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Taylor Mignon
For Taylor Mignon's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / OBITUARY
Aug 30, 2017
Hillel Wright: poet, writer and catalyst for Tokyo's literary community
Remembering Hillel Wright, who died on Aug. 1 at the age of 73.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 23, 2005
Miro's best critic shows with stars of Surrealism
"Drifting Objects of Dreams: The Collection of Shuzo Takiguchi" is an exhibition which features the diversity of this famous Japanese artist and a host of collaborators. Though it started in the West, the Surrealist movement was expansive and noone, not even its founder-cum-leader Andre Breton, had a monopoly or license on the transcendental Surrealist spirit.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 1, 2004
Liberate your mind and art
The conductor walks away. The crowd applauds. Beethoven's 5th? A moving rendition by the orchestra? Eric Satie? Closer, but wrong again. The performer is Ben Patterson and he's just completed George Maciunas' "Solo for Conductor." For this, he bent over to face the audience, placed his baton on the floor and, voila, he retied his shoelaces.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 24, 2002
Evoking the mystery of the world
René Magritte's mustache, torso attached plunders a wet hat. "Negative Scenery" (1992) by Shozo Torii
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 15, 2002
Offspring of poetry's artistic polygamy
Several events this month platform the spoken and written words in new combinations: An exhibition of Japanese and French "visual poetry" opens May 15; poetry marries improvisational live jazz and shakuhachi performance; and a book launch for an anthology of new writing offers readings, music and dance.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 19, 2001
A night traveler crossing the border of art and literature
For many Japanese writers and artists of the 1920s and '30s, Surrealism was simply a stylistic novelty. Poet Shuzo Takiguchi, however, produced Surrealist writings whose message was lent conviction by the risks he took -- at the time, artistic and political freedoms were restricted.
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 17, 2001
Rock to the Beat that goes on
Jack Kerouac died a drinker's death Oct. 21, 1969, many years after reaching fame with his novels "On the Road" and "Dharma Bums," which inspired generations to follow. To mark his death and to celebrate his life, The Doors in Tokyo's Shinjuku district is hosting Bohemian Cafe, a night of music, theater and "dancing angels and poets" Oct. 20.
CULTURE / Art
Aug 15, 2001
A 'subversive' finally brought in from the cold
In 1953, Kansuke Yamamoto wrote: "The surreal exists within the real. Tireless experimentation with new photography leads to the creation of a new beauty."
CULTURE / Art
Jun 6, 2001
American poet wins Chuya Nakahara Prize
Chuya Nakahara (1907-1937) was a master at using the 7-5 syllabic meter in the nontraditional, free-verse shi style. His birthplace, the city of Yamaguchi, has established the annual Chuya Nakahara Prize and a memorial library where his papers are collected to be preserved and available for research.
CULTURE / Books / POETRY MIGNETTE
Apr 18, 2001
Poet forging links from East to West
The longest running English poetry journal in Japan, Poetry Nippon, was founded in the fall of 1967. Edited by Sapporo-based poet and translator Yorifumi Yaguchi, it has helped forge links between Japanese, British and American poetry for over 30 years.
CULTURE / Books / POETRY MIGNETTE
Mar 18, 2001
Kan Mikami's 30 years of recording in a box
Kan Mikami has just released a CD box set to celebrate his 30-year recording history, here covered in 19 CDs.
CULTURE / Books / POETRY MIGNETTE
Feb 18, 2001
Avant-garde poet tosses Japan a luscious bouquet
The end of last year and the beginning of this one has produced a fine crop of poetry publications. Though each of these volumes deserves its own separate review, happily I'm able to give these works exposure here.
CULTURE / Books / POETRY MIGNETTE
Jan 21, 2001
A little home for poetry in Shinagawa
Keiyudoh is a book store specializing in rare art books, with a small gallery in the back. Currently the gallery features an exhibition of calligraphy by Sueo Akiyama, a self-taught artist, whose works have received cultural awards in Poland and France recently. Keiyudoh also publishes the journal Le Carrosse d'Or.
CULTURE / Books / POETRY MIGNETTE
Dec 17, 2000
Speaking to both the eye and the ear
Poet Keiichi Nakamura first wrote tanka, and then composed monotype lithographs after graduating from the University of Sapporo. Later he created collages in which he explored the fusion of poetry with images.
CULTURE / Books / POETRY MIGNETTE
Nov 19, 2000
Poetry readings in Okinawa
In Itoman, Okinawa Prefecture Oct. 15, Shuntaro Tanikawa read such scatological, contemporary poems as "Onara (Fart)" and "Unko (Crap)" from his collection "Hadaka" (the English edition, "Naked," is jointly published by Stone Bridge Press and Saru Press).
CULTURE / Books / POETRY MIGNETTE
Oct 15, 2000
Rexroth revolution comes home to Japan
Yokohama-based essayist and poet Morgan Gibson has been and continues to be one of the most prolific contributors to Japan's English literary scene. Of his own work he had poems published in the 1970s in pioneering journals like One Mind and Kyoto Review and later, in the '80s, in publications like Blue Jacket; his most recent poetry has appeared in Yomimono.
CULTURE / Books / POETRY MIGNETTE
Sep 17, 2000
Tokyo poets get a night out to Howl
Howl, the bar in Aoyama, was founded just after Allen Ginsberg's death in 1997.
CULTURE / Books / POETRY MIGNETTE
Aug 20, 2000
A wealth of autumn events to delight all Tokyo wordsmiths
The upcoming "Ueno Poetrican Jam" is being touted as the biggest poetry-reading event ever to be held in Japan. About 60 poets have been selected from volunteers to participate, and recognized poets such as Sandaime Uotake, Shigeo Hamada and Ikuo Tani will also be on the bill.
CULTURE / Books / POETRY MIGNETTE
Jul 16, 2000
When dream makers walk among us
Socrates' bestial laugh washes into the cosmic map where Blake digs with his spade and Sam stands bathed in the sparks of his youth Among colored shapes, Sam embraces the warmest softest things a woman's spirit in the shape of clouds in the shape of foam in the shape of a womb The white space of the canvas shines
CULTURE / Books / POETRY MIGNETTE
Jun 18, 2000
Cafe's tempting literary brew
Cafe Independent, a "rattle-bag collection of poetry, art, pearls of prose . . . ," is produced by Oliver Kinghorn and Shannon Smith in Kyoto.

Longform

A statue of "Dragon Ball" character Goku stands outside the offices of Bandai Namco in Tokyo. The figure is now as recognizable as such characters as Mickey Mouse and Spider-Man.
Akira Toriyama's gift to the world