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November 22, 2024
 

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BEST OF 2013

Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 26, 2013
Favorite finds from 2013's Food File
As 2013 draws to a well-replete coda, there's just enough time to stop, pause and ponder the culinary highlights of the past 12 months. Tokyo has never been better for eating out, and this year has brought a further glut of excellent restaurants at every point on the budget spectrum. Here are a few,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 26, 2013
Giovanni Fazio's 2013 Top 10: films to remember into the next lifetime
This year saw me watching a lot more films than usual, which, if anything, made me appreciate the cream even more. As per our age, there's a lot of "content" out there begging for our attention, but precious little of it that feels like it was made with passion. Here are 10 that, love 'em or hate 'em,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 26, 2013
Mark Schilling's 2013 Top 10: Farewell to Ghibli's anime masters
Japanese films did quite well both commercially and critically in 2013, with Hayao Miyazaki's final feature animation, "Kaze Tachinu (The Wind Rises)," thumping the Hollywood competition at the local box office. But the industry's over-reliance on sure-thing manga, TV shows and novels for source material...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 26, 2013
Kaori Shoji's 2013 Top 10: films that aren't backward about coming forward
It has been a year of documentaries made on big ideas and small resources. At the other end of the spectrum, some of the best fiction films had the look and feel of a documentary, attesting to the modern notion that the individual and his/her story are just about the most interesting things around.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 26, 2013
Second opinion: Our Top 3 films in cross-review
Regular JT film critics Mark Schilling, Kaori Shoji and Giovanni Fazio got together at the Uplink theater/restaurant in Shibuya to talk about each other's No. 1 films for 2013: "Cloud Atlas" (Fazio), "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" (Shoji) and "Kaguya-hime no Monogatari (The Tale of Princess Kaguya)"...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 17, 2013
From Kyary to Yosi: The best Japanese albums of 2013
Overseas it was a year of big rollouts. There was a lot of hype behind releases by Lady Gaga, Kanye West and Miley Cyrus. But will these acts be remembered for paparazzi fights and "twerking" more than their music?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 17, 2013
The best Japanese albums of 2013: Melt-Banana, 'Fetch'
Back in June, I picked up on minimalist psychedelic postpunk trio Extruders' "Colors" as the album of the year so far. Six months later, it's still right up among the very best of the year. Its carefully unwinding songs, murmured vocals and understated yet affecting melodies interspersed with delicately...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 17, 2013
The best Japanese albums of 2013: Yosi Horikawa, 'Vapor'
Few albums this year rewarded repeat listens as generously as Yosi Horikawa's "Vapor." The Chiba-based producer makes fecund, wide-eyed electronica constructed from manipulated field recordings, percussion, ethnic chants and slightly new-age keyboards. If that sounds awful on paper, it's intoxicating...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 17, 2013
The best Japanese albums of 2013: Sapphire Slows, 'Allegoria'
If there's one thing I've taken out of 2013, it's that the kids are alright. Perhaps as a result of growing up Internet savvy, with easy access to decades of music and countless genres at their fingertips, Japan's young artists have spent the year pasting together aural collages that gleefully defy categorization....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 17, 2013
The best Japanese albums of 2013: Church of Misery, ‘Thy Kingdom Scum’
This year, the Ozzy Osbourne-fronted Black Sabbath released its first studio album since 1978, and while it was a fine album, I think they may have been "out-Sabbathed" by Japan's very own doom-metal band, Church Of Misery, who released its fourth album, "Thy Kingdom Scum," in June.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Dec 11, 2013
The year in labor: the Top 5 pains of 2013
For Japan's workers, the last 12 months have been a mixed bag. The Top 5 Labor Pains of 2013 will focus on what really shook things up in terms of labor relations and employment law.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / JAZZ NOTES
Dec 10, 2013
Ai Kuwabara tops favorites list for year in jazz
For the final Jazz Notes column of the year I met up with writer, blogger and presenter of InterFM's "OK Jazz" show James Catchpole to talk about the year in jazz at Eddie's Lounge in Tokyo's Arakawa Ward. It's run by our mutual friend, groove organist Eddie Landsberg.
Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington. Investors in Japan and China sold a pile of U.S. debt in the last quarter, just before the U.S. presidential election.
Ishiba aggravates his own political failures with diplomatic faux pas
Prime Minster Shigeru Ishiba is greeted at the APEC summit in Lima by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday. The Japanese leader was criticized for remaining seated while meeting several world leaders at the event.
Japan's 3.31 million visitors in October set monthly record
Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in December 2023. Famous autumn leaf colors contributed to increased tourism demand last month from many markets across Asia, Europe and North America, the Japan National Tourism Organization has said.
Japan ranks last in romance satisfaction for second straight year
In a survey of 31 countries, Japan ranked last in terms of those who felt loved, with just 51% of respondents saying so.
Ruling coalition and DPP strike last-minute deal over economic policy
DPP policy chief Makoto Mahaguchi speaks at the party's policy gathering in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Japan, U.K. and Italy discuss inviting more countries to joint fighter project
A new concept model of a next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy is on display in Farnborough, Hampshire, in July.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.
Japanese expats in Asia find community through rugby
The Taiwan Fivewoods celebrate their victory at the 2023 Asian Japanese Rugby Cup in December of last year.
In Fukushima, a weekend of prose, poetry and translation
Aomori-based writer JJ Carter presented on tabletop gaming as creative inspiration for building characters and narratives.
For Dr. Nakamats, aging is just experience in action
Though he didn't win the recent gubernatorial election in Tokyo, the 96-year-old Dr. Nakamats' run was seen as inspirational in Japan's aging society.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

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

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