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November 21, 2024
 

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James Hadfield
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 20, 2015
The meat and masochism of Swans
When Swans last played Tokyo in 2013, the venue itself seemed to be groaning under the weight of the onslaught. Two hours into a set of tempestuous rock catharsis, the power cut out; once restored, the group kept playing for another 30 minutes.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 6, 2015
Jazz trumpeter Toshinori Kondo issues a challenge to modern-day musicians
On a chilly Friday afternoon in December, trumpet player Toshinori Kondo reclines in the clutter of his Kawasaki recording studio, pours out two cups of shōchū liquor, and starts to explain what prompted him to abandon a lucrative career in Japan and move to Amsterdam in 1993.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / THE HIGH GROUNDS
Jan 6, 2015
Nozy Coffee knows blends are old news
Sometimes a bit of youthful brashness goes a long way. Masataka Nojo was still just a university student when he started his coffee empire in 2009, from a humble coffee stand in Kanagawa Prefecture's Shonan region.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 16, 2014
Rock, J-pop and dance: Albums we liked in 2014
The year-end album charts in Japan have a tendency to prop up the same acts year after year: Exile, anything that ends in a "48," and almost every group from the Johnny & Associates stable of boy bands. Writers at The Japan Times, however, spent the year looking past the charts to find a few gems lurking...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Dec 6, 2014
What's beneath all that latex, fabric and plastic?
In 1910, a man named Otto James was arrested for parading down a busy street in Tacoma, Washington, wearing fancy dress. The charge of "public masquerading" — so quaint to modern ears — was itself nothing new, but the choice of costume was notable: James had gone for a stroll dressed as the main...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 18, 2014
RBMA gifts Tokyo with some impressive events, but did they simply preach to the converted?
At Liquidroom last Friday night, clubbers attending the Red Bull Music Academy Tokyo closing party formed an orderly mob outside the venue as they waited for upward of half an hour to get inside. Only on reaching the head of the queue did it become clear that the bottleneck wasn't being caused by a surfeit...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 14, 2014
Review: Chaos Conductor at Shinseiki Dance Hall in Tokyo
The events organized in the course of the monthlong Red Bull Music Academy Tokyo have run the gamut from tired to inspired. This breezy, entertaining evening of improvised music at the Showa-era Shinseiki dance hall in Uguisudani slotted happily into the latter category, while putting the current class...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Nov 12, 2014
Inside the kingdom of Kodo
As world leaders in the performing art of Japanese drumming, Kodo state on their website that their mission is: "To explore the limitless possibilities of the traditional Japanese drum, the taiko (aka wadaiko), and to forge new directions for this vibrant living art form."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 4, 2014
New Zealand's Fat Freddy’s Drop puts its foot down on jamming
Not long ago, the members of groove-surfing New Zealand seven-piece Fat Freddy's Drop set themselves a strict new rule: No more jamming.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 28, 2014
Ena treads a fine line in the DJ booth
When the people at the Berlin-based Samurai Horo label asked Yu Asaeda to contribute to a compilation they were putting out, they got more than they'd bargained for.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 23, 2014
Review: DJ Krush at the Tokyo National Museum
It's all in the location. For his sold-out Red Bull Music Academy show on Monday night, DJ Krush traded his regular clubland haunts for something a little fancier: the courtyard of the Yoshio Taniguchi-designed Gallery of Horyuji Treasures at Tokyo National Museum in Ueno. Entering through an imposing...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 21, 2014
EMAF packs a lot onto its musical menu
In its first week, the Red Bull Music Academy Tokyo has treated local audiences to a wide gamut of sounds, from hip-hop to deep house to noise, while keeping the capital's billboards comprehensively smothered in advertising. The two-day EMAF Tokyo (Electronic Music of Art Festival), held under the auspices...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 20, 2014
Review: Wails to Whispers at SuperDeluxe, Tokyo
Visitors to Roppongi's SuperDeluxe last Friday arrived to find the basement venue decked out with tatami mats and a polite sign at the door asking them to remove their shoes on the way in. This was the setting for Wails to Whispers, one of the more conceptually ambitious events held during Red Bull Music...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 9, 2014
DJ Krush taps into tradition for RBMA
This month, artists from 34 countries will congregate in Tokyo for the latest edition of the Red Bull Music Academy (RBMA), a caffeine-fueled creative hothouse organized by the world's most ubiquitous energy drink brand. For participants, the event offers a chance to attend closed-door lectures with...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 9, 2014
RBMA co-founder hopes to support Japan's neglected artists
The Japan Times spoke to Red Bull Music Academy (RBMA) co-founder Many Ameri from New York, the site of last year's academy, and now home to an annual Red Bull music festival. Here are some excerpts from the conversation:
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 7, 2014
Dorian Concept to try new live set at RBMA
Each year, thousands of budding musicians and producers vie for a place in the Red Bull Music Academy (RBMA), a globe-trotting workshop sponsored by a company better known for peddling buzz-inducing energy drinks. Over the years, the event has helped nudge a variety of artists toward wider success —...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 16, 2014
Haioka wants to represent Japanese style at RBMA
By his own admission, Shintaro Haioka was a late bloomer. The 32-year-old producer, one of only two Japanese artists taking part in the upcoming Red Bull Music Academy Tokyo, says he was an avid music fan as a teenager — but a lousy musician.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 9, 2014
More than beginner's luck for RBMA participant Albino Sound
There's nothing like a deadline to pull things into focus. "When you're making music on a computer, it's hard to know when to stop — you could keep going forever," says Hirotaka Umetani. "It helps to have a cut-off point."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Aug 16, 2014
Punk author Kou Machida on his offbeat samurai story
You wouldn't expect a punk musician to write decent novels, any more than you'd expect a boxer to be good at darning. The talents prized by the former vocation — restlessness, insouciance, hard-wired disregard for authority — don't lend themselves to the rigors of the author's life: all those long,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 5, 2014
Yosi Horikawa explores Yakushima's sounds in new documentary
As Tokyo gears up to host this year's Red Bull Music Academy, one of the event's Japanese alumni is keeping himself busy.
Ishiba delays meeting with Trump, citing legal restrictions
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba waves upon arrival for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, in Callao, Peru, on Friday.
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.
Rising sex tourism exposes loopholes in Japan's anti-prostitution law
While financial misfortunes during the COVID-19 pandemic may have driven some women to work the streets, others simply want more money to spend — or want to pay off their debts — at host clubs.
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.

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