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Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 13, 2002

A traveler possessed by light

Part of the game of art nowadays is for artists, whatever their influence or orientation, to avoid classification. Once this happens, their work often devolves into well-worm cultural cliche. One 20th-century artist who escaped this process, though, was Paul Klee (1879- 1940), whose work is as hard to...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 6, 2002

Impressionist master of time and space

If the world seems like a dark place at the beginning of the present century, an exhibition of work completed at the beginning of the last may help put things back in a more optimistic perspective. "Monet -- Later Works: Homage to Katia Granoff," is on show at the Iwate Museum of Art till Feb. 11 and...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Jan 16, 2002

Eternal vessels and dreams of clay

Machiko Ogawa's creations are like ancient memories wrought from clay and buried centuries ago, waiting to be discovered today. Like scenes long lost in the maze of the mind, the ceramic artist's work reappears as if emerging from a dream -- a dream formed of clay.
CULTURE / Art
Oct 3, 2001

Missing links steal the show

Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but it is also a dubious honor. For some 15 years, until his death in 1610, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio's brooding and beautiful works scandalized Church and patrons alike, and left a generation of followers -- and copycats -- in his wake.
CULTURE / Books
Jul 22, 2001

Thanks to 'doken kokka,' are Japan's best decades behind it?

THE EMPTINESS OF JAPANESE AFFLUENCE, by Gavan McCormack. Armonk, NY: ME Sharpe, 2001 (2nd edition), 311 pp., $27.95 (paperback). What went wrong? A decade ago few would have predicted the sustained malaise that has gripped Japan since the early 1990s.
JAPAN
Jun 9, 2001

Panel to call for freeze on dam, road projects

A key government economic panel will call for a freeze on dam and road projects on which construction has not yet begun when it issues a blueprint for reform on June 27, government sources said Friday.
CULTURE / Art
May 16, 2001

Kishida's short but brilliant career

When Japan opened up to the West after the Meiji Restoration, it had a lot of catching up to do. Achievements that took hundreds of years to develop in European civilization were transplanted to Japan in a few decades.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
May 10, 2001

Long-protected holy mountain to be gutted by highway project

Japan's Environment Minister, Yoriko Kawaguchi, recently told Mick Corliss of The Japan Times that she would like to incorporate an "environmental perspective" into public-works projects. If she is serious, there could be no better place to begin than Mount Takao.
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Mar 10, 2001

An innovative, magical potter

Meiji Era craftsmen lived in a world of divergent influences: Galle glass, French bronzes, Art Nouveau designs, Chinese celadons and tenmoku tea bowls, as well as their own traditions, whose product was at the crossroads between being an industrial export or the aesthetic vision of the individual artist....
CULTURE / Books / POETRY MIGNETTE
Feb 18, 2001

Avant-garde poet tosses Japan a luscious bouquet

The end of last year and the beginning of this one has produced a fine crop of poetry publications. Though each of these volumes deserves its own separate review, happily I'm able to give these works exposure here.
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Dec 9, 2000

The tiny treasures of Hikaru Shimamura

The great 20th-century Japanese potter Kanjiro Kawai (1890-1966) marveled at items that were small and most people overlooked: a stone, a leaf, a box of matches. He would toss them over and over again in his hands.
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Nov 11, 2000

Bringing a new shine to old Kutani

When I first looked at the work of Yasokichi Tokuda III (b. 1933) I had to put on a pair of sunglasses -- I was almost blinded by the intensity of his kaleidoscopic Kutani porcelain.
JAPAN
Sep 2, 2000

34 projects join those to be scrapped

The Construction Ministry listed 34 public works projects Friday for possible scrapping based on its own criteria for stopping wasteful spending.
CULTURE / Art
Aug 6, 2000

Urawa Art Museum picks art to make book on

Urawa Art Museum, which opened in April as the second public museum in Saitama Prefecture, is currently exhibiting 220 books created by 20th-century Western artists.
JAPAN
Jul 3, 2000

Detention of ex-minister Nakao extended

The Tokyo District Court has decided to allow former Construction Minister Eiichi Nakao to be detained for another 10 days through July 11, sources said Sunday.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
May 2, 2000

Everything about Tanizaki

TANIZAKI IN WESTERN LANGUAGES: A Bibliography of Translations and Studies, by Adriana Boscaro, with a list of films based on Tanizaki's works compiled by Maria Roberta Novielli. Ann Arbor, MI: Center for Japanese Studies, The University of Michigan, 2000, 82 pp., $19.95. This fine bibliography is one...
CULTURE / Art
Mar 11, 2000

Scorched in the fires of Iga

The influence on contemporary Japanese pottery from medieval kilns is still profound and deep, even though we have one foot into the 21st century. These high-fired unglazed stonewares can be found in potting centers commonly referred to as the Six Old Kilns (rokkoyo) -- the only problem is that this...
JAPAN
Jan 18, 2000

Dam vote clouds future of toothless plebiscites

Staff writer Sunday's plebiscite over a controversial dam project in Tokushima Prefecture may have triggered more questions and issues to be tackled than it has solved, as both government and citizens grapple to find a middle ground on incorporating residents' voices over public works projects. The...
CULTURE / Art
Jan 8, 2000

Ceramic greats spotlighted

New Year's Greetings to all Ceramic Scene readers! In Japan there are innumerable artistic groups that allow their members to exchange ideas or research, sponsor lectures or workshops and to acknowledge outstanding work in their respective fields. The Japan Ceramic Society (Nihon Toji Kyokai) is one...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 1, 1999

Kawabata and great truths

FIRST SNOW ON FUJI, by Yasunari Kawabata. Translated by Michael Emmerich. Washington, D.C.: Counterpoint, 227 pp., $24. This collection of stories, plus an essay and a dance-drama, was originally published in 1958 as "Fuji no Hatsuyuki." It is late Kawabata -- most of the major works had already appeared,...
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 2, 1999

Dancing in the footsteps of Ailey

Alvin Ailey was an American choreographer with a seismic impact on modern dance in this century. He revolutionized the way African-American rituals, experiences, music and literature were presented through dance and carved a niche for the voice of that community that continues through his company 10...
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
May 8, 1999

Kawai exhibit shows grace under fire

The term mingei (folk art) was coined by Soetsu Yanagi in 1926 to refer to common crafts that had been brushed aside and overlooked by the industrial revolution.
Japan Times
Special Supplements / Hiroshima G7 Summit Special
May 19, 2023

Split education system needs a shake-up, president warns

Waseda University, one of Japan’s leading private universities, began its history as Tokyo Senmon Gakko, which was established in 1882. The founder, Shigenobu Okuma, served as Japan’s prime minister twice, in 1898 and 1914. Waseda has produced eight of the country’s prime ministers, including Fumio...
An X90 Plus crossover — produced by Chinese automaker Jetour — sits ready for sale at a dealership in the Moscow Region on July 12.
BUSINESS
Jul 20, 2023

Made in Russia? Chinese cars drive a revival of Russia's auto factories

The rebirth of the Moskvich is a sign of China's growing sway over an important sector of Russia's economy.
A cinema employee checks on a display showing a digital poster for Oscar-winning animator Hayao Miyazaki's latest film, "The Boy and the Heron," on the first day of its premiere in Tokyo on July 14.
CULTURE / Film
Jul 21, 2023

For his last movie, Hayao Miyazaki recycles himself

While visually and technically stunning, "The Boy and the Heron" might give some viewers an unsatisfying sense of deja vu.
Mexican chef Marco Garcia has developed an innovative cuisine by fusing his love of Japanese classics, especially sushi, with the staple foods and flavors of his homeland.
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jul 17, 2023

At Ebisu’s Tacos Bar, seafood tortillas with sushi inspiration

Chef Marco Garcia’s focus at Tacos Bar is entirely on seafood — and what excellent fish it is.
Cameron Lew, the 27-year-old behind the California-based music project Ginger Root, crafted a detailed city-pop-inspired universe with a 1980s idol storyline for last year’s “Nisemono” album.
CULTURE / Music
Jul 28, 2023

Ginger Root's modern spin on Showa nostalgia

The California-based project is set to bring its distinct interpretation of city pop to Fuji Rock Festival this weekend.
As artificial intelligence grows more sophisticated, transparency has taken a back seat and could harm its quality and safety.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 30, 2023

Secretive chatbot developers are making a big mistake

Before we can ponder existential threats of the new technology, Silicon Valley must be forced to disclose more about how their tools are created.

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.