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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.
For Kris Kosaka's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Jan 25, 2013
New Yorker opens doors for foreigners in Sapporo
Ken Hartmann, 71, still opens doors for ladies, and still speaks with a brusque, no-nonsense New York accent even after 27 years in Japan.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 24, 2013
With 'Desh,' Khan proves you can go home again
If art's purpose is to ask the relevant questions, then British-Bangladeshi dancer Akram Khan successfully interrogates humanity — and himself — with his latest production, 'Desh.'
Japan Times
MULTIMEDIA
Jan 12, 2013
Nomad writer and photographer keeps his passions fueled by travel
Fiction can work like a cheap flight; a good novel takes off, jetting readers to new worlds. Writers and photographers triple the distance traveled. Sean Lotman, 37, an avid reader, writer, photographer and nomad, has logged thousands of kilometers around the world.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Dec 29, 2012
Textile scholar advocates sustainable fashion
Yoshiko Wada, textile artist and scholar, believes the word "sustainable" in foods and fashion shares the same philosophical taste. "Both are a holistic approach, about health, environment, and the community that supports it. We must recapture and rethink how we are going to sustain our Earth and society,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / THE YEAR IN BOOKS
Dec 23, 2012
Celebrating the female dragons
"All That I Am" (Harper) by Anna Funder blazes across pre-World War II Europe, illuminating the period when Hitler eliminated all national opposition in his prelude to the rest of the world.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Dec 15, 2012
Writer, teacher, advocate finds her stride in the Japanese countryside
For Jane Joritz-Nakagawa, her sociopolitical outlook colors all aspects of her life, as a writer, educator or activist. "Activism runs through what I read and what I write and what I'm teaching; It's all one big thing, as the same mindset invades all those activities. It is inescapable," she says.
CULTURE / Books
Dec 9, 2012
Globe-trotting acrobat left a mark on Japan
PROFESSOR RISLEY AND THE IMPERIAL JAPANESE TROUPE: How an American Acrobat Introduced Circus to Japan — and Japan to the West, by Frederik L. Schodt. Stone Bridge Press, 2012, 336 pp., $35 (hardcover) When a storyteller wields a scholar's pen, history truly comes alive. When that history crosses...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Dec 1, 2012
Martial artist credits his achievements to the philosophy of kendo
Alex Bennett was 18 years old when he first read the wisdom — "From one thing, know 10,000" — in Miyamoto Musashi's "The Book of Five Rings." Now living this maxim, Bennett is a scholar, teacher, translator, writer, coach and active competitor in the martial arts.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Dec 1, 2012
Martial artist credits his achievements to the philosophy of kendo
Alex Bennett was 18 years old when he first read the wisdom — "From one thing, know 10,000" — in Miyamoto Musashi's "The Book of Five Rings." Now living this maxim, Bennett is a scholar, teacher, translator, writer, coach and active competitor in the martial arts.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Nov 25, 2012
Introducing the irreverent, unconventional Ryokan
SKY ABOVE, GREAT WIND: The Life and Poetry of Zen Master Ryokan, by Kazuaki Tanahashi. Shambhala, 2012, 224 pp., $17.95 (paperback) It is fitting that the first poem in this book features Ryokan's nod to the most famous of Japanese poets:
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Nov 17, 2012
Ink artist pushes the boundaries of tattooing
The skin as canvas, inks and needles replacing the palette: tattoos by Khan transcend mere decorations. Whether he is depicting eye crinkles in a portrait of the Dalai Lama or the leer of a supernatural ghoul, his rich color and technical realism redefines the boundaries of art and pop culture.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 9, 2012
Savor Hokkaido's warming winter menu
Autumn in Hokkaido is a comma before the long period of white winter. Autumn's food season too scurries almost directly from summer to wintry tastes, so here's a look at how the locals keep warm, starting in November and feasting all the way into May.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Oct 28, 2012
Shaken, stirred puzzle that fits
SUBDUCTION, by Todd Shimoda, illustrated by L.J.C. Shimoda. Chin Music Press, 2012, 279 pp., $25 (hardcover) How to adequately describe "Subduction," the new work by husband and wife team Todd and L.J.C. Shimoda? A psychological thriller framed by gorgeous artwork? A beautifully bound collection...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Oct 27, 2012
Jewish Japanese-American keeps multicultural connections in tune
Even in casual conversation, Danny Katz entertains. His voice doesn't just speak, it croons with comedic pacing, imitations and abrupt shifts in tone. He peppers his speech with accents, New York City slang, Japanese formalities or onomatopoeia.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Oct 13, 2012
Manga artist wields 'fude' brush in samurai epic
Illustrator and comic book artist Mulele Jarvis came to Tokyo just as he reached adulthood. It was five years after he had first discovered manga near his home in San Francisco, at Kinokuniya Bookstore, next door to Japantown: "That's where I found Katsuhiro Otomo's 'Akira.' I was so impressed by it,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Sep 22, 2012
Filipino filmmaker-writer captures the stories of Asians on the fringe
Rey Ventura's prose startles with the subtle force of cinematic images: From the "rustling leaves" that signal the return of the rebel forces to the Aeta hill tribes in the Philippines to the "standing men" or day laborers populating the alleyways of the Kotobukicho district of Yokohama. As both filmmaker...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Sep 16, 2012
Charming short stories about man's tarnished imperfections
The Beautiful One Has Come, by Susan Kamata. Wyatt-MacKenzie Publishing, 2011, 212 pp., $15.00, (paperback) Long-term Japan resident and writer Suzanne Kamata juxtaposes the charming and the unappealing in an understated elucidation of flawed humanity with her collection of short stories, "The Beautiful...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Sep 14, 2012
Recipes and more from the farmer's kitchen
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Aug 19, 2012
Nursery rhymes that fly high with sound and color
JAPANESE NURSERY RHYMES: Carp Streamers, Falling Rain, and other Traditional Favorites, by Danielle Wright and illustrated by Helen Acraman. Tuttle Publishing, 2012, 32 pp., $16.95 (hardcover) With its many onomatopoeic words, the Japanese language booms and trills, echoing with musical lingo. Usually...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Aug 18, 2012
Innovative organic farming achieves sustainability in rural Hokkaido
How to endure? It's an elemental question perfectly matched to the endless, ripening fields of the organic farm Land Mann in the town of Biei, Hokkaido.

Longform

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