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Yung-hsiang Kao
For Yung-hsiang Kao's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / The Big Questions
Apr 15, 2018
As HMI expands, sights set on drawing Indian visitors
When 24 million people visited Japan in 2016, it marked the first time the number surpassed 20 million, a figure that the government had hoped to meet by 2020.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / The Big Questions
Feb 11, 2018
Various work styles must be embraced for success
For many industries, it has become increasingly apparent that the way up is through Asia. This is especially true for Amway Corp., the global direct sales giant based in Ada, Michigan.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / The Big Questions
Jan 7, 2018
Ambassador eager to brand and boost country
"The readiness is all," utters the Danish title character in the last act of Shakespeare's "Hamlet."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / The Big Questions
Dec 17, 2017
Furthering Pakistan-Japan bonds through education
What the world needs now is less individualism and more Japanese-style consensus-building, said Pakistanu2019s Ambassador Asad Majeed Khan.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 24, 2017
Tokyo International Art Fair to kick off in Shibuya's Hikarie
While many people in Japan undoubtedly know someone who owns a brand name handbag, few may know anyone who owns a work of art. If Tokyo-based artist Satoshi Maruhashi has his way, that will soon change.
CULTURE / Books
Nov 11, 2012
Invaluable reference work on damage from March 11 disasters
PRELIMINARY RECONNAISSANCE REPORT OF THE 2011 TOHOKU-CHIHO TAIHEIYO-OKI EARTHQUAKE, edited by the Architectural Institute of Japan. Springer, 2012, 460 pp., $179 (hardcover) The March 11, 2011, Great East Japan Earthquake was notable for the widespread damage caused by seismic activity, the tsunami devastation and the nuclear accident at Fukushima. This reference work, an English translation of the Architectural Institute of Japan's July 2011 report, deals with the first two issues, while acknowledging the difficulty of conducting the survey in areas near the nuclear power plant.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Feb 10, 2012
Met's mayhem hits the screen
What do you get when the four young lovers from William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" become stranded on Prospero's island from the Bard's "The Tempest"? A lot of fun, mayhem and magic in The Metropolitan Opera's original creation "The Enchanted Island," which had its world premiere Dec. 31 in New York.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 29, 2010
Playing it for laughs the understated way
It is 3 p.m. in a quiet, residential neighborhood in Tokyo. A lady in a red dress stands by the side of a narrow street in front of a house, her hair held back and her face shielded from the sun by a woman holding a parasol.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 3, 2010
Lord of the 'Ring'
On Sept. 25, 2006, hundreds gathered in New York's Times Square to watch the Metropolitan Opera's new production of Giacomo Puccini's "Madama Butterfly" on a jumbo screen. The Met, one of the world's most famous opera companies, was showing its opening night gala live to the general public for free.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 27, 2010
Guitarist Watanabe reworks classic for Tokyo Jazz Festival
Some artists never want to experience their work once it's made. U.S. film director Woody Allen famously never watches his own films; perhaps it's because he does not dwell on the past that he has been able to make a new feature nearly every year since 1969 while maintaining a trademark style.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / A SCORCHING SUMMER SCHEDULE
Jul 2, 2010
YUJI OHNO & LUPINTIC FIVE: The Monterey Jazz Festival in Noto
For more than 30 years, the opening notes of the score for "Lupin The Third" have come to signify the anime and the music's composer, pianist Yuji Ohno. Expect the theme song to pop up during the rollicking, up-tempo set by Yuji Ohno & Lupintic Five. A skilled arranger, Ohno puts his stamp on jazz standards, classics, pop songs and contemporary hits — with help from Yoshihito Eto on drums, Masayuki Tawarayama on bass, Keiji Matsushima on trumpet, Hisatsugu Suzuki on saxophone and Satoshi Izumi on guitar.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 25, 2010
Maxi Priest
He just wants to be close to you, and to get close to Maxi Priest all you have to do is visit a couple of jazz clubs in Tokyo in early July.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 2, 2010
The Waraku Ensemble
Traditional Japanese music is called wagaku; using the same Chinese characters, a new band calls itself the Waraku Ensemble, with the change in pronunciation signifying "ease" or "comfort." Their first album, "Japanese Cafe Music," released last month, features traditional instruments playing Japanese pop songs about springtime from the 1970s up to and including the past decade.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 26, 2010
Soudant returns to Tokyo Symphony Orchestra
Drawing upon the energy and enthusiasm of British guest conductor Rumon Gamba, the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra (TSO) thrilled the Suntory Hall audience during their last concert there: Before intermission, four beautifully harmonized French horns featured on Robert Schumann's Konzertstuck; after, the orchestra created a surround sound effect by fully using the concert hall for Igor Stravinsky's "The Firebird" ballet music, sending various musicians at key times to play from the mezzanine and above the stage by the pipe organ. For their last Suntory Hall subscription series concert of the 2009-2010 season (the 2010-2011 season begins next month), the TSO's Dutch music director, Hubert Soudant, will return to the podium. Guest violinist Valeriy Sokolov of Ukraine will feature on Johannes Brahms' Violin Concerto in D major while the March 27 program ends with Schumann's Symphony No. 4.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 19, 2010
Chris Botti
Picture a smooth-jazz pop icon like Kenny G playing trumpet like Miles Davis circa his "Kind of Blue" phase while looking like a heartthrob and you get Chris Botti. Not that the 47-year-old American is anything like either musician, with his penchant for pop songs marking him as the rare trumpeter who travels well in many circles.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 12, 2010
Regional resonance
In a metropolis the size of Tokyo, it is no surprise that there are several large orchestras and a number of high-quality concert halls. But the number of orchestras performing daily can be hard to keep track of, particularly as some have very similar names: Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic, New Japan Philharmonic, Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra, Japan Philharmonic Orchestra — and these are just the ones that are regular members of the Association of Japanese Symphony Orchestras.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 19, 2010
Shimizu takes sax to Bach's 'Goldberg'
In the center of a large practice room at Sumida Triphony Hall in Tokyo sits tenor saxophonist Yasuaki Shimizu, instrument at his lips, legs crossed, playing along with four other saxophonists. It looks like a scene from a music class: the graying, 55-year-old teacher instructing his younger students. The three men and one woman look like they are having fun, conversing with Shimizu about the music even as he points out some mistakes or urges them to try a different tempo or phrasing.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 5, 2010
Akademie für Alte Musik
Every year thousands of people visit Hokkaido's largest city in the dead of winter for the Sapporo Snow Festival. Running from Feb. 5-11, the 61st edition offers good times even at night, when the snow and ice sculptures are lit up. Yet those lucky enough to be in Sapporo on Feb. 10 might do well to escape the cold and head to the Kitara concert hall for its World Orchestra Series to warm both body and soul.
CULTURE / Music
Nov 27, 2009
Kirilola
Imagine being at sea for days, sailing in utter silence, not a land mass in sight to disturb the ocean view. Slowly, faintly, a voice sings a beautiful melody that grows in intensity as it draws you to her island, like the sirens in Homer's "The Odyssey." This perhaps best describes the "Kirilola effect," a state of musical enchantment from listening to the original eX-Girl in her solo incarnation.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 27, 2009
Kirilola
Imagine being at sea for days, sailing in utter silence, not a land mass in sight to disturb the ocean view. Slowly, faintly, a voice sings a beautiful melody that grows in intensity as it draws you to her island, like the sirens in Homer's "The Odyssey." This perhaps best describes the "Kirilola effect," a state of musical enchantment from listening to the original eX-Girl in her solo incarnation.

Longform

A statue of "Dragon Ball" character Goku stands outside the offices of Bandai Namco in Tokyo. The figure is now as recognizable as such characters as Mickey Mouse and Spider-Man.
Akira Toriyama's gift to the world