Search - culture

 
 
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 3, 2006

M.I.A. terrorizes the dancefloor

Maya Arulpragasam sighs into the phone. I've asked her if journalists have accurately depicted her life story, and she seems tired of the question.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 2, 2006

PAULA MODERSOHN-BECKER: A Requiem, not a festival

The exhibition of Paula Modersohn-Becker's paintings, and of artists associated with her, at the Museum of Modern Art, Hayama, Kanagawa Prefecture, is titled, "A Short, Intensive Festival." The overall emotional atmosphere generated by these paintings, however, is closer to a wake or a funeral than a...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 29, 2006

Sifting through the geeks -- that's all of us -- to identify the perverts

Less than a week after the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence for serial killer Tsutomu Miyazaki on Jan. 17, the online encyclopedia Wikipedia had not only recorded the ruling in its entry on Miyazaki, but had added an incisive note. When the Miyazaki case was dominating the headlines in 1989, he...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 29, 2006

A reliquary for the story of Buddha

BUDDHISM: On the Path to Nirvana, by Swati Chopra, foreword by Lokesh Chandra, photo editor Lance Dane. New Delhi: Brijbasi Art Press, Ltd., 2005, 160 pp., 200 color photos, $35 (cloth). The true accomplishments of any leader are often compromised when legend wraps itself around the man himself. This...
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
JAPAN
Jan 27, 2006

U.S. no stranger to 'I'm sorry' Japan-style

It's among the most Japanese of traditions: Officials go before the cameras to express deep regret over some alleged wrongdoing and promise to make sure it never happens again.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Jan 26, 2006

Tokyo Gallery: Liu Zheng shows 'Gaudy Art' embroidery

Several of my recent columns have dealt with new art spaces and centers in Tokyo. Today I want to wrap that up with a look at a gallery that has shunned the relocation trend by remaining in the city's original contemporary art district -- Ginza.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jan 25, 2006

Saving our environment one step at a time

Having ended 2005 with a rant (see below), let me begin 2006 on a more positive note by introducing some valuable environmental education resources.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Jan 24, 2006

What steps should we take to assist the integration of Japan's foreign population?

Yukiko TakahashiTeacher, 31 Ward offices do organize language lessons, but they need to advertise it more. If foreigners can speak the language better, it will be better for communication. Foreigners need to learn the culture more to be accepted.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 22, 2006

Realities dictate that this loyal retainer should take the reins

Japan today is a kerai state.
Japan Times
Features
Jan 22, 2006

Home from home

The first Doreen Wingate saw of Yokohama was the immigration and customs office next to the now famous Red Brick Warehouse on Shinko Pier. The year was 1952, and Doreen, her husband and 6-month-old son were arriving in Japan by ship, the same way as most of Yokohama's fledgling expatriate community....
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 21, 2006

Koizumi reform pitch in last Diet-opener

In his final speech as Liberal Democratic Party president to mark the opening of the ordinary Diet session Friday, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi reiterated his plan to trim the civil service, consolidate state-backed financial institutions and push further administrative reforms.
BUSINESS
Jan 21, 2006

BOJ sees economy improving, hints at end to ultraloose policy

The Bank of Japan on Friday upgraded its view of the economy for the first time in four months, stepping up the upbeat tone of its assessment.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 21, 2006

DNAm, 'Third Ear' offer change and learning

Hong Kong is a jungle. Which is where fluent Mandarin-speaker Chris Lonsdale is an elephant spotter, and why he is in Tokyo to take a five-day right-brain drawing course.
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2006

University plans Mideast center

Tokyo University of Foreign Studies said Thursday it will open a research center in Beirut on Feb. 1 to study Middle Eastern history and culture.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jan 17, 2006

Finding space in gay Japan

At first glance, homosexual life in Japan can seem quite repressed. Public displays of affection are next to nil, gay Japanese men often live secret lives and it's hard to notice a gay presence at all unless by venturing into Tokyo's "gayborhood," Shinjuku Ni-Chome.
COMMENTARY
Jan 16, 2006

Heretical to the Asia concept

The European Union is a community founded on the concept of Europe. This concept has been nurtured by the historical consciousness of Europeans to overcome national rivalries and to maintain European traditions. The process of consolidating such consciousness has, however, been accompanied by a process...
EDITORIALS
Jan 14, 2006

Catching the kabuki spirit

Kabuki, which dates back some 400 years to Izumo no Okuni, the leader of a women's theatrical troupe that caused a sensation in Kyoto, now appears to be riding an upsurge. Recently, the kabuki world saw a series of events that have caught people's attention and increased their interest.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 14, 2006

Helping new arrivals from India find their feet

There are some 5,000 expats from India currently in Japan, mostly working in the IT industry, and mostly in Tokyo. And if A.P.S. Mani is to be believed, the number will grow over the next few years.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Jan 13, 2006

Perfect winter match: big reds and cassoulet

When the Imperial Palace moat begins to ice over, our thoughts invariably turn to the big red wines of southern France, and to the region's ultimate winter dish -- cassoulet.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Jan 12, 2006

WONDER SITE: Strong words in Shibuya fail to bring a crowd

In 2001, a peculiar contemporary-art space called Tokyo Wonder Site opened in a disused building in Bunkyo Ward in Northeast Tokyo. Supported by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, the project attracted a measure of initial interest, but never developed into anything like a hot spot for art. This is probably...
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jan 11, 2006

I.D. 'revolution' gets its comeuppance

The year 2005 was when, shockingly, "intelligent design" almost got on the syllabuses of American science classes. But then 11 rational parents in Pennsylvania took their school board to court, and, just before Christmas, the presiding judge delivered a crushing verdict.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jan 10, 2006

Mind the gap

While the exoticism of cultural otherness certainly adds something to the experience of meeting a lover from another country, differences can also be the source of annoyance and complications.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 8, 2006

Resurrection of 47 masterless samurai

KUNIYOSHI: The Faithful Samurai, by David R. Weinberg, translations and essay by Alfred H. Marks, Foreword by B.W. Robinson. Amsterdam: Hotei Publishing, 2005, 192 pp., map, pictures, color plates. 39.50 euro (paper). This is the paperback edition (first published in 2000) of one of the most interesting...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 8, 2006

The ups and downs and ins and outs of Japan's media in 2005

* Media persons of the year: Takafumi Horie and Taizo Sugimura.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 7, 2006

Buddhist-Christian feminist to speak out at retreat

The Amago Sanso Retreat from Jan. 27 to 29 on the Izu Peninsula may see sparks fly! It will be the 49th annual celebratory gathering of Christian women from all over Japan and other parts of Asia, the same age -- synchronistically -- as its controversial keynote speaker, Hyun Kyung Chung.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Jan 3, 2006

What books would make the best gift for a friend?

Steve Morin Bookshop operator, 27 'Kitchen Confidential' by Anthony Bourdain. It would be a good holiday read. I would buy it for any foodie friend because you see all the good points and bad points of the industry. It's more positive on balance, but it's still an expose of sorts.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 1, 2006

Four-way horse race to succeed Koizumi

The gate is open and the horses are off and running.
JAPAN
Dec 30, 2005

The art of bonsai catching on with young crowd

the containers to put them in," an Isetan official said. For some people, though, buying a modern bonsai is not enough.

Longform

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