Creative-content agency helps Korean music abroad

Feb 21, 2013

Creative-content agency helps Korean music abroad

by Shawn Despres

Regardless of whether you are a bigger-name draw or a smaller, emerging band, planning — and more importantly financing — international gigs is no easy task. But since last year, things have gotten a bit easier for Korean acts touring abroad. In March 2012, ...

Tadasu Takamine's not so 'Cool Japan'

Feb 7, 2013

Tadasu Takamine's not so 'Cool Japan'

by James Jack

In May 2011, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry promoted the idea of “Cool Japan,” presenting Japanese culture as a product amid the confusing circumstances after the Great East Japan Earthquake. As Japan continues to suffer a declining population and weak economy, it ...

Infectious artwork that spreads ideas

Feb 7, 2013

Infectious artwork that spreads ideas

by Stuart Munro

“On Mosquitoes Human and Other Animals” is the work of artist Beatriz Inglessis in collaboration with three other people: philosopher Suzanne McCullagh, education specialist Renee Jackson and gallery curator Shai Ohayon. The latest show at The Container gallery in Nakameguro, it’s the result of ...

Meiji Japanese who sought to improve China

Jan 19, 2013

Meiji Japanese who sought to improve China

by Florian Coulmas

ASIA FOR THE ASIANS: China in the Lives of Five Meiji Japanese, by Paula S. Harrell. Merwin Asia, 2012, 407 pp., $35 (paperback) The radical makeover Japan prescribed itself in the course of the Meiji reforms, driven by entirely justified fear of Western domination, ...

| Jan 10, 2013

Building off that four-letter word — 'jazz'

by Sean Smith

Something I’ve noticed recently when browsing the jazz sections of record shops is the proliferation of sub-genres among the Japanese artists. Just hearing the names is enough to get a fan excited about the apparent explosion of creativity. For example, postrock jazz acts such ...