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July 17, 2024
 

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Philip Brasor
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 19, 2009
Asian Kung-Fu Generation @ Nano-Mugen Festival
There are few success stories in Japanese rock as satisfying as Asian Kung-Fu Generation's. Formed at Yokohama's Kanto Gakuin University in 1996, the punk quartet slowly garnered a following in the Tokyo metropolitan area before appearing at both Fuji Rock and Summer Sonic in 2003. That same summer,...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 14, 2009
A trifle late, but the media master murder-case coverage
After the Supreme Court upheld Masumi Hayashi's death sentence in April, the Wakayama Curry Murder Case became history. As far as the media is concerned, there is nothing left to talk about until her sentence is carried out, even though serious doubts remain about the prosecution's evidence, which was...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 12, 2009
BMO Music Fest
The BMO Music Fest is a one-night urban music extravaganza that squeezes a lot of entertainment into a limited space of time. Seven major hip-hop and R&B artists will be on hand, all of whom could fill a club or even an auditorium on their own. This year's headliner is Shaggy, who remains the biggest...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 7, 2009
Our columnist's 'drug runs' are happily over
Whenever I visit the United States, friends ask me to pick up things for them, usually over-the-counter (OTC) drugs that are cheaper in the States than they are in Japan. I always return with this booty as nervous as if I were carrying a brick of hash, having once been told by a colleague how customs...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 31, 2009
A slight unmasking of Japan's flu 'pandemic'
While traveling through Scandinavia two weeks ago, I had scant opportunity to monitor Japan's anxiety over the sudden increase in confirmed cases of H1N1 flu that led to closings of schools in the Kansai region. Europe seemed barely concerned about the new flu and when I caught BBC World in hotel rooms...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 24, 2009
The art of eco: Eco this, eco that, eco is such a steal
As Kermit the Frog once said, "It isn't easy being green." Take this new "eco points" plan that goes into effect once the latest supplemental budget is formally passed. Consumers who buy refrigerators, air conditioners and TVs designated as having energy saving qualities will receive points that can...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 17, 2009
Oh! To have a married life
Last week, during an NHK discussion about the future prospects of people who are presently 35 years old, an announcer casually dropped a statistic that said 82 percent of all 35-year-olds in Japan make ¥2 million or less a year. These are the people who are now supposed to be the core purchasers...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 10, 2009
A death from human kindness
On April 21, the body of former pop singer Yukiko Shimizu was found in a cemetery in Oyamacho, Shizuoka Prefecture, in front of her father's grave. Police assume that she committed suicide on the spot by inhaling hydrogen sulfide fumes and had probably also tried to kill her 80-year-old mother, who was...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 8, 2009
The Horrors "Primary Colours"
The big hair, the mascara, the emaciated frames, the all-black get-ups, the BELT BUCKLES! It's difficult to take The Horrors seriously on any level because it's impossible not to receive their visual gestalt as some sort of bad joke that they themselves don't get. Even the name is hilariously obvious....
CULTURE / Music
May 8, 2009
Bluesman Robert Cray plays it with soul
Robert Cray last performed in Japan 13 years ago at the Japan Blues Carnival — an experience that for him is now a bittersweet memory.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 3, 2009
SMAP star Kusanagi causes naked rage among media
Between the time the media first heard the news that SMAP member Tsuyoshi Kusanagi had been arrested for public indecency and his press conference the next day, there was a frisson of titillating anticipation over what the scandal might reveal and how Kusanagi would emerge from it. Even now, speculation...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 26, 2009
Media silence on first lady's school visit shows Japan's education gap
Earlier this month, while her husband, the president of the United States, met with other world leaders at the G20 summit, Michelle Obama visited a school for "disadvantaged" girls in North London and was moved to tears by the students' hard work and talent. In an emotional speech, she hailed the young...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 24, 2009
Jane Monheit
Jane Monheit first attracted attention as the runnerup in the 1998 Thelonious Monk Institute Vocal Competition held in New York, but her musical sensibility seems better suited to Broadway show tunes than jazz standards.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 19, 2009
Chiba's governor may soon be whisked away to his home planet
In the latest installment of Suntory's series of TV commericals for Boss canned coffee, the extraterrestrial Tommy Lee Jones, who has been sent to Earth to study the human race, runs for governor of an unnamed prefecture and wins by a landslide. The excitement is short-lived, though, as his inappropriate...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 17, 2009
The deBretts
On the MySpace page for The deBretts, a new four-piece band from London, there's a photo of lead singer Vonnie in a black chiffon dress sitting on a toilet in what looks like a public rest room.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 17, 2009
Sparks plug away toward ultimate entertainment
Most successful pop musicians live in a strange world. Several years ago, Bono shocked conservative sensibilities and delighted antiestablishment types by uttering the F-word at the Grammys, but he was not being rebellious. The word slipped out because he was excited about receiving an award from the...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 12, 2009
Entertainment as a fun family soap
Last weekend, actor Shunta Nakamura was arrested for possession of hashish while sitting in a parked car in Suginami Ward, Tokyo. The suspect's father, veteran actor Masatoshi Nakamura, quickly obliged the showbiz media by performing one of those tearful apologies that everyone looks forward to under...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 10, 2009
Simon & Garfunkel
The news that Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel are touring again is bittersweet for many people. Reportedly, the purpose of the reunion is to make up for the pair's neglect of Asia and Oceania during their last tour in 2001, so there will be no stops in North America or Europe. And since it has been informally...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 5, 2009
Dead ends, about turns abound in the politics of roads
About a year ago, the government was all in a lather about extending the gasoline tax. Local governments and the ruling coalition, not to mention interested bureaucracies, wanted to continue the tax because they said the revenues were necessary to build more roads. Opposition parties were against the...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 29, 2009
Make room in the scrapyard of history for those quaint TV sets
When regular television broadcasts in America started in 1939, the intrinsic evils of the medium were already being discussed, and by the '50s the term "idiot box" had been coined.
Who needs AI when you have Hatsune Miku?
Over the first six months of 2024, a handful of songs using Vocaloid singer Hatsune Miku’s voice have enjoyed widespread attention, underlining a global interest in the character and the technology she represents.
Yen’s woes seem too big for even a BOJ hike this month to solve
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo
China’s economic growth comes in worse than expected
Pedestrians in the Wangfujing shopping area in Beijing on July 11, 2024. China's economic growth in the second quarter was lower than forecast, adding pressure on Chinese leaders to lift confidence at the Chinese Communist Party's third plenum this week.
Kansai airports to increase takeoff and landing slots ahead of Osaka Expo
Kansai International Airport in Izumisano, Osaka Prefecture. The upper limit on the number of takeoff and landing slots at the airport as well as Kobe Airport in Hyogo Prefecture will be raised in spring next year ahead of the 2025 World Exposition in Osaka.
Shooter came within inches of killing Trump, but left few clues as to why
An aerial view shows the stage where Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump had been standing during an assassination attempt the day before, and the roof of a nearby building where a gunman was shot dead by law enforcement, in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Sunday.
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.
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.

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

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

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

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