People | 20 QUESTIONS Sep 8, 2018

Kosuke Kurotaki: The 'festival guy' who just wants everyone to have fun

Whether he's serving you drinks, playing you records or carrying a festival float, Wokini bar owner Kurotaki is detrmined to entertain you.

People | 20 QUESTIONS Jul 21, 2018

Punk Drunkers: When it's cool to be uncool

Chikayoshi Satomi, the man behind cult brand Punk Drunkers says, for him, the line between work and play is always blurred.

People | 20 QUESTIONS Jun 9, 2018

For curator Yayoi Motohashi, no exhibit detail is too small

Museum curator Yayoi Motohashi on how she approaches exhibit design, her favorite works of art and a few guilty pleasures.

People | 20 QUESTIONS Jan 27, 2018

Sosuke Kitamura: A man of painted words

Name: Sosuke Kitamura Age: 59 Nationality: Japanese Occupation: Calligrapher Likes: Analog stuff, food, clothing, housing from 1960s Japan Dislikes: Digital stuff, especially touch screens 1. What do the kanji that comprise your first name mean? 宗 (so) means "to better oneself" and positively influence one's surroundings. My father chose a ...

People | 20 QUESTIONS Jan 13, 2018

Mural painter can't relax in bathhouses

Name: Mizuki Tanaka Age: 35 Nationality: Japanese Occupation: Sento (public bathhouse) mural painter Likes: Reading, art, movies Dislikes: Headaches 1. When did you first go to a public bathhouse and how did you like it? I went in my second year of university when I started to consider writing a ...

People | 20 QUESTIONS Dec 31, 2017

20 Questions: The best answers of 2017

What brought you to Japan? I came here for the magic. Osaka is home to some of the best close-up magicians in the world. — Ben Daggers, magician Richard Brezina | COURTESY OF RICHARD BREZINA What's your favorite Japanese word or phrase? I like Japanese tongue-twisters; my ...