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Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
May 18, 2019

'Cutting Back': The collected wisdom of an aesthetic pruner

Breezy, frequently humorous and self-scolding, Leslie Buck's 'Cutting Back: My Apprenticeship in the Gardens of Kyoto' is a poignant look at the storied Japanese world of professional gardening.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
May 5, 2019

South Korea's booming 'webtoons' put Japan's print manga on notice

Japan has long prided itself on being a manga powerhouse, but intense competition from overseas has left the industry at a crossroads.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
May 4, 2019

Hiyori: Oden crosses over to wine country

Few restaurants capture the Shinsen neighborhood feel better than Hiyori. Looking in from street level, you can tell that it's easygoing and convivial, the sort of place where you drop in for a quick drink, strike up conversation with your neighbors and end up staying the rest of the evening.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 30, 2019

Motohiko Katano: Tied to shibori dyeing

A pioneer of shibori textile dyeing, Motohiko Katano created striking modern designs and fascinating tessellations of motifs that seemed to defy the capricious nature of resist dyeing.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Apr 28, 2019

San Diego-area synagogue shooting leaves one worshipper dead, three wounded

A gunman walked into a San Diego-area synagogue crowded with Sabbath worshippers on Saturday and opened fire with an assault-style rifle, killing one woman inside and wounding three others in a hate crime carried out on the last day of Passover, authorities said.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Apr 27, 2019

Konbi: Offering a refined take on the classic konbini sandwich

Of the many konbini (convenience store) classics available on store shelves — from onigiri rice balls to ready-to-eat paper cups of fried chicken — you can't go wrong with the quintessential konbini sandwich.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 23, 2019

First, there was Matsumura Goshun

The recent focus on the vibrant idiosyncratic works of the Edo Period (1603-1868) eccentric painters has left the achievements more traditional masters in neglect. 'Road to Shijo School' at the Otani Memorial Art Museum, Nishinomiya City, is a welcome reparative.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 19, 2019

Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival offers a world of fascination

Held annually from 1990, save for 2007 when its host town was facing financial difficulties, the Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival has become a little corner of Hokkaido where for four days in March the cinematically weird and wonderful can flourish.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 16, 2019

Are press activities being undermined in Japan?

The Foreign Ministry ordered freelance journalist Kosuke Tsuneoka to surrender his passport after he tried to leave Japan on Feb. 2 for Yemen, which is in the midst of a civil war. The ostensible reason for the order is that Tsuneoka in January attempted to travel to Yemen through Oman, which refused...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Feb 12, 2019

Plastic fantastic: Examining the obsession over Japan's soft vinyl toys

It's a cold afternoon in mid-January and, inside a factory operated by Maruyama Toys in a quiet residential area in Tokyo's Katsushika Ward, Cory Privitera is making sofubi (soft vinyl toys).
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Feb 1, 2019

Coffee connections in tranquil Togoshi

Togoshi's local businesses are quirky, wholesome and close-knit. But what truly brings this district together is the coffee shop that supplies them all with bespoke blends.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN?
Dec 31, 2018

Akira Satake: From handmade banjos to vases

When the music industry became too stressful to bear in the U.S., Akira Satake found a new vocation in pottery.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Dec 22, 2018

Ayako Minase can put a song in your heart

Singer-songwriter Ayako Minase's 'mature pop,' with its fun retro-influences and contemporary sensibilities, comes from the heart.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 12, 2018

In 2018, art came via many anniversaries in Japan

This year saw a lot of anniversaries in Japan. It was 1868 when Crown Prince Mutsuhito became the Emperor Meiji, the official policy of national isolation ended and the country was set on a course to become a modern industrialized nation-state. This birthday seems like it could have been a great time...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Nov 24, 2018

Max Goshko-Dankov: Public art returns lost personal connections

Russian artist Max Goshko-Dankov on his talent for combining incompatible colors, the role of art in modern society and how adult coloring helps you get in touch with yourself.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / A Weekend In
Nov 10, 2018

A weekend in Sapporo: Fresh crab, craft beer and sculpture gardens

For more than a third of the year, Sapporo is buried beneath thick snow. During its warmer months, however, the city shrugs off its winter coat and bursts into life.
Japan Times
Figure Skating / ICE TIME
Nov 6, 2018

Yuzuru Hanyu amazes again in Helsinki win

Just when you didn't think he could go one better, he did.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 30, 2018

Kichizaemon Raku reads between Wols' lines

Kichizaemon Raku, the eldest son of Kakunyu XIV, succeeded to the role as the 15th head of the revered Raku family of tea bowl craftsmen in 1981, a tradition founded in the Momoyama Period (1573-1603) by Tanaka Chojiro (d. 1592). His latest exhibition, "Raku Kichizaemon × Wols" at the Sagawa Art Museum...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Oct 19, 2018

The Akinada Tobishima Kaido: An alternative route across the Seto Inland Sea

Although less well-known than the nearby Shimanami Kaido, the 96-kilometer-roundtrip Akinada Tobishima Kaido route is gaining in popularity. Starting at the Akinada Bridge, the Tobishima route spans a network of seven bridges seven islands that can be traversed on car, bike or foot down to Okamura Island, north of Shikoku.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 18, 2018

The meteoric rise of Mayu Matsuoka

As a film critic, I occasionally come across something on the screen that sets off fireworks in my brain. It happened with Sakura Ando's explosive performance as a desperate boxer in "100 Yen Love" and with the funny, surprising and moving zombie comedy "One Cut of the Dead." And last year it also happened...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 3, 2018

When Ami Yamasaki begins to sing, brooks, birds and barks emerge

I first heard Ami Yamasaki's voice in 2016 at a studio where I hosted a radio show in New York. She popped by to promote an upcoming performance at the Japan Society with composer Mamoru Fujieda, koto player Kayoko Nakagawa and shō (free reed mouth organ) player Ko Ishikawa.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 25, 2018

Electronic artist Tim Hecker delves into ancient Japanese court music and negative space on 'Konoyo'

For the first decade of his career, the Canadian composer and sound artist Tim Hecker specialized in transmuting digital audio into thick miasmas of sound that combined orchestral richness with the sensory assault of noise music. But after reaching an apotheosis — and his largest audience to date —...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 16, 2018

Abe-Ishiba debate highlights candidates' lack of concrete plans to tackle fundamental problems

A debate illustrates Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's and former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba's differences on how to overcome some of the most fundamental problems Japan faces.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 2, 2018

Kazunori Hamana: Simple vessels of complex self-reflection

Inspired by a love for the craftsmanship of traditional items, Kazunori Hamana abandoned his vintage clothing business in Tokyo to make clay tsubo jars that have since won him critical acclaim.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Aug 10, 2018

Taking the path once trodden by Ian Fleming and James Bond

In 1962, Ian Fleming, the author of James Bond, visited Japan. His journey here, and the characters he met, would go on to inspire 007's adventures in 'You Only Live Twice.' But in 2018, how possible is it to retrace the author's footsteps across Japan?
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Society / FOCUS
Aug 10, 2018

Chinese women create WeChat group in wake of wave of sex harassment cases

Battling censorship and stereotypes, Chinese women are organizing online to harness the momentum of the country's nascent #MeToo movement in a push for authorities and businesses to end sexual misconduct.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2018

Officials discuss water quality hopes at home, abroad

Water is a basic need for humans, the environment and the Earth. Governments, engineers and researchers have worked together toward securing water supplies and managing water quality around the world. The International Water Association is one of the biggest international organizations working to achieve...
JAPAN / Politics
May 31, 2018

Japan's ruling bloc pushes labor bill through the Lower House amid worries over karōshi

The government says the comprehensive legal package will represent the biggest shake-up of labor laws in Japan's postwar history, but some believe it could make problems worse.

Longform

A man offers prayers at Hebikubo Shrine in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward. The shrine is one of several across the country dedicated to the snake.
Shed your skin and reinvent yourself in the Year of the Snake