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Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / JAZZNICITY
Nov 10, 2002

Balladeer does it in his own good time

If there are no second acts in American lives, as F. Scott Fitzgerald said, for some musicians at least, there's a second take. After famed recording sessions in the late 1950s that made him popular, Jimmy Scott's unique vocal style was not heard again on a new recording for some 30 years. Then, in the...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 3, 2002

Yokohama: city of wide horizons

Yokohama owes its rise to political compromise and a natural harbor. The Tokugawa shogunate and Commodore Perry, on the occasion of his return in 1854, could not agree on a parley site to discuss the opening of Japan to trade. The shogunate insisted on Uraga; Perry demanded entrance to Edo. The two sides...
Japan Times
JAPAN / MUSEUM MUSINGS
Sep 21, 2002

Traditional house preserves dream of pioneering writer

Surrounded by trees, the old house sits preserved in tranquility, exuding the beauty of traditional Japan and reviving the taste of the Edo Period two centuries ago.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 11, 2002

As fresh as a girl -- age 82, and male

This month the Kabukiza is staging two masterworks by Shinshichi Kawatake III (1842-1901), a disciple of the renowned 19th-century kabuki playwright Kawatake Mokuami. Not only are these two fine dramas treats in themselves, but one offers the chance to see the legendary onnagata (female role specialist)...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Aug 25, 2002

Down but not out: lessons learned in Ethiopia

Here we go again. Ten years on from the great environmental meetings and agreements made at the first Earth Summit in Rio, and the second Earth Summit is about to start in Johannesburg.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / JET STREAM
Aug 23, 2002

Living like a local

Murdo Maclean is no longer shy about wearing a loincloth and jumping into ice-cold rivers. In fact, it has become an annual event for the red-haired Scot, who has just finished his second year as a coordinator for international relations (CIR) in the town of Ogata, Oita Prefecture.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / ON THE ARCHIPELA-GO
Jul 30, 2002

Going slow and easy in a land of plenty

In vino veritas. In wine there is truth. And in Hokkaido there is wine. Living in Hokkaido has its perks, and I set out recently seeking my truth on a long-weekend getaway with my family in central Hokkaido's wine region.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 24, 2002

Celebrate the fragile art of glass

With the sweltering heat of summer now upon us, you could do worse than escape into the Suntory Museum in Akasaka to visit its exhibition of glass art. There is something particularly cooling about looking at these 142 exhibits, which range from a fragment enameled with a charming bird design from Roman...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jun 23, 2002

Arts of the essential

It is one of those wonderful historical coincidences that Zen Buddhism arrived in Japan at a time when political, economic and social forces converged in such a way as to foster outstanding achievements in the arts.
BUSINESS / INDUSTRY TRENDS
Jun 19, 2002

Japan train stations no longer a sea of black hair

Although not as flashy as the red and golden heads of the Japanese squad in the World Cup, ordinary citizens are sporting brighter hair colors these days, boosting domestic sales of hair dyes.
CULTURE / Music / HOGAKU TODAY
Jun 16, 2002

We're talking the real thing

I recently received an e-mail from a foreign journalist in Japan asking me to comment on "the ongoing boom in Japan of traditional music." The request both puzzled me and made me think. Traditional Japanese music, hogaku, is not exactly booming. Attendance at traditional concerts and enrollment in university...
JAPAN
Jun 9, 2002

Makeup therapist tries to boost patients' esteem, health

It is a skin-thin issue, but it could also be a matter of life-saving gravity. Such is the significance of "rehabilitation makeup" in the eyes of leading makeup therapist Reiko Kazuki.
JAPAN
May 28, 2002

Hacker hits Kommy customer files

Beauty treatment firm Kommy Corp. said Monday that personal information on more than 37,000 customers who have used its Web site has been leaked.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
May 20, 2002

Kobe beef's secret: nice alcoholic cows

As we enter the barbecue season, that tiny lovely sliver of a season stuck between "o-hanami" and the rainy season, the question on everyone's mind is: What is Kobe beef? And what could make Kobe beef so special that people willingly pay over 10,000 yen for a steak?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 8, 2002

Deep in the Laswell mix

Bill Laswell may be best-known as a bassist and producer, but some of his best work of recent years has been on the mixing desk, doing epic, album-length "mix translations" of artists such as Bob Marley, Miles Davis and Carlos Santana. His latest venture in this field is "Shy Angels," a reconstruction...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Apr 10, 2002

Remaking form, recapturing spirit

Hand grenades, gas burners and patio furniture are not items usually associated with ancient potting centers, yet in Shigaraki, southern Shiga Prefecture, even these odd items have been fired.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 29, 2002

Where sea meets sky

Although Brittany is part of France, it was, for many centuries, a wild and windswept country of Celts, where people preserved their own language, customs and faith.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 27, 2002

Getting back to where it began

The career of Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1919), as it unfolds in a new retrospective at the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, is like watching art history run backward. Its culmination -- the glowing colors and dynamic abstraction he made his own -- introduced a whole new visual vocabulary to Western...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Feb 17, 2002

Donald Richie rewinds a century of film

Donald Richie has always struck me as the ideal role model for the aspiring writer. More the distiller than the brewer, the cordon-bleu chef than the bone-cook, there is much to be learned from Richie's refinements.
CULTURE / Art
Feb 13, 2002

Korean art of fine living

In celebration of the upcoming 2002 World Cup soccer finals co-hosted by South Korea and Japan, the Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum will hold an exhibition titled "Masterpieces of Korean Art from the Joseon Dynasty" from Feb. 19. The exhibition consists of 300 works of art of the Joseon, or Yi, Dynasty...
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jan 24, 2002

Eco-tours venture into forests and 'forests'

Two weeks ago, this column introduced Stefan Ottomanski as an educator who thrives on uncertainty. However, he is the first to admit that he did not acquire this trait by choice: It is simply a necessity in his classroom.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 20, 2002

Ladakh: India's timeless Buddhist jewel

CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- Once again tensions are mounting on the famous Line of Control that separates India and Pakistan. The crisis brings to mind images from an earlier pilgrimage I made to that area when I visited Ladakh, an almost inaccessible region in the state of Jammu and Kashmir that is known...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 16, 2002

All-out attack

Visionaries, alleged pornographers, artists of enduring repute -- Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele both died in 1918. With them ended the first flowering of the Vienna Secession, an artistic movement that declared war on the Establishment in the cause of liberty and modernity. "Der Zeit ihre Kunst (Art...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
Jan 9, 2002

Two looks back and three worth looking forward to

Akemashite, etc. . . . Before I do anything else, I'd like to thank NHK for providing me with my yearly dose of enka on the 2001 edition of "Kohaku Utagassen (Red and White Song Contest)."
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Dec 12, 2001

Diverse splendor in many a jar

The depth and variety of Japanese pottery has enraptured the senses for many a season. As the seasons change and the baton of life is passed on, the beauty of older Japanese pottery remains unwithered, even in this winter season and amid all the changes that have occurred within and without. In a sense,...
CULTURE / Film
Nov 28, 2001

Yo, what's with this Dostoevski?

Crime + Punishment in Suburbia Rating: * * * Director: Rob Schmidt Running time: 128 minutes Language: English Now showing
CULTURE / Film
Nov 28, 2001

Some like it chemical

Original Sin Rating: * * * Japanese title: Poison Director: Michael Cristofer Running time: 116 minutes Language: English Now showing
CULTURE / Art
Sep 26, 2001

Revisiting his ancestors' art

Taro Okamoto (1911-96) is perhaps Japan's most famous post-war artist. With his trademark artistic style, his eccentric, media-friendly personality and ready catchphrases, he presented the perfect picture of the inspired artist brimming with original ideas.
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Sep 23, 2001

Hip-hop takes responsibility

Once upon a time, hip-hop reflected -- and reflected upon -- the urban experience: It was another black art form akin to jazz. These days, its purpose appears to be to give suburban white teenagers a vicarious thrill. In the commercially driven dichotomy of contemporary hip-hop, the gangstas and their...
CULTURE / Art
Aug 15, 2001

Icons of a forgotten femininity

Western culture is replete with empowering images of women, from the warrior Amazons of Greek mythology to Wagnerian Valkyries to computer game and movie heroine Lara Croft. Western women are spoiled for choice when it comes to assertive role models. Japan, on the other hand, has always cherished a more...

Longform

Eme-Ima Kitchen is one of over 10,000 kodomo shokudō in Japan. A term first used in 2012 to describe makeshift eateries offering free or cheap meals to disadvantaged kids, it now refers to a diverse range of individuals, groups and organizations working to provide not only food but a sense of belonging to both children and adults.
Japan’s ‘children’s cafeterias’ are booming — but is that a good thing?