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November 22, 2024
 

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James Hadfield
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 31, 2018
'Manhunt': Action maestro John Woo drops the baton
'Manhunt' has got the white doves, gratuitous slo-mo and operatic gunplay that fans of Woo's earlier films would expect, but the whole thing is as slackly executed as an 'Expendables' movie.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 30, 2018
Falsettos offers an alternative to 'macho rock'
If you're playing in a group in Japan and your members all happen to be female, sooner or later you're going to get slapped with the "girls' band" tag. The term has been used willy-nilly to describe everything from the manufactured guitar-pop of late-'80s chart-toppers Princess Princess to the experimental...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 24, 2018
'Midnight Bus': A trundling bus trip to boresville
Taizo Harada plays Toshikazu 'Riichi' Takamiya in Masao Takeshita's 'Midnight Bus,' a film that feels overlong and lacks emotional punch.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 23, 2018
London is the place to be for Luby Sparks
Some bands have all the luck. While many of their peers will probably be toiling on the live circuit for years before gaining any recognition beyond their immediate circle of friends, the college kids of Luby Sparks are already going places.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 20, 2017
Working in the film industry as a non-Japanese has its own challenges
Japan is home to one of the most lucrative movie industries in the world, and also one of the most prolific: 1,149 films received a theatrical release during 2016, over 600 of which were domestic productions. It can be hard to stand out in such a crowded marketplace and the challenges are often compounded...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 29, 2017
'Vu Ja De': Fans of Haruomi Hosono are rewarded with a deep dive
At a recent concert in Tokyo, Haruomi Hosono enlisted a pair of comedy acts to open the proceedings. First stand-up duo Knights did a routine based on mangled misreadings of the headliner's Wikipedia page, then impersonator Michiko Shimizu and her brother, Ichiro, performed the Happy End song "Aiaigasa"...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 16, 2017
Steven Soderbergh looks to get 'Lucky' with a new distribution model for films
He's been away for such a short time, you may not have noticed Steven Soderbergh had even stopped making movies. In 2013, the director — who won the Palme d'Or at Cannes with his 1989 debut, "Sex, Lies, and Videotape," when he was just 26 years old — announced his retirement from filmmaking, citing...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 14, 2017
The music you didn't realize you grew up with: Chip Tanaka's 8-bit revolution
If you grew up during the 1980s or 1990s, there's a good chance that you spent more time listening to the music of Hirokazu Tanaka than to many of your favorite pop songs. Such was the reach of the work that the Kyoto native created during his nearly 20-year tenure as a sound designer at Nintendo, as...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Nov 8, 2017
When you go to a film festival, all you can do is roll the dice and pray for gold
Covering a film festival is what's known in the profession as a crapshoot. No matter how many screenings you manage to clock, you're probably going to miss half of the flicks that end up winning prizes.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 17, 2017
Psych-rock act Kikagaku Moyo makes a virtue of DIY and keeping it 'sloppy'
If you were to glance at Kikagaku Moyo's tour itinerary for 2017, it would be easy to forget that the group was Japanese at all. The psych-rock quintet recently completed the second leg of a European tour that encompassed nearly 50 dates, having racked up 26 shows around North America earlier in the...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN?
Oct 14, 2017
Sound artist Aki Onda explores memory through sound
'I never miss Japan,' says New York resident Aki Onda. 'Now I have a distance — that's why I enjoy going back to Tokyo.'
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 20, 2017
Sapphire Slows is getting more vocal, and not just in her music
When she first emerged on Tokyo's bedroom producer scene in 2011, Sapphire Slows shot to prominence almost instantly, scoring a release on voguish Los Angeles label Not Not Fun mere months after starting out. A full-length album, "Allegoria," followed on the same label in late 2013; and then, like the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 12, 2017
Wonk plays around with 'experimental soul' on a pair of new albums
"The way music from America and other Western countries got imported into Japan, the roots are different," says Ayatake Ezaki, keyboardist for Tokyo-based quartet Wonk.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 31, 2017
Miho Hazama will celebrate 100 years of jazz at Tokyo Jazz Festival performance
Japanese audiences are renowned as some of the world's most respectful listeners, but for musicians accustomed to getting more raucous receptions elsewhere, the experience can be a little unnerving.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 31, 2017
Drum prodigy Senri Kawaguchi doesn't put limits on her music
In 2010, the online encyclopedia Drummerworld added a 13-year-old Japanese schoolgirl to its list of the world's greatest players. Senri Kawaguchi had rocketed to fame after posting YouTube videos of herself drumming along to songs from the "K-On!" anime series, wearing the same sailor-suit school uniform...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 25, 2017
Netflix's 'Death Note' may be dumber, but is it really evil?
After the furor over the recent "Ghost in the Shell" adaptation, moviegoers should be familiar with the concept of "whitewashing," the insidious Hollywood practice of casting Caucasian actors in roles that originated as non-white characters. But when Lakeith Stanfield, who is African-American, was picked...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 1, 2017
Fuji Rock Festival: It may not make sense on paper, but the end results are glorious
This year's Fuji Rock Festival was a damp and turbulent affair, albeit only in the most literal sense. Whatever the formula is for convincing people to blow their entire summer vacation budget on a few days in the Japan Alps — much of which will likely be spent lining up for the toilet, getting drenched...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 27, 2017
Quruli has noticed a change in the way young people listen to music
Many musicians will admit to having a special affection for Fuji Rock Festival, which unfurls at Naeba Ski Resort in Niigata Prefecture this weekend. Few, however, have a history as tightly intertwined with the event as Quruli, the affable guitar-rock outfit from Kyoto.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 18, 2017
Keiji Haino at 65: 'I want to be a bad boy, right until the end'
"I don't want people to treat me like a god," says Keiji Haino, chuckling. "I want to be a bad boy, right until the end."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 5, 2017
Cornelius opens up a little more on his latest album, 'Mellow Waves'
Though it has been 11 years since his last album, Keigo Oyamada never really went away. The studio wizard known as Cornelius has spent the past decade diversifying his portfolio: creating soundtracks for anime and educational TV; playing in electro super-group Metafive and collaborating with J-pop singer...
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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