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November 22, 2024
 

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James Hadfield
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 10, 2016
Last splash: How long will the immodest Japanese tradition of mixed bathing continue?
The main reason that mixed baths have endured for so long is that communities have still supported them. When an onsen stops being a gathering place for locals, there's less to stop it slipping into disrepute.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Dec 7, 2016
'Crazy Thunder Road' is still a mad, but great film
Sogo Ishii — or Gakuryu Ishii, as he now prefers to be known — was just 23 when he released "Crazy Thunder Road," perhaps one of the greatest films to emerge from Japan's punk era (an honor it shares with the director's 1982 follow-up, "Burst City"). A nihilistic tale of warring biker gangs and ultra-nationalist...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 7, 2016
'Hitchcock/Truffaut': An auteur meets his (movie) maker
The French got Alfred Hitchcock well before the Americans did. In the 1950s, when the tubby director's Hollywood overlords still regarded him as a producer of light entertainment — the Robert Zemeckis of his day, perhaps — the writers at France's Cahiers du Cinema magazine recognized his deeper genius....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 16, 2016
'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' delivers giddy escapism
When the Harry Potter saga reached the end of its eight-movie run in 2011, only a Muggle would have predicted that we'd heard the last from J.K. Rowling's world of wizardry. Never mind the obsessive fandom that the novels and films inspired, they were also seriously big business. As cinematic franchises...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 6, 2016
Keiji Haino, Jim O'Rourke to join event paying tribute to 'disruptive' artist Tony Conrad
Of the many words used by friends and collaborators to describe Tony Conrad, who died last April at the age of 76, one of the most frequently heard is "disruptive." In a career that straddled experimental music, film, visual art and education, Conrad vigorously resisted the complacency that befell many...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 2, 2016
'Embrace of the Serpent': Amid the poisons of colonization
While Leonardo DiCaprio's masochistic lead performance garnered greater acclaim, perhaps the most striking aspect of "The Revenant" was the diligence it showed in telling the Native American side of the story. Yet for all the scenes of authentic Arikara dialogue, the indigenous characters in Alejandro...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 19, 2016
TIFF takes viewers beyond the comfort zone
While sifting through the movies submitted for this year's Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF), competition programming director Yoshihiko Yatabe says he noticed a recurring theme.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 13, 2016
Shugo Tokumaru gets his friends involved on new album 'Toss'
A couple of months ago, Shugo Tokumaru released a video on YouTube that showed him preparing an elaborate meal from an unlikely set of ingredients. In it, he took a selection of toy instruments — a ukulele, a recorder, some castanets, a party horn — and chopped them up, dusted a few pieces with flour,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 12, 2016
'Jason Bourne': The invincible franchise
It's the Bourne revival: Matt Damon is Bourne again. After an unsuccessful attempt to transfer the franchise to Jeremy Renner in 2012's "The Bourne Legacy," Damon has returned to his most iconic role as the brainwashed CIA super-soldier. He's the real deal, the Sean Connery to Renner's George Lazenby,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 9, 2016
A hive of sonic activity stirs on Kafka's Ibiki release
There's something curious happening on "Nemutte," the sophomore album by Tokyo-based instrumental trio Kafka's Ibiki. When it performs live, the group specializes in long, patiently evolving improvisations that occupy a liminal zone between jazz, ambient, minimalism and experimental rock.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 5, 2016
'Star Trek' lives on and prospers
In principle, it's hard to dislike "Star Trek." Each time the crew of the USS Enterprise venture into the great beyond, broadcasting their mantra of peace and intergalactic harmony, it's a riposte to the iffy politics advocated by other movie franchises: they're the United Nations to Marvel and DC's...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Sep 30, 2016
Sushi crimes: How Japan polices its culinary traditions
"This is the best sushi you'll find in LA," says a suavely dressed man to his date, as they swoon over a table laden with ersatz creations like "caterpillar roll" and "spider roll." But just as they're about to consummate their passion, the meal is interrupted by a trio of armed Japanese officials: the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 21, 2016
Hany Abu-Assad: Making strong voices heard
Ever since the first series of "Pop Idol" screened on British TV in 2001, the televised music competition has become practically inescapable, with franchises springing up everywhere from Macedonia to the Maldives. Given how cannily stage-managed these "reality" shows really are, though, it almost comes...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 14, 2016
'The Red Turtle': Studio Ghibli takes an intriguing turn
Two years ago the English-speaking internet world was shaken by the news that Japan's most beloved animation house, Studio Ghibli, would be closing its doors for good. The story, which originated from a fan blog and was picked up by a variety of more reputable outlets that should've known better, quickly...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 31, 2016
'Gods of Egypt': What an ungodly mess
In the latest issue of Kinema Junpo, Japan's most venerable film magazine, you can read a lengthy tribute to Gaga, the dogged independent movie distributor that's marking its 30th anniversary this year. The occasion is certainly worth commemorating: This is the company that released "Seven," "Talk to...
Japan Times
CULTURE
Aug 25, 2016
Koenji's Awa Odori festival celebrates 60 years
For the past few weeks, visitors and residents in Koenji have been haunted by a song — a plaintive, pentatonic melody that seems to circle endlessly, never quite resolving. You can hear it playing over speakers on the station platform just before the train doors close. It's there again as you walk...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 21, 2016
Sukiyaki Meets the World music festival thinks global and acts local
In his classic polemic against modern Japan, "Dogs and Demons," Alex Kerr described how a system of government loans and subsidies in the 1980s spurred a nationwide outbreak of grandiose construction projects. Today, the Japanese countryside is littered with oversized, underused cultural centers, many...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 17, 2016
Superhero films need to reach beyond the geeks
Where superhero movies are concerned, you should never trust a critic. When David Ayer's "Suicide Squad" opened to a barrage of negative press in the U.S. earlier this month, some fans responded by lashing out at film journalists online. One even launched a petition against the review aggregator site...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 17, 2016
'Song of the Sea': Seals, fairies and ancient folk songs
When Isao Takahata's "The Tale of Princess Kaguya" lost out to "Big Hero 6" in the competition for Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards last year, it was a reminder of how thoroughly 3-D computer animation has eclipsed more traditional techniques. In the 15 years since the award was introduced,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 10, 2016
'The Jungle Book': Darker yet infinitely more beautiful
After decades spent wrestling with the logistics of international shoots, Hollywood seems to be coming full circle. It's like the early days of cinema again, when exotic locales were evoked within the confines of a movie studio, though today's filmmakers aren't so reliant on hand-painted scenery any...
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.

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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