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.
Music | JAZZ NOTES Sep 11, 2013
Tony Bennett, New Cool Collective, Ai Kuwabara Trio Project impress crowds at Tokyo Jazz Festival
by Sean Smith
On seeing the lineup ahead of this year’s Tokyo Jazz Festival, my initial feeling was the organizers had maybe cast their net a bit too wide with the acts booked, but those fears were completely unfounded. With the festival being held on three main ...
Music | Tokyo Jazz Festival Sep 11, 2013
Elephant9
by Sean Smith
So is this your first trip to Japan? Bassist Nikolai Eilertsen: For me, yes, but the other guys in the band have been before with different outfits. You had a real Hammond B3 on stage. You didn’t ship that over, did you? No, no. ...
Music | Tokyo Jazz Festival Sep 11, 2013
Eric Vloeimans
by Sean Smith
This is your first time at Tokyo Jazz Festival, but not your first visit to Japan. What’s your overall impression? Trumpeter Eric Vloeimans: The audience is really enthusiastic and they’re very polite, and you see that jazz music is very popular here. It seems ...
Music | Tokyo Jazz Festival Sep 11, 2013
Tres-men
by Sean Smith
Tres-men are made up of percussionist Takahiro “Matzz” Matsuoka, DJ Yoshijiro Sakurai and keyboardist Yusuke Nakamura. Your debut album came out in April, and here we are, five months later at Tokyo Jazz Festival. How did that come about? TM: We got the offer ...
Music Sep 4, 2013
Pianist Ai Kuwabara to live out her dream on stage at Tokyo Jazz Festival
by Sean Smith
Pianist Ai Kuwabara is waxing nostalgic at the offices of her record label, East Works Entertainment, in Tokyo’s Minato Ward. “I first went to Tokyo Jazz Festival at the International Forum when I was in the fifth or sixth grade of elementary school, and ...
Music Aug 28, 2013
SEPTEMBER LIVE
by Satoru Teshima
Students are heading back to school, the fireworks displays are pretty much done and the gyaru (gals) are a lot more tanned. It’s too early to declare an end to summer yet, though. There are still plenty of music festivals and concerts in September ...
Music Jun 7, 2013
From Björk to Kyary, festival season has arrived
by Mike Sunda
Summer means a lot of things in Japan: stifling heat and humidity, fireworks and the Bon holidays, nagashi-sōmen noodles and chilled barley tea. For music fans though, the season brings a different kind of to-do list: booking cheap train tickets in advance, stocking up ...
Music Feb 21, 2013
The nations that make it easier for bands to leap overseas
by Eriko Arita
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 ...