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April 29, 2025
 

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Kris Kosaka

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Kris Kosaka
Kris Kosaka, a resident of Japan since 1996, contributes regularly to The Japan Times. She is a lecturer at Meiji Gakuin University in the Faculty of International Studies.
CULTURE / Books
Apr 25, 2015
Memoirs of Yoshiko Yamaguchi, Manchuria's 'Fragrant Orchid'
Often the conflicts between countries are best expressed through the personal story of a single citizen, and this is true with "Fragrant Orchid," the autobiography of famed actress and singer Li Xianglan. Born Yoshiko Yamaguchi — her birth name as an ethnic Japanese — the book details her upbringing...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Apr 18, 2015
Excavating Japan's buried baseball history with Masanori Murakami
Sometimes historical analysis can't compete with a good personal story, as Robert K. Fitts — a baseball expert and former archaeologist — proves with his newest book, "Mashi: The Unfulfilled Baseball Dreams of Masanori Murakami, the First Japanese Major Leaguer."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Apr 18, 2015
'You Gotta Have Wa' is still the best analysis of Japanese culture seen through the lens of sport
Robert Whiting's baseball classic, "You Gotta Have Wa," (updated in 2009) remains the definitive text on Japanese culture seen through the lens of sport. Whiting has an engaging style, his research is exhaustive and his first-hand knowledge has ensured this book is just as entertaining now as it was...
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Mar 21, 2015
Black Jack
Although he is best known internationally for creating "Astro Boy," Osamu Tezuka's most popular work for adults in Japan is "Black Jack," a series of short stand-alone stories from the 1970s, documenting the renegade antics of the unconventional title doctor whose mercenary facade masks a wise, compassionate...
CULTURE / Books
Mar 21, 2015
Mendeleev's Mandala
"Mendeleev's Mandala" is the most recent collection of poetry from Kansai-based writer Jessica Goodfellow.
CULTURE / Books
Mar 14, 2015
Above the East China Sea: A Novel
Although this is supposedly Sarah Bird's "most ambitious" novel to date — and it is ambitious — it's not the novel that falls short, it's the marketing. Rather than Bird's ticket to entering the "literary elite," it is the best of young adult fiction.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 11, 2015
Tokyo Ballet revisits 'Giselle' anew
Ballet legend Vladimir Malakhov's first connection with Japan was more than 20 years ago, when he danced in the World Ballet Festival in Osaka opposite Alessandra Ferri in a piece from Marius Petipa's 1850 revival of "Giselle."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Mar 1, 2015
Four years on, Tohoku towns still waiting for schools, homes, answers
While cooped-up kids need places to play, exhausted residents could do with support from more teachers and caregivers.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 25, 2015
A 'Swan Lake' of diversity
"Ballet must be accessible," the French choreographer and artistic director of The Ballet of Monte Carlo, Jean-Christophe Maillot, believes — and the upcoming Japan premiere of "LAC," his most ambitious reconfiguration of a classic to date, promises to attract both fans of Tchaikovsky's famed 1876...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 28, 2015
Condors dancers share double bill with rising star
Ryohei Kondo, who founded the popular male dance troupe Condors in 1996, is always brimfull of innovative ideas — even when they're garbed in traditional clothing.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Jan 24, 2015
The Ink Dark Moon
No other period in Japan's literary history was as dominated by women as the Heian Period (794-1185). Most Japanophiles know names such as Sei Shonagon ("The Pillow Book") or Murasaki Shikibu ("The Tale of Genji") for their contributions to the world of literature, but Izumi Shikibu (Shikibu is a title,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jan 17, 2015
Lingering outside the way station for the dead
It's a hardy soul who braves Osorezan (Mount Osore), a volcano in Aomori Prefecture known as the Japanese way station for the dead. For most, the name conjures up images of the supernatural and the unknown, but for Marie Mutsuki Mockett, it is a place of healing and beauty.
CULTURE / Books
Jan 17, 2015
Cat Town
Modernist 20th-century writer Sakutaro Hagiwara redefined Japanese poetry with his free-style verse and daringly common subject matter; he reached sublime heights by examining the mundane.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Jan 11, 2015
Foreign female dean opens doors for Japan’s working women
A brush with sexual discrimination gave Robin Sakamoto the drive to succeed as a working mom and push for on-campus facilities at Kyorin to help parents.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jan 10, 2015
Cataloging the creatures of the unknown
"Yokai dwell in the contact zone between fact and fiction, between belief and doubt ... Yokai begin where language ends," says Michael Dylan Foster in the introduction to "The Book of Yokai," summing up what words often fail to conjure. His book takes readers on a journey into the inexplicable, mysterious,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 1, 2015
Curtains up on 2015
Innovation adds sparkle to traditional forms
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Dec 27, 2014
The Woman in the Dunes
Certain books must be read, even with the knowledge that the reading will be painful. Kobo Abe's masterpiece "The Woman in the Dunes" is one such book. Called an "existential fable," it is no surprise that Abe's favorite writers were Franz Kafka, Friedrich Nietzsche and Edgar Allan Poe.
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 17, 2014
Acchi Cocchi spells festive fun for kids
Looking for a way to share some Christmas creativity with your children? The nonprofit Acchi Cocchi (Place to Place) holds its third annual Waku Waku (meaning "Exciting") workshop of Christmas art, music and dance for children at Kanagawa Arts Theatre in Yokohama on Dec. 23 — with a session for 50...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 10, 2014
Get festive with a legend at Matsuyama's 'Nutcracker'
Christmas in the ballet world means "The Nutcracker," and fans in Japan can take their pick from numerous productions of this mistle-toed magic originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov and premiered at the Marinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg on Dec. 18, 1892, with music by Pyotr Ilyich...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Dec 6, 2014
The Housekeeper and the Professor
Yoko Ogawa's "The Housekeeper and the Professor" garnered instant acclaim when it was published in 2003, winning the Hon'ya Taisho award. Translated into English in 2009 by Stephen Snyder, this short tale has steadily gained fans worldwide, making it a modern Japanese classic.
China seizes disputed reef near key Philippine military outpost
China Coast Guard officers unfurl a national flag on Sandy Cay reef, near the Philippine-held Thitu Island, in disputed waters of the South China Sea this month in this screen shot taken from Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami
A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
California says it overtakes Japan to become world’s No. 4 economy
Vehicles travel along the 110 freeway in downtown Los Angeles. California's GDP has overtaken Japan's to become the world's fourth largest economy, according to the U.S. state.
Arunima Mazumdar: ‘Japanese literature has a niche but deeply engaged readership in India’
Arunima Mazumdar, a New Delhi-based communications professional, began sharing her love of Japanese literature online in 2022. The platform has grown into a robust community known as Dokusha Book Club.
Counting the reasons why there are so few American cars in Japan
Tesla's store in Tokyo's Shibuya district. While sales of American cars in Japan appear to be shrinking, Tesla's presence in the country is growing.
Expo '25 gives the world a masterclass in mascots
2025 Osaka Expo mascot Myaku-Myaku dances on the stage during the event's official opening ceremony on April 12.
Japan struggles with gray zone of AI deepfakes exploiting children
AI-generated content — including those made using pictures of real people, which are known as “deepfakes” — is not explicitly covered under Japan's current legal framework, nor are human-drawn illustrations that depict child abuse.
‘Wildcat Dome’ challenges Japan's historical narratives
On the surface, "Wildcat Dome" tells a personal story of damaged children — now adults — bound together by tragedy. Underneath, there’s a constant undercurrent of political consequence, invisible and pervasive like radioactive particles.
Reclaiming Sanya, one meal at a time
Magokoro Yoshihira (center) is the managing director of Yui Associates, which operates the neighborhood fixtures of Sanya Cafe and Juyoh Hotel. Yusuke Takahashi (left) met Yoshihira during a difficult period in his life and now works as the cafe’s chef. Nancy Anne (right) has worked for over 10 years at Juyoh Hotel and enjoys the multicultural environment.
Amid uncertain tariffs, is now the time to buy a new iPhone?
An Apple store in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward in September. Prices for the newest iPhone models start at around ¥100,000 ($700) in Japan.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami
By Alex K.T. Martin

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