Tag - world-music

 
 

WORLD MUSIC

A festivalgoer walks along the water near Kyotophonie’s Beach Stage. Despite rain on the second day of the festival, attendees and musicians maintained a lively atmosphere until the nighttime finale.
CULTURE / Music
Oct 21, 2023
An intimate bazaar of music and magic at Kyotophonie
The biannual music festival brought soulful sounds to Amanohashidate, a sandbar famed for having one of Japan’s three most beautiful views.
Japan-based DJ and broadcaster Peter Barakan invites artists from around the world to perform at his two-day roots music festival, Peter Barakan’s Live Magic!.
CULTURE / Music
Oct 19, 2023
Peter Barakan’s Live Magic! festival celebrates 10th edition
The two-day roots music festival in Tokyo features sounds from around the world with acts such as Minyo Crusaders, Jon Cleary and Oreka TX.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 22, 2023
A new music festival shakes up Kyoto's staid atmosphere
Kyotophonie, a sister event to photography festival Kyotographie, succeeds in its uniqueness and use of storied spaces, but it’s not clear who the event is actually for.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 12, 2020
Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals stay true to their roots in a Wild West industry
Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals bring their brand of blues and folk-tinged roots rock to Japan for their first tour in 14 years.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 14, 2018
Jia Pengfang left his home in rural China with an erhu and a dream
Jia Pengfang's talent with the erhu took him around the world, but would audiences overseas appreciate the traditional Chinese instrument?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 2, 2017
Yo-Yo Ma and Silk Road Ensemble build bridges between cultures one note at a time
Even before the Grammy award for best world music album was announced during a pre-telecast ceremony on Feb. 12, Haruka Fujii was awestruck.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 21, 2016
Sukiyaki Meets the World music festival thinks global and acts local
In his classic polemic against modern Japan, "Dogs and Demons," Alex Kerr described how a system of government loans and subsidies in the 1980s spurred a nationwide outbreak of grandiose construction projects. Today, the Japanese countryside is littered with oversized, underused cultural centers, many of which are managed by private firms because local authorities couldn't afford to pay for their upkeep.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 18, 2015
Radio personality Peter Barakan brings the world to Tokyo for Live Magic!
'I'm going off track again. Wait a minute." Midway through a lengthy digression about an "amazing" New Orleans band named Boukou Groove, Peter Barakan pauses, ever so briefly, to check the conversational signposts.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 21, 2014
Sukiyaki Meets the World ... and the world gets to meet Toyama
In June of 1963, Kyu Sakamoto's "Ue wo Muite Aruko" — better known as "Sukiyaki" overseas — became Japan's first, and only, No. 1 hit single in the United States.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Nov 22, 2013
Putting down roots with Ryukyu Underground
Keith Gordon, the English half of the Okinawan fusion duo, has found his 'spiritual home' on the southern island.

Longform

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores