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May 21, 2024
 

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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:
CULTURE / Books
Dec 26, 2010
Drinking down great fiction
Writers often gather in exotic places, finding inspiration in the unknown. Suzanne Kamata, long-term Japanese resident and writer, honors this literary tradition by editing an annual anthology of work by writers connected to Asia. Titled "Yomimono" (literally, reading thing), Kamata first published the...
COMMUNITY
Dec 18, 2010
Well-traveled chef gives Kamakura the spice of life
Krishna Murthy Vijayan, 57, has authentic taste — literally. Cooking in the traditions of southern India as head chef for T-Side, a popular Indian restaurant in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, he makes it a priority to keep his tastes authentic.
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 3, 2010
Dancing on Mishima's waves
Childhood, a time of purest innocence, is also a spring of dark imagination. Maurice Bejart, French choreographer and collaborator with the Tokyo Ballet in the 1990s, took the childhood and life of writer Yukio Mishima as his muse when creating the original ballet "M" in 1993, but his imagination of...
COMMUNITY
Nov 20, 2010
A modern-day alchemist melds senses of sight, smell
On the back of Maurice Joosten's business card, a silvered phrase floats across the otherwise blank expanse: "Solve et Coagula" ("Dissolve and Unite"). For Joosten, 48, this ancient dictum of alchemy provides a motto linking his work as an artist, aroma designer and yoga instructor.
COMMUNITY
Nov 13, 2010
Dream becomes reality for Scottish manga creator
It sits in a place of beauty, incongruously bordered between Japanese stone art and a vivid blue ink painting: "2000 A.D.," a classic British comic book from the 1980s. The apocalypse orange cover shrieks "Revenge of the Warlock" but — muted by a plastic overlay to protect its condition —...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 23, 2010
Ballplayer is in a league all her own
Bessie Noll won't celebrate her 16th birthday for another year, but she's already got a sweet swing on her future.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 16, 2010
Professor finds meaning in silence
In Japanese there's a word for it, that prolonged silence that cuts into a conversation, bringing discomfort and interrupting flow: shiin. We've all experienced that dead-air tension, but surprisingly there are different levels of comfort with silence, depending on the language being spoken.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 2, 2010
Living green, Venetia truly is at home in Kyoto
Venetia Stanley-Smith Kajiyama, or Venetia to her many fans, personifies natural, country living in her popular NHK program "Neko no Shippo, Kaeru no Te," but her first two months in Tokyo exemplified neon lights and city swing as a go-go dancer at a Shinjuku disco.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Sep 11, 2010
Flower designer's success blossomed under rising sun
The Nicolai Bergmann brand radiates upscale elegance, taking flower fashion to a new level. In addition to his famous floral designs — he revolutionized Tokyo's flower world in 2000 with his original Flower Boxes, a best-selling trend that landed his name in more than 500 publications in Japanese,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 28, 2010
Putting true community back in theater
Throughout the Western world, community theater spices the dramatic arts.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 7, 2010
Kamakura expat at one with all Buddhist deities
Mark Schumacher's home in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, requires a journey, both on foot and for the spirit.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 24, 2010
Seattle pair put sake on local map
Japan abounds with foreigners attracted by its cultural opportunities, who live in the country and eventually make a livelihood by specializing in attributes the country has to offer. Scattered across the world, their counterparts reside in towns in Europe or America, those who, after spending time in...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 10, 2010
Architect wants to end nail-hammer cycle
Miwa Mori, president of Key Architects, thinks a lot about nails, both as part of her profession and as her philosophy about life.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 3, 2010
Witnessing over a century of history
When alone, Hedwig Koh's eyes gaze perpetually into the past. Even as a child, she looked off into the distance: "I spent most of my childhood upstairs at the attic window, looking out at the view, imagining far away places."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jun 26, 2010
Global multitasking: it's in her DNA
Miho Natori can recite nursery rhymes in Thai, speak German fluently, converse over coffee in English and is native in Japanese. For this 40-year-old graphic designer, life kaleidoscopes world to world, from Japan, to the orphanage she helped start with her mother in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and to Germany,...
CULTURE / Books
Jun 20, 2010
Untangling the elusive past across time
The first 115 pages of Marie Mutsuki Mockett's debut novel, "Picking Bones From Ash," incredibly heightened my anticipation of a great, literary read. Then the crash came, splintering my expectations from the weight of disgruntlement.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
May 25, 2010
Expat dancer Hibari Misora-inspired
Chris Chavez maintains an upbeat outlook about life in Japan but leaves the rosy-tinted view for idealists or those newly arrived. This Mexican-American's snapping brown eyes differentiate clearly the good, bad and indifferent of living as a foreign woman in Tokyo.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 15, 2010
Fatalist follows music to find his niche in life
Life can veer abruptly, in mere seconds, from the way it was to the way it is. Occasionally, change occurs so gradually that metamorphosis is under way before you can even detect the unfamiliar wind.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 17, 2010
Fuji veteran brings kids English Adventure
If you hike in the Chichibu mountains this summer in Saitama Prefecture, you may stumble across an American-style summer camp with huge tents and 50 to 60 school kids exploring nature with walks and tree-climbing adventures and enjoying campfires and roasting marshmallows.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 13, 2010
Volleyball star finds meaning off court
As every top-level athlete knows, sacrifice underpins every training plan and for an Olympic athlete it becomes a way of life. For Sohn Jeong Wook, his goal of taking part in the Olympics was more important than country, but it didn't override family.
Rare sequel to 'My Neighbor Totoro' to play at Cannes
A screening of "Mei and the Baby Cat Bus," which is being billed as a "mini-sequel" to the Studio Ghibli classic "My Neighbor Totoro," is set to take place at the Cannes Film Festival on Monday.
America wasn’t made for walking, and it’s killing them
A 2010 study found that U.S. adults averaged 5,117 steps daily and that this was lower than the averages found in similar studies in Switzerland, western Australia and Japan.
Fuchu Prison adapting to foreign prisoners
From the outside, the light-brown complex that is Fuchu Prison in western Tokyo could easily be mistaken for a city hall.
Why half of Japan's cities are at risk of disappearing in 100 years
A couple looks out onto the Fukuoka nightscape. Due to its distance from Tokyo and its close proximity to South Korea and China, professor Tomoya Mori believes that Fukuoka is one of the few metropolitan regions of Japan that will see some form of growth in the decades to come.
Japan concerned over U.S. officials' remarks on atomic bombings
U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham speaks to reporters during a news conference in Washington on Thursday.
Fuchu Prison adapting to foreign prisoners
From the outside, the light-brown complex that is Fuchu Prison in western Tokyo could easily be mistaken for a city hall.
The politicians moving Japan forward on climate
While not the most outspoken politician on the issue, digital minister Taro Kono has a track record of being serious in his commitment to addressing the climate crisis.
Seoul's eclectic Art OnO shines light on Japan's artists and galleries
Art OnO, which took place from April 19 to 21 in Seoul, featured a modest number of 36 participating galleries from 15 countries.
Want to be a voice actor? Stay 'true to the character'
SungWon Cho is a veteran with more than 10 years of experience portraying characters in anime, cartoons and video games.
Local theater in Japan is more than a hobby — it’s a community
Japan Times contributor Laura Pollacco (front right) was offered the role of one of her all-time favorite heroines, Elizabeth “Lizzie” Bennet, in the Tokyo International Players’ production of “Pride and Prejudice.”

Podcast

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[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

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