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November 22, 2024
 

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Daniel Robson
Daniel Robson, a British journalist based in Tokyo since 2006, is a features editor and writer at The Japan Times. He also writes freelance about music, videogames and Japanese pop culture for other publications around the world.
CULTURE / Music
Jan 16, 2009
Soutaiseiriron "Haifai Shinsho"
Since I was handed an advance copy of "Haifai Shinsho" ("Hi-Fi Anatomia") a couple of months ago, I've been unable to go a day without hearing it. I think I need help. This album is aural crack.
CULTURE / Music
Jan 9, 2009
LAZYgunsBRISKY — "Catching!"; Jonny — "Cake Album"
Typical. You wait an apparently interminable period for a decent new grrrl-punk band (it's been at least three months!) and then two turn up at once.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 9, 2009
LAZYgunsBRISKY — "Catching!"; Jonny — "Cake Album"
Typical. You wait an apparently interminable period for a decent new grrrl-punk band (it's been at least three months!) and then two turn up at once.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 1, 2009
J-pop prepares an assault on the West in '09
I wouldn't want to shout about it (since it might upset your New Year's hangover), but 2009 might just be the year that J-pop goes global. Several heavy hitters have set their sights on Western domination this year, and more than ever, their chances seem good.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 12, 2008
Find festival fun in Chiba and Osaka
While the lineup doesn't differ much from year to year, there is no denying that Countdown Japan is the ultimate yearend bash. Held in both Chiba and Osaka, the festival invites some of the biggest names in Japanese music to see in the New Year, with four stages over four days at Chiba's Makuhari Messe...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 5, 2008
Shonen Knife "Super Group"
I have a very old friend who's always hated Osaka rock ambassadresses Shonen Knife. He thinks they're not a serious band — but he's missing the point. When the world around us is gray and dark, and the news talks of terrorists and financial depression, what we need are songs about slugs, deer biscuits...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 5, 2008
Emiliana Torrini makes some big jumps
On the title track of her new album, "Me and Armini," Emiliana Torrini takes the concept of drinking "spirits" to a whole new level.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 28, 2008
Dreaming of a Pink Christmas
"Almost every year, I'm working at Christmastime," mourns Kaori Asada. "If I'm not working, I'll have a big Christmas party with friends and family. But in the last 10 years, I haven't had that kind of Christmas party, ha ha. Still, I like Christmas."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 28, 2008
Lisa Loeb
Now that it's almost December, there can be only one thing on the minds of kids around Japan: Um, summer camp?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 14, 2008
Getting scrappy with jazz-punks Midori
"I don't really listen to punk or know too much about what constitutes Japanese punk," declares Mariko Goto. "That said, if we're going to categorize ourselves, I'd say we're a punk band. But the sort of punk we make is nostalgic and lonely. It's like a four-tatami room with just one door and one window;...
CULTURE / Music
Sep 26, 2008
Immi "Switch"
While the obi strip on the CD babbles about new-rave and the album can be found in shop displays alongside Perfume, Japanese artist Immi's music follows a very French predilection for stylish electropop, as made famous internationally by Daft Punk, Air and Phoenix, or within Gallic walls by breathy jailbait...
CULTURE / Music
Sep 26, 2008
YMCK — "YMCK Songbook" (Avex); YMCK & De De Mouse — "Down Town" (Avex)
As its subtitle suggests, "Songbook -Songs Before 8bit-" sees "chiptune" flag-bearers YMCK spread their Nintendoesque love all over a clutch of songs from 1971 to 1982, a time when "Mario Bros." was still a glimmer in Shigeru Miyamoto's eye — and many of them are as memorable as the heroic Italian...
CULTURE / Music
Sep 5, 2008
SpecialThanks "Seven Colors"
Everyone knows that Japan's single greatest skill is spawning female- fronted punk bands that sound like they've swallowed a bucketload of Green Day and Blink 182 CDs and belched them back out again. Hailing from Aichi Prefecture, SpecialThanks are one such band, and the problem is that they are impossible...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 4, 2008
Devo uphold their duty now for the future
As I sit down opposite the gray-haired man in a black shirt and glasses, someone comes to clear the clutter off the table — a stick-thin, retro-futuristic guitar that has been rigged for its strings to explode at the climax of a solo. His flame-haired partner takes a seat; he's wearing a full suit...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 28, 2008
Ainu musician Oki brings the world to Hokkaido
With a Japanese mother and Ainu father, the appearance of Oki on "The Rough Guide to the Music of Japan" with his Oki Dub Ainu Band presents a rare glimpse of the multiracial underbelly that Japan seems reluctant to own up to. Despite being indigenous to Hokkaido, or Ezo as it is known to them, the Ainu...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 28, 2008
Soundtracking Japan — again
So, you've got 73 minutes of play time to sum up the entire music culture of Japan. How would you do it? What would you include?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 15, 2008
Don't panic! It's just a stadium
Las Vegas four-piece Panic at the Disco changed radically between their 2005 debut album "A Fever You Can't Sweat Out," which made them poster boys for the emo scene, and 2008's "Pretty. Odd.," where they paid homage to The Beatles and "Ogden's"-era Small Faces. Their set in Summer Sonic's vast Marine...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 15, 2008
Another scorching Summer Sonic
Held simultaneously in Tokyo (well, Chiba's Makuhari Messe and Marine Stadium) and Osaka, Summer Sonic pulled a combined 190,000 music fans for a weekend of polite debauchery under a scorching sun on Aug. 9-10.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 8, 2008
Maki Rinka "Maki Rinka Sings Broadway"
While her previous albums offered pitch-perfect homages to 1930s-'60s jazz, Maki Rinka has this time gone the whole hog with a minialbum of covers of the show tunes that first inspired her. Backed by a nimble band, the Osaka singer delves headlong into nostalgia with infectious results.
LIFE / Language
Jul 29, 2008
Turning to rock 'n' roll for lyric-sheet linguistics
They say you should always open with a joke, so how about this one: a music journalist with only conversational Japanese writing for The Japan Times' Bilingual Page. Try not to laugh too much, though, as I'll be sticking to what I know: music.
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 launched intercontinental ballistic missile during attack on Ukraine, Kyiv says
A Yars intercontinental ballistic missile is launched during a test from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in Northern Arkhangelsk region of Russia, in this still image captured from video released on Oct. 29.
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.
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

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