Search - japan-highlights

 
 
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Sep 28, 2022

South Korea emerges as major defense industry player

One of the key features of Seoul's plan to go big on defense involves the continued international promotion of the latest South Korean-made military equipment and technologies.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Oct 29, 2020

Designart Tokyo forges ahead with hybrid approach

Like many industries, design, art and fashion has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic — from major exhibitions and trade fair cancellations to drops in consumer sales.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 29, 2018

Tokyo dining: So many great new options in 2018

The sands of time are rapidly running out on 2018. But before the Year of the Boar comes trotting into view, there's still a chance to pause, look back and appreciate some of the highlights and new arrivals from the past 12 months — and to wish all Japan Times readers good eating and good health in...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 1, 2018

Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale: Niigata's fields of art and inspiration

Deep in the mountains of Niigata Prefecture, the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale is preparing its hundreds of exhibitions, events and installations — some new, some already permanent — for its seventh edition.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 23, 2017

Tofubeats: the art of reality in an era of 'post-truth'

The final months of 2016 left Yusuke Kawai feeling confused. The electronic artist who records under the name tofubeats came across a BBC news segment touching on the concept of "post-truth" — the Oxford Dictionary named it word of the year and defines it as "relating to or denoting circumstances in...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 16, 2014

Diverse compilation delivers a serious message about nuclear power

Various artists "Atomic Bomb Compilation Vol. 2" (Self-released)
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Aug 19, 2007

Sports stars, primate nature special, eating disorders

There will be lots of international athletes coming to Japan this week and plenty of opportunities to see them do their thing on TV.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 15, 2003

The razzle-dazzle of Edo life, art

The allure of the Japanese folding screens of the Edo Period (1603-1867) lies in their elegance, their dazzling schemes of silver and gold, and the painstaking detail of their form and decoration. A wonderful opportunity to appreciate such pieces is the exhibition "Paintings of the Edo Period," now showing...
COMMUNITY
Dec 7, 2000

Menswear fashions cut from a different cloth

Menswear was, as usual, relegated to the back seat in the recent Tokyo collections, and only a handful of designers showed any. Given the quality of male models used on the runways, however, this was probably in the designers' best interests.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 12, 2017

It has been a year of new museums, galleries and inventive renovations

From polka-dot emporiums and oceanfront observatories to a new-generation castle museum, a raft of eclectic new cultural spaces have been showcased over the past year across Japan. Here are a few highlights that have either opened or been renovated across the country in recent months.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 5, 2017

Hokusai's great wave that swept Europe

Innovative, creative, and immensely prolific, Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) was celebrated during his lifetime in his native Japan. His works were among the first major examples of Japanese art to be widely appreciated overseas in the second half of the 19th century.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 17, 2016

Babymetal is having a really good year

In the run-up to Fuji Rock Festival, the event's digital team will post video messages on YouTube from performers that are slated to play at the three-day gathering in the mountains of Niigata Prefecture. They tend to get, on average, around 1,000 views. This fact has held true for this year's batch...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Jul 2, 2016

Memories all that remain of bj-league

First in a two-part series
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 8, 2012

Communion with the spirits of wood

When you first encounter the sculptures of Koji Tanada, you might get the initial impression that he's being facetious or whimsical, and assume that his sculptures are all part of an elaborate practical joke, designed to drive home some droll but not very profound point. And why not? After all, this...
CULTURE / Art
Jan 5, 2012

Looking ahead: 10 shows to mark on the 2012 calender

"Fuyuko Matsui: Becoming Friends with All the Children in the World" Yokohama Museum of ArtDec. 17, 2011-March 18.www.yaf.or.jp/yma
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 5, 2012

Looking ahead: 10 shows to mark on the 2012 calender

"Fuyuko Matsui: Becoming Friends with All the Children in the World" Yokohama Museum of ArtDec. 17, 2011-March 18.www.yaf.or.jp/yma
Japan Times
MULTIMEDIA
Oct 28, 2011

The most popular exhibition in the world

Once upon a time, more than 1,000 years ago, there was a small island nation ruled over by an emperor and empress. Fascinated by what lay across the sea, the emperor sent out envoys to bring back treasures from afar — glittering glassware, lutes capable of talking with the gods, stunning ceramics and...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 18, 2009

A chiaroscuro of Belgian artistic expression

Looking at the Tokyo listings, I see that there are a couple of exhibitions focusing on bygone civilizations — a not uncommon theme for exhibitions in Japan. The National Museum of Nature and Science is presenting "The Golden Capital of Sican," which looks at one of the South American societies that...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 3, 2008

Boston museum's ukiyo-e celebrates Japanese merchants' taste

Until recent years, ukiyo-e were regarded as somewhat declasse by Japanese art connoisseurs — and they are still sniffed at by many whose taste is informed by Zen and the tea-ceremony. But these colorful paintings and prints of what was then a truly exotic world did catch the eyes of foreigners who...
Japan Times
MULTIMEDIA / STYLE WISE
Feb 26, 2008

Harajuku's "Style Deficit Disorder," model Irina Lazareanu gets wicked and more

Cure for disorder The popular fashion hub Harajuku is the subject of a fascinating new book by Tokyo-based editor and creative consultant Tiffany Godoy. Rich in detail and accompanied by some remarkable images, her book, "Style Deficit Disorder" (Chronicle Books), documents the history of the area from...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Dec 24, 2006

Best Christmas gift might be cable or satellite TV

If you have not yet found that Christmas gift for the baseball fan in your family, an idea might be to get him or her a cable and satellite TV dish, tuner and service if you do not already have it. Otherwise, that fan will be watching fewer Japanese games in 2007 if your household has only terrestrial...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Oct 15, 2004

Here's to the mother of all matsuri

Although Japan has a wealth of interesting festivals celebrated up and down the archipelago, taking in only a few requires considerable planning, effort and money.
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...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Nov 20, 2002

The dangerous art of living quietly

Oriza Hirata's 1995 Kishida Drama Award-winning "Tokyo Notes" opened in Japan for the first time in four years Sunday, after touring overseas to critical acclaim. Now being staged at the Museum of Contemporary Art in downtown Kinshicho by Seinendan, the company Hirata founded in 1983, this portrait of...
JAPAN
Jan 15, 2001

ASEM conference stresses teamwork

KOBE -- Finance ministers from the 25-nation Asia-Europe Meeting group wrapped up their two-day conference here Sunday by adopting a chairman's statement emphasizing the importance of enhanced cooperation to avoid financial crises.
MORE SPORTS
Feb 12, 2000

The life and times of a sumo giant

Continuing The Japan Times' exclusive interview with yokozuna Akebono, 30, in which he talks about his life and relationships in sumo.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
May 13, 2021

Foreign sumo fans finding ways to make voices heard

When sumo goes through a crisis the voices calling loudest for needed change and the protection of rikishi are often those from abroad.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Dec 12, 2018

Shared spaces, locally produced goods and everyday objects

Making physical connections with people, whether via large-scale events and spaces or design concepts, and a continued celebration of traditional crafts, appeared to be a key direction for design in Japan this year.
Japan Times
ESG CONSORTIUM
Sep 17, 2018

For the future: Nurturing sustainable forests

Oji Group, with its headquarters based in Tokyo's Chuo Ward, has been a major paper producer in Japan for almost 150 years. However, a lesser-known bit of information about the company is that it is also an owner and cultivator of vast forests.
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Mar 5, 2018

Let's discuss the Pyeongchang Olympics

The Pyeongchang Olympics had a bit of everything: political theater, incredible athletic achievements, the wrath of Mother Nature, and more Russians caught doping.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes