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November 21, 2024
 

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Paul Fisher
CULTURE / Music
Feb 22, 2000
Hearing the global groove
Just back from an exhilarating recording trip to Santa Cruz, Calif., for the second installment of the project by Okinawa's Takashi Hirayasu and American guitarist Bob Brozman. This time the duo was joined by other musicians on percussion, drums and bass, and also David Hidalgo from Los Lobos and the...
CULTURE / Music
Feb 8, 2000
Music of An-Chang Project best-kept secret of Okiniwa
The new album by Jun Yasuba's A-Chang Project, "Harara Rude," should be heralded as a major new album of Okinawan music. However, Yasuba is at present unknown to even Okinawan music aficionados. It took her two years to sell 500 of the first An-Chang Project albums, "Yarayo-Uta no Sahanji," and at present,...
CULTURE / Music
Jan 25, 2000
One up from the real roots: no hoke from this folk singer
The most compelling, expressive and soulful instrument of all is the human voice. Outside the world of Western music, there are many vocalists who have the ability to capture a certain indefinable sense of yearning. Voices with a fiery beauty and explosive power; intimate, haunting, ageless, mysterious....
CULTURE / Music
Jan 11, 2000
Ani DiFranco's hard road leads her to a higher plane
Last year, the prolific Ani DiFranco released three albums. Any record company marketing executive would tell you that's more than the market could take. But then, DiFranco doesn't have to answer to any record company. She owns her own.
CULTURE / Music / MUSIC NOMAD
Dec 28, 1999
Flying first class around the globe
Since this is my last column of the year, I'll look back instead of forward.
CULTURE / Music / MUSIC NOMAD
Dec 14, 1999
The Worldwide Music Expo embraces roots and Internet
For anyone involved in any aspect of world music, WOMEX (Worldwide Music Expo) has become an essential date on the calendar. After a few years of internal wrangling, at the end of October, WOMEX returned to its original home at the House of World Cultures in Berlin, Germany, where from now on it will...
CULTURE / Music / MUSIC NOMAD
Nov 10, 1999
Soaring voice of modern Africa unifies the world music scene
Youssou N'Dour, one of Africa's (and the world's) greatest singers, makes a welcome return to Japan this month. The last time he was in Japan was for the 1994 WOMAD festival in Yokohama. World music was still on a roll back then, with some African artists such as Papa Wemba becoming genuinely "big in...
CULTURE / Music / MUSIC NOMAD
Oct 26, 1999
The times for Nenes, they are a-changin'
I feel like I'm writing something akin to an obituary for the group Nenes, though Sadao China, the group's mentor, composer, sanshin player and the man whose idea the group was in the first place, wouldn't agree.
CULTURE / Music / MUSIC NOMAD
Sep 28, 1999
Afrobeat lights up the dance floors
Strange how music trends seem to go around in circles. Since spearheading the world music boom at the end of the '80s, African music sales have been on a downward spiral for much of this decade. Now in the form of Afrobeat, the music is making a strong comeback and sweeping dance floors around the world....
CULTURE / Music / MUSIC NOMAD
Aug 10, 1999
Exotic rhythms spice up world-music scene
Exotic and tropical are words that are overused in the descriptions of music from foreign cultures -- they are more appropriate for tourist brochures. However, with musicians set to tour Japan from Hawaii, Bali and Congo, those descriptions are actually fairly fitting, and should provide the perfect...
CULTURE / Music / MUSIC NOMAD
Jul 13, 1999
Cuban music revolution heats up airwaves
Within the world music genre, success -- in terms of sales -- doesn't compare with the likes of mainstream pop and rock categories. What world music successes there have been have had a rather short shelf life, and were mainly cultivated by the major record companies.
CULTURE / Music / MUSIC NOMAD
May 11, 1999
Got those Irish, Delta, Okinawan blues
CELTIC CHARM -- The Chieftains and fiddler Eileen Ivers will perform together and separately in Tokyo this month.
CULTURE / Music / MUSIC NOMAD
Apr 13, 1999
A Japanese musician's songs in 'The Homes of Donegal'
Hiroshi Yamaguchi of the group Heat Wave looks like any other worker at his manager's office. He sits at a desk, busily working away on a computer. After a few words, however, it's clear he could never be just any other worker. "I hate it here," he half confesses, half jokes. "I've never had to come...
Ishiba delays meeting with Trump, citing legal restrictions
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba waves upon arrival for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, in Callao, Peru, on Friday.
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.
Rising sex tourism exposes loopholes in Japan's anti-prostitution law
While financial misfortunes during the COVID-19 pandemic may have driven some women to work the streets, others simply want more money to spend — or want to pay off their debts — at host clubs.
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.
Ruling coalition and DPP strike last-minute deal over economic policy
DPP policy chief Makoto Mahaguchi speaks at the party's policy gathering in Tokyo on Wednesday.
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.
Japanese expats in Asia find community through rugby
The Taiwan Fivewoods celebrate their victory at the 2023 Asian Japanese Rugby Cup in December of last year.
In Fukushima, a weekend of prose, poetry and translation
Aomori-based writer JJ Carter presented on tabletop gaming as creative inspiration for building characters and narratives.
For Dr. Nakamats, aging is just experience in action
Though he didn't win the recent gubernatorial election in Tokyo, the 96-year-old Dr. Nakamats' run was seen as inspirational in Japan's aging society.

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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