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December 31, 2024
 

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Katherine Whatley
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 25, 2019
Carl Stone: Plugging into the sounds of the changing city
A resident of Japan for 20 years, Carl Stone has established himself in the local electronic music scene, performing with domestic and visiting musicians
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Sep 7, 2019
Sipping the spectrum of Kanazawa coffee
Kanazawa has a reputation as a hub for traditional Japanese arts and culture, but its coffee shops, new and old, offer a glimpse of how locals live and enjoy this historic city.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 27, 2019
Delving into a century of Japanese sound
Robert Millis has been playing guitar, making music from field recordings and old records, and making compilations of music from all around Asia for decades.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Aug 3, 2019
Fukumitsuya Sake Brewery puts a twist on Kanazawa culture
Fukumitsuya Sake Brewery has focused on high-quality sake and capitalized on Kanazawa's rich history and culture to stay relevant in a competitive market.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN?
Jul 6, 2019
Hitoshi Miyazawa: Taking a multicourse adventure in Australia
Kaiseki, the multicourse meal that is the height of refinement in Japanese cuisine is the modus operandi of Hitoshi Miyazawa, head chef for Ishizuka in Melbourne, Australia.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jun 30, 2019
What is the role of small towns in Japan?
Kiryu in Gunma Prefecture looks into potential ways art could help revitalize the small town.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 25, 2019
Sadao Watanabe, Japan's godfather of jazz, passes on his wisdom
Before he became one of Japan's best-loved jazz musicians, saxophone player Sadao Watanabe was one of the first Japanese musicians to study in the United States. As a young man he studied at Berklee College of Music, in Boston.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 21, 2019
The jazz cafe offering sounds of the 1960s in a Shinjuku basement
For many Tokyoites, Shinjuku is inextricably linked with the 1960s and '70s and with jazz. "There used to be jazz kissa (cafes) everywhere," says Dug cafe owner and jazz photographer Hozumi Nakadaira. During these decades, the district came to be known as a Mecca for young people and a jazz and avant-garde...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 7, 2019
Miwa Komatsu: An artist's vision of Shinto and its divine beings
'When I was in elementary school, I was taking a nap under a tree in my garden. Then I had a dream, that would later come true, of having an exhibition as a painter and being an artist. That felt very real, and I realized this was foreshadowing my future. I felt that if I continued on the same path,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Apr 17, 2019
Amil Khanzada brings meditation and tech together at one of Japan's Zen landmarks
Japan's rural towns have mainly been facing the same big challenge for the past decade: A migration to urban centers for work has left them with declining populations, which leads to a further decrease in job opportunities that makes them less attractive places to live if you're young and starting a...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN?
Apr 13, 2019
Masaya Nakayama: Keeping an eye on the art of subtraction
Finding artistic freedom in New York, Osaka-born artist finds new expressions for Japanese-style painting.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 26, 2019
Michiyo Yagi pushes the boundaries of traditional music with her koto playing
I'm sitting in Koen-Dori Classics, a darkened club in the basement of a church on Koen-dori, in Tokyo's Shibuya district. The audience is small, seated in a few rows facing the performers at the front. Silence, then the performance begins. Textured sounds emanate from the guitar, keyboard, laptop. Then...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 27, 2019
Yusuke Ogawa: The man in Japan giving jazz fans their rare record fix
'There are just so many records in Japan," says Yusuke Ogawa, owner of Universounds, a used record shop selling jazz, soul and funk in the Western suburbs of central Tokyo. Now, with the rise of internet sales as well as the increasingly interconnected music world, buyers worldwide are catching on to...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Feb 22, 2019
Morioka: Crafts, poetry and Tohoku’s bleak nature
Though Kenji Miyazawa was little-known in his lifetime, since his death he has been heralded as one of the most important Japanese poets of the early 20th century and one of Iwate Prefecture's most treasured sons. Miyazawa lived in and around Morioka for much of his life and, even now, there remain whispers of him throughout the city.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 19, 2019
Hikaru Uzawa blends old and new to add vitality to the world of noh
Hikaru Uzawa is a noh performer who marries her work within the traditional confines of the art form with performing in contemporary pieces internationally, bringing freshness to the traditional world of noh.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 12, 2019
Crossing 70 years of Katsushika Hokusai
Featuring an astounding 480 prints, spanning the entire 70 years of Katushika Hokusai's career, the new Hokusai exhibition at the Mori Arts Center Gallery is a great overview for ukiyo-e fans.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 2, 2019
Sho player Ko Ishikawa pushes the boundaries of gagaku with free improvisation
Ko Ishikawa plays the sho, a bamboo free-reed mouth harp that first came to Japan from China in the Nara Period (710-794). Despite what you might expect, however, the way he plays the instrument isn't conventionally traditional.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 27, 2018
Ned Rothenberg: Crossing the Pacific with bamboo flute in hand
Composer and performer Ned Rothenberg has spent his career traversing different musical worlds.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Nov 23, 2018
Discovering Kyoto through the eyes of Genji
At the height of the splendor of the Heian Period (794-1185), lady-in-waiting to the Imperial Court, Murasaki Shikibu, wrote 'The Tale of Genji,' the story of imperial officer Hikaru Genji falling in and out of love with his various suitors. After centuries of war, city-wide fires, rebuilding and tourist development, does anything from Genji's Heian-kyo still remain in modern Kyoto?
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 17, 2018
Forget Kyoto's temples, try the coffee instead
Though kissaten (old-style) coffee shops like have long been a part of Kyoto, the third-wave coffee boom has increased the number and variety of coffee shops in the city.
Ukraine risks losing all Russian land it seized within months, U.S. says
Ukrainian soldiers carry the coffins of three comrades killed in recent fighting in eastern Ukraine during their funeral in the western city of Lviv on Dec. 20.
Japanese Princess Kako turns 30
As an adult member of the Imperial Family, Princess Kako has performed various official duties at home and abroad this year.
South Korea's worst plane crash in decades leaves 179 dead
Rescue personnel are seen near the tail section of a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 series aircraft after the plane crashed and burst into flames at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, on Sunday.
U.S. military coordination unit eyed in central Tokyo
A Self-Defense Forces soldier from a Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missile unit takes part in a drill at Yokota Air Base in Fussa, western Tokyo, in August 2017.
Shohei Ohtani ends blockbuster year with baby announcement
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani and his wife, Mamiko Tanaka, attend a Lakers game in Los Angeles on Dec. 8.
Japan’s weather in 2024: Record temperatures hurt people’s health and wallets
People cover themselves with umbrellas during a hot summer day in Tokyo's Ginza district in August. Temperatures shot up in early July, even before the official end of the rainy season, and the high temperatures persisted well into the fall.
How Hokkaido quietly became a culinary treasure trove in 2024
The central Hokkaido city of Asahikawa made headlines this year when one of its suburbs was named as the best place to live in Japan — a ranking earned in part due to the community's many outstanding restaurants and cafes.
Bling-Bang, baby: The J-pop soundtrack of 2024
Hip-hop duo Creepy Nuts' uptempo “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born” quickly became a TikTok favorite after its release days into 2024, which helped turn the song into a Billboard Japan Hot 100 topper for 19 weeks before rising up viral streaming charts around the world.
Shohei Ohtani ends blockbuster year with baby announcement
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani and his wife, Mamiko Tanaka, attend a Lakers game in Los Angeles on Dec. 8.
Flu cases surge above ‘warning’ levels in much of Japan
Authorities are calling for utmost vigilance as Japan heads into the New Year holiday season, when many people plan getaways.

Podcast

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

Longform

Members of the Wajima City Morning Market Association pose for a group photograph on the site where the market once stood.
In the wake of disaster, the revival of Wajima's market brings hope
By Alex K.T. Martin

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