Daniel Robson - The Japan Times

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Daniel Robson

Daniel Robson, a British journalist based in Tokyo since 2006, is a features editor and writer at The Japan Times. He also writes freelance about music, videogames and Japanese pop culture for other publications around the world.

CULTURE / Music

Jan 16, 2009

Soutaiseiriron "Haifai Shinsho"

Since I was handed an advance copy of "Haifai Shinsho" ("Hi-Fi Anatomia") a couple of months ago, I've been unable to go a day without hearing it. I think I need help. This album is aural crack.

CULTURE / Music

Jan 9, 2009

LAZYgunsBRISKY — "Catching!"; Jonny — "Cake Album"

Typical. You wait an apparently interminable period for a decent new grrrl-punk band (it's been at least three months!) and then two turn up at once.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Jan 9, 2009

LAZYgunsBRISKY — "Catching!"; Jonny — "Cake Album"

Typical. You wait an apparently interminable period for a decent new grrrl-punk band (it's been at least three months!) and then two turn up at once.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Jan 1, 2009

J-pop prepares an assault on the West in '09

I wouldn't want to shout about it (since it might upset your New Year's hangover), but 2009 might just be the year that J-pop goes global. Several heavy hitters have set their sights on Western domination this year, and more than ever, their chances seem good.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Dec 12, 2008

Find festival fun in Chiba and Osaka

While the lineup doesn't differ much from year to year, there is no denying that Countdown Japan is the ultimate yearend bash. Held in both Chiba and Osaka, the festival invites some of the biggest names in Japanese music to see in the New Year, with four stages over four days at Chiba's Makuhari Messe...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Dec 5, 2008

Shonen Knife "Super Group"

I have a very old friend who's always hated Osaka rock ambassadresses Shonen Knife. He thinks they're not a serious band — but he's missing the point. When the world around us is gray and dark, and the news talks of terrorists and financial depression, what we need are songs about slugs, deer biscuits...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Dec 5, 2008

Emiliana Torrini makes some big jumps

On the title track of her new album, "Me and Armini," Emiliana Torrini takes the concept of drinking "spirits" to a whole new level.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Nov 28, 2008

Dreaming of a Pink Christmas

"Almost every year, I'm working at Christmastime," mourns Kaori Asada. "If I'm not working, I'll have a big Christmas party with friends and family. But in the last 10 years, I haven't had that kind of Christmas party, ha ha. Still, I like Christmas."

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Nov 28, 2008

Now that it's almost December, there can be only one thing on the minds of kids around Japan: Um, summer camp?

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Nov 14, 2008

Getting scrappy with jazz-punks Midori

"I don't really listen to punk or know too much about what constitutes Japanese punk," declares Mariko Goto. "That said, if we're going to categorize ourselves, I'd say we're a punk band. But the sort of punk we make is nostalgic and lonely. It's like a four-tatami room with just one door and one window;...

CULTURE / Music

Sep 26, 2008

While the obi strip on the CD babbles about new-rave and the album can be found in shop displays alongside Perfume, Japanese artist Immi's music follows a very French predilection for stylish electropop, as made famous internationally by Daft Punk, Air and Phoenix, or within Gallic walls by breathy jailbait...

CULTURE / Music

Sep 26, 2008

YMCK — "YMCK Songbook" (Avex); YMCK & De De Mouse — "Down Town" (Avex)

As its subtitle suggests, "Songbook -Songs Before 8bit-" sees "chiptune" flag-bearers YMCK spread their Nintendoesque love all over a clutch of songs from 1971 to 1982, a time when "Mario Bros." was still a glimmer in Shigeru Miyamoto's eye — and many of them are as memorable as the heroic Italian...

CULTURE / Music

Sep 5, 2008

SpecialThanks "Seven Colors"

Everyone knows that Japan's single greatest skill is spawning female- fronted punk bands that sound like they've swallowed a bucketload of Green Day and Blink 182 CDs and belched them back out again. Hailing from Aichi Prefecture, SpecialThanks are one such band, and the problem is that they are impossible...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Sep 4, 2008

Devo uphold their duty now for the future

As I sit down opposite the gray-haired man in a black shirt and glasses, someone comes to clear the clutter off the table — a stick-thin, retro-futuristic guitar that has been rigged for its strings to explode at the climax of a solo. His flame-haired partner takes a seat; he's wearing a full suit...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Aug 28, 2008

Ainu musician Oki brings the world to Hokkaido

With a Japanese mother and Ainu father, the appearance of Oki on "The Rough Guide to the Music of Japan" with his Oki Dub Ainu Band presents a rare glimpse of the multiracial underbelly that Japan seems reluctant to own up to. Despite being indigenous to Hokkaido, or Ezo as it is known to them, the Ainu...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Aug 28, 2008

Soundtracking Japan — again

So, you've got 73 minutes of play time to sum up the entire music culture of Japan. How would you do it? What would you include?

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Aug 15, 2008

Don't panic! It's just a stadium

Las Vegas four-piece Panic at the Disco changed radically between their 2005 debut album "A Fever You Can't Sweat Out," which made them poster boys for the emo scene, and 2008's "Pretty. Odd.," where they paid homage to The Beatles and "Ogden's"-era Small Faces. Their set in Summer Sonic's vast Marine...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

Aug 15, 2008

Another scorching Summer Sonic

Held simultaneously in Tokyo (well, Chiba's Makuhari Messe and Marine Stadium) and Osaka, Summer Sonic pulled a combined 190,000 music fans for a weekend of polite debauchery under a scorching sun on Aug. 9-10.

CULTURE / Music

Aug 8, 2008

Maki Rinka "Maki Rinka Sings Broadway"

While her previous albums offered pitch-perfect homages to 1930s-'60s jazz, Maki Rinka has this time gone the whole hog with a minialbum of covers of the show tunes that first inspired her. Backed by a nimble band, the Osaka singer delves headlong into nostalgia with infectious results.

LIFE / Language

Jul 29, 2008

Turning to rock 'n' roll for lyric-sheet linguistics

They say you should always open with a joke, so how about this one: a music journalist with only conversational Japanese writing for The Japan Times' Bilingual Page. Try not to laugh too much, though, as I'll be sticking to what I know: music.

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

Rows of irises resemble a rice field at the Peter Walker-designed Toyota Municipal Museum of Art.

The 'outsiders' creating some of Japan's greenest spaces

By Stephen Mansfield

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