Composer and performer Ned Rothenberg has spent his career traversing different musical worlds. He has worked extensively as both a composer and performer in the jazz and improvisation scenes, playing alto saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet and the shakuhachi, a Japanese bamboo flute. Rothenberg, 62, has ...

At the height of the splendor of the Heian Period (794-1185), lady-in-waiting to the Imperial Court, Murasaki Shikibu, wrote "The Tale of Genji," the story of imperial officer Hikaru Genji falling in and out of love with his various suitors. After centuries of war, ...

Though kissaten (old-style) coffee shops like have long been a part of Kyoto, the third-wave coffee boom has increased the number and variety of coffee shops in the city.

Since 2009, Motomi Morii has lived and worked in New York. There, she indulges in her love of experimental and improvised music, and takes part in various Japanese cultural events around the city. Most importantly, New York provides her with constant inspiration and opportunity ...

When it comes to curating a biennale, a lack of funding isn't always a big problem as it can lead to more imaginative results. That's the case with the Biwako Biennale, which runs through Nov. 11 in Shiga Prefecture. The event, organized by Yoko Nakata ...

I first heard Ami Yamasaki's voice in 2016 at a studio where I hosted a radio show in New York. She popped by to promote an upcoming performance at the Japan Society with composer Mamoru Fujieda, koto player Kayoko Nakagawa and shō (free ...

Contemporary classical duo bring together the cello, koto and shamisen for original classical contemporary compositions.

Yuyushi Furuta was on a path to commercial success with her calligraphy when she decided to take a left turn.

Soufu Honda uses her entire body to create her calligraphy works in a process that verges on the theatrical.

Follow the Sumida River southwest from Asakusa and you'll soon reach Kuramae, an old working-class neighborhood filled with small factories, wholesale shops and temples. The area is changing, though, with single origin coffee roasters and stores selling imported pottery sprouting up next to mom-and-pop ...