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.
Art Aug 21, 2013
Spreading the word through manga
by Patrick ST. Michel
Videos of anime conventions in America greet visitors to Tokyo’s Museum of Contemporary Art at this summer’s “The Power of Manga — Osamu Tezuka and Shotaro Ishinomori” exhibition. Looped footage of attendants in cosplay at the Los Angeles Anime Expo and other similar events ...
Review Aug 17, 2013
Burying the truth to survive in postwar, modern Japan
by David Cozy
It is hardly necessary to note that comics and manga are capable of conveying just about anything. Philosophy? See Ryan Dunlavey and Fred Van Lente’s Action Philosophers series. Travel? Try Guy Delisle’s accounts of his sojourns in tourist hot spots such as Pyongyang and ...
Openings in Tokyo Jun 27, 2013
'The Power of Manga: Osamu Tezuka and Shotaro Ishinomori'
by Alisa Yamasaki
Osamu Tezuka, creator of “Astro Boy” and “Black Jack,” and Shotaro Ishinomori, the man behind the “Super Sentai” and “Kamen Rider” series, are regarded as two of the most influential manga artists in Japan. Showcasing previously unreleased Tezuka and Ishinomori manga manuscripts and anime ...
National May 19, 2013
Unpublished Tezuka cartoon sheets shown
A cartoonist has acquired nine unpublished comic strip sheets created by the late artist Osamu Tezuka, who gained fame for his “Astro Boy” and “Black Jack” series. The sheets were created for four works, including “Metropolis” and “Yubijin” (“Man with a Tail”), which were ...
People | CLOSE-UP Jan 6, 2013
Frederik Schodt: pop culture ambassador to the world
by Edan Corkill
Quick quiz: Who was the first Japanese civilian to be issued a passport? If your mind is drifting in the direction of a businessman who might have availed himself of an early opportunity to travel abroad in the mid-1860s, when the government first permitted ...
Commentary | COUNTERPOINT Apr 9, 2006
Who out there cares about 'Cool Japan'?
by Roger Pulvers
These days the government is jumping on the bandwagon. The Foreign Ministry is singing in tune. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has hopped on, with a conductor’s baton in his hand and a spring in his step that you don’t even see when he’s ascending ...