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Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 7, 2011

andymori "Kakumei"

Now three albums deep into their career, indie-poppers andymori still lean on youthful energy to carry their music instead of songwriting smarts. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as "Kakumei" ("Revolution") features a handful of energetic pop numbers that know how to leave an impression without lingering...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 7, 2011

TCY Radio aims to revive club scene

Aside from being one half of successful J-pop duo m-flo, Taku Takahashi is also one of the most established DJs in Japan's club scene. So when Takahashi talks dance music — people listen. Just as well, as that's exactly what he's doing with his latest project, the online station TCY Radio.
EDITORIALS
Jul 4, 2011

'Software' to deal with disasters

An experts' panel at the Central Disaster Management Council of the Cabinet Office on June 26 announced in its interim report a new approach in working out countermeasures to large-scale earthquakes and tsunami. It took lessons from the March 11 quake and tsunami, which devastated the Tohoku Pacific...
CULTURE / Books
Jul 3, 2011

Great Asian thrillers to get you through the summer

LARRY BOND'S RED DRAGON RISING: Edge of War, by Larry Bond and Jim DeFelice. Forge, 2010, 380 pp., $25 (hardcover) Future war fiction is mostly fantasy, and fortunately such stories seldom come true. But some do. One example was a book titled "Banzai!" Published in 1908 by Parabellum (nom de plume of...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jul 2, 2011

Nagoya TV tower losing role, future iffy

Nagoya TV Tower in Hisaya Odori Park hopes to remain a tourist draw after its broadcast role ends with the July 24 full changeover to digital from analog broadcasting, but upkeep costs may doom it to the wrecking ball.
COMMENTARY
Jul 1, 2011

Black info and media gullibility: creation of the Tiananmen myth

The recent WikiLeaks release of cables from the U.S. Embassy in Beijing has helped finally to kill the myth of an alleged massacre in Beijing's Tiananmen Square on the night of June 3-4, 1989.
BUSINESS
Jul 1, 2011

Toyoda to U.S. dealers: Recovery under way

Toyota Motor Corp. Chief Executive Officer Akio Toyoda says production is rebounding ahead of schedule from the March megaquake and new versions of the Camry sedan and Prius will soon arrive to aid sagging U.S. sales.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 1, 2011

"White: Tadaaki Kuwayama: Osaka Project"

Tadaaki Kuwayama (b. 1932) moved to New York in 1960 and has been based there since. He explores minimalist expressions through his art and his early paintings are known for their monochrome colors and hard, inorganic appearance. Since the 1990s, however, Kuwayama has garnered much attention for his...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 30, 2011

Getting Japan to think inside the juke box

It's juke night at Club Noon in Osaka on a Monday. The event, called Hobo, has drawn about 50 people — not many, but alright for a genre of dance music that is making its debut on the city's club scene. As with most debuts, the reaction is mixed. The men nod their heads and the women shift their weight...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 30, 2011

"Making of Tokyo Sky Tree®"

The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (Miraikan), Special Exhibition Closes Oct. 2
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Jun 28, 2011

Some new old favorites

Ready for the summer buzz There's one summer discomfort that has yet to kick in: the dreaded mosquito attacks. To help us win the battle over insects, household goods brand Vitantonio has teamed up with Kincho, an insect-repellent manufacturer, to create the Mosquito Buster.
JAPAN
Jun 26, 2011

Tax increase urged to pay for rebuilding

The government's reconstruction panel submitted a report Saturday to Prime Minister Naoto Kan mapping out measures needed to recover from the devastating March 11 quake and tsunami.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jun 25, 2011

Parts makers at mercy of recovery's pace

Kokune Ltd. President Yasushi Kogune is not sure his 55-worker die-casting company will be able to survive until the slump brought on by the March 11 earthquake ends.
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Jun 24, 2011

Prospects look grim for HeatDevils in Oita

The Oita HeatDevils' budgetary woes aren't surprising to longtime observers of the league. But the temerity with which they begged fans for money to help them make ends meet for the 2011-12 season caught people's attention over the weekend.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 24, 2011

'Hesher'

What would happen if Megadeath decided to record an emo album? The answer may be something like "Hesher," which features an almost Cro-Magnon sort of misanthropic metalhead hero who likes nothing but shredding, shagging, smoking dope and smashing things, but who, it turns out, will teach his straighter...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 23, 2011

Bedroom ears: Japan's new D.I.Y. ethic

The dimly lit Bar Fabrica is an appropriate place to meet the four artists from Cuz Me Pain Records, who describe their music as "quite dark" and are known for being shrouded in mystery.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 20, 2011

Japan should consider the personal touch in its policy toward Middle East uprisings

Various internal and external factors have prompted Japan to keep its involvement profile in the Middle East as low as possible for the past four decades.
JAPAN / History / JAPAN TIMES GONE BY
Jun 19, 2011

The national sport; State to take over electric power firms; flooding kills 235; concerns over Chernobyl accident

100 YEARS AGOSaturday, June 19, 1911
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jun 18, 2011

Chubu Electric urges power-saving after Kepco snub

When Kansai Electric Power Co. announced it would ask its customers to cut back on electricity usage this summer, fearing supply shortages, it also dashed Chubu Electric Power Co.'s hopes of receiving electricity from the that utility.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jun 18, 2011

American woman pours self into noh

According to Rebecca Ogamo Teele, an American instructor, performer and mask carver for noh, falling asleep is a perfectly respectable response to attending such plays.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 17, 2011

Tokyo and Yokohama festival celebrates the art of brevity

Short films have traditionally been seen as a director's starting block toward making their first feature. Yet with the art of filmmaking becoming ever cheaper, many have been sidestepping the short-film format, instead heading straight for a low-budget feature film. Yet short films are an art form in...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 16, 2011

Red Bacteria Vacuum

With a rough, raw and raucous hardcore-punk edge and a balls-out live show, Red Bacteria Vacuum have become one of Japan's most revered underground bands. Formed in Osaka in 1998, the trio — Ikumi (guitar/vocals), Kassan (bass/vocals) and Jasmine (drums), none of whom use a last name — routinely...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 16, 2011

Waraku Ensemble serve up some summer classics

Despite a day of torrential downpour to kick off Japan's rainy season, Junnosuke Uehara is grinning from ear to ear. He's got his shamisen with him and he says he's excited to introduce a new person to the instrument. In fact, his love for the shamisen is so strong, he clings to it as if it were his...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jun 11, 2011

Gifu college sets up manga program for French students

Ogaki Women's College in Gifu Prefecture will in July conclude a manga study partnership agreement with Paris-based academic institution Eurasiam.

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