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Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 28, 2013

SEPTEMBER LIVE

Students are heading back to school, the fireworks displays are pretty much done and the gyaru (gals) are a lot more tanned. It's too early to declare an end to summer yet, though. There are still plenty of music festivals and concerts in September to satisfy those who don't want to head back indoors...
EDITORIALS
Aug 24, 2013

Strong oversight of Tepco needed

The discovery that about 300 tons of highly radioactive water have leaked from a tank at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant reminds us how far the nuclear crisis is from ending.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 3, 2013

'War/Art 1940-1950: Sequences and Transformations of Modernism'

Japanese art of the 1940s is usually divided into that of pre-World War II, wartime and post-war works. Here, however, the modern art museums of Kamakura and Hayama are, for the first time, presenting their 1940s works collectively as products of the entire decade. The show aims to reveal the rich artistic...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 20, 2013

Are we all blinded by our sense of beauty?

Sophie Calle is an enigma. She is an artist, writer, photographer and filmmaker yet doesn't work exclusively in any of these areas. She has become famous for her work in photography but her objects and later films have drawn equal attention — work that carries with it the curiosity of a detective who...
CULTURE / Music / JAZZ NOTES
Jun 13, 2013

No confusion over the way jazz fusion is heading

Jazz fusion? That's big hair and flares, right? The genre in which jazz acts go electric and incorporate elements of funk and rock with jazz improvisation, all rolled up into lengthy jams? Well, yes, but only if you're stuck in the late 1960s or early '70s.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 23, 2013

June: Taicoclub, Tokyo Camp kick off festival season

Students are counting down the days till school lets out, while urban commuters are starting to sweat the impending heat. Summer is coming, and a sure sign of that is that music festivals are starting to kick up around the country.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
May 14, 2013

Retro makes a comeback, while subcultures seep into high fashion

Phillip Lim's new collection speeds ahead
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
May 10, 2013

Outlook is rosy at 15th annual garden show

It's that time of the year when things get rosy for flower lovers in Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / CHILD'S PLAY
May 1, 2013

Watching moms get funky can get babies into the groove

My baby is staring at me in shock. This may be something to do with the fact that I am hopping in a circle on one leg, shaking a ring of jingly bells in each hand and singing nonsensical sounds.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 21, 2013

NMB48 "Teppen Totande!" (Laugh Out Loud Records)

Contrary to popular hemming and hawing, the big problem with Oricon chart-dominating act AKB48 isn't their music. Their discography certainly contains misfires, but producer Yasushi Akimoto and company can pen great material for the dozens-strong group. Last year, they boasted two of the best songs in...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / SWEET INSPIRATIONS
Feb 1, 2013

An experimental approach to afters

Japan's prodigious ability to assimilate, reproduce and then develop homegrown adaptations of products from other cultures is legendary. Why should it be any different when it comes to patisseries?
Reader Mail
Jan 26, 2013

Sober critique of American ideals

U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison's Washington Post article, "Building a better U.S. drone policy," which was printed in The Japan Times on Jan. 17, is a sober, elegant and erudite critique of the "drone wars." That it is written by an American congressman is both encouraging and depressing.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 28, 2012

2012: Another year of good Tokyo eating

Before we usher out the Dragon and ring in the Snake, it's time to pause, look back and appreciate all the fine eating that Tokyo has provided this year. Gongs and rankings are meaningless in a city the size of Tokyo: How can anyone visit and compare more than a fraction of even the best restaurants?...
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Nov 23, 2012

Student jazz event shows importance of culture

Tokyo's Aoyama district will ratchet up its hip quotient this weekend when it hosts the Aoyama Jazz Initiative, a student-run celebration of jazz.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 21, 2012

Catcher has pair of run-scoring hits in victory over Dragons

Shinnosuke Abe rallied the troops before the Yomiuri Giants took the field for Game 4 of the Central League Climax Series final stage.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Oct 12, 2012

Tea ceremony party holds more in store than just a quick drink

Whether you're a practitioner of the Japanese tea ceremony or not, the annual Tokyo Grand Tea Ceremony abounds with opportunities for cultural enlightenment.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 30, 2012

The Tokyo Foundation hosts concert by young victims of Tohoku quake at Suntory Hall

When the final chord of the fiery Spanish-flavored "El Camino Real" by U.S. composer Alfred Reed echoed throughout Suntory Hall, it was a great moment for 16-year-old Mayuko Kawai.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 30, 2012

"Taisho Romance and Showa Modernity: Featuring Yumeji Takehisa and Kasho Takabatake"

Yumeji Takehisa (1884-1934) and Kasho Takabatake (1888-1966) were two of Japan's most prominent Taisho Era (1912-26) painters. Their depictions of women are distinct in style, featuring large eyes and slender figures, an aesthetic that was particularly admired at the time and became known as Taisho Romanticism....
OLYMPICS / LONDON POSTCARD
Aug 10, 2012

A journalist's dilemma

There's so many events going on at the same time, that the only consistent thought swirling through my head on the topic is this: I wish I could be going to (fill in the blank), too.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Aug 3, 2012

World Cosplay Summit to hit its climax in Nagoya

Last week the London Olympics kicked off with no shortage of spectacle. However, if it's visual delights you're looking for then it might be better to turn your eyes toward Nagoya instead of London. This event is all about cosplay — the very essence of spectacle.
BUSINESS
Jul 19, 2012

BOJ scraps yield floor for 'rinban'

The Bank of Japan has scrapped its 0.1 percent yield floor for its purchases of government bonds as it sought to bolster flagging demand in its funding operations.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 5, 2012

The Beauty "Love in the Heart of the World Shout" / Faron Square "Willys Heartbeat"

At this time last year, Tokyo's Cuz Me Pain label was a collection of artists recording dark and dreamy dance tracks from their bedrooms, and that got them a smattering of overseas attention from various music blogs. In 2012, a lot has changed. Various projects under the imprint's umbrella have signed...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 28, 2012

DJ Kentaro set to scratch a new itch

Only a handful of artists can say they've reached the top of their trade, but Kentaro Okamoto is one of them. As DJ Kentaro, his record-scratching skills got him noticed by beat heads worldwide back in 2002, when he won the DMC World DJ Final in London. But, now this DJ wants an image change.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 21, 2012

"Shu Kubo: Paper Cutout Exhibition"

Paper-cutting artist Shu Kubo uses handmade washi (traditional Japanese paper) and combines it with various materials, including ordinary paper, fabric and even sand. His works are dynamic and realistic and his multi-media approach offers a wide range of colors and textures.
COMMENTARY / World
May 24, 2012

Beijing's North Korea policy only emboldens Pyongyang

Discussions in Beijing about North Korea are always frustrating. It's not so much due to the sharp divergence in U.S. and Chinese thinking about how to deal with Pyongyang; the two sides differ on many issues. No, the real problem, from our perspective, is the illogic of the Chinese position. Indeed,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Apr 6, 2012

Kita-Kamakura En: Kaiseki course as delicate as blossom

It's been a long countdown, but finally spring has liftoff. The buds and leaves are out, and so are those all-important cherry blossoms. And there is no finer way of appreciating them than from a table with a good menu and a choice vantage point.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Feb 24, 2012

Dance troupe adds special Tohoku show

Lucnica, the Slovak National Folklore Ballet from Bratislava, has been described by a journalist at French newspaper La Marseillaise as "The Rolling Stones of folklore." Perhaps what the writer meant is that they aren't likely to gather any moss.
BASKETBALL
Feb 13, 2012

Aoki buzzer-beater propels Evessa to win over Brave Warriors

Game highlights may rarely appear frequently on national news telecasts, but the bj-league is providing lots of drama on a regular basis.
Reader Mail
Jan 12, 2012

What do 'experts' know about it?

In the Jan. 7 Kyodo brief, "Ideas on female royalty solicited," we find out that handpicked "experts" will be asked to approve of the government proposal to expand the number of members of the royal family. When will we see a constitutional challenge to this government-by-expert panel?

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