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November 22, 2024
 

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Marius Gombrich
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 2, 2009
Shin hanga bringing ukiyo-e back to life
The great print works of ukiyo-e, by the likes of Hokusai, Hiroshige, and Utamaro, became fine art almost by accident. Originally mass produced for the popular market, their status was roughly equivalent to that of illustrated calendars and posters of pop stars today. But, ironically, the fact that they...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 18, 2009
A chiaroscuro of Belgian artistic expression
Looking at the Tokyo listings, I see that there are a couple of exhibitions focusing on bygone civilizations — a not uncommon theme for exhibitions in Japan. The National Museum of Nature and Science is presenting "The Golden Capital of Sican," which looks at one of the South American societies that...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 11, 2009
The eyes have it in this light show
When you have a venue that provides such ample exhibition space as the National Art Center, Tokyo (NACT), it can be quite a challenge to find a single contemporary artist worthy to fill it. Earlier this year, Hitoshi Nomura, with a long, varied career and many large installations to his name, just about...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 12, 2009
Nomura fuses science, mysticism in artworks
If Pythagoras, Aristotle or any of the other axial luminaries of the Classical World were alive today, they might just be working as conceptual artists in the mold of Hitoshi Nomura, rather than philosophers and scientists. This is because the science and philosophy that these intellectual giants practiced...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 5, 2009
Discovering an unexpected gem
Skeptic that I am, upon hearing there was an historical exhibition on the lives and art of Japan's Buddhist nuns, I assumed that this would be a drab show of temple artifacts and feminine articles veneered in the dust of incense smoke. As the show is largely curated by Western female academics, I also...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 29, 2009
Dissecting the cave on canvas
One of the greatest mysteries of art is what exactly the flat two-dimensional surface of the canvas is, and what it is for. The mundane answer, of course, is that it's a convenient rectangular surface on which to place and display aesthetically pleasing colors and lines. But this does not really explain...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 27, 2009
Werner Bischof found a resurrected Japan
Although top photographers now enjoy high status and good money, they were once regarded as little better than any other button pushers — elevator girls, say — and were expected to run around, snapping whatever commissioning editors told them to.
CULTURE / Art
Mar 13, 2009
Bourgeois cinema
Since the recent meltdown of the global capitalist system, it wouldn't be surprising if many people have flirted with the idea of Marxism. Perhaps not that they would go the whole hog and attempt to storm the bastions of corporate Japan, but they might be inclined to cast a few wistful glances at the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 6, 2009
Edo to Meiji
The popularity of ukiyo-e (genre painting) woodblock prints is partly due to aesthetic reasons and partly symbolic ones. In terms of sheer beauty, there is much to recommend in the better examples in the genre, from bright blocks of color and sinuous lines to lively compositions and intriguing details,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 13, 2009
Light moments in a drab metropolis
Tokyo can be a drag. At least if you are a photographer trying to tackle what can appear on the surface as one of the most unphotogenic cities in the world. A scarcity of obviously iconic buildings, combined with cramped, crowded and twisted spaces — usually crisscrossed with unsightly wires and hemmed...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 23, 2009
Stuck on cellotape
Ryo Sehata is that often- mentioned but seldom- encountered individual, a truly unique artist. His art is so uncommon that his fame has now assumed viral form, spreading through the Internet via blogs, vlogs, Twitters, links, Diggs and other clickable whatchamacallits. The young artist and his unusual...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 9, 2009
In the space
Synesthesia is a condition in which stimulation of one sense triggers sensation in another. While very few people have it, most of us are able to understand it at the level of analogy. Musicians, for example, use "chromatic" scales (derived from the Greek word for color), while visual artists routinely...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 4, 2008
Alternate visions of island paradise
In our global information age, when all of us are exposed to more data than we can perhaps adequately manage, the appeal of cliches has never been stronger. By a process of reduction and crude characterization, that which is complex, ambiguous, and difficult-to- know becomes simple, and is summed up...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 20, 2008
Lost in the heartland
How would Gauguin be remembered if he hadn't chanced upon the lurid earthiness of Tahiti and its women? Would Van Gogh have made the same impact without sunflowers and cornfields to unleash his frenzy for yellow? After mastering the basics of their craft, the next important thing for painters is to find...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 14, 2008
France's own proto-Andy Warhol
There are interesting parallels between Andy Warhol and the French fin-de-siecle artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Each was an instantly recognizable figure who moved in a Bohemian crowd, was obsessed with celebrity, and produced print works that embodied the relationship between art and commerce.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 28, 2007
Russia as it wanted to be
Sir Winston Churchill, one of history's most quotable characters, once described Russia as "a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma." The Anglo-Polish novelist Joseph Conrad summed it up as "an Asiatic monster with a European veneer," while the English writer Rudyard Kipling had a slightly more...
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.
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.
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.
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Longform

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By Kathryn Wortley

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