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May 04, 2024
 

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STRANGE BOUTIQUE

CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
May 22, 2015
Band boom of the 1980s left a handy indie infrastructure
The wonderful and invaluable music website Tokyo Gig Guide lists just under 700 performance venues in Tokyo, but the scene wasn't always so flush with space.
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Apr 24, 2015
The secret to indie success is in the bag
Here's a joke: When is a bag not a bag? Give up? When it's a symbol for the shifting place of music in the pop cultural landscape. . . . I'm here all week, folks. Try the veal.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Mar 24, 2015
Leave charts to fans of music, not gimmicks
Anyone who pays any kind of attention to the music charts in Japan knows that for many years now they've been a joke.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Feb 24, 2015
Sympathy for the snob: Real DJs play vinyl
Up a backstreet in Shibuya's Udagawacho neighborhood, tucked in behind the Milky Way, Chelsea Hotel and Star Lounge live-music venues — an area tight with record stores — I'm on my way to a party crammed with style-conscious young folk in sweaters and berets, DJing against the backdrop of Roman Polanski's 1965 film "Repulsion." That's when I see the billboard.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Jan 27, 2015
Kuwata's left jab has nothing on the politics of ad money
If this column is going to be about one thing in 2015, it will be politics in music.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Dec 23, 2014
Who was music being made for in 2014?
When looking back on the year in music, the big question music fans should be asking themselves is, "Who was music being made for in 2014?" Looking at the broader picture, we can find the answers writ large across the Japanese music scene.
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Nov 25, 2014
Pop artifice was never better with Aya Matsuura
When a pop singer who has long faded from the limelight suddenly starts appearing in your Twitter timeline in the form of glowing, nostalgic re-evaluations, they're either gearing up for a comeback . . . or dead.
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Oct 21, 2014
You say proto-this, I say post-that, let's call the whole thing 'skronk'
A famous quote of mysterious provenance (most likely the American actor and singer Martin Mull) has it that, "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture," and anyone who has ever tried to write about music will know that language can be an inadequate tool.
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Sep 30, 2014
Live houses need to rethink their product if they want to attract customers
In these times of declining music sales it has become a truism that the live arena is where bands and artists can make their money. Certainly that seems to have factored into the decision by U2 and Apple to give the Irish band's new album to iTunes users for free — whether they wanted it or not.
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Sep 2, 2014
The hammer and scalpel are what's needed to subvert idol-pop culture
One new act who has been creating a buzz in music-industry circles this year is quirky singer-songwriter Seiko Oomori.
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Jul 22, 2014
Just what is so wrong about Yoko Ono?
As Yoko Ono prepares to take the stage at Fuji Rock Festival on July 26, a BBC video of her performing the 1969 Plastic Ono Band track "Don't Worry Kyoko" at this year's Glastonbury festival has racked up nearly 2 million views, largely from people tuning in to see the "worst live performance of all time."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Jun 24, 2014
Without a canon, Japanese pop won't blast off
Exploring the world of Japanese music can be a baffling experience for those who don't speak the language.
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
May 27, 2014
Forget drugs, monotony is the real threat to Japan's music industry
Japan has a drug problem. Everywhere you look — from the creepy, teen-host-club pop of Sexy Zone to the soft-rock balladry of Ikimono Gakari — children are being exposed to music that has been made with no obvious influence from drugs whatsoever.
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Apr 29, 2014
Music curators deserve credit for keeping local scenes alive
The term "cultural curator" is one that tends to provoke reactions ranging from sneers to rage. It really is a horrible term in some ways, with problematic embedded associations.
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Feb 25, 2014
Keep the band, young graduates, but don't quit your day jobs
As the academic year draws to a close and a new cohort of young Japanese are dumped out the business end of the education system, so a new year's graduating class of young bands face a tough and forbidding new world.
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Jan 28, 2014
Music scene loses a legend after Plastics' member Masahide Sakuma dies
On Jan. 16, 2014, the musician and producer Masahide Sakuma died after losing his battle with cancer. He was 61.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Dec 24, 2013
Familiar obstacles stymie change in domestic music industry
While the Japanese music industry ended last year on a promise of change, 2013 has highlighted a few of the ingrained practices that are going to be a little bit more difficult to dislodge.
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Nov 26, 2013
Look to pop culture if you want to blame someone for A-Chan's gay gaffe
All art is political. All pop culture is political.
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Oct 29, 2013
Tokyo Boredom is blazing its own trail — and the first stop is Taiwan
Of all the cliches about Japanese music being bandied around, the one I find most baffling is the idea that bands here are "just copying Western music." It's a rehash of the old jibe, originally born from fear of Japan's rapid postwar industrial growth, about the Japanese being dedicated imitators but lacking originality, so let's just call it out for what it is: obvious and utter nonsense.
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Oct 2, 2013
True tradition would be preferable to an 'Idolympics' in 2020
Ten-thousand Kumamons doing an elaborate Busby Berkeley-style dance routine to Kyu Sakamoto's international 1963 hit "Sukiyaki"? A 100-meter Hatsune Miku towering over the stadium while 80,000 spectators crane their necks for a glimpse up her skirt? Newly elected Prime Minister Pamyu Pamyu speeding up a ramp and jumping into the stadium on Kaneda's bike from "Akira" to deliver the "Idolympic" Torch?
Biden calls ally Japan ‘xenophobic’ along with rivals China and Russia
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks in Syracuse, New York, on April 25.
Yen swings stir talk that Japan is in the FX market once again
An electronic screen in Tokyo displays the yen exchange rate against the U.S. dollar and the graph showing its recent swings, on Thursday.
Harajuku strives to reclaim its former glory — and surpass it
Laforet Harajuku, which celebrated its 45th anniversary last year, has been a witness to the district's evolution over the years.
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.
Japan's May 1 intervention may have cost ¥3.66 trillion, BOJ data suggests
An electronic screen displays a graph showing Japanese yen exchange rates surging against the dollar amid signs of intervention by authorities, in Tokyo on Thursday.
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

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[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Longform

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The 'outsiders' creating some of Japan's greenest spaces
By Stephen Mansfield

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Vol. 35: Travel in time — and stay there
Vol. 35: Travel in time — and stay there

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