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Alisa Yamasaki
For Alisa Yamasaki's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 1, 2014
Shokuhin Matsuri aka Foodman cooks up footwork on 'oiss'
"I used to be a video-game nerd," says Takahide Higuchi, the experimental footwork producer also known as Shokuhin Matsuri in Japanese and Foodman in English. "I thought that guys who were popular with girls made music, but I was sort of stubborn and didn't try. Then, in my last year of high school I bought a music video game that had a sequencer. It was fun, so I decided to start making music."
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jun 26, 2014
Drink responsibly when you're out with friends this summer
Now that we're well out of cherry-blossom season, the next round of outdoor drinking parties will take us out into the beer garden.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 24, 2014
The electronic remains of Ursula Bogner
Ursula Bogner (1946-94) was a German pharmacist, wife and mother with a passion for the unfamiliar, which included electronic music.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 18, 2013
Imany makes peace with her voice on debut album
As a model, Nadia Mladjao would have seen all there is in the world of luxury and excess. But the 27-year-old singer, better known as Imany, keeps it simple with her guitar on her debut album, "The Shape of a Broken Heart."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 28, 2013
When Crossfaith tells you to rock: you listen
Vocalist Kenta Koie looks at me square in the eye and says, "We want to be the biggest band in the world." That band is Crossfaith, a metalcore band who will release its new album, "Apocalyze," in Japan on Sept. 4.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Aug 22, 2013
As sun sets on summer, head to Bali festival
Bad news for some (kids) and good news for others (parents), summer vacation is down to its final weeks. If you haven't traveled overseas or gone to the beach yet, visiting Enoshima this weekend will let you enjoy a little bit of both.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 21, 2013
'Shinjuku Creators Festa 2013'
Tokyo celebrates all things creative at the "Shinjuku Creators Festa," a 17-day art event being held around the city's Shinjuku Station. World-famous names, such as Yayoi Kusama and CG-artist Yoichiro Kawaguchi will be displaying works, while student submissions, including film projects and installations, are also being featured.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 21, 2013
'Exhibition of 92-Year-Old Photojournalist Kikujiro Fukushima'
Kikujiro Fukuyama has been a photojournalist for 67 years and is still active at age 92. He first earned critical acclaim in 1960 for his work that followed the lives of a Hiroshima family for a decade, revealing the lasting effects and consequences of the atomic bomb. Since then, he has documented the history of postwar Japan, including the Great East Japan Earthquake and the catastrophe in Fukushima.
CULTURE / Japan Pulse
Aug 20, 2013
The cutest little whitehead, Kakusen-kun
Will this kimo-kawaii anime cause you to rethink your relationship with clogged pores?
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Aug 15, 2013
Japanese musicians to present their spin on samba at Brazilian festival
Tokyo's Yoyogi Park is known for its various cultural festivals and one of the most popular is its Brazilian one. This weekend, though, people in Yokohama will get their chance to samba.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 14, 2013
'Medieval Japanese Art'
In medieval Japan — the Kamakura Period to the Muromachi Period (1193-1573) — power shifted from the nobility to the warrior class. Revealing the influence of this political disruption, this exhibition focuses on artwork produced at that time, much of which referenced Chinese Zen culture.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 14, 2013
'Aichi Triennale 2013'
The theme of this second Aichi Triennale is "Awakening — Where Are We Standing?" and it aims to make us rethink the role of art as Japan continues to recover from the Great East Japan Earthquake and following disasters.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 14, 2013
'Mitsuaki Iwago: Cats and Lions'
The prolific animal photographer Mitsuaki Iwago is currently showing many of his well-known wildlife images at the Nagasaki Prefectural Art Museum. For this Tokyo exhibition, however, he divulges a specific passion for cats, both wild and domestic.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 14, 2013
'The Hakutoro Collection: The Grace of Ancient Chinese Ceramics'
Art collector Kinji Usato, also known as Hakutoro, shares an expansive selection of Chinese ceramics for this show at The Museum of Oriental Ceramics. Ninety works, spanning 5,000 years of Chinese ceramics from the Neolithic age to the Qing Dynasty, from his personal collection will be on display.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Aug 8, 2013
Look at Nara in a new light during To-kae
Nara, an ancient capital of Japan, is known for its changing beauty throughout the seasons. If you think you've seen the city at its best blanketed in cherry blossoms or autumn leaves, you probably haven't seen it during the To-kae Festival.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 7, 2013
'Mitsuaki Iwago's Photo Exhibition "Animal Family"'
Prominent wildlife photographer Mitsuaki Iwago has been documenting animals more than 40 years, with some of his work being featured on the cover of National Geographic magazine.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 7, 2013
'The 15th Entertainment Art Exhibition'
The first "Entertainment Art Exhibition" began as a charity project in 1999, and it has held exhibitions in museums and cultural centers around Japan ever since. For its 15th year, the exhibition aims to help support areas recovering from the Great East Japan Earthquake by displaying works based on "Human Dignity," a theme to show celebrities' solidarity with those suffering from the aftermath of the disaster.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Aug 1, 2013
Fantasy goes on display at Nebuta Festival
Although staying at home in the air conditioning is tempting in this sweltering weather, if you're here for the summer you might as well embrace the heat and sweat it out with everyone else at a festival.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 31, 2013
'ICC Kids Program 2013 "AR Museum" AKAMATSU Masayuki + ARART Project'
The latest video games blur the line between the real and the virtual by integrating the user's environment with game-play. This use of augmented reality is the theme of "AR Museum," an exhibition aimed at engaging children with technology.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 31, 2013
'Evangelion Exhibition'
The hit anime series "Neon Genesis Evangelion" has expanded its franchise far and wide since it was first aired in 1995, to include films, novels, comic books and plenty of merchandising.

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