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Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 1, 2010

For artist Tokumaru, music is but a dream

Shugo Tokumaru's music is a dream come true — literally.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Oct 1, 2010

Kansai Tofu Festival celebrates minimalist flavors in picturesque surroundings

On Oct. 2, Tofu Day (a less chocolatey variation on Valentine's Day) will be celebrated outside traditional restaurant Kiyomizu Junsei Okabeya in eastern Kyoto, close to Kiyomizu Temple. Tofu made with soybeans from all over Japan will be celebrated, tasted and given awards for its minimalist aesthetic,...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Oct 1, 2010

Arabic calligraphy: Let ink make you think

Calligraphy has always been popular in Japan, but some people here are now attracted to an imported, yet equally profound, form of the traditional art: Arabic calligraphy.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 1, 2010

Underworld

There was a point a few years ago when many of the biggest live dance-music acts of the 1990s took the same path that many rock bands go down: They started to sell tickets to their once-seminal concerts because of music from their past albums, not their current work.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 1, 2010

Find time in the 'Forests of Asoka'

Like many people, I have an instinctive suspicion of conceptual art, regarding its practitioners in the same league as politicians, lawyers and snake oil salesmen; namely, hot-air artists who rely too much on words to win us over to their dubious concepts. Art should effortlessly speak for itself, but...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 1, 2010

Exploring the stylistic diversity of nihonga

"The Avant-Garde of Nihonga 1938-1949" at the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto takes issue with nihonga (Japanese-style painting) of the period as a reaction to what has been passed down to the present as the traditional aesthetics and thematics of the genre. These include the conventional materials...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Oct 1, 2010

Zezankyo: A showcase for tempura artistry

It would be absolutely inaccurate to call Tetsuya Saotome a maverick. But within the traditional, buttoned-down world of tempura chefs, he certainly stands out as an individualist.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 30, 2010

Nintendo 3DS creates buzz at unveiling

Nintendo Co. on Wednesday officially unveiled its anticipated hand-held Nintendo 3DS, which allows users to play 3-D games and experience enhanced networking services.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 29, 2010

Seven more years of hard economic times?

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Much of the talk emerging from the August 2010 Jackson Hole Economic Symposium, attended by many of the world's central bankers and economists, has been about a paper presented there that gave a dire long-run assessment of the future of the world's economies.
EDITORIALS
Sep 28, 2010

Millennium progress lagging

Ten years ago, world leaders set out an ambitious program to fight poverty and related social problems around the globe. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were to be reached by 2015. Many of those same world leaders met Sept. 20-22 at the United Nations to assess progress toward those targets....
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Sep 28, 2010

Building a world without barriers, borders

One afternoon in the mid-1980s, Hiroko Kimura was taking a rest from sightseeing on a park bench in Adelaide, southern Australia. As she was enjoying the warm sunshine, she spotted the words "Japs go home" carved into the wood. This was the height of the bubble years and Kimura was aware that some people...
MULTIMEDIA
Sep 26, 2010

Recruit founder revisits a scandal that shook the nation

Remember the infamous Recruit scandal of the late 1980s that brought down a government, tarnished the reputations of Japan's movers and shakers and left the public convinced that the government was rotten to the core?
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Sep 25, 2010

Public taking hands-on interest in archaeology

When it comes to promoting archaeological excavations, it isn't just the resulting artifacts that are being featured — institutions are increasingly highlighting the sites and the research process itself.
JAPAN
Sep 25, 2010

Friction cited in move to free Chinese skipper

Japan was set to release a Chinese fishing boat captain as early as late Friday because his detention over a territorial dispute has strained bilateral relations, the transport ministry said.
EDITORIALS
Sep 25, 2010

Student loan blues

A business report for fiscal 2009 of the Japan Students Services Organization (JASSO), a student loan provider under the wing of the education ministry, shows that many borrowers are having difficulty repaying their debts, apparently because of the economic downturn, which makes it difficult for graduates...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 24, 2010

Band A to headline Fukuoka club crawl

Fukuoka recently ranked 14th in U.K. magazine Monocle's annual "Most Livable Cities Index." Alt-rock duo Band A are unsurprised their city fared so well.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Sep 24, 2010

Singing contest gathers Asia's top talents

Among this year's many events celebrating the 1,300th anniversary of Nara as Japan's first capital is one with a decidedly international tone. From Oct. 2 to 3, Nara's Akishino Music Hall welcomes some of the most talented singers from throughout Asia as it hosts the regional preliminary contest in the...
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Sep 24, 2010

Asia Orchestra Week presents symphonic sounds of the continent

A nation or territory can often be defined by its musical tradition. From Hawaii to Scotland to Africa, the sounds people produce allow them to express their cultural identity.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Sep 24, 2010

African pianist to jazz up Tokyo, Kyoto

Combining smooth jazz with elements of African style, Abdullah Ibrahim has drawn comparisons with musicians such as Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk. The South African pianist will give jazz fans in Tokyo and Kyoto a taste of this combination when he returns to Japan on tour this week.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / ART BRIEF
Sep 24, 2010

'Mizuki Shigeru: Illustrations of Yokai'

Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, Kobe Closes Oct. 3
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / ART BRIEF
Sep 24, 2010

'Roni Horn: White Dickinson'

Rat Hole Gallery Closes Dec. 5
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 24, 2010

The 'plucky pioneer' of photojournalism

At 96, Tsuneko Sasamoto, Japan's first female photojournalist, remains a remarkable force of energy, creativity and inspiration. Dubbed a "plucky pioneer" and "the Annie Liebovitz of her day," Sasamoto has photographed some of Japan's greatest personalities and historical moments during her 70-year career....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 24, 2010

Women of quiet strength

Female artists play a significant role in Japan's art world today, but a century ago, only a few women made a mark in the then male-dominated field. Shoen Uemura stands out as one of the most successful, a status she earned through the relentless study and perfection of her chosen theme of bijin-ga —...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 24, 2010

Ego-Wrappin'

MARK JARNES Staff writer
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2010

Universities looking to go global

Fostering global human resources seems all the rage these days and several Japanese universities are jumping in, opening their doors to foreign students who aren't proficient in Japanese in a bid to snatch top-class talent from around the world.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Sep 23, 2010

Not seeing and yet still believing

In January 2008, Kakuho Aoe, a Buddhist monk at Ryokusenji Temple in Asakusa, Tokyo, began holding monthly "dark dinner" events, for which participants were blindfolded before being served their meals. Following the success of those events, he is now adding something a little different to the menu of...

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’