Casey Baseel
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Casey Baseel spent his formative years staring in frustration at un-subtitled Japanese TV programming shown on Southern California’s international channel. Taking matters into his own hands, he moved to Tokyo to study the language, then found work in Yokohama a decade ago teaching, translating, and marketing hotels he can’t afford to stay in. When not participating in the eternal cycle of exercising to burn the calories form his love of Japanese food, Casey scours used comic and game shops for forgotten classics, drags his wife around the country in a quest to visit all its castles, sings karaoke not nearly as well as he thinks he does, and counts the days until the summertime bars open on Enoshima Beach.
Posted by Casey Baseel (Page 5)
![Japan’s 5.3 million beautiful Hitachi Nemophila flowers are now in full bloom[Photos]](https://soranews24.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/04/hn-2.jpg?w=640 "Japan’s 5.3 million beautiful Hitachi Nemophila flowers are now in full bloom[Photos]")
![New Totoro carabiner pouches are ready to clip/tag along with you on all your adventures[Photos]](https://soranews24.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/04/tp-0.jpg?w=640 "New Totoro carabiner pouches are ready to clip/tag along with you on all your adventures[Photos]")
Two Totoros, and one other Studio Ghibli character, are cute, fuzzy, and useful in new accessory lineup.
![Studio Ghibli croquettes not to eat, but to keep your stuff in, going on sale in Japan[Photos]](https://soranews24.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/04/cp-0.jpg?w=640 "Studio Ghibli croquettes not to eat, but to keep your stuff in, going on sale in Japan[Photos]")
This part of Japan gets so much snow you have to wait until spring to see it, but the wait is over!
Luckily there’s an easy way to tell if you’re dealing with a legitimate law enforcement officer or a con artist.
Noto Peninsula is ready to welcome travelers again, and these Pokémon are ready to help them do it.
![Sanrio’s best-loved butthole defies physics in adorable sumo collaboration[Photos]](https://soranews24.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/04/ss-1.jpg?w=640 "Sanrio’s best-loved butthole defies physics in adorable sumo collaboration[Photos]")
Nara is famous for deer and temples, but you won’t find either of those inside this hard-to-find baked good.
![Japanese Godzilla looks set to attack New York in teaser for Godzilla Minus Zero[Video]](https://soranews24.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/04/gz-1.jpg?w=640 "Japanese Godzilla looks set to attack New York in teaser for Godzilla Minus Zero[Video]")
Toho’s Godzilla doesn’t often travel abroad in-movie, but he’ll be visiting the Statue of Liberty.
![First Shiba Inu police dog in Japan’s Gifu Prefecture now on duty[Video]](https://soranews24.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/04/1_4512ee.jpg?w=640 "First Shiba Inu police dog in Japan’s Gifu Prefecture now on duty[Video]")
![Final version of Sanrio: Beginning of Kawaii exhibition opens in Tokyo[Photos]](https://soranews24.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/04/sr-1.jpg?w=640 "Final version of Sanrio: Beginning of Kawaii exhibition opens in Tokyo[Photos]")
Hello Kitty and friends’ tour of the country comes to its last stop in downtown Tokyo with a look back on 60 years of cuteness, Japanese-style.
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry sets targets of 186-percent growth in the overseas anime business, 253 percent for Japanese video games.
![Fading Tokyo – Horikiri Station, the Arakawa River, and Kinpachi-sensei[Walking course]](https://soranews24.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/04/ft-16.jpg?w=640 "Fading Tokyo – Horikiri Station, the Arakawa River, and Kinpachi-sensei[Walking course]")
Mr. Sato heads to the neighborhood of a famous TV drama and finds a nostalgic taste of a youth he never had.
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