Economy | ANALYSIS
Households to take hit from tax hike
by Tomoko Otake
The consumption tax increase will hit every household in Japan hard, with many people’s financial future hanging on whether their wages rise enough to offset the hike's impact.
Openings in Tokyo Aug 28, 2013
'Commemorating the 10th Anniversary of the Relocation of the Mitsuo Aida Museum: Even One Simple Thing'
by Marie Omata
Poet and calligrapher Mitsuo Aida (1924-1991) is well-known in Japan for his tanka poetry and original style of handwriting. He spent his life developing and honing his craft, focusing on the preciousness of the life as a subject. The Mitsuo Aida Museum was originally ...
Art Jul 24, 2013
Crawling through the mud in style
by Robert Yellin
It’s quite fitting that the major Osamu Suzuki (1926-2001) retrospective, the first since the ceramicist’s passing, is taking place at The National Museum of Modern Art in Kyoto, the hometown of the artist. Suzuki was one of Japan’s most important ceramic artists of the ...
Art Jul 10, 2013
Surveying the city from a different viewpoint
by Stuart Munro
Beside Stephan Balkenhol’s sculpture “Big Head with Three Part Relief” a note reads, “Nothing here is as it should be.” This figureless “head” set against a black void represents “Mr. Everyman,” that common figure, detached from his surround and considering his place in the ...
Openings outside Tokyo May 16, 2013
'The Shibakawa Collection: Tribute to a Patron of Aoki Shigeru, Kishida Ryusei and Others'
by Delilah Romasanta
During the late1800s, westernization in Japan brought about a new art style — yōga, for which Japanese artists emulated western conventions and techniques, inspired in particular by European painters. The collection on show presents more than 200 yōga works, paying particular homage to renowned ...