit last year, becoming the most successful film adaptation from a video game in North America and generating memes and TikTok trends that went viral worldwide. UK cinemas had to restrict audiences from partaking in a viral “chicken jockey” trend arising from the film. – AFP The theme park is set to open next year. – PIC FR OM C HESS I NGTON WO R LD O F ADVENTU R ES R ESO R T

Visitors pose with Mount Fuji in the background at Lake Yamanakako in Yamanakako, Yamanashi prefecture. ‘Not that clean’ Japan logged a record 42.7 million tourist arrivals in 2025, despite a steep fall in Chinese visitors in December due to a diplomatic row. Many visitors post online about their trip – making pilgrimages to real-life locations from cartoons or joking about spending US$1,000 (RM3,991) on flights just so they can eat a US$1 convenience store rice ball. “The ‘Japan’ portrayed in an anime world is often quite different from how Japanese society is,” said Marika Sato, a 29-year-old who works in marketing in Tokyo. For instance, many women have experienced groping, said Sato, a contributor to “Blossom The Project”, an Instagram account focused on Japanese social issues.

People use boats on Chidorigafuchi, one of the moats around the Imperial Palace, to look at cherry blossoms.

the Bowery signals our redoubled commitment to new art and new ideas, and to the museum as an ever evolving site for risk-taking, collaboration and experimentation,” said New Museum director Lisa Phillips. In one gallery, Pamela Rosenkranz’s Healer (Anamazon) , a mechanical snake, slithered around the display space, inadvertently shedding part of its construction as it moved. “It’s all of ours first day,” said a curator, re-assembling the artwork as it writhed. – AFP Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies at Waseda University. That could be because of the detailed, beautiful backgrounds in anime, or because of a deeper “cultural tradition of emphasising form”. “If people focus on form rather than meaning, it becomes easier to go viral. Because you don’t need to think,” Nakajima said. Japan’s formalities – from the complexity of polite language to extreme attention to detail in packaging or wrapping – may surprise visitors, he said. But “Japan is not always clean and aesthetic. That’s only part of the reality.” Despite the backlash, tourists in Tokyo’s busy Tsukiji market said the country had lived up to their expectations. “In Russia, it’s very popular to hype Japan,” said Tatiana Mokeeva, 25. When asked if posts about Japan could be unrealistic, she said: “To tell the truth, no... I love all about Japan.”

enveloping an open stair case, elevator shafts and display spaces. It is flanked by low-rise apartment buildings and retail spaces typical of the Bowery neighborhood. The expansion provides twice the footprint of the existing building and will now feature a dedicated studio for artists-in-residence. “Since our founding nearly 50 years ago, the New Museum has been a home for the most groundbreaking art of today and a haven for the artists who make it. “Our new 120,000 sq ft building on Graphic designer and fellow Blossom contributor Maya Kubota, 28, said that she appreciates people liking Japan and wanting to visit. But over-the-top comments such as “Japanese people are next level” give her an “icky vibe”, Kubota said. Some of the online Gen Z pushback focuses on the exaggerated idea that Japan’s streets are so spotless people do not even have to wear shoes. “Japan is clean but not that clean,” joked a US couple who post social media content about the country under the name The Hitobito – showing off their dirty white socks after a real-life experiment. Viral effect Japan’s tourist boom has forced some authorities to take action. A cherry blossom festival boasting a highly Instagrammable view of Mount Fuji was cancelled this year after residents complained of overtourism. “People associate Japan with carefully composed visuals,” said Seio Nakajima, a professor in the

People take pictures at the Torii path of Fushimi Inari-taisha shrine in Kyoto. – PIC S FR OM A FP

New Museum reopens, returning contemporary art to heart of Manhattan AFTER an US$82 million

It will contrast contemporary and historical pieces to profile the impact of technology on mankind. The reopening follows three years of intensive construction in one of the busiest spots in the city to future-proof Manhattan’s only contemporary art museum. The renovation was beset by several delays, pushing back the original deadline from last fall. The new wing was designed by Shohei Shigematsu and Rem Koolhaas with Cooper Robertson, and has the geometric look of angular mesh

(RM327.4 million) expansion, New York’s New Museum is bringing contemporary art back to the heart of Manhattan, showcasing modern works alongside classics by Dali and Marcel Duchamp after two years closed. Now open to the public, the 60,000 sq ft building expansion has launched with an exhibition titled “New Humans: Memories of the Future”, that probes “what it means to be ‘human’,” alongside several new commissions.

The reopening follows three years of intensive construction in Manhattan. – PIC FR OM NEW MUSEUM