News On Japan

Will 'Queer Eye' show a different view of Japanese culture?

Mar 01, 2019 (Japan Times) - Netflix's popular reality series "Queer Eye" recently wrapped up filming for a number of special Japan-based episodes.

The footage from the recent trip to the country won't air until later in the year, so curious viewers will have to wait to see just how the Fab Five highlight the country to the world.

However, the stars of "Queer Eye" and staff working behind the scenes shared plenty of posts on social media, offering snapshots of their visit (SoraNews24 compiled some of the highlights). How much of it factors into the show proper remains to be seen - something tells me Kiko Mizuhara and Naomi Watanabe weren't just playing travel guides for kicks - but, regardless, these updates offered a snapshot of how celebrities spend their holidays in the country. It, along with other recent cases, highlighted some new spots becoming popular with prominent figures, while also reminding us that time-tested landmarks persevere.

Maybe I'm naive about celeb life, but I always assumed that when they visit a city such as Tokyo they hit up elite establishments regular schmucks can only dream of accessing. However, it turns out they are just like your distant cousin reaching out for the first time in a decade looking for travel tips from a local. They end up going to Robot Restaurant or the Kawaii Monster Cafe. And the "Queer Eye" guys are hardly alone in visiting these places. Chrissy Teigen apparently loves the former location enough to have gone twice, while all sorts of stars have popped up at the latter. At least they didn't pull a Katy Perry or Nolan Gould, who spent part of their vacation in Tokyo riding around in those real-life Mario Kart go-karts.

But those are old hat at this point, and have inspired eye rolls from local non-Japanese residents for years now. The Fab Five's visit, though, points to what the next frontier of Tokyo tourism for the elite will be. The teamLab Borderless exhibition in Odaiba factored in heavily to the "Queer Eye" posts from the capital. The spot's relative newness hasn't garnered the same cynicism that Robot Restaurant or the Mario go-karts have, but has attracted visits from influencers eager to share photos of them standing in front of the brightly colored displays on Instagram. Expect to see plenty more rich and famous folks visiting that spot in the years to come.

News On Japan
POPULAR NEWS

Large Typhoon No. 25 was moving northwest over waters south of Japan at 3 p.m. on September 19 and is forecast to strengthen as it approaches Kanto and the Izu Islands from September 20 through September 21, bringing the risk of torrential rain, violent winds and further damage in areas still recovering from last year's typhoon.

A black bear has been spotted near one of the most popular hiking trails on Mount Takao in western Tokyo, prompting authorities to urge visitors to take precautions ahead of the five-day Silver Week holiday and the approaching autumn foliage season.

Starbucks is considering selling a majority stake in its Japanese business, potentially valued at as much as $3 billion, or about 470 billion yen, as the U.S. coffee chain seeks to concentrate management resources on its struggling North American operations.

Japan's Halloween Jumbo Lottery went on sale nationwide on September 16, offering a combined top payout of 400 million yen for the first prize and its adjacent-number prizes.

A new top-tier "Supreme Class" offering fully private compartments above the level of Green Car service will debut on the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen on October 1, with passengers able to experience the new seating at a demonstration booth at Shin-Osaka Station.

MEDIA CHANNELS
         

MORE Society NEWS

Anonymous and fluid criminal groups known in Japan as "tokuryu" are adopting increasingly elaborate tactics, including a scheme in which elderly victims are persuaded to hide cash inside refrigerators before thieves enter their homes, as authorities struggle to combat networks whose members often have no direct contact with one another.

A luxury mansion in Bangkok described as resembling a palace was being used as a base for a specialized fraud operation targeting Japanese people, with Thai authorities detaining 14 people, including four Japanese men.

Copper roofing has been stripped from Shinano-no-miya Shrine in Oshika Village, Nagano Prefecture, leaving the wooden structure exposed in the latest of a series of similar thefts reported at shrines across the prefecture.

A popular Tokyo nightclub hostess and influencer known as Yamatorino, who says she generated more than 200 million yen in sales during a single month, has been arrested on suspicion of possessing cocaine with her boyfriend at their home in Roppongi.

A second-year high school student was arrested at the scene after allegedly releasing tear gas spray inside a classroom at Osaka University of Commerce Sakai High School on September 16, leaving 24 students complaining of coughing, throat pain and other symptoms.

Police have arrested a 26-year-old man suspected of acting as a top-level planner in an anonymous, fluid criminal group known as a "Tokuryu," with investigators believing he was involved in a series of theft-related crimes in Kyoto and other areas between December 2025 and March 2026.

A 37-year-old man was arrested at Chubu Centrair International Airport after allegedly injuring a police officer who warned him about walking two toy poodles without leashes inside the airport complex.

The number of people aged 100 or older in Japan has exceeded 100,000 for the first time, reaching a record 107,677 as of September 1, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.