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July 16, 2024
 

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Thu-Huong Ha
Thu-Huong Ha is the culture critic at The Japan Times, focusing on contemporary art and fiction. Previously she was a reporter for Quartz, an editor for TED.com and an executive producer of TEDxNewYork. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Wired, The Believer, and ArtReview, among others. Her debut novel, "Hail Caesar," was published by Scholastic/PUSH in 2007. Get in touch: [email protected] or instagram.com/whatthusee.
Tenugui towels hang up to dry at a dyeing company in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, on May 8. The durable and versatile tenugui, which many people have in their homes, can be used in many ways to cool one’s body.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
Jul 14, 2024
How to beat Japan’s summer heat in ways better for the planet
As summers get hotter across the world we’re met with a paradox: To stay cool, it seems we’re compelled to consume more.
Toshiko Takaezu made vases and bowls in all shapes and sizes, some that could fit in your palm and some towering over your head.
CULTURE / Art
Jun 23, 2024
The Japanese-American ceramicist who made pots as big as her
The exhibit “Toshiko Takaezu: Worlds Within,” on view at the Isamu Noguchi Museum, is part of a resurgence of interest in the Hawaiian artist of Okinawan descent.
Natsuko Imamura’s new short story collection "Asa: The Girl Who Turned into a Pair of Chopsticks" explores the worlds of three alienated girls whose problems are anything but typical.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 16, 2024
‘Asa: The Girl Who Turned into a Pair of Chopsticks’: Uncanny tales of troubled young women
Natsuko Imamura's narrators are young women with dogged resolve, few scruples and a naivete that borders on delusion.
Eschewing the comfort of Tokyo’s air-conditioned museums, the inconvenient art movement draws viewers into the countryside to see artworks such as Christian Boltanski’s “Les Regards.”
CULTURE / Art
Jun 7, 2024
A list of Japan’s remote art sites
Get off the beaten path this summer and discover art tucked away in the farthest reaches of Japan.
Yayoi Kusama’s “Pumpkin,” once the victim of high waves that dragged it into the sea, sits at the end of a pier on the south side of Naoshima.
PODCAST / deep dive
Jun 6, 2024
The sweaty pleasure of Japan’s inconvenient art
This week, writer Thu-Huong Ha is our tour guide into the world of Japan’s inconvenient art movement.
Why does it feel like we’re in a ceaseless cycle of seasonal prep?
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
May 31, 2024
Help! I'm stuck in Japan's endless cycle of seasonal prep
Rainy season is here, and so are all the preparations for your home and clothes. Why does living in Japan feel like an endless cycle of gearing up for the weather?
After his family loses its political influence, Prince Takaoka leaves his life in Japan behind and embarks on an adventure across Asia in Tatsuhiko Shibusawa’s “Takaoka’s Travels.”
CULTURE / Books
May 14, 2024
‘Takaoka’s Travels’: The fantastical romp of a real-life royal turned monk
Tatsuhiko Shibusawa’s outlandish novel is based on a real-life Japanese prince who set out for India, only to go missing along the way.
Birdhead members Ji Weiyu (left) and Song Tao, who are exhibiting “The Matrix” facing the “chikuin no ma” garden at Kondaya Genbei as part of Kyotographie 2024.
CULTURE / Art
May 3, 2024
Shanghai duo Birdhead flips photography
Artists Ji Weiyu and Song Tao play with randomness and control in their Kyotographie exhibition, "Welcome to Birdhead World Again, Kyoto 2024."
Theaster Gates' “A Heavenly Chord” lines up church pews before seven speakers and a Hammond B3 organ, a type of electric organ prevalent in Black American churches.
CULTURE / Art
Apr 27, 2024
Theaster Gates’ ambitious ‘Afro-Mingei’ brings Black Chicago to Tokyo
The largest solo show ever of a Black artist in Japan is an absorbing history lesson that draws a line between Chicago and Aichi.
Yassine Alaoui Ismaili, who goes by Yoriyas, turned to photography, shooting motion while in motion himself, after an injury forced him to give up his career as a professional breakdancer.
CULTURE / Art
Apr 22, 2024
Kyotographie's strong 12th edition shines light into the margins
This year’s installment of the photography festival highlights underrepresented groups from around the world — while avoiding anything too challenging.
The Oxford English Dictionary contains 552 Japanese loanwords in English, a small number compared to the near 25,000 borrowings from French.
LIFE / Language
Apr 18, 2024
The unexpected ways in which Japanese words 'make it' into English
Thanks to new entries in the Oxford English Dictionary, pretty soon even your grandparents will know what "onigiri" and "omotenashi" mean.
As well as its successes through director Hayao Miyazaki (right), Studio Ghibli has been equally successful with its business and marketing acumen, which are led by producer Toshio Suzuki (left).
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Apr 18, 2024
Cannes announces honorary Palme d’Or for Studio Ghibli
This marks the first time the honorary award is going to a group instead of an individual.
Yayoi Kusama during a media preview of her exhibition at the David Zwirner gallery in New York in November 2013.
CULTURE / Art
Apr 11, 2024
Yayoi Kusama was the world’s top-selling artist last year
Sales from Kusama’s auctioned works totaled $80.9 million in 2023, moving her up from the second-highest selling artist in 2022.
Yayoi Kusama’s “Pumpkin,” once the victim of high waves that dragged it into the sea, sits at the end of a pier on the south side of Naoshima.
CULTURE / Art / Longform
Apr 6, 2024
Why is the most exciting art in Japan so hard to get to?
Japan has a unique movement of public art projects and festivals that are a slog to get to — by design. A writer examines the country's “inconvenient art."
“Time” is a mixed-genre performance, conceived by musician Ryuichi Sakamoto and artist Shiro Takatani, that depicts a struggle between man and nature.
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 30, 2024
Ryuichi Sakamoto and Shiro Takatani’s ‘Time’ is a dreamy blur
It’s been one year since the composer’s death, but his creative output carries on in Japan.
Riken Yamamoto is the ninth Japanese architect to receive the Pritzker Prize in the award’s 45-year history.
CULTURE / Art
Mar 5, 2024
Riken Yamamoto awarded Pritzker Prize for architecture
Riken Yamamoto is the ninth Japanese architect to receive the honor, making the nation again the country with the most Pritzker laureates.
An adult Natsuki (Manami Goto, center) and her husband (Hiromichi Aramaki, right) enter into a twisted relationship with her cousin (Mittsun, left) in “Earthlings.”
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 24, 2024
Sayaka Murata's 'Earthlings' is a fittingly wild ride on stage
The book’s gore and guts make for a fun, zany stage adaptation.
At the new teamLab Borderless museum, the crowd-favorite room of lamps from Borderless 1.0 has evolved into a room of light bubbles, which interact with each other and the bodies passing by.
CULTURE / Art
Feb 8, 2024
Have we reached teamLab saturation?
The art collective re-opens its Borderless museum in Azabudai Hills. But the experience is starting to feel stale.
The thick, supposedly lucky sushi rolls of Setsubun are full of it.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 31, 2024
How a trendy sushi roll usurped the traditions of Setsubun
The lore around “ehōmaki” sounds just whacky enough to make it an old custom, but it turns out to be a fairly recent phenomenon.
Following the death of manga artist Hinako Ashihara, X users are going in search of clues, treating the internet as a virtual crime scene — and appointing themselves the arbiters of law and order.
CULTURE / Wide Angle
Jan 31, 2024
The internet goes in search of blame after the death of Hinako Ashihara
To piece together what happened, social media users are going in search of clues, treating the internet as a virtual crime scene.
Bloodied Trump survives assassination attempt at political rally
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is surrounded and evacuated by Secret Service agents at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday. Trump was rushed off stage at the rally after shots rang out.
How to beat Japan’s summer heat in ways better for the planet
Tenugui towels hang up to dry at a dyeing company in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, on May 8. The durable and versatile tenugui, which many people have in their homes, can be used in many ways to cool one’s body.
The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'
Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.
Amid same-sex marriage ban, LGBTQ couples opt for 'photo weddings'
A lesbian couple, consisting of a 35-year-old woman (left) and 40-year-old woman, cover their faces with bouquets as they pose for wedding photos in Yokohama on Nov. 1.
China and Russia conduct joint Pacific military patrol
The Russian corvette Gromkiy enters the Chinese port of Zhanjiang as part of a joint China-Russia naval exercise on Saturday.
How to beat Japan’s summer heat in ways better for the planet
Tenugui towels hang up to dry at a dyeing company in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, on May 8. The durable and versatile tenugui, which many people have in their homes, can be used in many ways to cool one’s body.
After Trump shooting, U.S. presidential race might take a violent turn
United States Secret Service Counter Snipers stand guard on a rooftop during a campaign rally for U.S. President Donald Trump in Avoca, Pennsylvania, in 2020.
No AC this summer? No problem (for me).
Think air conditioning is a requirement for a Tokyo summer? Think again.
She’s paying ¥1 million to help behind the scenes at the Paris Olympics
Mai Tarumi, who previously volunteered at the postponed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, has a travel budget of ¥1 million for her trip to volunteer at the Paris Games.
How to tweak your diet when temperatures spike
Most people think of hydration as a strictly liquid-based concept, but eating foods with high water content is an essential part of making it through a Japanese summer unscathed.

Podcast

You can often see generations of families enjoying performances together at Fuji Rock Festival.
Japan’s summer music festivals are feeling the heat in more ways than one

Longform

Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.
The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'
By Tomoko Otake

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