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Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 12, 2008

'Shine a Light'

So Martin Scorsese has made two concert films now — 1978's "The Last Waltz" and 2008's "Shine a Light," — and it's interesting to compare the two.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
Apr 25, 2008

Set the controls to quirk factor 10

After listening to Tokyo Pinsalocks' brilliant new minialbum "Planet Rita," it's frightening to think that the trio — bassist Hisayo, singer Naoko and drummer Reiko — almost sold their soul to the devil, and not the rock 'n' roll one at that, which would be cool. No, in a bid to get famous they almost...
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jan 11, 2008

Famed Japanese dancer branches into mime

In 1993, the legendary choreographer and radical ballet master Maurice Bejart created — especially for the Tokyo Ballet Company — a work based on the life of doomed author Yukio Mishima, called "M." For the main role of St. Sebastian, the late, great French artist who died last November selected...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 4, 2008

Beijing: punk paradise in waiting

As Beijing enters its Olympic year, The Japan Times meets the Japanese mogul who's hoping to put the city on the musical map
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 9, 2007

'Ten Ten'

Some directors are like fashion brands, churning out immediately identifiable product the same way again and again. Others are more like a hot stock: a spectacular rise, followed by an equally spectacular fall. There are also those who are like an underperforming athlete who suddenly changes into a worldbeater....
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / WALKING THE WARDS
Nov 2, 2007

Well-heeled in Chuo Ward

From the opulence of world-renown Ginza emporiums, to the glittering scales on the fish auctioned from slick palettes in Tsukiji market, Chuo Ward wheels and deals precious commodities.
CULTURE / Music
Apr 6, 2007

747s "Zampano"

The debut album by the U.K.'s 747s is a grower, not a shower. Although it starts brightly with "Night & Day" -- strangely reminiscent of early 1990s Paul Westerberg -- the excellently produced "Zampano" doesn't really scream for attention immediately. Instead it sets off on a series of songs that channel...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
Mar 10, 2006

Romancing, not stoned

I've got four High Teens in my apartment, one of them is unconscious on my futon, and "romance" will ultimately be on the agenda. But please hesitate from rushing to the nearest koban and filing a report because, I promise you, this story does not involve drugs and underage sex. (I'm saving that for...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 8, 2005

Torch

Torch is a four-piece group dedicated to jazz vocal classics performed with sleek retro cool. Rather than just re-create the past, though, they inject a fresh sexiness into their music. Even amid the recent vocal jazz boom, they have their own unique take on the genre that relies on earnest analog values...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / JAZZNICITY
Nov 28, 2004

The power of one note

Power and imagination have been Kazumi Watanabe's mainstays for over 30 years. As a prodigy on electric guitar, his first release was in 1971 at the age of 18 and his ever-evolving guitar technique has served as the central pillar of near-annual releases. In the 1980s, his progressive and very muscular...
CULTURE / Music
Sep 12, 2004

Joseph Fiddler

Events
May 16, 2004

KANSAI: Who & What

Indian handicrafts on sale for charity Mustard Seeds, an organization providing support for children and nongovernmental organizations in Kolkata, India, is holding a charity exhibition and sale of Indian handicrafts in Kyoto and Nara.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Apr 23, 2004

Jazz retreat for night and day

Volontaire is a soothing retreat for jazz lovers that has stood its ground for the last three decades in Harajuku -- a neighborhood where bars change like the season's fashions. In Yuri Sakanoue's 27 years behind the counter, she has seen them all come and go. Unmoved, she has steadfastly maintained...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Aug 13, 2003

Reverend Charlie Jackson: "God's Got It"

When the Rev. Charlie Jackson was a boy, he played sacred music on Sundays and blues the rest of the week. While Jackson himself saw no irony in this, his mother had little appreciation for her son playing electric guitar on both sides of the Lord's fence and quickly steered him toward the church. Little...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 29, 2003

A rare chance to crank it up

The booking policies of club owners have long had an influence on music. Generally speaking, this influence has not exactly been a nurturing one as those with a financial stake in a venue prefer safe bets to adventurous outings. As such, musicians, especially young ones, wanting to test new ideas have...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Apr 2, 2003

Jon Madof: "Rashinim" -- oud is in Webby --

Jewish music is as varied as the people that make up the diaspora. Depending on where you're tuning in, the music might be traditional or it might lean toward funk, jazz, metal, punk, orchestral or even spaghetti western. The Jewish guitar power trio, though, remains elusive. There is, of course, Yossi...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 12, 2003

Flock to see these birds of a feather

At last, the curtain rose on Matthew Bourne's "Swan Lake" here in Japan on Feb. 25, eight years after the production premiered at the famed Sadler's Wells Theatre in North London. The show was a sensation from the moment it opened, quickly transferring to London's West End, then crossing over to New...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Feb 26, 2003

Marc Ribot, Bill Frisell and Tim Sparks:"Masada Guitars"

'Masada Guitars" finds three very unusual and accomplished guitarists -- Marc Ribot, Bill Frisell and Tim Sparks -- interpreting the simple, elegant tunes from John Zorn's Masada songbook. Zorn began composing this material in 1993 and, by the time he finished, he'd written 208 of his most lyrical songs....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Aug 28, 2002

Amadou and Mariam: "Amadou and Mariam"

This album smokes. Amadou and Mariam play a rollicking, good-natured blend of bluesy R&B and Malian dance band music. Amadou sings and plays a seamless rhythm guitar and the occasional crackling lead, while Mariam sings in a voice of sweet fragility.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 21, 2002

Trance music: Taking it to the next level

When deep into the music at a trance party, most people dance a sort of mechanized primal stomp, working their arms like pistons and clomping their feet. Although these maneuvers may look awkward, they are a natural reaction to the music's rigidly 4/4 industrial-sounding beats, which, though sublime...
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Mar 24, 2002

Like a rolling stone but harder

Enter the words "rock" plus "Shinjuku" into the search engine of Tokyo's communal consciousness, and the result, "Rolling Stone" -- a rock 'n' grot dive of more than 20 years' standing in that neighborhood -- will always come back at the top of the list. Even Eggey, the owner of two hardcore Shinjuku...
JAPAN
Jan 29, 2002

Olympus develops DNA computer

Olympus Optical Co. said Monday it has developed a DNA computer capable of high-speed, fully automated, quantitative gene expression profiling.
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2002

Elvis wannabe crooners soothe to 'Rabu Me Tenda'

Dressed in a black tuxedo, a middle-aged former company executive took the stage, cued the six-piece band and launched into Elvis Presley's version of the syrupy '60s ballad "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me."
JAPAN
Jan 21, 2002

NGO envoys discuss future Afghan role

Delegates of 59 nongovernmental organizations, including 26 NGOs from Afghanistan, gathered at a Tokyo hotel Sunday to discuss the vision and role for NGOs in rebuilding the Central Asian nation on the eve of a two-day ministerial meeting on Afghan reconstruction.
JAPAN
Jan 18, 2002

Ozaki tied to rigged hospital bid

Construction company Kajima Corp. and two political secretaries named in recent scandals competed for work on the same hospital building project in Yamagata Prefecture in the late 1990s, industry sources said Thursday.
JAPAN
Jan 17, 2002

Gloomy economic assessment left unchanged by government

The government left its bleak assessment of the economy unchanged in a monthly report issued Wednesday but said the decline in exports may be bottoming out.
JAPAN
Jan 14, 2002

Out & About

Multilingual assistance available in Kodaira The Kodaira International Friendship Association holds weekly information services for foreigners facing language difficulties or cultural barriers.
JAPAN
Jan 13, 2002

Kansai Who & What

Guide club to take in temple sake ceremony The Guide Interpreter Volunteer Club is organizing a one-day tour for foreigners to an annual ceremony held at Daianji temple in Nara Prefecture on Jan. 23.
Events
Jan 8, 2002

Kansai / Who & What

Talk-no-kai holding two discussion sessions Talk-no-kai, a Nara-based citizens' group, is going to hold two English discussion sessions in Nara on Saturday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Nov 28, 2001

A new world order revealed

Start with a simple idea, add a slide projector and a turntable, and you have the pleasantly surprising Nicolas Moulin installation, "Pole."

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.