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C.B. Liddell
Japan Times
MULTIMEDIA
Sep 22, 2011
Flattening the art world with gentle avant-gardism
The avant-garde probably never looked as moderate and conservative as it did in 1888, when a group of young, bearded French painters founded a group known as "Les Nabis." The facial hair was not incidental either, helping to give the group its moniker: "Nabi" is Hebrew for prophet; the joke being that...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 21, 2011
Looking beyond the landscape view
Most of us understand bridges to be structures that help us keep our feet dry. However, in the latest exhibition at the Mitsui Memorial Museum, "The Bridge in Japanese Art: From Ama-no-Hashidate to Nihonbashi," it turns out that we've only been partly right. The bridge is also a device to help us see...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 14, 2011
For the Greeks, the human body laid bare the divinity of beauty
How many of the artworks being made today will stand the test of time and still be appreciated more than 2,000 years in the future — as the sculptures in "The Body Beautiful in Ancient Greece" exhibition are today? I would say almost none, because, rather than seeking beauty, modern artists are...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 7, 2011
The art of spying on bathing beauties
Women at times are like canvases. You see them on the trains, painting their faces, or else walking around wearing intriguing outfits, usually somewhat poker-faced. Consequently, the thought keeps occurring that perhaps they want to be looked at rather in the same way that a painting is looked at —...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 2, 2011
Chasing dreams in gold and silver
You've probably heard of Japan's quaint custom of designating some people as Living National Treasures. Usually it's applied to exponents of a traditional art, craft or performing art in their twilight years. Luckily, nobody has ever come up with the idea of "stealing" these national treasures. While...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 26, 2011
Knowing Sharaku's art without knowing the artist
One of Japan's greatest mysteries is the true identity of the ukiyo-e (woodblock print) artist Toshusai Sharaku, whose entire career was crammed into a 10-month period from 1794 to 1795, during which he produced 145 separate print sheets.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 19, 2011
Art in the realm of the sense of smell
In the battle between sight and smell, sight usually comes out on top as the more valued sense. But while our visual sense supplies us with copious and precise information about the world around us and allows us to appreciate images of beauty, our olfactory sense often has a firmer grasp on our moods,...
CULTURE / Art
May 12, 2011
'Zhu Wei: Utopia'
Tobin Ohashi Gallery Closes June 5
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 5, 2011
'Art Brut Japonais': Unleashing the uninhibited power of expression
In recent weeks there have been several contemporary-art group exhibitions, including the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo Annual, VOCA at the Ueno Royal Museum, and the Sompo Japan Rising Artists Exhibition. In theory these exhibitions, which are usually scheduled to coincide with the optimism of spring,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 22, 2011
Subtleties that shine through the shadows
Recently, thanks to the power cuts caused by the damage to the Fukushima nuclear reactors, many of us have been rediscovering exactly what light is again. Instead of something to be taken for granted, unvarying and instantly available at the flick of a switch, it has once again become altogether more...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 15, 2011
Yoshihiko Takahashi's messages in a bottle
The obvious property of glass is that it is transparent, but for Yoshihiko Takahashi this is only one of its essential characteristics. The prolific glass artist, whose career is being honored by a retrospective at the Crafts Gallery of the Museum of Modern Art Tokyo, clearly has several handles on the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 8, 2011
Takubo's building renovations turn art outside-in
A lot of the restlessness and energy in contemporary art actually stems from a sense of emptiness and frustration that young artists feel as they flail around trying to find their true artistic voice. This certainly seems to have been the case in the career of Kyoji Takubo, a 62-year-old artist, who...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 1, 2011
Designs on love, dreams and fun
The 20th century, with its emphasis on war and mass industrialization, favored the functionalism of modernism in architecture, design, and other areas. This saw such elements as decoration, embellishment, playfulness and humor pushed to the sidelines in design. The rise of a more consumerist economic...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 11, 2011
'Nobuyoshi Araki: Theater of Love'
Taka Ishii Gallery Photography/Film
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 4, 2011
Showing art can be a load of rubbish
How are Africans seen by the rest of the world? Often as victims of tragedy, requiring our pity and charity, as I discovered when I showed a class of students a photo of the respected Ghanaian artist El Anatsui. The picture — in the catalog for his exhibition now on at the Museum of Modern Art,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 11, 2011
Shindo Tsuji: From the trees to the earth
In 1948, the respected Zen elder Ian Kishizawa told the sculptor Shindo Tsuji, "Forget whatever you can and express whatever remains." Despite its enigmatic and paradoxical quality, this typically Zen-like admonition nevertheless manages to sum up the career of Tsuji (1910-1981), an important Japanese...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 4, 2011
Tadasu Takamine shocks us, yet again
In their endless efforts to make us see things in new ways and generally mess with our minds, contemporary conceptual artists such as Tadasu Takamine may often do more to distort their own view of the world than change the way the wider public sees it. This would explain why, in 2004, Takamine attempted...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 28, 2011
Hirayama: Paying simple tribute to the Silk Road
Recently Stephen Fry's BBC comedy quiz show "QI," was in trouble over panelist's comments regarding Tsutomu Yamaguchi, a survivor of both atomic bombs dropped on Japan. Amid generally admiring chit chat about Yamaguchi, panelists treated the bombings with a degree of levity typical of the show, prompting...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 14, 2011
Following Monet to the country
The charm of Impressionism was that it allowed a great deal of artistic freedom and expressiveness without losing touch with realism. A good Impressionist painting allows us to recognize a scene, while encouraging us to see it in new ways. This quality of blending the real with something more ethereal...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 7, 2011
The Kandinsky narcissistic blues
Anyone who has seen the unrefined figurative works of Mark Rothko can easily understand why he later turned to his abstract Color Field works. Because of examples like this, there is always a suspicion that abstract art is merely the last refuge of the technically inept. Wassily Kandinsky — often...
Bloodied Trump survives assassination attempt at political rally
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is surrounded and evacuated by Secret Service agents at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday. Trump was rushed off stage at the rally after shots rang out.
How to beat Japan’s summer heat in ways better for the planet
Tenugui towels hang up to dry at a dyeing company in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, on May 8. The durable and versatile tenugui, which many people have in their homes, can be used in many ways to cool one’s body.
The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'
Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.
Amid same-sex marriage ban, LGBTQ couples opt for 'photo weddings'
A lesbian couple, consisting of a 35-year-old woman (left) and 40-year-old woman, cover their faces with bouquets as they pose for wedding photos in Yokohama on Nov. 1.
China and Russia conduct joint Pacific military patrol
The Russian corvette Gromkiy enters the Chinese port of Zhanjiang as part of a joint China-Russia naval exercise on Saturday.
How to beat Japan’s summer heat in ways better for the planet
Tenugui towels hang up to dry at a dyeing company in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, on May 8. The durable and versatile tenugui, which many people have in their homes, can be used in many ways to cool one’s body.
After Trump shooting, U.S. presidential race might take a violent turn
United States Secret Service Counter Snipers stand guard on a rooftop during a campaign rally for U.S. President Donald Trump in Avoca, Pennsylvania, in 2020.
No AC this summer? No problem (for me).
Think air conditioning is a requirement for a Tokyo summer? Think again.
She’s paying ¥1 million to help behind the scenes at the Paris Olympics
Mai Tarumi, who previously volunteered at the postponed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, has a travel budget of ¥1 million for her trip to volunteer at the Paris Games.
How to tweak your diet when temperatures spike
Most people think of hydration as a strictly liquid-based concept, but eating foods with high water content is an essential part of making it through a Japanese summer unscathed.

Podcast

You can often see generations of families enjoying performances together at Fuji Rock Festival.
Japan’s summer music festivals are feeling the heat in more ways than one

Longform

Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.
The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'
By Tomoko Otake

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Exploring Japanese culturevia Tohoku’s festivals
Exploring Japanese culturevia Tohoku’s festivals

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