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Silvio Berlusconi has failed in his attempt to topple the Italian government, leaving him weaker than ever and zapping the aura of invincibility that has surrounded him for two decades as he faces the possible loss of his Senate seat and a ban from ...
Hatsudai has a lot going for it. This quiet low-rise residential neighborhood just minutes west of Shinjuku boasts a friendly traditional shōtengai (shopping street) and a lively annual Awa Odori dance festival. Now add to that a really outstanding restaurant. Anis opened in early ...
International events undermine Japan's democracy. Shame on the International Olympic Committee for being a party to it.
In the glitzy and gossipy world of Japanese celebrity, hardly a week goes by without revelations being made about — or made by — Ichikawa Ebizo XI. For years, the charismatic young star of the kabuki world has never long been out of the ...
Reigning champion Kei Nishikori made quick work of Feliciano Lopez, walloping the Spaniard in a straight-sets victory Thursday to reach the quarterfinals of the Rakuten Japan Open. The world No. 13 Nishikori needed little over an hour to put away Lopez, 7-6 (7-4), 6-0 ...
Mike Sunda is a music writer focusing primarily on electronic music and the Tokyo club scene. He graduated from the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, England with a degree in Japanese and has been contributing to The Japan Times since 2010.
For Mike Sunda's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Wandering around on the opening day of this year’s Fuji Rock, I got the impression that numbers were down on previous years. Of course, anyone who has ever been stuck in the event’s seemingly never-ending lines for the portable toilets — or who’s been ...
You’re performing on the Red Marquee this year as a result of winning the Rookie A Go-Go competition at last year’s festival, how does that feel? crime6 (MC): Last year we didn’t expect to win at all. There were so many great bands — ...
This is your third time at Fuji Rock, you must like it? Jamie Smith: I do like it. It’s really nice out in the actual festival; backstage … not so nice! It’s a really good vibe out there, which is what really matters. You ...
Although many Japanese indie bands find it a struggle breaking into overseas markets, Tokyo’s Jesse Ruins have always seemed to strike a chord among both international and domestic listeners alike. The trio’s distinctive brand of dreamy pop — laden with sentimental synth melodies and ...
Summer means a lot of things in Japan: stifling heat and humidity, fireworks and the Bon holidays, nagashi-sōmen noodles and chilled barley tea. For music fans though, the season brings a different kind of to-do list: booking cheap train tickets in advance, stocking up ...
This Monday, members of the seminal metal band X Japan were in Odaiba rubbing shoulders with the likes of Brad Pitt, Lady Gaga and AKB48′s Yuko Oshima. The catch? They were all made out of wax. The life-size representations were just five of the ...
It’s fitting that I should be meeting Terre Thaemlitz on May 1, International Workers’ Day — she wryly refers to herself as a “feminist Marxist” before we begin our interview in proper. Thaemlitz, who produces music under her real name, the moniker DJ Sprinkles ...
Whether it’s an annual soapbox derby or sending a man to the edge of space just because they can, energy-drink manufacturers Red Bull have never been afraid to throw their cash at projects that range from the sublime to the ridiculous. Red Bull Music ...
The Red Bull Music Academy studios in South London are the venue for my interview with Ross Birchard (26) and Lunice Fermin Pierre II (24) — better known as Hudson Mohawke and Lunice — about their new project TNGHT. As graduates of the classes ...
DJ Ken-ske (real name Kensuke Sato) is a DJ’s DJ — he eschews celebrity club culture in favor of a purists’ approach to the medium, which allows him to play more than 100 gigs a year. Although primarily mixing hip-hop in a B-boy style, ...
A mainstay of the Tokyo underground electronic scene and cofounder of the Raid System label/collective, XLII (pronounced slee) also regularly tours Europe, where his fan base stretches from London to Kiev. Here he shares tried-and-tested dancefloor destroyers with The Japan Times, including a tune ...
It’s early on a Saturday evening at the 1-2-3-4 Shoreditch festival in London and Lapalux is taking the stage. He’s only armed with a laptop, a MIDI controller and some select software, but the hundreds in the audience haven’t shown up expecting a flashy ...