David Hickey - The Japan Times

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David Hickey

For David Hickey's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Jul 6, 2007

"Eco-cute!" was 24-year-old J-pop superidol Kumi Koda's response, according to organizers, when asked to perform at the Tokyo leg of Live Earth, a series of concerts taking place at nine cities around the world on July 7 to encourage music fans to take action against global warming. As a rallying cry, it may have lacked the punch of one of U2-frontman Bono's sound bites, but it wasn't for her oratory that Live Earth invited Koda — one of the daylong concert's 11 performers — on board.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Jun 21, 2007

Soundtrack of the summer: Puffy

No festival this summer will attract more punters through its turnstiles than Rock In Japan. And no band is likely to get the crowds more animated over this all-Japanese music fest's three days than female duo Puffy. Now in their 30s, Ami Onuki and Yumi Yoshimura have been plying their punkish, made-for-karaoke J-pop since 1997, and earlier this year they released the career-spanning comp "Hit & Fun." So, for their RiJ set expect the hits — and nothing but the hits. Also expect Puffy's "sensei," Tamio Okuda, to play alongside them, since the svengali writer/producer behind many of the duo's biggest sellers plays RiJ on the opening day.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

May 11, 2007

If there's a saving grace to living in a megalopolis of 12 million people, it's that there's a scene catering to the whim of every kind of music fan. And scenes don't come with much more grace — and style — than the one created by Tokyo's mods.

Japan Times

Events / Events Outside Tokyo

Apr 13, 2007

A different kind of glam icon

He captured rock 'n' roll iconoclasts David Bowie, Iggy Pop and Lou Reed at the height of their fame in the 1970s. Now photographer Mick Rock turns his lens toward a different kind of glam icon, kabuki actor Nakamura Kanzaburo XVIII, for an exhibition at Tokyo Midtown Hall B, April 20-May 6.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Feb 9, 2007

Pottering around with pop music

When Tori Kudo was a 13-year-old growing up in Matsuyama, Shikoku, he didn't spend his evenings at cram school like classmates, but instead played cheesy piano in nightclubs as a member of a professional big band.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Nov 10, 2006

Fixer plays it by no rules

You might have heard of Boredoms, the anarchic noiseniks from Osaka who toured with Nirvana, signed to major label Warner's and became the most written-about Japanese band in the West in the 1990s.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Jun 22, 2006

Anime, J-indie equals 'Woodstock for geeks'

'Agrand collision of two Japanese subcultures -- anime and Japanese indie music," was one blogger's take on FanimeCon 2006, the biggest anime convention in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Jun 22, 2006

Innovation, individuality in the mix

One place where language and cultural differences are barely an issue for Japanese artists is at the annual Barcelona electronica and multimedia event Sonar, which is part music industry showcase, part festival for ordinary music fans.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Jun 22, 2006

The D.I.Y. route to rock stardom

From the suburbs of Tokyo to downtown Toronto is hardly the most direct route to pop stardom -- or one assured of success. But it was the path that blues-rock outfit Stone Deaf chose earlier this month in what was a bold move for a group whose sole claim to fame is having been Marky Ramone's backing band during the former Ramone's tour of Japan in January.

Japan Times

Events / Events Outside Tokyo

May 19, 2006

Clean living under very difficult circumstances

To the legions of impeccably attired ravers who will attend the Mods Mayday '06 Weekender taking place this weekend in Tokyo, "mod" is about a whole lot more than renting a DVD of the 1979 mods and rockers classic "Quadrophenia" or throwing a beaten-up Kinks LP from their dad's record collection on the turntable.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Mar 3, 2006

Freaky tribal gathering

They are playing like schoolgirls, bouncing a balloon-shaped teddy-bear off each other and gaily dancing about in front of the Kiddy Ferris Wheel (admission 100 yen) for the lone press camera.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Dec 30, 2005

On and off the charts

Cast an eye over those charts that list the top-selling Japanese pop albums of the year and three musical trends come out on top: There were loose-limbed hip-hop party grooves aplenty (Def Tech and Ketsumeishi); American-influenced punk pop (Ellegarden, Ken Yokoyama and scores of others with Orange County-inflected whines); and, like any year, there was R&B-influenced J-pop (Kumi Koda and Namie Amuro). No surprises there, then.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Dec 2, 2005

Have music, will travel

Shugo Tokumaru is one of those unfairly talented types who seem to be able to turn their hand to anything. He wrote, played and sang every note on his two albums of "bedroom music" and produced them both too. The 25-year-old also finds time to play guitar and occasionally sing in lo-fi indie pop band The Gellers.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Sep 16, 2005

Keeping up with the Norah Joneses

She may only be 16 years old, but Massachusetts native Sonya Kitchell talks with the assurance of a musician twice her age. It's a couple of days after Kitchell played a live showcase to a largely music-industry crowd in a tiny Shibuya jazz bar, following the recent Japan-only release of her debut album, "Words Came Back to Me." The album remains off the shelves in the rest of the world due to record company wrangling, but Kitchell brushes off the delay nonchalantly as something she's "not supposed to talk about."

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Aug 21, 2005

Rallying round home-grown sounds

It's the final day of this year's Rock in Japan festival, which took place Aug. 5-7. Holding court in the HMV DJ booth is entertainer Yoshiaki Umegaki. He's a late fortysomething transvestite sporting a tall blue wig and playing with his plastic breasts under a fetching blue sequined number while pouring beer down the front of his trousers. And all the while he's singing comedy chansons and sticking giant green peas up his nose and blowing them out on members of the audience who are only too happy to be on the receiving end of Umegaki's "green stuff."

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.

[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

When trying to trace your lineage in Japan, the "koseki" is the most important form of document you'll encounter.

Climbing the branches of a Japanese family tree

By Alex K.T. Martin

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