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December 22, 2024
 

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D.H. Rosen
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Apr 23, 2016
Tokyo hotel gets into bed with local artists
When building a new hotel, designers would normally consider the artwork displayed on the walls as a finishing touch. But for BnA Hotel Koenji, which just opened in Tokyo's Koenji neighborhood, the artwork definitely comes first.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 19, 2016
Akiyama remodels the canon of clay
Artist Yo Akiyama has never been one to play by the rules. As a young student in the ceramics program at Kyoto City University of the Arts (Kyoto Geidai) in the mid-1970s, he quickly earned a reputation as a troublemaker, never content to accept his teacher's lessons at face value.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 13, 2015
Pow! Wow! to pack a punch in Tokyo
Inspiration comes in many forms: It could be a piece of artwork that changes your vision of the world, or it could be a phone call from a friend that spawns an international art phenomenon.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 15, 2015
Miki Saito steps out of the inky shadows
Some artworks on first look hit you like a ton of bricks — with bold colors and striking realism. Others take time to get to know, offering hidden treasures that are revealed to the viewer over time.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 23, 2011
Place your bid to help Japan
When the world bears witness to tragedies on the scale of Japan's recent disaster, it affects everyone, and it is natural to feel powerless. Many find themselves asking the question: "What could I possibly do to help?" While for most the answer is not at once apparent, for Japanese American ceramic artist...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 28, 2011
There's always art behind design
For some, life-changing moments involve a traumatic experience or a piercing epiphany. For others, something as simple as a teapot can elicit transformation.
CULTURE / Stage
Nov 5, 2010
Flamenco now dancing to a very different beat
Once a year, Hiroki Sato leaves behind the bustle of Tokyo to return to the hills of Andalusia, Spain, the place where flamenco was born. He can barely walk the streets for a minute before someone calls his name, and in a village where flamenco courses through the very veins of the community, impromptu...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 25, 2010
Keeping an eye on new ceramics
Places of worship take many forms, but they all share a common atmosphere. There's a certain quietude that puts visitors at ease and a sense of other-worldliness achieved, in part, through the careful placement of precious objects on raised platforms. Kim Riyoo's ceramic installation, "Ceramics as New...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 23, 2010
Molding the way for new silverwork design
Raising, chasing, casting, forging, reticulation, repousse . . . even the terms that describe metalworking can be daunting to the novice, while the processes themselves prove metal to be one of the most difficult materials to tame. But what if you had a malleable metal substance that would take shape...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 19, 2010
Delving deep beyond the merely decorative
In a vast room with white walls and wooden floors, a lone man crouches in the corner holding a spouted container that releases tiny white crystals onto the floor in a carefully controlled flow. Making sure not to disturb the meticulously crafted lines around him, he works steadily and with great resolve....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 29, 2010
Creativity flourishes in 'No Man's Land'
Known for its quaint cafes and high-end high rises, the upscale neighborhood of Hiroo is home to many of Tokyo's local and ex-pat illuminati, as well as to several foreign embassies. The area is pristine, even by Tokyo standards, and it is this refined backdrop that makes arriving at the French embassy...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 14, 2009
Breaking all the rules in ceramics
For many people, the term "ceramic art" conjures up the image of functional ware on a dinner table: cups and bowls filled with food and drink, or perhaps ornate European platters or wabi-sabi Japanese teapots. To others, it may mean terra-cotta figurines or simply sculpture that uses clay as its primary...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 8, 2009
Issey Miyake's "U-Tsu-Wa" filled with character and inspiration
In Japanese, the word utsuwa literally means "vessel" or "container," but it can also be used to describe a person's character. Someone said to have a "large utsuwa" ("utsuwa ga ookii") is a person of high caliber or someone with tremendous capacity or generosity. When celebrated Japanese fashion designer...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 10, 2009
A series of solo shows filed together as one
The term "group show" usually conjures an image of multiple meetings, shared spaces, collaborative installations and a common theme to tie it all together. "Artist File 2009," a group show at The National Art Center Tokyo (NACT) till May 5, has none of these things. But this is not a typical group of...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 30, 2009
Who says an art work must exist?
Like precious gems, Aiko Miyanaga's crystalline sculptures reflect light and shine with a brilliance that beguiles the viewer. But while diamonds are forever, Miyanaga's carefully crafted forms are not long for this world. In fact, some of her pieces are gone before her exhibitions even come to a close....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 16, 2008
'Kunst Oktoberfest'
Central Tokyo
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 26, 2008
How Carlo Zauli changed the course of contemporary Japanese ceramics
Change can be one of the most difficult words for traditional craftsmen to hear.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Dec 14, 2007
Culture observed by an art of glass
All of us go through life with our own set of personal "filters" — emotional baggage and cultural biases that color the way we see the world. This is the theme of the exhibition "Culture Filters."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 29, 2007
"Kenjiro Kitade: Kitade Art"
hpgrp Gallery, Omotesando Closes on Dec. 9
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 2, 2007
DanDans meets Coco Chanel
Artists' lives are seldom easy, but the reality they face in Japan can be particularly daunting.
Nippon Steel alleges undue White House influence on doomed deal review
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the economy at the Brookings Institution in Washington on Dec. 10.
Record 78% of people in Japan feel anxious, government survey finds
The public opinion survey on people's lives, conducted by the Cabinet Office, found that 28.1% of respondents think that their standard of living is at a lower-middle level among the general public — the highest percentage to give that response in 35 years.
Police raided suspect's home to arrest him after fatal Kitakyushu stabbing
Broken window glass is seen at Masanori Hirabaru's house in Kitakyushu's Kokuraminami Ward.
Taiwan lawmakers brawl over bills that would 'damage democracy'
Lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party and opposition party Kuomintang brawl in parliament in Taipei on Friday.
Mother hopes for reunion with daughter ensnared by Tokyo host clubs
The Kabukicho district in Tokyo, where the daughter of a woman in her 60s fell deeply into the host club culture.
Japanese officials inspect Yokota Air Base over PFAS concerns
The Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo in September 2019. An inspection of the base by Japanese government officials on Friday came amid public pressure to investigate suspected links between the use of PFAS-containing firefighting foam by the U.S. base and contamination of soil and groundwater in western Tokyo.
Crime numbers rise in Japan for second straight year
A police officer stands in front of the residence of a man alleged to have stabbed two junior high school students in Kitakyushu.
A year of Oscar wins and a quiet push for diversity
Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Evil Does Not Exist,” released in Japanese theaters in April, sharply dramatizes the clash between rural and urban values. The film won five awards at the 2023 Venice Film Festival, including the second-place Silver Lion prize.
Curiosity didn’t kill the meme: Why cats still rule Japanese YouTube
A screen shot from YouTube user @lagelda shows the simplicity of going viral in Japan in 2024: A cat dancing to EDM in front of a green screen.
With rare Asia carrier deployment, France seeks greater interoperability
The flight deck of the French Navy's Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier during a stop at Changi Naval Base in Singapore in May 2019

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

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The quake that shook Noto's sake brewing tradition
By Alex K.T. Martin

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