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May 03, 2024
 

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CD REVIEW

Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 23, 2013
“Mr. Children 2005-2010 ”
My Japan Times colleague Ian Martin nailed the state of Japanese pop music when he wrote that it was "clinging on to the hoary old remains of the past." The Oricon Chart's top albums of 2012 list was dominated by "Best Of" compilations, with the top two spots going to a pair released by rock band Mr. Children, put out to celebrate the quartet's 20th anniversary. "Mr. Children 2005-2010 <macro>" sold 1.16 million copies and was 2012's best-selling CD. It's a fitting representation of the state of J-pop entering 2013 — a serviceable collection of songs with a few strong moments, but ultimately an exercise in playing it safe.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 23, 2013
Shortcake Collage Tape "Spirited Summer"
Creating music meant to purposely evoke the past can be tricky. Recreate the sounds of a specific decade too closely and the music becomes too nostalgic, pining for a time the artist never even knew existed. On the other hand, approach bygone times too cynically — as the Internet-born microgenre "vaporwave" does by perverting old commercials and corporate sounds — and it starts to sound like a joke. Tokyo's Shortcake Collage Tape, the solo project of Azusa Suga (who also fronts indie-pop trio For Tracy Hyde,) takes an alternate route on the new album "Spirited Summer." Suga splices samples from various time periods to create original songs that radiate warmth and good times but also conceal a melancholy for lost moments.
CULTURE / Film
Jan 17, 2013
Donald Richie on 'Koshikei (Death by Hanging)'
This review as originally published on Sunday, Jan. 28, 1968.
CULTURE / Film
Jan 17, 2013
Nick Bornoff on 'Senjo no Meri Kurisumasu (Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence)'
Internationally acclaimed for their formal style and power, Nagisa Oshima's films have always dealt with controversial issues which Japan's Establishment would rather see swept under the carpet. Based upon a famous Laurens van der Post novel (The Seed and the Sower), Oshima's "Senjo no Meri Kurisumasu (Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence)" once more breaks taboos and takes skeletons out of the closet, airing a subject that not even a fairly long history of Japanese anti-war films has dared to touch upon: the treatment of the inmates of wartime prison-camps by their Japanese captors.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Jan 8, 2013
Tokyo: What will you remember most about 2012?
I attended my coming of age ceremony, which was a big event for me, even though I actually turned 20 the year before. I wore a kimono, and after the ceremony near where I live I went to Senso-ji in Asakusa, met up with all my classmates from school and did what everyone does — got drunk.
Weak yen fattens tourist wallets in Japan
People visit the Ameya Yokocho market in Tokyo's Ueno district during the Golden Week holiday on Tuesday.
Number of vacant homes in Japan hits record high of 9 million
A vacant house in Tokyo is seen demolished in January 2020.
'So hot you can't breathe': Extreme heat hits the Philippines
A pedestrian cools himself with a folding hand fan as he waits for a ride along a road in Manila on Wednesday, as extreme heat hit the Philippines.
Kishida sets sights on energy and climate in South America trip
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will use a policy speech in Sao Paulo to set out his vision for ties between Japan and South America, almost 10 years after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe advocated for stronger ties between the two in the same city.
Town to block view of Mount Fuji in response to overtourism
The town government of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to set up a 2.5-meter-high screen to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji looming behind a convenience store.
Kishida sets sights on energy and climate in South America trip
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will use a policy speech in Sao Paulo to set out his vision for ties between Japan and South America, almost 10 years after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe advocated for stronger ties between the two in the same city.
Yellow sand allergy: A health issue made worse by climate change
A screenshot of the Meteorological Agency's satellite image of clouds and yellow sand (in pink) on Sunday.
Climate change, chalky grains and the risks for Japan’s rice farmers
A farmer plants seedlings in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture. Japan’s self sufficiency rate for rice is nearly 100%, compared with 38% for food overall, on a calorie basis.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
Theaster Gates’ ambitious ‘Afro-Mingei’ brings Black Chicago to Tokyo
Theaster Gates' “A Heavenly Chord” lines up church pews before seven speakers and a Hammond B3 organ, a type of electric organ prevalent in Black American churches.

Podcast

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.
[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Longform

When trying to trace your lineage in Japan, the "koseki" is the most important form of document you'll encounter.
Climbing the branches of a Japanese family tree
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

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