It is difficult to criticize Art Fair Tokyo, the commercial art fair that celebrates its ninth edition at Tokyo International Forum in Yurakucho this weekend. Truth be told, it’s a wonder that the event has reached nine editions at all, what with the inherent ...
Family photographs are essentially a collection of memories, snapshots of happiness frozen in time. As treasured as these printed images may be to the individuals captured in them, they are no match for the destructive power of the tsunami that swept away town after ...
The premise behind Rumiko Takahashi’s massively popular manga “Ranma ½” is delightfully bizarre: A father and son martial arts duo who are cursed to change form when doused in hot or cold water — the dad, Genma, into a giant panda and the 16-year-old ...
When is a remake not a remake? Arguably, Takashi Shimizu’s “Majo no Takkyubin (Kiki’s Delivery Service)” is less a reworking of the Hayao Miyazaki animation classic (which this reviewer praised on this page in 1989) than his own interpretation of the 1985 Eiko Kadono ...
The band name Owarikara loosely translates into English as “starting from the end.” However, singer and guitarist Hyouri Takahashi gives a much more specific interpretation. “The suffix ‘-kara‘ (from) and the word ‘owari‘ (end) are both part of the name,” he says. “It’s about ...
Fruits of Passion" displays contemporary works that were acquired during the last decade by the Musée National d'Art Moderne (MNAM), Centre Pompidou. The exhibition begins, though, with the final threads of modernism.
“Whenever I am creating a new play here at Setagaya Public Theatre, I aim for something that’s as universal as all those kyōgen (traditional comic theater) or noh classics that are as vivid now as when they were first staged 600 years ago. If ...
Harold Ramis, the American actor, writer and director of classic comedy films “Caddyshack” and “Groundhog Day,” whose star turn came in “Ghostbusters,” died Monday. He was 69. Ramis, a longtime resident of Chicago, was surrounded by family and friends when he succumbed to a ...
Over thousands of years, Japanese art has evolved through many phases and genres — from pottery to sculpture, ink paintings to woodblock prints, manga to anime and much more. Although contemporary art is often thought of as conceptual and difficult to comprehend, it hasn’t ...
An earless blue robotic cat, one pocket bulging with gadgets from the future and a lifelong fear of mice: Who is he? Japan roars the answer — but English readers may be stumped. Because, even though he’s a government-appointed “cultural ambassador” and a familiar ...
This week marks the third anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake. On a practical level, TBS’s two-hour special, “Shinsai chokugo: Seishi wo wakeru 72-jikan ni subeki koto” (“Right After the Disaster: 72 Hours Means the Difference Between Life and Death”; Mon., 9 p.m.), ...
