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Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jan 23, 2014

Don't flap about when it comes to ensuring a year of good luck

This weekend, Osaka Tenmangu, a shrine in Osaka's Kita Ward, is hosting its annual festival where visitors can trade bullfinch shaped good-luck charms to bring about future prosperity.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 22, 2014

Encounters with the modern that both frustrated and inspired Japanese artists

When Japanese audiences turn their attention to modern art they tend to favor the 'original' works from the West, while foreign viewers all too often find Japan's foray into oil painting too similar to the Western model.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / CHILD'S PLAY
Jan 16, 2014

Exploring Omotesando's cool cultural playground

Over the course of my adult life, I've made — and forsaken — countless New Year's resolutions. So many that by my mid-30s I had stopped making them altogether. Then a few years ago, I began using Jan. 1 to commit myself to small parental self-improvements that were feasible enough that even I could...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / CHILD'S PLAY
Dec 17, 2013

A museum where kids can play out fire-fighter fantasies

Last month I recommended the Tokyo Rinkai Disaster Prevention Park — a place where both children and adults can learn about earthquake safety in an enjoyable way. Maintaining that theme, this month we move to the other side of town to the Fire Museum in Shinjuku.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 11, 2013

'The Snowman Fantasy World'

This exhibition celebrates the 30th anniversary of the animated version of Raymond Briggs' popular children's book "The Snowman." Originally written in 1978, the picture book was adapted for the screen by Dianne Jackson in 1982, and it has since captivated audiences worldwide.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Dec 4, 2013

In Japan, no escape from The Eye's perpetual policing glare

In Japan, The Eye compels you towards collective behavior: Mustn't be forceful or push back against the status quo, lest you get hairy-eyeballed.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 13, 2013

The politics behind Japan's modern era of proletarian art

"Art and Literature in Japan 1926-1936" follows the close of the Taisho Era (1912-1926), which was characterized by democracy, artistic experimentation and widespread social self-absorptions by the citizenry in new fashions such as the "beach pajama" outfits of "modern" girls. The successive Showa Era...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 13, 2013

'Yosooi'

Covering the aesthetics of clothing, dress style and appearance, this show features black-and-white photographic prints from the gallery's collection of around 10,000 works. The exhibition focuses on the significance of the stylistic appearance of garments and the facial expressions of its wearers.
Events / KANSAI: WHO & WHAT
Nov 1, 2013

Kyoto palace to hold football, music event

Until Monday visitors to Kyoto can enter the Imperial Palace without the need to make applications in advance.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 17, 2013

Emergency service hops language barrier

An emergency call for an ambulance could easily result in an unnecessary tragedy if the caller doesn't speak Japanese fluently.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Sep 30, 2013

Triumph of Tokyo Olympic bid sends wrong signal to Japan's resurgent right

International events undermine Japan's democracy. Shame on the International Olympic Committee for being a party to it.
Japan Times
Events / Events In Tokyo
Sep 19, 2013

Candles to remember Tohoku

News media continue to report on the disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, but it's important to remember that people across the Tohoku region are still recovering from the Great East Japan Earthquake that happened there two years ago.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Sep 9, 2013

If you're jōzu and you know it, hold your ground

Communicating in Japanese is not all that difficult. What's difficult is communicating with Japanese people, writes Debito Arudou.
Japan Times
Events / Events In Tokyo
Aug 29, 2013

Latin music event includes Cuban ensembles and dancers

Smooth grooves will take the spotlight at a Latin music festival in Tokyo this weekend, which brings three popular Latin American acts to Japan for the Animate! event.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 28, 2013

Art fiction that keeps our thinking adept

What is the connection between Kampala in Uganda, Fukushima in Japan and New Orleans in America? Tsuyoshi Ozawa links these seemingly disparate places in his ongoing series "Vegetable Weapons". The shape of a gun is formed out of local vegetables and photographed, before it's taken apart and the same...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / CHILD'S PLAY
Aug 20, 2013

A big day out at the sumo

They're sweaty, they're chubby and they love pushing each other around. But enough about the folks at my family reunion, let's talk about sumo. This quintessentially Japanese sport is a lot of fun to witness with kids, and the Ryogoku neighborhood surrounding Tokyo's Kokugikan sumo stadium has several...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 7, 2013

The beauty of 'man'-kind

While the ukiyo-e woodblock prints depicting beautiful young Japanese women of the Edo Period (1603-1867) are world-renowned, an equally worthy genre and common theme tends to get overlooked: that of handsome men. The imaginative exhibition "Handsome Boys and Good-looking Men of Edo," currently on show...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jun 30, 2013

Delving into Ethiopia's ancient past and present

I'm edging my way through a long tunnel in pitch darkness, feeling for the roof so I don't hit my head, waving my trusty flashlight around to scan the walls and sandy floor and check for any unwelcome wildlife. I feel like Indiana Jones but a lot less brave.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 11, 2013

Idiosyncrasies of the Kano school explored in Kyoto

Kano Masanobu (1434-1530) founded the Chinese-art influenced painting school that bears his family name and flourished in different forms through to the Meiji Era (1868-1912). A familiar tale is that as it became the dominant hierarchical painting academy of political and military patronage, it began...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 29, 2013

Revamped Kabukiza theater aims to charm a new audience

The Kabukiza is back — with big ambitions and aspirations to make the nation's classical theatrical entertainment more attractive to a 21st-century audience.
Events / KANSAI: WHO & WHAT
Feb 9, 2013

Big festival at Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto

Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto will hold its Hatsu Uma Festival on Saturday in which visitors pray for a healthy family life and good business. The ceremony will run for about an hour from 8 a.m., but visitors are welcome all day. Admission is free. The shrine is near Inari Station on the JR Nara Line....
Events / KANSAI: WHO & WHAT
Feb 2, 2013

Check out 'cake shrine' for Valentine's Day

Around 80 students from a cooking school in Osaka will demonstrate their final procedure to complete a shrine made of 500 "dorayaki" pancakes, 40 kg of chocolate and 400 cookies from Wednesday through Friday to pray for good luck on Valentine's Day.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / NOTEBOOK
Jan 30, 2013

Daiwa House starts Singapore venture; EU showcases environment technology

Announcements
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 23, 2013

"Two Photographers: Robert Capa Centennial/ Gerda Taro Retrospective"

Robert Capa (born Endre Ernö Friedman) was a photojournalist known for his documentation of the brutal horrors of war. He often risked his life by taking action shots on the frontline, but he also focused on ordinary locals affected by the instabilities of war.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 3, 2013

"Fantasy for the Jomon Era"

Information about the life of Japanese people during the Jomon Period (Japan's neolithic era) is limited, but the study of ancient ruins and archeaological finds have helped us develop a picture of their lifestyle. For example, it is assumed that they hunted boars in the winter and dived into the ocean...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Dec 16, 2012

Survivor pens 'too painful' 3/11 tale

'March 11, 2011 — We will never forget the day. The disaster ...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Dec 9, 2012

There are 'snow monsters' who can help save Tohoku

Yes, it's true. Spending some money on skiing among snow monsters and soaking in hot-spring baths is a good way to help the Tohoku region of northeastern Honshu recover from the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011, the terrible tsunami it triggered and the ongoing nuclear crisis that followed....
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 4, 2012

Original gifts for your unique friends

The design lover
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 22, 2012

"Kyohei Sakaguchi: Practice for a Revolution"

As a college student, architect Kyohei Sakaguchi met a homeless man who he remembers as "Mr. Suzuki." Amazed by Suzuki's ingenious survival skills, Sakaguchi became interested in the life of the homeless and spent time observing and interviewing them.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Nov 9, 2012

Grandson of famed noh actor to debut

Many young artists experience a make-or-break moment in their careers. For 24-year-old noh actor Motoi Imai, his debut as the shite (lead) character in the production of "Tsunemasa" could be that moment.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?