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Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
May 15, 2023

Japanese skateboarders shine as X Games return to Japan

Skateboarding legend Tony Hawks says Japanese skateboarders are 'the one's to beat now.'
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 9, 2010

Up from the underground: Womb turns 10

Since opening its doors in April 2000 with a live set from New York house legend Junior Vasquez, Tokyo's club Womb has been credited with doing more than other local venues to bring dance-music culture into the mainstream.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 11, 2019

Music historian Kato David Hopkins and a life spent discovering the obscure in Kansai

Music historian Kato David Hopkins is using his Happy Hour event in Kyoto to educate people about some of the lesser-known bands of the Kansai underground scene of years gone by
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / Defining the Heisei Era
Nov 24, 2018

Defining the Heisei Era: Examining the rise of otaku culture

With the number of children shrinking, popular entertainment naturally began targeting the otaku population that didn't hesitate to open their wallets for material many considered juvenile.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 27, 2014

Finding Japan's hidden punk scenes in their natural environments

Finding music in Japan can be a nightmare, and the live-music scene in particular is notoriously difficult to penetrate. Tucked away in the basements and upper floors of anonymous buildings, often in seedy parts of town, where the neighbors will be less likely to raise complaints against noise and loitering,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Jun 9, 2014

Young designer opportunities, plus new lines for older brands

Designers, get ready to get crazy
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 6, 2010

Hippies and hipsters brave a soggy Fuji Rock

When you're talking about a music festival whose inaugural event was literally wiped out by a typhoon, it can feel a bit petty to complain about the weather. All the same, campers arriving at Fuji Rock Festival in Naeba on Thursday last week might have hoped for a warmer welcome than the torrential downpour...
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
May 29, 2022

As shooting continued, officers questioned commander’s decision to wait

Questions have mounted over local police chief Pedro Arredondo, the role of the department and whether any of the 21 lives that were lost could have been saved.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 4, 2020

No lockdown needed? Japan stores are shutting down voluntarily

Japan's restaurant, bar and chain stores are taking matters into their own hands by voluntarily shuttering hundreds of stores to help curb the coronavirus spread.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 12, 2012

When it comes to technique, Ozone says, 'Go West'

In 1956, pianist and band leader Toshiko Akiyoshi made the brave decision to leave Japan and enter the Berklee College of Music in Boston. As a young Asian woman embarking on a career in jazz, she was a novelty back then. She persevered and subsequently spent the majority of her career in the United...
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Jan 8, 2023

After an emotional week, NFL returns to something like normal

The game in Las Vegas between the Raiders and Chiefs proceeded even as players were still processing what they had witnessed Monday night.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 29, 2022

A protest? A vigil? In Beijing, anxious crowds are unsure how far to go.

In a country where protests are swiftly quashed, many who gathered to voice their discontent — under the watchful eye of the police — were uncertain about how far to go.
Japan Times
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / 'Terrace House Tokyo 2019-2020' Recaps
Apr 21, 2020

Ep. 40 ‘Never Forgive Luigi’

"Terrace House" is shutting its doors, for now. The big news this week was that, according to the show's official Twitter account, production would be shut down due to the current outbreak of COVID-19. That means this week's episode is the last new one we'll be seeing for a while, so savor each sip of...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / 2019 in Review
Dec 26, 2019

2019 served as a reminder of the importance of community in music

As music scenes fragmented, the year showed a renewal in community events for alternative music in Japan, with festivals and gigs taking to new venues and battling the weather
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 29, 2017

Gender equality and the mass media

Mass media in this country remains a male-dominated community and its understanding of gender equality is far too insufficient.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 9, 2016

Linklater swaps tension for jock jokes in 'Everybody Wants Some!!'

With his 1993 major studio debut, "Dazed & Confused," director Richard Linklater tried to go mainstream with the style he'd explored in his Gen-X defining indie hit "Slacker." Set on the last day of school in the summer of 1976, "Dazed" felt like it was happening in real time, with a huge cast of characters...
LIFE / Digital / JAPAN TIMES BLOGROLL
Apr 13, 2009

I Rub Your Brog

While many first-time visitors to Tokyo probably have a fuzzy idea of what to expect, they would do themselves a favor to first check out I Rub Your Brog, a Web blog that randomly documents "life, music and general weirdness in central Tokyo." This is where they'll find slices of technicolor life not...
CULTURE / Music
Jan 27, 2006

A band that plays along with the joke

Test Icicles have been in Japan for less than 24 hours, and nearly a quarter of that has been spent talking to journalists. Rory Atwell, the band's eldest member at the ripe old age of 25, is still somewhat game, but his younger bandmates, both just 20 years old, have a different agenda. Devonte Hynes,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 21, 2005

Rallying round home-grown sounds

It's the final day of this year's Rock in Japan festival, which took place Aug. 5-7. Holding court in the HMV DJ booth is entertainer Yoshiaki Umegaki. He's a late fortysomething transvestite sporting a tall blue wig and playing with his plastic breasts under a fetching blue sequined number while pouring...
A woman stands on one side of the wall texting in front of a nightclub while, on the other side of the wall, a man works in an izakaya.
PODCAST / deep dive
Aug 24, 2023

One night out in Tokyo

As the last trains leave the central hubs of Shinjuku and Shibuya for the suburbs, much of the city heads home. However, Tokyo never sleeps.
Rows of sequins affixed to Faig Ahmed’s “Door to Yourself” gives the work its sparkle.
CULTURE / Art
Oct 6, 2023

Oku-Noto Triennale brings art into stark relief against rocks and sea

Taking place in the remote city of Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture, the contemporary art event's pretty program aims to instill pride in the local community.
Liberty Island claims victory in the Shuka Sho race at Kyoto Racecourse on Oct. 15, completing Japan’s Triple Tiara of top races for fillies.
MORE SPORTS / Horse Racing
Nov 24, 2023

Domestic horses look to continue home dominance

It’s the weekend of the Group 1 Japan Cup in association with Longines, when one of the most prestigious horse races in Japan, if not the world, will be run at Tokyo Racecourse on Sunday. Having grown in stature over the past 40 years or so, the race has made a real name for itself over that time in...
While Hayao Miyazaki’s return to filmmaking, “The Boy and the Heron,” did not attain the ¥10 billion milestone that the beloved animator’s movies had once routinely surpassed, it debuted at the top of the North American box office and became the first original anime film to lead the box office in the United States and Canada.
CULTURE / Film / 2023 in Review
Dec 15, 2023

Japan’s auteurs and anime triumphed in 2023

From Hayao Miyazaki's “The Boy and the Heron” to Hirokazu Kore-eda’s “Monster,” the box-office hits kept coming.
While Magic: The Gathering is popular with card game aficionados the world over, the community in Japan is split along some unexpected lines.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 23, 2023

Diehards and casuals clash in Tokyo’s Magic: The Gathering community

The Commander format is widely popular across Europe and the United States, but Japan’s Magic community hasn’t quite followed the same path.
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."
Having grown up in North Carolina, where people are chatty and friendly, Duane Levi says Kansai and Osaka in particular had a similar vibe.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Sep 27, 2024

Duane Levi: 'Once you are able to create something that has sustainability … you’re going to get help and support.'

Unable to get a job in PA and recording, Duane Levi forged his own path in the Japanese music scene and has introduced many artists to the market here.
Tomohiko Sato (center) wrote a book titled "Yamakei Shinsho Tokyo Bon Odori Tengoku Odoru Meguru Tanoshimu" ("Tokyo Bon Dance Heaven").
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Aug 12, 2023

Tomohiko Sato: 'The only rule is to dance the way the locals do'

Tomohiko Sato may be Japan’s only “Bon-bassador,” and his love for the Bon dance makes him a true representative for this summer tradition.
English and Italian footballers observe a minute of silence for the victims of a deadly shooting in Brussels and of the devastating events in Israel and Palestine, at Wembley Stadium in London on Oct. 17.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 24, 2023

Qatar-owned network altered broadcasts to avoid war references

Instead of tributes and moments of silence at recent games, beIN broadcasts aired extended studio discussions that hewed solely toward soccer.
Ducati's Francesco Bagnaia rides during preseason testing at Lusail International Circuit near Doha on Feb. 20.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Mar 6, 2024

'Elegant' Bagnaia on quest for third title as MotoGP turns 75

Unlike Formula One, there are multiple contenders for the title as MotoGP opens its season in Qatar.
A typical show for the Derek Toro persona features Ice Elloso as a suave, macho hero straight from a Schwarzenegger film, along with a trademark goatee and tons of props and gadgets.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Apr 20, 2024

‘Drag is my superpower’: A night of pride for Filipino kings and queens

Sparkle: Road to Opulence, an April 19 lip-sync and drag performance, kicked off Pride weekend in Tokyo with a bang.

Longform

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