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May 06, 2024
 

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Manami Okazaki
For Manami Okazaki's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 9, 2006
Aya Kondo : Rock 'n' roll with manners
What can you say about Aya Kondo, a woodblock-print artist who has taken staid wafu -- traditional Japanese style -- and turned it into girly sass? In doing so, Kondo encapsulates everything we love about Japanese youth culture at its best: well-mannered rock 'n' roll, cultural self-consciousness, the go-getter ganbare spirit and a willingness to steal shamelessly from abroad.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 22, 2005
Completely useless objects
It's 6 p.m., it's the end of the work day at a busy Kanda office block. OLs have been furiously tapping away at their keyboards, and connections have been made in the meeting rooms. Power players in their suits have been clinching make-or-break, win-win deals. Suddenly, the doors of the elevator open and out steps a half-naked man in a beetle outfit. He walks around nonchalantly, greeting everyone with a smile as a Cuban cigar dangles out the side of his mouth. Some people, genuinely amused, are laughing; others are aghast. What is this lunatic up to? For Masahiro Fukuyama, of course, it's art.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 20, 2005
Tagging in Mito galleries
"Street culture" and graffiti came into Japan around the 1990s, primarily as a fashion trend that accompanied the spread of hip-hop music and skateboarding. Traditionally, of course, it has grittier associations with American slums and ghettoes, where it became, at its most politically conscious, an expression of dissatisfaction with the status quo of racism, lack of economic opportunity, and a widening disparity between rich and poor.
Japan says Biden's description of nation as xenophobic is 'unfortunate'
The National Diet building in Tokyo
G7 eyes plan on U.S.-led $50 billion aid package for Ukraine
A local resident visits the Lychakiv cemetery in Lviv, Ukraine, on Thursday. The U.S. is in talks with close partners to lead a group of allies that would give as much as $50 billion in aid to Ukraine.
Japan drops to 70th in press freedom rankings
A businessman reads a newspaper outside a train station in Tokyo.
Japan’s record-low children population weighs on growth
The number of children 14 years old or younger fell for the 43rd straight year to around 14.01 million as of April 1.
Biden calls ally Japan ‘xenophobic’ along with rivals China and Russia
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks in Syracuse, New York, on April 25.
'Monster' Inoue ready to tear down Luis Nery in title defense at Tokyo Dome
Naoya Inoue (left) and Luis Nery following a pre-fight news conference in Yokohama on Saturday, two days ahead of their super bantamweight title fight.
Debate on constitutional revision at a standstill despite Kishida's pledges
With less than two months left before the conclusion of the current session of parliament, any possibility that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida can deliver constitutional reform before the end of his term as Liberal Democratic Party president in late September, as he has promised, appears remote.
Sapporo court ruling on Ainu fishing rights presents tough questions
A traditional Ainu preserved food called <i>satchep</i> (dried fish) being made at the government-run National Ainu Museum and Park, nicknamed Upopoy, in the town of Shiraoi, Hokkaido, on Dec. 25. The Sapporo District Court ruled last month that the Raporo Ainu Nation's rights as an Indigenous people did not extend to having an inherent right to fish for commercial reasons.
With eye on China, defense chiefs agree to bolster interoperability
From left: U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Australian defense chief Richard Marles, Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara and Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro hold a joint news conference in Honolulu on Thursday.
Yellow sand allergy: A health issue made worse by climate change
A screenshot of the Meteorological Agency's satellite image of clouds and yellow sand (in pink) on Sunday.

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