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Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 14, 2007

In focus: 150 years of Japanese photography

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the oldest-known photograph taken by a Japanese person. Yet it is only in recent years that Japanese have started to take a serious interest in the history of early photography in this country, according to Terry Bennett, a London-based photo-historian.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jun 14, 2007

In step with nature, if not with celebrity

Renowned butoh dancer, award-winning actor, choreographer and agriculturist Min Tanaka has tried hard to escape international stardom.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Jun 12, 2007

Horiyoshi III

Horiyoshi III is revered by tattoo enthusiasts as possibly the world's greatest horishi, or full-body tattoo artist. (Horimono are tattoos done purely for fun, while irezumi are tattoos that mark criminals.) Friendly and too cool for words, the 61-year-old loves digging his needle into people — he...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 9, 2007

Climate change raises threat of water wars

PRAGUE — The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recently released alarming data on the consequences of global warming in some of the world's poorest regions. By 2100, 1 billion to 3 billion people worldwide are expected to suffer from water scarcity. Global warming will increase evaporation...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jun 8, 2007

Animated dolls, singing birds in cages in Yamanashi

The Kawaguchi-Ko Music Forest Museum in Yamanashi Prefecture is currently holding an exhibit through November 18 from its own collection of animated dolls (automata) and singing mechanical bird boxes.
CULTURE / Music
May 25, 2007

Marlene meets Masato Honda B.B. Station "Jazz 'n Out"

Since leaving fusion outfit T-SQUARE almost a decade ago, wind player and bandmaster Masato Honda has embarked on a series of projects with his group B.B. Station. The latest sees him paired with Filipina jazz singer Marlene on this collection of big band and swing. Among a familiar lineup of standards,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 18, 2007

Not an every day script

Enter a male student bedsit in Britain in the late 1990s and you'd likely be confronted by a copy of the Alex Garland novel "The Beach," posters of the movie "Trainspotting" on the wall and a bunch of albums from independent dance-music record labels like Skint, Wall of Sound and Ninja Tunes spread around...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 17, 2007

Changes of note

She has quietly become one of the decade's best-selling artists, has a third No.1 album in the charts — and debuts as an actor in the film opening this week's Cannes Film Festival
COMMENTARY
May 14, 2007

Cherry-picking an identity

LONDON — Political leaders nowadays are fond of talking about national identity and culture, but do we know what they mean by either identity or culture, and do they know themselves what they mean?
Reader Mail
May 13, 2007

Obara ruling disgraceful

I was astonished and outraged at the acquittal of Joji Obara in the Lucy Blackman rape and murder case. If Blackman did not get the justice that she deserved, at least her case will open eyes and make people question the quality of police forensic work and, above all, the credibility of the entire judiciary...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 11, 2007

'Just for Kicks'

It's funny how sometimes a film will think it's one thing when actually it's something else entirely. Take, for example, "Just For Kicks." This MTV-affiliated documentary directed by Thibaut de Longeville is under the impression that it's about sneakers, sneaker mania and hip-hop. But anyone who watches...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
May 11, 2007

Ueno's Western art museum opens its doors

The venerable National Museum of Western Art in Ueno Park, Tokyo will hold its first-ever "fun day" on May 12 and 13, during which the museum's permanent exhibition will be open to everybody — adults and children — for free. (Entrance to the permanent exhibition is usually 420 yen.)
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 10, 2007

Modern girls and outrage

The Taisho Era (1912-1926) saw young habitues of Japan's cafe society challenging and outraging their parents as they danced, smooched and smoked cigarettes, aping their idols of the silver screen. Emblematic of the age was the moga (modan gaaru, or modern girl) with her Western shoes, dresses, makeup...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
May 8, 2007

Helmut Lang, Black Label and more

Stepping into the Lang
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / WALKING THE WARDS
May 4, 2007

The sun shines in spiritland

Toshima Ward is rife with zombies and familiar spirits. In the wee hours near the stationopolis of Ikebukuro, pale-faced university students, partied-out salarymen and a host of others wander the streets until the first trains arrive. These are Toshima's innocuous shades; there are others more spine...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Apr 22, 2007

Dragons' Woods has real shot at 50 home runs this season

Tyrone Woods says he has always been a slow starter.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Apr 22, 2007

The man behind the woman

AN AMERICAN DIARY OF A JAPANESE GIRL, by Yone Noguchi, with an introduction by Laura E. Franey, an afterword by Edward Marx and illustrations by Genjiro Yeto. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2007, 202 pp., $23.95 (paper) Yonejiro Noguchi (1875-1947) adopted the pen name of Yone when he left Japan...
BASKETBALL
Apr 21, 2007

Hatano's 'unyielding heart' the secret weapon for champ Osaka

Kazuya Hatano called himself a "non-committal" person. But the decision he made was perfectly correct.
CULTURE / Art
Apr 19, 2007

"Fiona Tan: News from the Near Future"

Wako Works of Art Closes in 23 days
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 19, 2007

In memory of 'The Blue-Eyed Japanese'

When the American-born artist Clifton Karhu developed an interest in Finland, his parents' homeland, a large-scale exhibition of his art was held at the Retretti Museum in Punkarhajo. The late Prince Takamado, who with Princess Takamado enjoyed Karhu's work so much that a short, scheduled visit to one...
EDITORIALS
Apr 14, 2007

Rocky road to integration

South Asian leaders last week concluded their summit by adopting a declaration that emphasized trade liberalization, economic integration and the fight against poverty and terrorism. But the way to real achievement does not appear to be smooth, especially because of the rivalry between India and Pakistan...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 13, 2007

The godfathers of indie rock

Twenty-five years into a career that will likely not end until one of its members blasts off this mortal coil, Sonic Youth defies whatever characterizations you throw at them.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight