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November 22, 2024
 

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Katherine Whatley
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN?
Nov 10, 2018
Motomi Morii: Japanese roots, Nordic aesthetic
Since 2009, Motomi Morii has lived and worked in New York. There, she indulges in her love of experimental and improvised music, and takes part in various Japanese cultural events around the city. Most importantly, New York provides her with constant inspiration and opportunity for her career in architectural design.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 4, 2018
The Biwako Biennale makes the old new again
When it comes to curating a biennale, a lack of funding isn't always a big problem as it can lead to more imaginative results.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 3, 2018
When Ami Yamasaki begins to sing, brooks, birds and barks emerge
I first heard Ami Yamasaki's voice in 2016 at a studio where I hosted a radio show in New York. She popped by to promote an upcoming performance at the Japan Society with composer Mamoru Fujieda, koto player Kayoko Nakagawa and shō (free reed mouth organ) player Ko Ishikawa.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN?
Aug 11, 2018
Duo Yumeno: Making music across the Pacific
Contemporary classical duo bring together the cello, koto and shamisen for original classical contemporary compositions.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 24, 2018
Of the many items in a calligrapher's toolbox, the most important are words
Yuyushi Furuta was on a path to commercial success with her calligraphy when she decided to take a left turn.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 24, 2018
Setting the kanji free: A calligrapher walks the line between tradition and the abstract
Soufu Honda uses her entire body to create her calligraphy works in a process that verges on the theatrical.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 5, 2018
Pure Land Buddhism and the art of photography
Follow the Sumida River southwest from Asakusa and you'll soon reach Kuramae, an old working-class neighborhood filled with small factories, wholesale shops and temples. The area is changing, though, with single origin coffee roasters and stores selling imported pottery sprouting up next to mom-and-pop...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 3, 2018
Gordon Matta-Clark: Out of the rubble
It's New York in the 1970s. The optimism of '60s America has faded into cynicism and despair. The city is so broke that it's almost bankrupt. People are fleeing to the suburbs and industry New York is shutting down, leaving abandoned warehouses, homes and tenements scattered throughout. Meanwhile, artists...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 1, 2018
Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale: Niigata's fields of art and inspiration
Deep in the mountains of Niigata Prefecture, the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale is preparing its hundreds of exhibitions, events and installations — some new, some already permanent — for its seventh edition.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 23, 2018
A world of art on display at Tokyo International Art Fair
This year's edition of the Tokyo International Art Fair will feature paintings, sculpture, photographic illustrations, jewelry and a "sumo-size" book, with the work coming courtesy of hundreds of artists from 30 different countries, fair organizer Joelle Dinnage tells The Japan Times.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 19, 2018
Through the lens: Japanese photographers explore nuclear narratives
Whether it's the work of Robert Capa in the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) or Richard Drew's iconic "Falling Man" picture of a man free-falling from the World Trade Center in 2001, photography has provided us with the images that we've used to visualize every disaster of the 20th century and beyond. But...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Apr 12, 2018
Layers of artistic heritage in Aomori Prefecture
The weather is crisp when I arrive at Shin-Aomori Station via the Tohoku Shinkansen. I'm not surprised, though, the northernmost prefecture on the island of Honshu is known as a cold and isolated place.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 29, 2018
Kiyoshi Koyama: A life lived with jazz
"I have lived a life alongside jazz," says Kiyoshi Koyama, jazz critic, journalist and radio host. This is apparent on a recent visit to his home in Chiba Prefecture, where he and his wife live surrounded by walls of neatly organized records, CDs, books and other archives — a lifetime of research and...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Mar 9, 2018
Two millennia of heritage along Wakayama's Kumano Kodo trail
The Kii Peninsula is a land of ancient spiritual paths and holy mountains. Part of Wakayama Prefecture, the area is famous for onsen, temperate rainforests, mountains and a beautiful coastline. The prefecture is known as a place of rich cultural heritage, in part because of its connection to the Kii Province and the Kumano Kodo trail.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 1, 2018
Living and breathing history, through noh
Noh performer Hisa Uzawa has spent her life devoted to an art form that — with its slow and steady movements, sparse staging and ancient chanting — may at first seem staid. In her hands, however, the 650-year-old tradition becomes relentlessly contemporary.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 1, 2018
Artist Asako Iwama explores the relationship between food and language
Food and the desire to eat has always been mysterious to Asako Iwama. When the artist and cook was a young child, she could not understand why she had to eat. Her earliest memories of food are of her grandmother's cooking in a strange yet fascinating kitchen far away from home.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 4, 2018
A cloven landscape, a cloven tree, a cloven self
On a recent trip to Tohoku, photographer Naoya Hatakeyama took a picture of a tree. It wasn't a particularly remarkable tree, but it caught his attention all the same.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Dec 29, 2017
Here comes the sun: Recommended hatsuhinode spots
The first sunrise of the new year represents a chance for a new beginning and so it's hardly surprising that some once viewed the first rays of the sun on Jan. 1 with special reverence. It was believed to be the moment that Toshigami, god of the new year, descends from heaven and bestows happiness on...
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.

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