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November 22, 2024
 

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Kris Kosaka

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Kris Kosaka
Kris Kosaka, a resident of Japan since 1996, contributes regularly to The Japan Times. She is a lecturer at Meiji Gakuin University in the Faculty of International Studies.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Oct 3, 2015
'The Good Shufu' explores life as foreign housewife in Japan
"The Good Shufu" is the true story of a "left-leaning, 36-year-old confirmed Bostonian" who falls in love with her Japanese MBA student, Toru, after a three-week courtship in Kobe. With self-deprecating humor and a sharp recognition of the prejudices and stereotypes operating at both ends of the globe,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Sep 26, 2015
A misanthropic memoir from Meiji Era Tokyo
Kansuke Naka's childhood memoir, "The Silver Spoon: Memoir of a Boyhood in Japan," is a charming depiction of life in Meiji Era (1868-1912) Japan.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Sep 12, 2015
'Our Land Was A Forest' depicts life in Hokkaido for indigenous Ainu
No bookshelf filled with Japanese literature is complete without Ainu folklore. Yes, Ainu yukar (folk tales) have been published in English, but to learn more about their stories and struggles, pick up the 1994 memoir "Our Land Was a Forest: An Ainu Memoir" by Kayano Shigeru, a noted Ainu folklore expert,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Aug 25, 2015
The Royal Opera returns with a double bill to thrill
Lovers of classical music can diffuse summer's heat with some ghostly relief, as The Royal Opera makes its first visit to Japan since 2010 — this time with the spectral pairing of Giuseppe Verdi's "Macbeth" and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "Don Giovanni."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Aug 15, 2015
'Folk Legends from Tono' brings new life to Kunio Yanagita's fantastic tales
"Folk Legends from Tono," takes the reader inside a land of superstition and pragmatism, farming and faith. The tales unravel in short vignettes, loosely grouped by myriad topics ranging from "Biology and Human Emotion" to "Survival on the Edge."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Aug 8, 2015
'The Shooting Gallery' reveals Yuko Tsushima's existential feminism
Critically acclaimed, and winner of both the Kawabata and the Tanizaki awards, Yuko Tsushima lacerates with wisdom and uncomfortable truths. Translated by Geraldine Harcourt in 1988, "The Shooting Gallery" is a compilation of Tsushima's early short stories, largely based on her experiences as a single...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jul 30, 2015
The triennial World Ballet Festival brings classics, rarities and international dance talent to Tokyo
While music fans are still reeling from this year's Fuji Rock Festival (and prepping for Rock in Japan and Summer Sonic ahead), classical music fans are just warming up as the World Ballet Festival is set to hit Tokyo this weekend.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jul 25, 2015
'Here Comes the Sun' traces one woman's spiritual journey through Japan
With the success of last year's popular NHK drama, "Massan" — a dramatization of the life of Scotswoman Rita Cowan in early 20th-century Japan — it was inevitable that interest in foreign wives in this country would surge.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jun 23, 2015
Trocks set to blend ballet and fun
It's Trocks time again, as that madcap melange of comedy and classical ballet trucks into Tokyo this weekend at the start of a monthlong nationwide tour — the troupe's 28th to Japan over more than 30 years.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Jun 21, 2015
Governance guru pushes Japan Inc. to open up and diversify
Former trailblazing dean Christina Ahmadjian finds her balance between the classroom and boardroom.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Jun 20, 2015
Shusaku Endo's 'Wonderful Fool' is an incisive commentary on the materialism and spiritual emptiness of 1950s Japan
There's loads of literature that illuminates the foreigner's struggle in Japan. But these tales about "strangers in a strange land" are mostly written from the stranger's point of view. It's more unusual to read the Japanese perspective, which is one reason why Shusaku Endo's "Wonderful Fool" — first...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
May 27, 2015
In international education in Japan, there's diversity between as well as within schools
Profiles of four schools demonstrate the wide range of philosophies and curriculums that families can choose from.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Apr 28, 2015
Bintley returns with his new-look 'Cinderella'
For dance fans, there's the promise of some glittering Golden Week holiday reunions as David Bintley, long-time director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet, returns here with that company for the first time since his four-year stint doubling up as artistic director of the National Ballet of Japan ended last...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Apr 25, 2015
Memoirs of Yoshiko Yamaguchi, Manchuria's 'Fragrant Orchid'
Often the conflicts between countries are best expressed through the personal story of a single citizen, and this is true with "Fragrant Orchid," the autobiography of famed actress and singer Li Xianglan. Born Yoshiko Yamaguchi — her birth name as an ethnic Japanese — the book details her upbringing...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Apr 18, 2015
Excavating Japan's buried baseball history with Masanori Murakami
Sometimes historical analysis can't compete with a good personal story, as Robert K. Fitts — a baseball expert and former archaeologist — proves with his newest book, "Mashi: The Unfulfilled Baseball Dreams of Masanori Murakami, the First Japanese Major Leaguer."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Apr 18, 2015
'You Gotta Have Wa' is still the best analysis of Japanese culture seen through the lens of sport
Robert Whiting's baseball classic, "You Gotta Have Wa," (updated in 2009) remains the definitive text on Japanese culture seen through the lens of sport. Whiting has an engaging style, his research is exhaustive and his first-hand knowledge has ensured this book is just as entertaining now as it was...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Mar 21, 2015
Black Jack
Although he is best known internationally for creating "Astro Boy," Osamu Tezuka's most popular work for adults in Japan is "Black Jack," a series of short stand-alone stories from the 1970s, documenting the renegade antics of the unconventional title doctor whose mercenary facade masks a wise, compassionate...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Mar 21, 2015
Mendeleev's Mandala
"Mendeleev's Mandala" is the most recent collection of poetry from Kansai-based writer Jessica Goodfellow.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Mar 14, 2015
Above the East China Sea: A Novel
Although this is supposedly Sarah Bird's "most ambitious" novel to date — and it is ambitious — it's not the novel that falls short, it's the marketing. Rather than Bird's ticket to entering the "literary elite," it is the best of young adult fiction.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 11, 2015
Tokyo Ballet revisits 'Giselle' anew
Ballet legend Vladimir Malakhov's first connection with Japan was more than 20 years ago, when he danced in the World Ballet Festival in Osaka opposite Alessandra Ferri in a piece from Marius Petipa's 1850 revival of "Giselle."
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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