Make Believe Bonus: Modular Wednesday At Shibuya Oto

A Tangled Affair

Japan is a country inspiring no shortage of generalizations. If you seek out YouTube or TikTok videos about the country, you’ll find a barrage of “Japan is living in the future” or “the dark side of Japan” content revolving around blanket statements. Almost always, there’s far more nuance to any of these discussions, but the very idea of that has long gone out the window when talking about the nation, and is basically non-existent on social media.

I’m always wary of any grand declaration about Japan because of this, positive or negative. Yet there’s two times where I’m all in on extremes being true. The first is that Japanese convenience stores are the best in the world. They absolutely are, and when people try to downplay them they are being boringly contrarian or they have no taste.

Second, Japan really is a country where every niche interest can flourish. Which is one of the reasons I found myself in a fifth-floor DJ bar in Shibuya this week to watch artists put on a party with analog synthesizers.