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Japan Times
LIFE
Oct 21, 2012

In search of the fearsome Onibaba

"Here's as close as I can take you," said my taxi driver, a charming fellow named Ishii whose pronounced zuzu-ben (Tohoku accent), was strong enough to cut with the proverbial knife.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / IN THE RECORD
Oct 18, 2012

XLII

A mainstay of the Tokyo underground electronic scene and cofounder of the Raid System label/collective,
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 18, 2012

"Tokyo: The Printing Capital and its Role in Modern Japan"

During the 19th century, ukiyo-e woodblock prints contributed to the modernization of Japan by helping record events and spread ideas. The Printing Museum, located in Tokyo, the home of most of Japan's printing industry, is focusing on works from 1860 to 1890, a time when the nation experienced a major...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 18, 2012

From the low key comes high art

The Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum is deceptive in more ways than one. Not only is it a lot younger than it looks — it was built in 2009 as a recreation of a Meiji Era building — but the interior doesn't quite match the exterior. The latter looks somewhat grand and even slightly palatial, but once inside...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 5, 2012

Cusack delves into the dark with 'The Raven'

"One of the negative things about the Internet," actor John Cusack remarks when asked about rumors surrounding casting in his new film, "The Raven," "is unnecessary information. Stuff that doesn't serve any real purpose and can be detrimental to someone's ego or ... like I say, useless. Hopefully a good...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Sep 30, 2012

Time seems to slow as Joei-ji Garden comes alive

"The whole countryside was full of snakes sunning themselves along the roads and swimming in the ditches and newly flooded rice-fields. ... Out in Sesshu's old garden behind the temple, the pond was starred with tiny twinkling water-lilies." Such was, in part, how Glenn W. Shaw described the rural outskirts...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 27, 2012

Singapore's bid to become Asia's newest art hub

Three Tokyo-based Japanese contemporary art galleries — Tomio Koyama Gallery, Mizuma Gallery and Ota Fine Arts — inaugurated new spaces at Singapore's Gillman Barracks at an opening party on Sept. 14, joining 10 other galleries from the Philippines, Indonesia, Australia, Korea, China, Germany, Italy,...
LIFE / Language
Sep 17, 2012

Going with the flow, in water we trust

In the Tokyo area, August was a month of hideri (日照り, brutal sunshine), the effects of which were accelerated by the setsuden (節電, energy-conserving) mood. Many of us trudged through the streets under a blazing sun, clutching a towel in one hand and a water bottle in the other.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Sep 8, 2012

Eye surgeon makes a difference, performing 'miracles' in Vietnam

In 1965, Akira Kurosawa directed "Akahige" ("Red Beard"), the story of an Edo Period doctor who teaches his arrogant intern the importance of compassion, responsibility, and empathizing with his patients. Ophthalmologist Tadashi Hattori has seen this movie, but he insists that he was not thinking about...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 6, 2012

"Chardin"

It was not until the middle of the 19th century that the world began to re-appreciate the talent of Jean-Siméon Chardin (1699-1779), with artists such as Edouard Manet and Paul Cezanne citing him as a major influence. Unlike Johannes Vermeer, another painter whose work regained popularity after years...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 6, 2012

"James Ensor in Context"

As a young artist, the Flemish-Belgian painter and printmaker James Ensor (1860-1949) developed a strong interest in the effects of light, which he illustrated in many of his early works.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Sep 2, 2012

Man on a mountain

In the very center of Hokkaido lies a landscape so far removed from the urban sprawl of much of lowland Japan that you might be forgiven for asking: "Is this really Japan?" Far more reminiscent of the higher latitudes of Kamchatka and Chukotka (northeastern Russia) or of northern central Alaska (United...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Sep 1, 2012

Patrick W. Galbraith: Willing prisoner of Akihabara

For better or for worse, some of contemporary Japan's most recognizable cultural products come from the ever-ebullient world of pop culture. If this country's heroes in the 1950s and '60s were such intellectuals as film director Akira Kurosawa and author Yukio Mishima, today Japan's calling cards —...
Events / KANSAI: WHO & WHAT
Aug 25, 2012

Kobe NGO's event to help Indonesian orphans

NOW, a Kobe-based NGO, will hold a charity concert at Suma Beach in Hyogo Prefecture from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Friday to raise money for orphanages in Indonesia, some of which have suffered power failures.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 24, 2012

Ridley Scott returns to sci-fi with 'Prometheus'

"As a cinematic genre, science-fiction has a longer shelf life than most," says director/producer Sir Ridley Scott. The mastermind behind such classics as "Alien" (1979), "Blade Runner" (1982) and this year's "Prometheus" is referring to how aspects of a sci-fi film can morph from fiction into fact with...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 23, 2012

Art director Hideki Nakajima throws down the gauntlet of design

In Hiroshima the sun is setting on a large retrospective exhibition by one of Japan's leading graphic designers, who for the past 20 years has been working at the edge of his discipline, carving out a unique niche for himself within a very prescribed industry.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 23, 2012

Exploring themes of dimensions and time, Japan's contemporary art scene is a cosmos of its own

"The Cosmos as Metaphor' at Taka Ishii Gallery and Hotel Anteroom Kyoto is almost entirely engaging. Bringing together many diverse artists, the expectation is that the exhibition concept is spread wide. Indeed "Multi-dimensional and magical time spaces" along with "untouched civilizations" and "other...
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Aug 17, 2012

'Wallace & Gromit' creator Peter Lord to play major role at animation festival in Hiroshima

The Hiroshima 2012: International Animation Festival has done pretty well for itself since its debut in 1985. It is now considered one of the four most respected animation festivals in the world.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 15, 2012

Palestinian plight's Tohoku parallels

The civil war in Syria is not only affecting its civilians but also the Palestinian refugees living in exile there, and the situation is deteriorating, the head of a United Nations agency supporting the refugees said during a recent visit to Japan.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 9, 2012

"Given Forms: Tatsuno Toeko/Shibata Toshio"

Toeko Tatsuno has been leading the field of abstract painting in Japan for more than 30 years with her colorful and emotionally charged works.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Aug 7, 2012

Superstar Bolt delivers with 100-meter victory

He's back on top.
COMMUNITY
Aug 7, 2012

American photographer recounts childhood in wartime Karuizawa

Hungarian-American photographer Tom Haar, 71, who spent several years of his childhood in wartime Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, says he wants to help promote the resort area once again "as an international cultural community."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 2, 2012

Christian Boltanski's mesmeric "No Man's Land" draws visitors to the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale 2012's new Satoyama Museum of Contemporary Art

Christian Boltanski's "No Man's Land" is both daunting and mesmerizing. It's difficult to take your eyes off the 20-ton mound of clothing, which at 9 meters tall dwarfs an accompanying crane that tosses on more T-shirts, trousers and dresses with a giant claw.
EDITORIALS
Jul 30, 2012

Governors' view of revival

At their annual conference held in Takamatsu on July 19 and 20, the governors of Japan's 47 prefectures adopted an interim report on their Japan Resuscitation Plan, which presents their view on Japan's overall direction in future economic development and ways to cope with expected massive disasters....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 19, 2012

"Debussy, Music and the Arts"

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, not only did music, art, literature and the performing arts influence each other, but some artists created works that spanned art forms. Among such artists was the famous French composer Claude Debussy.
COMMENTARY
Jul 17, 2012

Britain's endangered breed

British parliamentary democracy has developed over the centuries and is often seen as a model for other countries. At its best, the system works for the public good, curbs corruption and prevents tyranny by the executive.
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Jul 17, 2012

Employees should work toward a life of leisure, not live to work

Some readers' responses to Hifumi Okunuki's June 19 Labor Pains column, "In 'right-to-work' Japan, employees should also have the right to rest":
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jul 17, 2012

Suteteko: Hanging out in underwear is a cool way to survive the summer heat

Picture this: A man comes home from work on a summer evening. The intense heat of the day has abated and he goes into another room to change out of his suit. He emerges wearing a simple ensemble of underwear consisting of an undershirt (sleeveless or not) and a pair of suteteko — which can best be...

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?