Sang Woo Kim - The Japan Times

Events / Events In Tokyo

Jun 19, 2014

Jamaica's one love starts in Tokyo and reaches out across Japan

This festival celebrating 50 years of friendship between Japan and Jamaica culminates with a Bob Marley Songs Day competition on Sunday, where the winner will receive the grand prize of a trip to Jamaica. For most visitors, however, Bob Marley's music is just one of 12 entertaining sets by various musicians,...

JAPAN

Jun 13, 2014

'Crowdfunding' readers back 'library bar,' request a book each

When 30-year-old book lover Shunsuke Mori decided to open a "library bar" in Tokyo, he took a leap of faith to solicit funds over the Internet.

Events / Events Outside Tokyo

Jun 12, 2014

The world could be your oyster in Aichi

In Peru, the largest Incan festival, Inti Raymi (Festival of Sun), takes place on June 25 in honor of Inti, the sun god. In Japan, those in Aichi Prefecture on June 14 and 15 can celebrate, too, by enjoying performances by the Andean folk trio Ekekos, who will honor Inti by playing traditional panflutes...

JAPAN

Jun 6, 2014

Students take worldly approach to study abroad

A University of Tokyo student set to spend a year as an exchange student in Illinois this summer doesn't think English skill is the only thing that matters when going to the United States.

Events / Events Outside Tokyo

Jun 5, 2014

Light up the night with a firefly festival

Fireflies, known as hotaru in Japan, have inspired numerous artists and writers, including Haruki Murakami, whose short story "Firefly" was later adapted into the first part of his best-seller "Norwegian Wood." In the real world, however, fireflies are sadly in decline, as their natural habitats —...

Events / Events In Tokyo

May 30, 2014

FIFA World Cup 2014 brings the fun to Tokyo

When you're on the other side of the world finding a place to watch World Cup matches usually requires meticulous planning — from persuading friends with giant TV screens to let you join them, to preparing for an assault on your body clock. Flying to Brazil is an option, but for those of us with a...

Events / Events Outside Tokyo

May 22, 2014

Aichi Prefecture is firing on all cylinders

Among the different kinds of hanabi (fireworks) in Japan, the tezutsu hanabi is probably the one you really shouldn't try at home. "Tezutsu" means "hand-held," and a tezutsu hanabi cylindrical cartridge is made of a hollowed out bamboo tube, which is wrapped in rope woven from rice straw. The tube, which...

JAPAN

May 16, 2014

Couple care for Tama cats cast off by society

Back in 1990, while taking a stroll along the Tama River, photographer Osamu Konishi came upon a surreal scene: dozens of cats sitting amicably and quietly on the branches of a tree, almost like apples waiting to be picked, as well as on the ground below.

Events / Events In Tokyo

May 15, 2014

Design Festa vol. 39 celebrates 20 years of original creativity

With so many designer goods now manufactured in large numbers, sometimes we forget that "design" stems from creativity and originality.

Events / Events In Tokyo

May 8, 2014

Celebrate Okinawan culture at Tokyo's Yoyogi Park

In Okinawa Prefecture, soba is not a bowl of buckwheat noodles in a light broth — it is a helping of thick, white noodles served in a hot soup of pork-bone stock flavored with katsuobushi (dried skipjack tuna flakes). From foods to rituals, culture in Okinawa — shaped by its history as the Ryukyu...

Events / Events In Tokyo

May 1, 2014

Swap carps for pinatas on Children's Day

Children's Day in Japan is known for its koinobori (carp streamer) decorations, but perhaps this year you'd like to celebrate with a pinata instead.

Events / Events In Tokyo

Apr 24, 2014

Tokyo shows to get fans in mood for Jazz Day

The lineup for Osaka's International Jazz Day is a true jazz fan's dream. The event will be broadcast on the Web for those who can't make it, but that's nothing compared to how the music sounds live.

JAPAN

Apr 23, 2014

Parade aims to raise awareness of sexual minorities

Tokyo Rainbow Pride, the nation's largest festival for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities, will have its third annual parade in Tokyo on Sunday, aiming to raise awareness of sexual minorities in Japan.

Events / Events Outside Tokyo

Apr 17, 2014

Fuji Shibazakura Festival extends prime blossom-viewing season

Alas, the yearly cherry blossom front has left the Kanto region, leaving tiny pink petals swirling about in the spring breeze. The good news for nature lovers, though, is that more blooms are set to appear.

CULTURE / Art

Mar 26, 2014

'Roots of Zen: Yosai and the Treasures of Kenninji'

Kenninji is the oldest of what is known as the Kyoto Gozan, the ﬁve leading Zen Buddhist temples of Kyoto. It houses various artworks but is particularly famous for the designated national treasure "Fujin-Raijin" ("The Wind and Thunder Gods"), a gold-leaf embellished screen painting by the 17th-century...

CULTURE / Art

Mar 26, 2014

'Rudolf Steiner'

Austria-born, Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) is known as a philosopher, literary critic and esoteric who became leader of the German Theosophical Society and later founder the Anthroposophical Society. Much of his philosophical thought was influenced by the works of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, while his...

CULTURE / Art

Mar 26, 2014

'Seiji Fujishiro 90th Birthday Anniversary'

To many, the term "shadow play" or "shadow puppetry" will conjure up images of black silhouettes telling a story against a bright white background. Seiji Fujishiro's shadow-play visions, however, are ﬁlled with vivid colors, abstract shapes and detailed scenery.

Events / Events Outside Tokyo

Mar 20, 2014

Akashi invites visitors to not only enjoy art, but to create it, too

Art sprouts from the imagination, but it usually starts with a blank slate of some kind, which is something Akashi Artful Week is offering its visitors. This week-long event includes the installation of a 50-meter-long blank canvas on which visitors are asked to illustrate their impressions of the city...

CULTURE / Art

Mar 19, 2014

'From Hakubakai to Kofukai: Aspects of Japanese Oil Painting'

Kofukai, translated as "Light and Wind Club," was a group of oil painters established in Japan by seven young artists in 1912. The founding members were initially influenced by the Realist painters of Paris, whose aim in the absence of photography, was to depict the world as truthfully as possible.

CULTURE / Art

Mar 19, 2014

'Hakone Meets Art: Tamatebako in the Forest'

Odd things can happen in the forest, and at the Hakone Open Air Museum that includes the artistically strange. For this exhibition, artist Koji Kakuno dares to dangle himself from a tree in a wooden cocoonlike contraption for days at a time.

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