Anime in 2018 saw serious cash but no surprise hits
What do a 24-year-old child detective, a group of seriously laid-back campers and anthropomorphic blood cells have in common? 2018, that's what. "Anime is a medium, not a genre" is a common refrain, and in a field as diverse as Japan's animation industry, it can ...
Mitsuki Kimura and her film award without the film
Year-end awards season is in full swing, which means a lot of looking back on the past 12 months. Part of the fun of best-of lists and 2018-in-a-minute thinkpieces is arguing about placement and positioning: Did X really deserve to get so much love? ...
In 2018, art came via many anniversaries in Japan
This year saw a lot of anniversaries in Japan. It was 1868 when Crown Prince Mutsuhito became the Emperor Meiji, the official policy of national isolation ended and the country was set on a course to become a modern industrialized nation-state. This birthday seems ...
"Bohemian Rhapsody," a biographical film about the legendary British rock band Queen, is captivating the hearts of young and old alike in Japan, where in the 1970s the band saw success before anywhere else. The film, released in Japan on Nov. 9, grossed more than ...
'jam': Comedy with a touch of 'Misery'
'A Crimson Star': A taboo and toxic story of love
'Killing': A modern take on a samurai staple
Katherine Waterston discusses making magic in 'Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald'
'Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald': Wizards and wands, but no magic
'Gangoose': A modern take on old-school heists
Bridges built by the power of K-pop and J-pop
This year hasn't been a particularly warm one for the relationship between Japan and South Korea. Ongoing tension stemming from Japan's colonization of its neighbor up to the end of World War II — and efforts to complicate what happened during this period — ...
Farewell Mary Jane: Grieving for a lost jazz hideout
Ned Rothenberg: Crossing the Pacific with bamboo flute in hand
YMO's Yukihiro Takahashi celebrates a pair of 40th anniversaries
Yellow Magic Orchestra go big and go home
The Stylistics: Philly soul comes to Japan
Mariya Takeuchi: The pop genius behind 2018's surprise online smash hit from Japan
'Les Mains sans Sommeil': It's not what you do, it's the way you do it
"Les Mains Sans Sommeil" is an ode to handiwork by Hermes artists-in-residence, whose experimental textile works wrestle with beauty and desire in surprising ways.
'Hiroko Tsuchida Solo Exhibition: "Do — Where's a Will, There's a Way"'
'Like a Star: Leaving and the Things That Are Left'
Shinzo Fukuhara: Shiseido's patron of beauty
The art world's oversight of Escher's mathematical work doesn't add up
'Michael Kenna: A 45 Year Odyssey 1973-2018'
2018 was the year in Japan that saw the stage sing, while contemporary drama barely made a squeak
Musicals have flourished in 2018, with many young stars also helping to sell out straight plays in which they appeared. However, the contemporary drama scene in Japan has been unusually quiet this year in terms of new works and writers. It is fitting that Keita ...
While ballet reigned supreme, a range of dance delighted fans in 2018
On the road to new experiences, post-SMAP, with Tsuyoshi Kusanagi
'An Enemy of the People': The not-so-silent majority speaks out again
Tokyo Festival looks to throw open some doors with fringe elements
The experiment continues on Kyoto's stages
'Hurricane — The Life of Tian Han' tells the story of the father of contemporary Chinese theater
Apple will produce a new animated series starring Snoopy and the "Peanuts" gang, created by the late American cartoonist Charles Schulz, for its video platform, a source close to the deal said Friday, confirming press reports. The agreement was reached with Apple, "in a highly ...
Hard-partying Keith Richards says he's virtually given up booze
'Your Name.' director Makoto Shinkai's new film set for next summer
'A Star Is Born' tops SAG Awards nominations as snubs abound for other key contenders
Animator Hayao Miyazaki's 'Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind' to be adapted into kabuki production
Kirk Douglas honored in NY birthplace with historic marker on 102nd birthday
Japan's modern crime literature: Centuries in the making
Japan boasts an impressively large and growing body of native-grown mystery fiction that dates back to the 1920s.
Kobo Abe's 'The Ark Sakura': A surreal narrative worth reading twice
Tadao Tsuge's 'Slum Wolf': A gritty, discomfiting yet necessary manga
'Convenience Store Woman,' by Sayaka Murata, among New Yorker magazine's Best Books 2018
A suburban home becomes an oasis for fans of girls' manga
Submitting to the masters on Onomichi's Path of Literature
Escape from the everyday with Miyuki Miyabe's 'Brave Story'
A blond Swedish landscape artist flexes for NHK — remember his name ... Tatsumasa Murasame
Who's that hunk of blond beefcake crunching his abs on NHK's workout program "Minna de Kinniku Taiso"? When the five-minute nightly exercise show launched for a four-episode run this August and attracted a huge cult following, social media users wanted to know the answer. Tatsumasa Murasame ...
Twitter speaks: That joke isn't funny anymore
Anpanman: Is the children's superhero the best thing since sliced bread?
The small screen needs the small mercies of 'Terrace House'
Rainy season is a great time to binge-watch anime
'The Bachelor Japan' promises more drama in its second season
Yuko Takeuchi steps into an iconic role on 'Miss Sherlock' with elementary ease
