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Is it a sign of a full-fledged economic recovery or a looming catastrophe in the monetary making? Recent spikes in Japan’s long-term interest rate, represented by the 10-year government bond, have created a stir and roused a deep sense of alarm among investors and ...
Tonkatsu is comfort food, gourmand grub — not a gourmet delicacy. So what are those hearty, unpretentious deep-fried breaded pork cutlets doing in an elegant little bar-style restaurant above one of Ginza’s temples to high-end consumption? Katsuzen has come a long way from its ...
Life in Japan just seems tailor-made for certain foreign residents, who slip into the fabric of this society as smoothly as a hand slides into a glove. American Curtis Patterson, a professional koto player and music teacher, is a case in point. Not only ...
Disgusted by corrupt local leaders, an angry miner picks up a shotgun. A migrant worker returning home looks to armed robbery to escape a life of relentless bleakness. A pretty receptionist at a sauna is driven to the limit when a gangster tries to ...
David Beckham, whose curling free kicks, rugged good looks and celebrity marriage made him one of the most famous athletes in the world, is retiring from soccer. Whether striding on the grass, the red carpet or the fashion catwalks, Beckham transcended his sport and ...
Could it be the tour too far for the Rolling Stones? Insiders are predicting that the band will have to renegotiate the huge guaranteed fees for their American tour, which opened on May 3, as ticket prices are radically reduced in light of poor ...
“Gangnam Style” star Psy’s new music video had received more than 50 million views on YouTube by Monday, rewriting the video-sharing site’s records for single-day hits. The dance video to “Gentleman,” the South Korean singer’s long-awaited follow up to “Gangnam Style,” was only posted ...
What do you get when you mix musicians, models and five dancing kids? It’s quite an impressive collection — in fact it’s the Fukuoka Asia Collection (FACo). On March 24 FACo will return to the Fukuoka Kokusai Center for the fifth time. The event, ...
Fledgling online-only label Ano(t)raks takes a somewhat needless risk with their second compilation album, “Upwards and Onwards.” Founded late last year, Ano(t)raks highlighted bedroom-made indie-pop, a style defined by simple guitar playing and equally basic lyrics about love. Indie-pop has been going strong since ...
Grimes has never been shy to acknowledge the influence of Japan on her work. The Canadian electronic pop artist, born Claire Boucher, credits a wide and various list of Japanese inspirations, including Yayoi Kusama, Geinoh Yamashirogumi, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, “Akira,” “The Legend of Zelda” ...
British rock icon David Bowie on Sunday reconquered his home charts by scoring his first No. 1 album in 20 years with “The Next Day.” Bowie surprised the music world by breaking a decade-long musical silence in January when he unveiled a new single ...
This year marks the bicentennials of the births of two great composers: Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) and Richard Wagner (1813-83), both giants of the classical music world who brought opera to the peak of its artistic expression in the 19th century. There will be a ...
Coming out of winter lineups are beginning to be announced for the many summer festivals, but music is always in the air and next week those sounds will be jazz. Jazz Week Tokyo will be held at Tokyu Theatre Orb in the Shibuya district’s ...
To Miyabi Matsuoka, the harp is a mirror that reveals who you really are. She says she can tell the personality of a harp player by the way he or she manipulates the instrument, which affects the sound they create. That’s why she asks ...
At the age of 18, Kenji Sakajiri left his hometown of Tanabe, Wakayama Prefecture, and moved to Osaka. He wasn’t headed to college or looking for a day job. Instead he dived headfirst into the world of vinyl records. This was in 1992 and ...
The members of Tempura Kidz have danced in front of thousands of strangers at sold-out venues across Japan, including Tokyo's famed Budokan and the Summer Sonic festival. Yet on a Thursday night in a Harajuku office building, the teenage quintet is nervous.
At the end of last November, a flock of Canadians descended on concert venue Duo Music Exchange in Tokyo’s bustling Shibuya district. It wasn’t an attack of any sort; the Canuck invasion was only peppered with spirited calls to “Clap with us!” The event ...