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William Andrews
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Feb 11, 2017
'Japanese Robot Culture: Performance, Imagination and Modernity': Yuji Sone examines the enduring love of robots
It is an experience many in Japan now know: a visit to a SoftBank mobile phone vendor that ends in an attempt to converse with a small, white machine called Pepper.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jul 23, 2016
'For Dignity, Justice, and Revolution': Voices from Japan's prewar labor movement
In 2008, a previously obscure novella by Takiji Kobayashi entered the best-seller lists in Japan. "The Cannery Boat," a tale of worker exploitation originally published in 1929, acquired new resonance in the fallout from the global economic meltdown. Kobayashi features prominently in "For Dignity, Justice,...
CULTURE / Books
May 28, 2016
'Butoh': the dance of death and disease
The first dance in Japan may well have been a mythological striptease. In one of the most famous episodes from Japanese folklore, the goddess Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto entices Amaterasu Omikami, the sun deity, to come out of hiding by ripping off her clothes and dancing. The elemental irreverence of this...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Apr 28, 2014
Five activists win court fight but battle against Tokyo university is not over
The Tokyo High Court recently upheld the acquittal of the 'Hosei Five' on charges under the Law for the Punishment of Acts of Violence in a case that became a rallying point for students across Japan.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Nov 18, 2013
Wife fights decades-long battle to free Shibuya riot leader Hoshino
Fumiaki Hoshino has spent nearly 40 years behind bars for a murder he maintains he did not commit and due to a conviction he and his supporters believe was politically motivated.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 18, 2009
'Infinite moments' brought to stage
Seminaked men, shaven-headed, their bodies covered in white makeup, move with intent slowness on the stage: Anyone who has ever seen Ankoku Butoh — Japan's most famous dance export — will recognize this description. But, as good as the likes of internationally acclaimed dance troupe Sankai Juku are,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jul 24, 2009
Japan gets a taste of bracing 'in-yer-face theater'
The auditorium at Setagaya Public Theatre in Tokyo's Sangengaya district was filled with the mostly female fans of actor Masaaki Uchino, patiently waiting for the play "Blackbird" by David Harrower to begin. The taunt and provocative drama that subsequently unfolded no doubt caught some of them by surprise....

Longform

People in cities across Japan will pop into their local convenience store for any number of products they believe will help them with a night of drinking.
Hangover cures are everywhere in Japan — but do they work?