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April 29, 2024
 

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RICHARD LI

Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 24, 2014
Top 10 films of 2014: in search of originality
The longer you go on watching and writing about film, the more you start to feel like one of those jaded vampires in Jim Jarmusch's "Only Lovers Left Alive." It's as though art's power to surprise and amaze you is nowhere near what it was when you were fresh to it. "Gone Girl" and "Interstellar" were both good films, but how good you rate them might depend on whether you've already seen "Basic Instinct" and "To Die For," or "Contact" and "2001," respectively. Amid the many decent films of 2014, there were a few that I can honestly say were as powerful and astonishing as anything I've seen in my life.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 20, 2014
The good, and not-so-good, reads from 2014
I was lucky enough to read a number of good and informative books on Japan in 2014, but also read my share of clunkers.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 17, 2014
A Promise: 'It's hard to care about these doomed lovers'
'A Promise" seeks to be an intensely intimate portrait of repressed desire; a European "In The Mood For Love" set in pre-Great War Germany, with enough attentive butlers, elegant interiors and Sunday-finest promenades to make any Merchant-Ivory fan swoon.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 11, 2014
Armies ready for battle in final 'Hobbit' film
There's a scene in Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill: Volume 2" where Michael Madsen's Budd character asks Daryl Hannah's Elle: "Now you ain't gonna hafta face your enemy on the battlefield no more, which 'R' are you filled with: relief or regret?"
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Dec 4, 2014
Roby powering Akita with strong all-around game
The Akita Northern Happinets (14-4) have played nearly one-third of their 52-game schedule, and forward Richard Roby is having an MVP-caliber season.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Nov 26, 2014
French idol reflects on her Japanese droid son
As a playwright, stage director, Osaka University professor, manager of the Komaba Agora Theater in Tokyo and leader of the city's Seinendan theater company he formed in 1983, Oriza Hirata — whose "contemporary colloquial theater" set the scene for much of Japan's new drama over the last 20 years — has long been in the forefront of Japan's theater world.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 12, 2014
Boyhood: 'Never has the passage of time on screen seemed so real or poignant'
The only reason I hesitate to give Richard Linklater's "Boyhood" five stars is that you will be expecting a masterpiece. And a "masterpiece" these days is all too often a film that is trying very hard for that status, weighted with its own self-importance. (Dare I cite "There Will be Blood" or "The Tree of Life" as examples?)
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 5, 2014
The Double: 'A doppelganger in a suffocating, Pyongyang-like city'
The first line of dialogue in Richard Ayoade's first film as a director, "Submarine," is "Most people like to think of themselves as individuals." The last line in his follow-up, "The Double," is "I like to think I'm unique." In both cases, these statements are left hanging as open questions.
Japan Times
WORLD
Nov 4, 2014
Rocket plane's tail activated prematurely in fatal crash
A team investigating the fatal test-flight crash of a Virgin Galactic passenger spaceship found that its rotating tail, designed to ease re-entry into the atmosphere, was activated prematurely, and said pilot error could not be ruled out.
Japan Times
WORLD
Nov 3, 2014
Virgin Galactic CEO expects new spacecraft to be ready next year, after crash probe wraps up
Virgin Galactic could have a new spacecraft ready to fly by next year, the chief executive of Richard Branson's space tourism company said in an interview published on Sunday, reacting to concerns about the safety of technology used in the Virgin craft that crashed Friday.
COMMENTARY / World / COUNTERPOINT
Nov 1, 2014
Commemorating wartime Soviet spy Sorge
Seventy years ago on Nov. 7, the Japanese authorities executed Richard Sorge, a Soviet spy who became a member of the Nazi Party and was operating as a journalist in wartime Tokyo.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 25, 2014
Maestro Taijiro Iimori will mark his NNTT debut with Wagner's 'Parsifal'
The New National Theatre, Tokyo, will open its 2014-15 season with "Parsifal," the last completed opera by German composer Richard Wagner (1813-83). While opera fans will no doubt be thrilled at the long-awaited performance of this piece at the theater, they can expect an additional treat as Taijiro Iimori makes his debut as NNTT's new artistic director of opera, conducting the piece himself.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Sep 17, 2014
Forensics suggest King Richard III was killed by two blows to his bare head
Scientists in Britain have given blow-by-blow details of King Richard III's death at the Battle of Bosworth more than 500 years ago and say two of many blows to his bare head could have killed him very swiftly.
COMMENTARY / Japan / COUNTERPOINT
Aug 30, 2014
Richard Katz on the failures of 'Voodoo Abenomics'
Richard Katz, editor-in-chief at The Oriental Economist, is the author of "Voodoo Abenomics: Japan's Failed Comeback Plan," an article published in the July/August issue of Foreign Affairs magazine. Katz went into more detail about Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's "Abenomics" policy in a recent email interview with The Japan Times.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Aug 20, 2014
Cliff Richard cancels Canterbury Cathedral performance amid sex probe
British singer Cliff Richard, whose house was searched last week by police investigating allegations of a sexual offence involving an underage boy in the 1980s, has canceled a performance he was due to give next month in Canterbury Cathedral, his spokesman said on Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 12, 2014
Obama should follow Nixon's lead and do the right thing
Richard M. Nixon's White House efforts to cover up the Watergate scandal in 1972 look positively penny-ante compared to President Barack Obama's coverup of government-approved torture 40 years later.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 6, 2014
Former top brass say cyberspace key in new defense rules
As Japan and the U.S. work toward a historic upgrade of bilateral defense cooperation guidelines for the first time in 17 years, the biggest tasks for the two allies may be dealing with China's growing military and economic might while also keeping an eye on events in North Korea and its unpredictable leader.
JAPAN
Jul 24, 2014
Nixon blamed Prime Minister Sato for textile talks breakdown in '71
U.S. President Richard Nixon sent a strongly worded letter to Prime Minister Eisaku Sato in spring 1971 expressing frustration over bilateral textile talks, according to a Japanese diplomatic document declassified Thursday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 24, 2014
Arcade Fire returns to Japan for Fuji Rock as a bigger and happier band
Much has changed in Arcade Fire's world since the band was last in Japan. Back in February 2008, the Canadian six-piece, still propelled forward by the momentum created by its debut "Funeral," a record that attained perpetual cult status through nothing more than its sheer brilliance, was winding up promotion of its followup, "Neon Bible."
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 8, 2014
Whitewashing the Iraq war
As Iraq stands on the verge of a complete breakdown into sectarian states, a former leading Iraq war advocate is popping up in the U.S. media, and he's in no mood to accept any responsibility for the protracted tragedy.
Number of homeless in Japan hits record low
Homeless people sleep on the street in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward in August 2021.
In Japan, regional revitalization fails to halt population decline
Sakiyama elementary school in Tamba, Hyogo Prefecture, in March .Over the past decade, the government has directed efforts toward policies designed to give young people incentives to base themselves in rural areas.
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.
Ukraine is far from doomed
When comparing Ukraine’s military situation in 2024 to Europe’s in 1941, Russia’s defeat seems entirely possible.
When will Japan intervene to support the yen?
Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki has reiterated the government's readiness to take an appropriate action as the yen continues to slide against the U.S. dollar.
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.
Casa del Cibo: A thriving jewel born from Tohoku’s harsh past
When chef Ryohei Ikemi moved to Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, and opened Casa del Cibo in 2011, it was the first proper Italian restaurant in the 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.
Kyotographie's strong 12th edition shines light into the margins
Yassine Alaoui Ismaili, who goes by Yoriyas, turned to photography, shooting motion while in motion himself, after an injury forced him to give up his career as a professional breakdancer.

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

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores
By Alex K.T. Martin

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