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Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 4, 2010

Brothers brought together by differences

Takejiro Inagaki was a nihonga (Japanese style) painter who later turned to crafting gold and lacquer wares. These artistic skills were shared by two of his sons, whose bodies of work are the subject of "The Inagaki Brothers: Chusei and Toshijiro" at The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 22, 2010

The bright career of a literary 'shadow hero'

American author Paul Auster once called translators "the shadow heroes of literature," who have enabled us to understand that we all live in one world. He could also be describing Juliet Winters Carpenter, 61, one of the best-known literary translators from Japanese to English, who has won praise for...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 21, 2010

Enjoy the company of Ryoichi Yamazaki's reluctant 'hoodies'

The typical white cube gallery is not unlike a sumo ring. Both are bare, sanctified spaces, where we can stare intently at the participants' strenous efforts to impress. While the dohyo is purified by salt, the antiseptic agents in the case of the white cube gallery are white paint, light and an attitude...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / ART BRIEF
Apr 23, 2010

"Wilhelm Sasnal: 16 mm films"

Rat Hole GalleryCloses June 6
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Apr 20, 2010

Not showing at a family court near you

I have seen the secret Japanese video. No, not the one where you die within a week of watching it, the other one — the one about how traumatic divorce and parental separation are for children.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / ART BRIEF
Apr 9, 2010

"Native Land"

Scai the BathhouseCloses April 17
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 5, 2010

This 'Garden of Painting' needs to be perennial

I can imagine walking out of "Garden of Painting: Japanese Art of the '00s" and feeling immensely satisfied.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Jan 31, 2010

Rags and riches by the Myoshoji

Few writers have been able to evoke the bare beams of poverty or the lambent lives of those who endure it with more dignity than Fumiko Hayashi (1903-1951).
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 22, 2010

'Subete wa Umi ni Naru'

MARK SCHILLINGMost commercial films in Japan, as elsewhere, fall into clearly marked boxes, from genre (horror, romcom) to story (zero-to-hero, teen love/tragic death). Indie films here also follow familiar thematic patterns, with miscommunication and alienation being favorites.
EDITORIALS
Dec 28, 2009

Mr. Ozawa's secretary on trial

The trial of Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa's chief secretary began in Tokyo District Court on Dec. 18. The secretary is charged with violating the Political Funds Control Law by allegedly falsifying records related to the receipt of ¥35 million in political donations from...
JAPAN / Media
Dec 13, 2009

War vet had Hitler's art book

DALLAS — A fter fighting his way across Europe during World War II, John Pistone was among the U.S. soldiers who entered Adolf Hitler's home nestled in the Bavarian Alps as the war came to a close.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 20, 2009

What lies behind the eccentric?

The German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel wrote that what is "familiarly known" is not "properly known," just for the reason that it is familiar. The familiar historical image of the Edo Period Eccentric painters, one of whom was Ito Jakuchu (1716-1800), is no exception. They are remembered...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 20, 2009

Rediscovering Rebecca Horn

If you've been paying attention to recent contemporary art, both in Japan and abroad, you might be struck by the question "Why now?" during a visit to German artist Rebecca Horn's survey at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOT), Tokyo.
CULTURE / Books
Nov 8, 2009

Cha's genius remains at modern vanguard

EXILEE AND TEMPS MORTS: Selected Works, by Theresa Hak Kyung Cha. Edited by Constance M. Lewallen. University of California Press, 2009, 277 pp., $24.95 (paperback) Pablo Picasso was a poet and a good one, but it would be a tragedy if his literary work had somehow diverted attention from his achievement...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 30, 2009

Izu's great stormy weather

The new Izu Photo Museum opened over the weekend, and Raijin, the Japanese god of thunder and lightning, was evidently pleased by what he saw.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 30, 2009

Beneath a city of chaos lies a dark psychological realm

At times, Tokyoites appear to be some of the most poker-faced people on the planet. But what exactly is going on behind those apparently emotionless expressions? The art of Mikiko Kumazawa suggests maybe quite a lot.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 30, 2009

Bringing SecondLife into the real art world

Born in Guangzhou in 1978 and now based in Beijing, Cao Fei is one of China's most prominent young artists, known for photographs and videos that combine elements of fantasy and documentary to reflect on cultural shifts since the country's economic opening at the start of the 1980s.
EDITORIALS
Oct 10, 2009

A victory for beautiful landscapes

The Hiroshima District Court on Oct. 1 ordered Hiroshima Gov. Yuzan Fujita not to issue a license sought by the prefectural and Fukuyama city governments to reclaim a portion of a bay in the scenic Tomonoura area for by-pass bridge construction. This is an epoch-making ruling. It has blocked a large...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 10, 2009

Fundraising Japanese hanga print exhibition coming up

A Tokyo-based women's volunteer group — now in its 60th year of activity — is holding an annual fundraising show of print works next week.
JAPAN
Oct 7, 2009

DPJ finds funds for pet programs

The administration said Tuesday it will suspend ¥2.5 trillion in the supplementary budget drawn up by the previous government and use the money to bankroll the Democratic Party of Japan's election pledges, including child-rearing allowances and toll-free expressways.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 2, 2009

Shin hanga bringing ukiyo-e back to life

The great print works of ukiyo-e, by the likes of Hokusai, Hiroshige, and Utamaro, became fine art almost by accident. Originally mass produced for the popular market, their status was roughly equivalent to that of illustrated calendars and posters of pop stars today. But, ironically, the fact that they...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Sep 29, 2009

Brace for a possible spring shock

When spring approaches next year, many foreigners in Japan could be in for a rude awakening: From April 1, all those who apply to extend their visa in Japan will be asked to show proof of enrollment in one or other of Japan's main national health systems, the shakai hoken (social health insurance and...
BUSINESS
Sep 8, 2009

Japan Steel boss says China will build more nuclear power plants

Japan Steel Works Ltd., which makes reactor parts for Areva SA, Toshiba Corp. and other companies, more than doubled its forecast for China's nuclear plant construction because of stimulus spending and environmental pressure.

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