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August 27, 2025
 

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Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 27, 2019

Tokutaro Yamamura: A gatekeeper of art history

The Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art presents Tokutaro Yamamura's full collection of Japanese postwar avant-garde art collection for the first time in two decades.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 20, 2019

Controversial art exhibit's closure leaves Japan pondering limits of freedom of expression

Ever since a section of a public art exhibition in Nagoya was closed after coming under a barrage of complaints and threats, Japan has been in a state of introspection over its freedom of expression.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 9, 2018

Buy what you like, sell what the market fancies: Top collectors reveal how to make a fortune in art

Andy Warhol once said: "Making money is art." But what about making money from art?
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Jul 17, 2011

Tezuka on iPad represents shift in manga biz

Manga is an integral part of the entertainment industry in Japan, and has been for decades. There are numerous weekly and monthly manga anthologies. Series carried in those magazines often become bestsellers in paperback form and are adapted into anime, live-action TV shows and films. However, with fewer...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 18, 2011

G-tokyo art fair hopes for another triumph

Although Tokyo is a major world city, its contemporary art scene lacks the allure of its peers. Japanese interest in contemporary art is growing, though, as evidenced by the record 50,000 visitors at last year's Art Fair Tokyo. However, sales remained at the 2009 level, a fraction of what big art fairs...
JAPAN / OKINAWA'S HOSTAGE ECONOMY
Jul 7, 2010

Futenma relocation has certain bidders salivating

NAGO, Okinawa Pref. — Last month an executive of a major construction company in Nago confessed what was considered a long-held industry secret in this city that is poised to be the replacement site for the Futenma military base: For decades most local contractors had rigged bids for public works projects,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 2, 2010

More than a few favorite things

Museum curators are usually in the position of assessing an artist's career, but rarely turn that same critical lens upon themselves. However, the exhibition "My Favorites-Index of a Certain Collection: Selections from the MoMAK Collection," which opened to the public on March 24 at the National Museum...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 19, 2010

Reinterpretations of modern history

One of Japan's pre-eminent contemporary artists, Yasumasa Morimura is known for his gender-bending self- portraits reinterpreting canonical works of Western art history. His works combine aspects of painting, sculpture, set design, performance and photography, and often use humor to subvert revered icons....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 5, 2010

Spring blooms early in art world

Seasons play an important role in Japanese culture, which has long celebrated the appreciation of ephemeral beauty as a reflection of life itself. One of the most important seasons in Japan is New Year's, a time for families to gather and celebrate with several days of elaborate feasts. Traditionally,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 31, 2009

Escape from propaganda

Artist, architect, designer, photographer, curator, writer, editor, activist — Ai Weiwei is many things. This multiplicity of means all serve a united end that centers on the existential question: What does human freedom mean in China today?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 29, 2008

The last splash of spring

Tokyo's multifaceted gallery scene usually slows down a bit in the summer, so May has seen a whack of openings across the city.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 10, 2006

There's an art to saving country life

Just a few hours north of Tokyo's seemingly endless sprawl is the mountainous region of Echigo-Tsumari in Niigata Prefecture. Like so many other rural parts of northern Japan, it is a rugged, isolated, aging and economically stagnant place where elderly men and women can be found doubled over in terraced...
JAPAN / 60 YEARS,AND ONWARD
Aug 14, 2005

War's end brought cash to Hokkaido

When the 77th Division of the 9th Army Corps landed in Hakodate, Hokkaido, on Oct. 4, 1945, it began a low-key U.S. presence in Japan's northernmost prefecture which continues to this day.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 15, 2002

Art macht frei

"Arbeit macht frei (Work brings freedom)" were the words famously written above the gates of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, where Austrian-born artist Friedl Dicker-Brandeis was murdered in a gas chamber on Oct. 9, 1944. Friedl's life, however, had been devoted to a different, truer precept:...
CULTURE / Art
Apr 22, 2000

World of freeze-framed flowers at Mitsukoshi

Despite a long history dating back to the 16th century, when botanists in England and Italy began systematic collection of specimens, the art of flower pressing still tends to be treated as a mere hobby or handicraft in many countries. In Japan, too, although the number of oshibana (pressed flower) artists...
CULTURE / Art
Apr 14, 1999

A British art gallery finds an answer to a perennial problem

SOUTHAMPTON, England -- The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford is generally acknowledged to be the world's first modern museum worthy of the title. Unlike its predecessors, it was not just a cabinet of curiosities -- archaeological relics and anthropological wonders amassed by some explorer and shown in his...
PODCAST / deep dive
Mar 15, 2023

Haruki Murakami’s new novel. Plus, allegations resurface in J-pop.

Celebrated author Haruki Murakami reveals the title to a new novel, “The City and its Uncertain Walls.” Also, the BBC puts out a documentary on J-pop titan Johnny Kitagawa.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Oct 21, 2022

Designart Tokyo 2022 envisions a more sustainable future

Through Oct. 30, Tokyo abounds with functional and fantastical designs.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 7, 2022

Go For Kogei: The evolution of Hokuriku's crafts, art and nature

The craft-art festival, which takes place at three historical temples and shrines, showcases how the region's history and artisanal works are closely intertwined.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 18, 2017

'Vagina artist' Megumi Igarashi continues her battle with Japan's definition of obscenity

Artist Megumi Igarashi had never imagined battling investigative authorities over freedom of expression until they claimed she had committed crimes with her works of art.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 12, 2015

Why infrastructure repairs are being ignored

Several days after a storm caused the Kinugawa River to overflow its banks and destroy communities in Ibaraki Prefecture in September, the infrastructure ministry held on-site meetings to look into what went wrong.
EDITORIALS
Jun 6, 2015

Break the taboo on exotic artworks

A museum is finally going to hold Japan's first major exhibition of erotic art, and hopefully the taboo against such public shows will finally be broken.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 19, 2012

Looking beyond the giant canvases

The image of Jackson Pollock as the archetypal American artist, making big gestures on giant canvases, is firmly entrenched in the public consciousness. Dripping paint on canvases laid out on the floor, working in rather than working on his art, Pollock epitomizes the rebellious artist, disregarding...
CULTURE / Art
Apr 19, 2012

Looking beyond the giant canvases

The image of Jackson Pollock as the archetypal American artist, making big gestures on giant canvases, is firmly entrenched in the public consciousness. Dripping paint on canvases laid out on the floor, working in rather than working on his art, Pollock epitomizes the rebellious artist, disregarding...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 31, 2010

Japanese art has come a long way: a curator's top five 2010 exhibitions

This year's art scene was largely dominated by two new major events, the Aichi Triennale and the Setouchi International Art Festival, both of which not only utilized gallery space, but showed a large number of works outside of the "white cube." They indicated a trend in Japan of art tourism merging with...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 4, 2009

Nature's way of perceiving things

Born in Denmark to Icelandic parents, Olafur Eliasson is best known for large-scale works that, in recreating natural phenomena, ask viewers to reconsider how they perceive their daily environments. In the "Weather Project" (2003), Eliasson installed a blinding sun — made of hundreds of mono-frequency...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 15, 2005

Independent brushstrokes

A commonly heard accusation is that Japanese oil painters are followers rather than innovators. It is a criticism that has been made against many early adopters in this country -- be they filmmakers, fashion designers, chefs or rock musicians -- and one that has even come from painters' compatriots....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Mar 30, 2005

Asia week sees debut show of a famous celadon potter

New Asian art becomes the talk of the town each spring -- not just in Tokyo or Beijing -- but in New York City where its annual Asia Week is now in full sway. Exhibitions abound in the Big Apple with some of the world's top dealers offering their treasures to collectors who visit from around the world....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
May 14, 2003

A 'smashing' place for pots

It was 20 years ago today . . . that the famous Kikuchi Collection of Modern Japanese Ceramics was shown to "smashing" reviews at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. The 300-piece collection sparked a great interest in modern and contemporary Japanese ceramics that has continued to this day. The...
Tokyo releases AI-generated video of Mount Fuji erupting
A screenshot from an AI-generated video showing what could happen to Tokyo if Mount Fuji erupted
Japan aims to tighten rules for business manager visas from October
The number of foreign residents with business management residency status had reached a record 41,615 as of the end of 2024.
Japanese prefectures break with labor ministry on minimum wage
The ministry of labor has suggested a 6% minimum wage increase, but most prefectures reporting so far are opting to go slightly higher.
Japan ranked one of the most peaceful places in Asia as global tensions rise
Visitors look at paper cranes hung at Peace Park in Nagasaki on Aug. 8, a day ahead of the 80th anniversary of the World War II atomic bombing of the city.
Misinformation over JICA’s Africa ‘hometown’ initiative sparks controversy
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba arrives at a photo session for the Tokyo International Conference on African Development as South African President Cyril Ramaphosa reacts, in Yokohama, last week.
Japanese prefectures break with labor ministry on minimum wage
The ministry of labor has suggested a 6% minimum wage increase, but most prefectures reporting so far are opting to go slightly higher.
Philippines quietly deepening ‘unofficial’ defense ties with Taiwan
Filipino soldiers take part in a flag-raising ceremony on Mavulis Island during a visit by the Philippines' Armed Forces chief of staff, in Batanes, the Philippines, in June 2023. Batanes, a group of idyllic islands at the country’s northernmost tip, sits about 160 kilometers from Taiwan.
Are 'coolcations' the answer for Japan's heat-weary tourists?
Hikers on a trail in Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture. As extreme heat continues to grip Japan, a tectonic shift may be underway in the nation’s summer tourism scene as more people gravitate toward cooler destinations.
Germany's first sakemaker offers a bold brew of ideas
Reigen, Germany's first sake brewery, makes a diverse, nontraditional range of sake that includes fruit-flavored sips and wine barrel-aged renditions.
Alicia Keys closed Summer Sonic, but J-pop owned it
Summer Sonic’s 2025 lineup demonstrated its strength, showcasing the latest in J-pop, including “new kawaii” act Fruits Zipper.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past
By Alex K.T. Martin

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