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Tom Smith
For Tom Smith's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Nov 5, 2014
Street-dance show's dazzling 'tribute to manga' hits the spot
Street-dance types in Japan can often be seen working on their moves in parks or in front of big plate-glass windows, but in Britain the dance movement is being taken to an entirely new level.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 22, 2014
Siro-A's show blurs realities
I can still remember the first time I saw Siro-A. The six-strong team of acrobatic techno-wizards marched out on stage at London's quaint Leicester Square Theatre in an assault of thumping beats, dazzling lights and laser beams. Kitted out in white PVC jumpsuits and the kind of mono-lens visors that Data from "Star Trek" would wear, it felt as if I'd fallen into a portal to the Neo Tokyo often fantasized about in cyberpunk.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 15, 2014
Katsura Sunshine's a star at rakugo in English
"It was the first time I'd performed to an audience where there wasn't a single person from Japan, and I don't think anyone had even been there — yet their reaction was electric," Katsura Sunshine said with a beaming smile as he talked about his first show at this year's Edinburgh Fringe Festival — adding that he couldn't wait to return to Britain in November, because he felt the people "really appreciated the humor and the language."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Aug 6, 2014
Hyper Japan hails digital-age 'Genji' opera
Modern technology and age-old tradition combined last week for the premiere run of an ambitious Japanese opera with a difference — one with no live singers, musicians or actors.

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