Tag - studio-8

 
 

STUDIO 8

Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Sep 24, 2017
Japanese fashion goes pop
Cast your mind back to the giddy days of 2010, when the group of subcultural artists Chaos Lounge issued its first proclamation. While its stated goal was earnest and postmodern, the output was seen as a shock to the art world as it brought the dregs of Japanese pop culture to "white cube" galleries. While Takashi Murakami got away with it by using original characters, the aforementioned group's crime was to splice copyrighted characters and imagery into collages, which ultimately mired the group in controversy.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 23, 2017
'Fireworks, Should We See It from the Side or the Bottom?': Will Japan fall in love with another pair of animated teens?
Last summer, "Your Name.," Makoto Shinkai's anime about gender-swapping high school lovers, began its triumphant march into the box-office record books. Not surprisingly, this summer has seen the arrival of more teen romances, but "Fireworks, Should We See It from the Side or the Bottom?" stands out due to the names attached, including mega-producer Genki Kawamura.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jun 17, 2017
Pizza Studio Tamaki: A challenger for the title of Tokyo's best pie?
Tokyo's best new pizzeria is not hard to find. Just a brief stroll from Akabanebashi Station, it faces out onto a quiet open space ringed with trees. You can't miss it: the neon glowing over the door proclaims "Pizza" and, in smaller letters, the acronym "PST."
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 1, 2017
Ghibli theme park scheduled to open on former Aichi expo site in 2020s
Aichi Prefecture said Thursday it will build a theme park based on an anime by director Hayao Miyazaki with the aim of opening it in the early 2020s.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
May 28, 2017
Unusual controllers preside at BitSummit
A man wearing a blue shirt and box over his head wandered the floor at Kyoto's Miyako Messe exhibition hall. As passersby stopped to look, he handed them empty lotion pump bottles and invited them to try squirting them.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 1, 2017
'Art Brut' exhibition in Tokyo to shine light on creating inclusive society
"Polka-Dot Princess" Yayoi Kusama illuminated the links between creativity and mental illness with her arrival on the New York pop art scene in 1957.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 22, 2017
Kanji Furutachi: Reacting to Japan's film industry
Over the years I've heard many complaints about the bad acting in Japanese films, from the hammy emoting of over-indulged veterans to the amateurish turns of "idols" cast more for their agency connections than any perceptible talent. I've added to this chorus of negativity, but I've also noticed that often the best things in otherwise forgettable movies are the supporting actors who bring a spark of originality, individuality and professionalism to even blink-and-you-miss-them roles.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 14, 2016
'The Red Turtle': Studio Ghibli takes an intriguing turn
Two years ago the English-speaking internet world was shaken by the news that Japan's most beloved animation house, Studio Ghibli, would be closing its doors for good. The story, which originated from a fan blog and was picked up by a variety of more reputable outlets that should've known better, quickly proved to be erroneous — the product of an overzealous translation of remarks made by one of Ghibli's co-founders, producer Toshio Suzuki.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Aug 27, 2016
Games you've been waiting a long time for
An endless exploration
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Aug 10, 2016
'Song of Lahore' sings the praises of Pakistan's cultural hub
Fundamentalist terrorism is affecting everywhere these days, but what is often forgotten is how the Islamic world suffers, too. The documentary "Song of Lahore" takes us to Pakistan's cultural hub, a home to the arts since the Mughal empire, yet a city where musicians now live in fear of Taliban violence. (Their intolerant interpretation of the Quran forbids music, and they have assassinated many musicians.)
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Jul 23, 2016
BitSummit reveals the reach of indie games
BitSummit, the independent game festival annually held in Kyoto, has grown rapidly in the four years since it went from being an idea in founder James Mielke's head to a respected event that developers and fans from around the globe look forward to each summer.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Japan Pulse
Dec 15, 2015
Studio Ghibli on a roll with licenses for new toys
Nibariki has new wind-up toys inspired by Studio Ghibli's “My Neighbor Totoro” and “Nausicau00e4 of the Valley of the Wind.”
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 10, 2015
'Nissan Art Award 2015: Exhibition of New Works by Seven Finalists'
Nov. 7-Jan. 31
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 19, 2015
Universal Studios Japan cracking down on ticket scalping
Rampant ticket scalping has angered the operator of the Universal Studios Japan to the point where the theme park will institute a zero tolerance policy starting Nov. 1.
Japan Times
CULTURE
Aug 29, 2015
Culture clash: Entertainers add weight to government protests
Judging from recent comments posted on Twitter and websites such as abe-no.net, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe doesn't appear to have endeared himself to a number of celebrities who hold plenty of sway over public opinion with regards to his moves to change the nation's Constitution.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Jul 15, 2015
Hayao Miyazaki cleans up Japan
Rich, famous, semi-retired people commonly take up good causes (based on whatever they define as "good"), but animation maestro Hayao Miyazaki does things differently.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
May 2, 2015
Japan's 'Experimental Creations' at Milan Design Week
Last month's Salone del Mobile Milano, also known as Milan Design Week, had a particularly good turnout of innovative Japanese designers.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / THE KIDS' TABLE
Mar 17, 2015
Kid-friendly Meguro cafes put the cherry on hanami season
Spring in Japan is not complete without hanami (cherry blossom viewing), and one of my favorite spots in Tokyo is along the stretch of the Meguro River from Nakameguro Station to Yamate-dori, which is lined on both sides with rows of cherry trees.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 24, 2014
2014: New horizons opened up in Japan's theater world
Looking back over the past 12 months in Japan's theater world, it's clear that one encouraging trend is a lessening of the capital's dominance.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 17, 2014
Disney's 'Big Hero 6' reassembles Japan without the 'cultural cringe'
So we've all heard that it's hard to be a woman in Japan, but being a Japanese geek comes with its own troubles. For some, it's a life lived in front of glowing screens, a dateless existence spent in a six-mat tatami room with posters of idol group AKB48 plastered on the walls. But here's Disney's "Big Hero 6" (released in Japan as "Baymax"), a Christmas animation extravaganza that elevates the Japanese geek to superhero status. And he's cute, too.

Longform

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