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November 23, 2024
 

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Philip Brasor
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 16, 2008
Muslim-Hindu relations explored in PIFF selections
In terms of box office, India has always been the best market for movies, though with its plethora of languages and regional tastes in entertainment, the country has been impervious to imports. In recent months, however, there have been deals struck between Hollywood and Bollywood that allow for movement...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 16, 2008
Japan shines at Asia's top film festival
Acknowledged as the most important annual film event in Asia, Korea's Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF) opened its 13th edition on Oct. 2 under several clouds. The glittery opening ceremony, stuffed to the rafters with Korean celebrities, was more subdued this year owing to the same-day suicide...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 12, 2008
Ryu Murakami mistakes consumption for labor
A friend used to call TV Tokyo the "ramen and golf channel." He was referring to the station's penchant for programming centered on food shows and sponsored sports events, which don't cost as much to produce as drama series or celebrity- laden variety shows. However, the station's tightwad image was...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 10, 2008
"British Anthems"
The semiannual rock show "British Anthems" is a bargain: For the price of a major headliner you get to see four or five up-and-coming U.K. bands. Given the fickle nature of the British rock press, which declares some new band the greatest thing since The Smiths at least once a month, there's no reason...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 5, 2008
Diet 'juniors' and Japan's politics of descent
One of the busiest people on TV right now is Daigo Naito, a 30-year-old who dresses and gesticulates like a rock star while speaking in the tones of a narcotized 16-year-old. Daigo isn't a comedian, though his droning delivery elicits laughs, and he's not really a rock star, though he did start his show...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 3, 2008
Jon Cleary and the Absolute Monster Gentlemen
You would assume that anyone who grew up in New Orleans would appreciate that city's unique musical culture better than the transplant would — but sometimes it takes an enthusiastic outsider to show the native just what he's got . . . or lost.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 28, 2008
When is an 'election' not an election?
The personality contest foisted on the public as a campaign for the presidency of the Liberal Democratic Party insulted the intelligence of anyone with a nervous system, and not just because Taro Aso was known to be a shoo-in from the beginning. By presenting five candidates who were supposedly vying...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 21, 2008
Koizumi branded the bad boy in latest food scandal
Most of the recent food-related scandals were motivated by pure greed, so they were easy to understand. The current scandal involving inedible imported rice bought from the government and sold as edible rice is more complicated and raises some questions. How do the governments of the countries that produced...
CULTURE / Music
Sep 19, 2008
The Cool Kids "The Bake Sale"
The story goes that Chicagoans Mikey Rocks and Chuck Inglish got into hip-hop with the idea of producing simple jams to sell to MCs. But as often happens, the two couldn't help but add their own raps over the tracks they made, and then they posted some of them on the Internet. People liked what they...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 14, 2008
Feed, don't fight, Afghanistan
The circumstances surrounding the kidnapping and killing of Japanese aid worker Kazuya Ito in Afghanistan last month remain unclear. In the web journal Japan Focus, Michael Penn conjectures that Ito's death resulted from a "botched effort to abduct him, not . . . premeditated murder." The gunshot wounds...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 7, 2008
Hoshino still getting skewered over Olympic failure
The Beijing Olympics is history, but the debate continues over Japan's showing. Last week, Fuji TV's Sunday night newsmagazine, "Sakiyomi," held a discussion on whether or not the government should increase its budget for Olympic athletes. Three of the four celebrity guests in the studio thought that...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 5, 2008
Cardiff band get Los in translation
Los Campesinos!, a pop septet from Cardiff, Wales, were an inspired choice to open the Marine Stadium stage at Summer Sonic Tokyo last month. Each tune kicks off with a catchy riff and proceeds to burn rocket fuel as lead vocalist Gareth twitches and yelps — nothing the band plays is slow, or even...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 31, 2008
Surrogate path for dads not always as easy as for Ricky
When Puerto Rican pop star Ricky Martin announced on Aug. 21 that he was the father of twin boys born to a surrogate mother, the media reacted cautiously. Martin is single, and for years rumors have circulated that he is gay. Celebrity interviewer Barbara Walters once asked him about this, and he dodged...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 24, 2008
It's time for perfectly cute 50-year-old Japanese women
Madonna turned 50 on Aug. 16. The milestone was marked by a predictable barrage of commentary about "50 being the new 40" and how women no longer dread the half-century mark. Everybody is trying to eat better and exercise more, and cosmetic surgery isn't the big taboo it once was. But since the subject...
CULTURE / Music
Aug 22, 2008
Stereolab "Chemical Chords"
As their name indicates, what Stereolab do is closer to science than art, and one of the hallmarks of science is that through trial and error you improve on yesterday's work. At this point, Tim Gane and Laetitia Sadler, the couple at the creative center of the group, have almost completely abandoned...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 17, 2008
Indonesians put to the test on the job in Japan
When the first group of potential nurses and caregivers arrived from Indonesia on Aug. 7 as part of a new economic partnership agreement (EPA) with Japan, the numbers were confusing. According to the agreement, Japan would accept 500 workers in the first year and facilities throughout Japan said they...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 10, 2008
Celebrity rules as the Olympics strays far from its ideal
The big story this year in competitive swimming is the LZR Racer swimsuit, which was developed by the British sportswear manufacturer Speedo. At least six world records have been set by swimmers wearing the suit. Studies have shown that its drag-diminishing properties lower racing times by 1.9 to 2.2...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 7, 2008
Mad about deke-deke-deke
The Ventures' 1962 trip to Japan sparked the "eleki boom." Thousands of young men bought electric guitars and taught themselves how to play. As a movement it worried their elders, who believed such distractions were an obstacle to schoolwork, or worse.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 7, 2008
The Ventures: Still rocking after 50 years
The Ventures have just finished playing 33 songs in the space of two hours in front of some enthusiastic, though seated, middle-aged fans at the Hokutopia concert hall in Tokyo. Kazushi Kojima, who calls himself a "philosopher," is there with his son. He's been attending Ventures shows for 30 years....
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 3, 2008
The obsession over those dumbed down cute mascots
Japan is overrun with cute mascots. They represent everything from chain stores to police departments, and for the past decade or so there has been a marked increase in the popularity of one species of mascot called "yuru-kyara." The second half of this word stands for "character," while "yuru" is from...
Tokyo Metro’s overseas efforts begin in earnest with London deal
Tokyo Metro will soon have a role in the running of London's Elizabeth Line, a major train route serving the U.K.’s capital city and environs.
U.S. aircraft carrier returns to Japan carrying navy’s ‘most capable fighter’
U.S. 7th Fleet Commander Vice Adm. Fred Kacher speaks to reporters shortly after the arrival of aircraft carrier USS George Washington at Yokosuka naval base in Kanagawa Prefecture on Friday.
Man charged with murder allegedly made victim date other men for money
A car carrying suspect Ryotaro Masuda, who was indicted for allegedly beating his 25-year-old girlfriend to death, leaves the Shibuya Police Station in Tokyo on Thursday.
Russia fired experimental ballistic missile at Ukraine, Putin says
Ukrainian firefighters work on a spot following an airstrike in Dnipro on Thursday.
Ex-yokozuna Kitanofuji dies at 82
Yokozuna Kitanofuji enters the ring during the May 1970 grand sumo tournament in Tokyo.
Shohei Ohtani wins National League MVP award
Shohei Ohtani celebrates after hitting a three-run home run against the Padres during the National League Division Series at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles last month.
The slow-burn success of ‘A Samurai in Time’
A 19th-century warrior gets struck by lightning and wakes to find himself in 21st-century Kyoto in Junichi Yasuda’s surprise hit “A Samurai in Time.”
Around a quarter of Japan married couples in their 20s met through dating apps
A survey released by an organization promoting “Good Couples Day” shows that 24% of couples in their 20s met their marriage partner through a dating app.
'Tokyo Swindlers': Get deep into the minds of real estate con artists
In Ko Shinjo's "Tokyo Swindlers," a group of con artists manipulates real estate giants into falsified deals within the highly competitive, quick market.
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.

Podcast

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

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?
By Kathryn Wortley

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