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David Hickey
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 6, 2007
Live Earth
"Eco-cute!" was 24-year-old J-pop superidol Kumi Koda's response, according to organizers, when asked to perform at the Tokyo leg of Live Earth, a series of concerts taking place at nine cities around the world on July 7 to encourage music fans to take action against global warming. As a rallying cry,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 21, 2007
Soundtrack of the summer: Puffy
No festival this summer will attract more punters through its turnstiles than Rock In Japan. And no band is likely to get the crowds more animated over this all-Japanese music fest's three days than female duo Puffy. Now in their 30s, Ami Onuki and Yumi Yoshimura have been plying their punkish, made-for-karaoke...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 11, 2007
Mods Mayday
If there's a saving grace to living in a megalopolis of 12 million people, it's that there's a scene catering to the whim of every kind of music fan. And scenes don't come with much more grace — and style — than the one created by Tokyo's mods.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Apr 13, 2007
A different kind of glam icon
He captured rock 'n' roll iconoclasts David Bowie, Iggy Pop and Lou Reed at the height of their fame in the 1970s. Now photographer Mick Rock turns his lens toward a different kind of glam icon, kabuki actor Nakamura Kanzaburo XVIII, for an exhibition at Tokyo Midtown Hall B, April 20-May 6.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 9, 2007
Pottering around with pop music
When Tori Kudo was a 13-year-old growing up in Matsuyama, Shikoku, he didn't spend his evenings at cram school like classmates, but instead played cheesy piano in nightclubs as a member of a professional big band.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 10, 2006
Fixer plays it by no rules
You might have heard of Boredoms, the anarchic noiseniks from Osaka who toured with Nirvana, signed to major label Warner's and became the most written-about Japanese band in the West in the 1990s.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 22, 2006
Anime, J-indie equals 'Woodstock for geeks'
'Agrand collision of two Japanese subcultures -- anime and Japanese indie music," was one blogger's take on FanimeCon 2006, the biggest anime convention in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 22, 2006
Innovation, individuality in the mix
One place where language and cultural differences are barely an issue for Japanese artists is at the annual Barcelona electronica and multimedia event Sonar, which is part music industry showcase, part festival for ordinary music fans.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 22, 2006
The D.I.Y. route to rock stardom
From the suburbs of Tokyo to downtown Toronto is hardly the most direct route to pop stardom -- or one assured of success. But it was the path that blues-rock outfit Stone Deaf chose earlier this month in what was a bold move for a group whose sole claim to fame is having been Marky Ramone's backing...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
May 19, 2006
Clean living under very difficult circumstances
To the legions of impeccably attired ravers who will attend the Mods Mayday '06 Weekender taking place this weekend in Tokyo, "mod" is about a whole lot more than renting a DVD of the 1979 mods and rockers classic "Quadrophenia" or throwing a beaten-up Kinks LP from their dad's record collection on the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 3, 2006
Freaky tribal gathering
They are playing like schoolgirls, bouncing a balloon-shaped teddy-bear off each other and gaily dancing about in front of the Kiddy Ferris Wheel (admission 100 yen) for the lone press camera.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 30, 2005
On and off the charts
Cast an eye over those charts that list the top-selling Japanese pop albums of the year and three musical trends come out on top: There were loose-limbed hip-hop party grooves aplenty (Def Tech and Ketsumeishi); American-influenced punk pop (Ellegarden, Ken Yokoyama and scores of others with Orange County-inflected...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 2, 2005
Have music, will travel
Shugo Tokumaru is one of those unfairly talented types who seem to be able to turn their hand to anything. He wrote, played and sang every note on his two albums of "bedroom music" and produced them both too. The 25-year-old also finds time to play guitar and occasionally sing in lo-fi indie pop band...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 16, 2005
Keeping up with the Norah Joneses
She may only be 16 years old, but Massachusetts native Sonya Kitchell talks with the assurance of a musician twice her age. It's a couple of days after Kitchell played a live showcase to a largely music-industry crowd in a tiny Shibuya jazz bar, following the recent Japan-only release of her debut album,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 21, 2005
Rallying round home-grown sounds
It's the final day of this year's Rock in Japan festival, which took place Aug. 5-7. Holding court in the HMV DJ booth is entertainer Yoshiaki Umegaki. He's a late fortysomething transvestite sporting a tall blue wig and playing with his plastic breasts under a fetching blue sequined number while pouring...
Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington. Investors in Japan and China sold a pile of U.S. debt in the last quarter, just before the U.S. presidential election.
Russia fired experimental ballistic missile at Ukraine, Putin says
Ukrainian firefighters work on a spot following an airstrike in Dnipro on Thursday.
Ishiba aggravates his own political failures with diplomatic faux pas
Prime Minster Shigeru Ishiba is greeted at the APEC summit in Lima by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday. The Japanese leader was criticized for remaining seated while meeting several world leaders at the event.
Japan's 3.31 million visitors in October set monthly record
Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in December 2023. Famous autumn leaf colors contributed to increased tourism demand last month from many markets across Asia, Europe and North America, the Japan National Tourism Organization has said.
Japan ranks last in romance satisfaction for second straight year
In a survey of 31 countries, Japan ranked last in terms of those who felt loved, with just 51% of respondents saying so.
The slow-burn success of ‘A Samurai in Time’
A 19th-century warrior gets struck by lightning and wakes to find himself in 21st-century Kyoto in Junichi Yasuda’s surprise hit “A Samurai in Time.”
Around a quarter of Japan married couples in their 20s met through dating apps
A survey released by an organization promoting “Good Couples Day” shows that 24% of couples in their 20s met their marriage partner through a dating app.
'Tokyo Swindlers': Get deep into the minds of real estate con artists
In Ko Shinjo's "Tokyo Swindlers," a group of con artists manipulates real estate giants into falsified deals within the highly competitive, quick market.
Japan, U.K. and Italy discuss inviting more countries to joint fighter project
A new concept model of a next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy is on display in Farnborough, Hampshire, in July.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?
By Kathryn Wortley

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

mission sustainability vol.12 : Kose Corp.Kose takes pride in creating beauty in the world
mission sustainability vol.12 : Kose Corp.Kose takes pride in creating beauty in the world

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