Today, the staff of Unseen Japan announced a major re-branding several years in the making. Effective April 2nd, the publication will rename itself from “Unseen Japan to “Seen Japan,” bringing with it a major shift in tone and content.
“Sure, it’s been fun covering stories about the lack of women in elected government positions and how not everyone in Japan actually watches anime,” publisher Jay Allen said of the change before he paused and continued, “Actually, it’s been real fucking depressing. That’s why we feel it’s time we move away from hard-hitting news and into more pedestrian and mundane topics. You know, footage of kids walking by themselves to school while expertly playing the violin. Which combini has the best bottled water. That sort of thing.”
The site will change its tagline to “The Japan You’ve Already Learned About From Anime” and will laser-focus on topics that have been covered repetitively in other publications. Articles slated for April include:
- The new Have You Heard of…?! series introducing a food, convenience option, or place you’ve definitely heard of. The first installment will be an in-depth review of the Starbucks at Shibuya Scramble.
- Japan Has Four Seasons?!?, an article that dives deep into the burning question: Did you know Japan has four seasons?!?
- Iru: The Ancient Japanese Art of Just Being
- Wacky Japan, a new series focused on the truly outrageous and insane side of Japanese culture. The site is still working out the details, but expects that 95% of the content will be clips from Japanese variety shows.
- Noah Oskow’s 700-word article on The 17 Best Anime Ever Made, all of them shonen and none of which began production before 2020.
- Jake Adelstein’s exposé diving into the criminal underworld of people who fill up a large coffee at 7-11 after only paying for a medium.
- Japan Is Living In The Future: A rundown of the hottest technology and innovations available in the famous “Cyberpunk Nation,” ranging from trains to fax machines.
- Get Out of Tokyo: A look at travel options that expose first-time visitors to other exotic areas of the country, such as Kamakura, Yokohama, and Hakone.
- Hiroshi Follows The Rules, a YouTube documentary featuring a mild-mannered Japanese corporate executive sitting on a train quietly reading his book while two foreigners fistfight.
- A Guide to Japanese Business Etiquette, composed entirely of clips from Naruto Shippuden.
- Politics Watch, a once-monthly reassurance that, don’t worry, no one in Japan actually cares about politics, ever.
In addition, the company announced that its Unseen Japan Tours division will stop creating custom tour packages of rare destinations otherwise inaccessible to non-Japanese speaking tourists, opting instead to show people around that one block immediately outside of the JR Akihabara Station.
“You’ve got takoyaki, taiyaki, kushiyaki – all the yakis, really,” Tours Director Noah Oskow said. “Large-breasted anime figures as far as the eye can see. There’s even a Family Mart. Everything you associate with Japan is right there – why would you need to go anywhere else?”
Unseen Japan has published articles about the lesser-seen side of Japanese culture since 2018, reminding readers that people in Japan are people just like in any other country. It’s earned rave reviews for its coverage from prominent Japan experts, such as blue-check X user General Otaku Warrior (“Utter trash”) and email contact form sender yuihitler1488@gmail.com (“kill yourself lol”).
“For seven years, we’ve watched random TikTok accounts rack up millions of views showing people how they left their wallet at a Sukiya and came back seven hours later and there was actually more money in it,” Allen said, as he sighed slightly and a whisp of his soul appeared to leave his body. “There’s only so long we could resist switching to content that’ll net us a sweet VPN company sponsorship. Or, hell, maybe even a Tenga contract! Dare to dream, am I right?”
Asked whether he was worried about burning in Hell, Allen gestured in the general direction of the United States and said, “Pretty sure we’re there already, buddy.”
The change will immediately go into effect on April 2nd. Or not. Happy April 1st.
