author

 
 
 Tomohiro Osaki

Meta

Tomohiro Osaki
Tomohiro Osaki is a staff writer in the Domestic News Division. A graduate of Sophia University in Tokyo, he likes to explore under-reported realities of Japanese youth, with a tendency toward the taboo.
Japan Times
CULTURE
Jan 17, 2013
Fujiwara chases a scoop in news-themed thriller
There aren't many celebrities who would make good journalists, but something tells me Norika Fujiwara is one. She's well-traveled, socially active and not constrained by the mechanisms of public-relations strategies.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jan 17, 2013
German soprano Krishar returns to Japan
Looking at Eilika Krishar's thin, delicate physique, you probably wouldn't be able to imagine what an incredible voice the German opera singer has.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 17, 2013
"Architecture. Possible Here?: Home for All"
The Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011 left residents of Rikuzentakata in Iwate Prefecture with no option but to live in isolated temporary shelters as they wrestled with the uncertainty of their future. To help lift their spirits, architect Toyo Ito proposed building a space where people could get...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 17, 2013
"Blue"
Western-style painter Ei Nakau's preferred style is abstraction. In 1968, he began a series titled "Cielito Lindo," a project to which he still contributes 40 years later. As is evident in the way he pours paints directly onto the canvas, Nakau values unpredictability and favors experimentation with...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 17, 2013
"Artist File 2013: The NACT Annual Show of Contemporary Art"
The National Art Center's "Artist File" is an annual project, which began in 2008 with the aim of introducing the latest trends in Japan's art industry. It looks for diversity by deliberately avoiding any specific theme for artists to work with and by accepting applications regardless of age or nationality....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 17, 2013
"Portraits of Destroyed Cities"
The 20th century witnessed two world wars, during which many countries suffered what is known as "strategic bombing": major air raids on cities aimed at destroying the nation's economic ability and public spirit.
Events / Events In Tokyo
Jan 11, 2013
Painter Fukunaga illustrates the artistic nature of Japanese onomatopoeic expressions
Symbolic of Tokyo's Asahi Beer Hall is a gigantic golden sculpture that sits atop the building and is the shape of, well, a roaring flame — at least that's officially what it's supposed to be. (Though ask any child and they'll give you a different answer as to what it looks like.)
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 10, 2013
"Manabu Miyazaki: The Pencil of Nature"
Manabu Miyazaki uses a self-devised system of infrared sensors and robotic cameras to get wild animals to unwittingly take self portraits.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 10, 2013
"Genichiro Inokuma: Change and Changelessness"
Over his 70-year career, Genichiro Inokuma (1902-1993) made several critical changes to his painting style. He began as a realist portrait artist, then moved onto geometric abstraction after the World War II, before becoming obsessed with portraying faces.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 10, 2013
"Enku's Buddhas: Sculptures from Senkoji Temple and the Hida Region"
It is said that the Japanese Buddhist monk Enku (1632-1695) carved as many as 120,000 wooden Buddha statues during his lifetime pilgrimage to shrines nationwide.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 10, 2013
"Film History in Posters Part 1: Western Movies"
For many, classic Westerns, with their depiction of the spirit and struggles of the new American frontier, bring up feelings of nostalgia. Their stereotypical gunfights, tough sheriffs and rugged wilderness keep them popular — even though for contemporary film, the genre is now waning.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 3, 2013
"Samurai Dandyism"
Although Japanese samurai warriors were engaged in daily bloody battles, it didn't mean that they lacked cultural sophistication and style. Some were poets and calligraphers, and many chose to have their tsuba (sword guards) decorated with intricate metal inlay, known as damascening.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 3, 2013
"Fantasy for the Jomon Era"
Information about the life of Japanese people during the Jomon Period (Japan's neolithic era) is limited, but the study of ancient ruins and archeaological finds have helped us develop a picture of their lifestyle. For example, it is assumed that they hunted boars in the winter and dived into the ocean...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 3, 2013
"Kimono Beauty"
The kimono is one of Japan's most famous traditions. Recently, it has garnered even more international attention as not only a fashionable garment but also as an art form.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 3, 2013
"Situations and Exchanges: Fukuoka Contemporary Art Chronicle"
Fukuoka Prefecture's art industry rapidly prospered during the 1950s-60s with the rise of Group Kyushu, a highly experimental and controversial artists' group. From the 1970s, however, an artistic stagnancy prevailed, and the generation of artists that emerged after the "golden period" struggled to make...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 27, 2012
"20th Anniversary Special Exhibition Opening of Edo-Tokyo Museum"
Before the current prefectural system was established, Japan was split into provinces. The western half of Aichi Prefecture was known as Owari Province, and during the Edo Period (1603-1867) the area became a domain of the influential and prospering Tokugawa clan.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 27, 2012
"Hiroshige: Fifty-three Post-Stations of the Tokaido Series"
The Edo Period (1603-1867) was a time of rapid prosperity for Japan's Tokaido region, which stretches across the southeastern edge of Honshu. Improved public roads gave travelers easier access to the region, whose renowned shrines became popular pilgrimage and tourist destinations.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 27, 2012
"Ikko Narahara: The Sky in my Hands"
Ikko Narahara first shot to fame in 1956, with "Human Land" — a photographic documentation of expeditions to the deserted Gunkanjima (Battleship Island) in Nagasaki Prefecture, and the lava-ravaged Sakura Island in Kagoshima Prefecture. On those islands, Narahara isolated himself from society, so that...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 27, 2012
"A History and Aesthetics of Guilloche Patterns in the Modern Banknote Design"
Japanese banknotes are patterned with highly intricate, geometrical designs of a style known as guilloche, or saimon in Japanese. Guilloche was first introduced to Japan in the beginning of the 19th century. Its complexity not only produces aesthetically pleasing patterns, but it is also difficult to...
CULTURE / Art
Dec 27, 2012
"A History and Aesthetics of Guilloche Patterns in the Modern Banknote Design"
Japanese banknotes are patterned with highly intricate, geometrical designs o a style known as guilloche, or saimon in Japanese. Guilloche was first introduced to Japan in the beginning of the 19th century. Its complexity not only produces aesthetically pleasing patterns, but it is also difficult to...

Longform

Sociologist Gracia Liu-Farrer argues that even though immigration doesn't figure into Japan's autobiography, it is more of a self-perception than a reality.
In search of the ‘Japanese dream’