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November 22, 2024
 

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James Hadfield
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 19, 2019
Pioneering singer-songwriter Sachiko Kanenobu finally gets her due
If she had to sum up the past couple of years, Sachiko Kanenobu would probably opt for a simple "OMG!"
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 12, 2019
'We Are Little Zombies': Cynical tweens on an 8-bit escapade
The kids aren't quite alright. After watching his late parents go up in smoke at a crematorium, all Hikari (Keita Ninomiya) can think about is how their ashes look like the Parmesan cheese he sprinkles over his spaghetti.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 22, 2019
'Farewell Song': Guitars without rock 'n' roll excess
Of all the many breeds of musician out there, few are as stubbornly uncinematic as acoustic singer-songwriters. Forget flamboyance, creative excess, clashing egos and all the other qualities that tend to attract filmmakers to the music industry in the first place. The average singer-songwriter gig is...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 8, 2019
'Cheer Boys!!': Cheerleading, but not much to cheer for
Most athletes live in fear of the fateful injury that derails their career, but when university freshman Haruki (Ryusei Yokohama) damages his shoulder during judo training, he seems relieved. Despite growing up in a family of judoka, he's never taken to the sport with the passion of his older sister,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 1, 2019
'Pacific Breeze' collates the slick sound of Japanese city pop
Long overlooked by international labels, Japan's rich musical history has been undergoing thorough excavation over the past few years. Some of the most satisfying archival releases to date have come from Light in the Attic, the U.S. label behind last year's Haruomi Hosono reissues and the recent "Kankyo...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 17, 2019
'Just Only Love': Looking for romance in all the wrong places
If you believe everything you read in the news, Japanese romance movies should really belong in the science fiction category. Just last week, a new study estimated that a quarter of people aged 18 to 39 in Japan had never had heterosexual intercourse, feeding the popular stereotype of a listless generation,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 11, 2019
Connan Mockasin finds his Japan groove ahead of his debut gig in his adopted country
"Sorry?" splutters Connan Hosford, better known as Connan Mockasin, as his bandmates cackle in the background. "Excuse me ... What did you say before?"
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 10, 2019
'A Gambler's Odyssey 2020': A lot of controversy about nothing
Given the timid, committee-driven nature of modern Japanese film production, it's rare for anything to make it into the cinemas with even the slightest whiff of controversy still clinging to it. "A Gambler's Odyssey 2020" is a pungent exception.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 27, 2019
Suchmos' 'The Anymal' aims high but misses the mark
Of all the acts to emerge during the recent city pop revival, when the funk-inflected AOR of early-1980s Japan seemed to be coming back in vogue, Suchmos has been by far the most successful. Last year saw the sextet graduate to playing arenas and providing NHK's theme song for the FIFA World Cup —...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 21, 2019
A new lease of life for Macoto Tezka's cult classic 'The Legend of the Stardust Brothers'
Like so many authors of cult movies, Macoto Tezka didn't set out to make a commercial bomb. His debut feature, "The Legend of the Stardust Brothers" ("Hoshikuzu Kyodai no Densetsu"), was widely lambasted upon its release in 1985, but over the years it has steadily acquired a reputation as a delightful...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 13, 2019
Haruomi Hosono reworks a modern classic with 'Hochono House'
As he enters his 50th year in the music business, Haruomi Hosono hasn't lost his talent for making you wonder what the devil he's up to. After using modern studio technology to recreate the sounds of mid-20th century pop on "Vu Ja De" in 2017, his latest effort looks to his early career for inspiration....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 6, 2019
'Siblings of the Cape': Uncomfortable, yet compelling
There are films that take you places you rather wish they wouldn't. Within the first 10 minutes of "Siblings of the Cape," I was ready to stop watching, but something about Shinzo Katayama's scruffy, transgressive debut kept me hooked.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 27, 2019
'Samurai Marathon': A sprint through Japanese history
The arrival of U.S. Commodore Matthew Perry's infamous "black ships" in 1850s Japan prompted some unusual reactions from a country that had spent the past few centuries shut off from the outside world. Few were as offbeat as that of the feudal lord Itakura Katsuakira, who decided that the best way to...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 20, 2019
'Another World': An uneasy reunion for old friends
While the jury at last year's Tokyo International Film Festival made some unimpeachable selections, it was left to viewers to supply the biggest surprise of the event. "Another World" was an unexpected choice for the Audience Award, which typically goes to more comedic fare in the vein of 2017 winner...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 13, 2019
Twenty years after frontman Shinji Sato's death, Fishmans is still walking in the rhythm
In the eternal present of modern listening, when the entire history of recorded sound is just a few clicks away, some music reverberates for longer. That's been the case with Fishmans, a cult Japanese act from the 1990s whose blend of dub rhythms and dream-pop reverie continues to lure new fans 20 years...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 13, 2019
Chai's 'Punk' is an irrepressibly upbeat victory lap
For a band that made its name by bucking kawaii conventions, Chai can be awfully cute. On its second album, misleadingly titled "Punk," the quartet takes the giddy sugar-rush of 2017's "Pink" and distills it into a mixture so potent, it should probably come with a health warning attached. They ought...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 16, 2019
'The Nikaidos' Fall': What's in a name? Everything.
The weight of tradition threatens to crush a once-great family in "The Nikaidos' Fall," a contemporary drama about people with an unhealthy fixation on the past. Iranian director Ida Panahandeh's film starts in a cemetery and never really leaves the realm of the dead. Its characters are so haunted by...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 9, 2019
'His Lost Name': A lack of more than just a name
Cinema abounds with tales of imposters and con artists, but some of the most interesting stories are the ones where people get wise to a deception and decide to go along with it anyway. In "His Lost Name," a young drifter arrives in a rural backwater under a fake identity, only to get sucked into a relationship...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 5, 2018
'A Crimson Star': A taboo and toxic story of love
At a time when many aspiring Japanese filmmakers spend years working on other people's movies before having a chance to make one of their own, getting your first feature into cinemas at the age of 22 is no small achievement.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 23, 2018
YMO's Yukihiro Takahashi celebrates a pair of 40th anniversaries
The past few years have been a boom time for Japanese reissues, as labels dredge up everything from ambient obscurities to glossy disco-pop for the benefit of listeners who missed them first time around. For Yukihiro Takahashi, it's all a bit confusing.
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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