Despite speaking on a bad line from somewhere off Antarctica, the message from Paul Watson was loud and clear: "We will never retreat or surrender the southern oceans till we drive the Japanese whaling fleet out of here. We are not going to back down ...

Tokyo Hipsters Club Closes Jan. 25 While street culture and the genres of hardcore and hip-hop form the context of the Japanese artist Usugrow, in his beautiful and meticulously crafted black-and-white works, which feature flowers, skulls, religious symbols and ornate fonts, you can ...

Tokyo Vanilla Gallery Closes Jan. 30 Horiyoshi III is the undisputed master of traditional Japanese-style tattooing and has an unparalleled influence on the local and international tattoo industry. Now 63 years old and in the twilight of his career, Horiyoshi is renowned for his ...

Kabukicho is Tokyo's infamous entertainment district and suburb of sleaze. A heavily populated square of sleepless activity northeast of Shinjuku Station, it is home to a haphazard mix of movie theaters, hostess bars, strip clubs, and seedy nightclubs. An illicit atmosphere permeates the air. ...

Fans of Pop Surrealism were no doubt tickled pink to hear of their messiah, painter Mark Ryden, making an appearance in Tokyo for the opening of "The Snow Yak Show" at the Tomio Koyama Gallery. The solo exhibition features eight new works from the ...

'There are tattoos that you can show and ones that you should hide," says Shura, an Osaka tattoo artist. "Traditional tattoos are only OK to show at festivals, certain public baths and during fights. "The cute, fashionable ones, they are OK to show whenever." ...

For many professional photographers, their camera is a friend, a trusted companion and colleague. When an important story hinges on the functioning of their "partner," they want a product that is, above all, trustworthy. As a result, photographers are often loyal to their chosen brand. ...

For many Japanese artists who want to make it in the art world, New York City has yet to shake its image of being an art utopia where anyone can succeed: You'll find representation by a hip gallery! Share cerebral discourses with art star ...

Many visitors to Japan would love to buy an ukiyo-e (Japanese genre painting) woodblock print while here, and then put it on their wall. Dr. Lakra, an Oaxaca, Mexico-based tattoo artist, bought his own, and then added his own improvements to them. A blasphemous ...

The locals call her Madussa, or Medusa. Clearly, 46-year-old Ari Up, the punk-reggae goddess of the recently reformed Slits, is still a mesmerizing presence — and not only because she sports a tangled blonde beehive of dreads. Spending a few days in spring last year ...