Tag - festival

 
 

FESTIVAL

CULTURE / Film
Jan 11, 2017
'A Drop from Tomato': Planting the seeds of reconciliation
For independent filmmakers from elsewhere in Asia with high censorship or distribution hurdles, Japan must look like paradise. Last year, most of the 581 local films released here were low-budget indie titles. Hardly any of their makers got rich, but at least their films saw the theatrical light of day....
CULTURE
Dec 30, 2016
The top entertainment stories of 2016
The Japan Times newsroom selected these culture stories as the most important of 2016.
JAPAN
Dec 19, 2016
Backlash over frozen fish in ice rink prompts rethink of Sapporo ice sculpture containing seafood
The recent harsh criticism against an ice skating rink in Fukuoka Prefecture that embedded thousands of frozen fish is prompting the organizer of a popular annual snow event in Hokkaido to rethink its exhibition of frozen marine products, the Asahi Shimbun said Monday.
Japan Times
MULTIMEDIA
Oct 26, 2016
Stars sparkle on the red carpet of the Tokyo International Film Festival 2016
The 29th Tokyo International Film Festival marked its opening Tuesday afternoon with a traditional red carpet ceremony that was heavy on Asian stars and filmmakers.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History
Oct 22, 2016
Welcome home, Okinawa
Under the slogan "Let the whole world move to the Uchina beat," Okinawa will host the prefecture's largest international event, the sixth Worldwide Uchinanchu Festival from Thursday, Oct. 27, to Sunday, Oct. 30. (Uchina means Okinawa in the island's language, while Uchinanchu means an Okinawan person)....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 18, 2016
Getting site-specific installations down to a fine art
Kenpoku Art 2016! is one of the latest projects to appear in an area for which art has been a relatively niche concern. Despite the fact that Okakura Tenshin, one of the central figures of Japanese art history, set up shop in Ibaraki Prefecture in 1906, and Art Tower Mito consistently provides top-class...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 13, 2016
Despite controversy, the Busan International Film Festival is as strong as ever
The 21st edition of Asia's biggest movie event, the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), which took place from Oct. 6 to 15, almost didn't happen; or, at least, that's the story being told. Actually, considering how important the festival is for South Korea's movie industry, one of the most vital...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 4, 2016
Reconnecting Japan's ancient cultural hub
"When I visited Todaiji Temple in Nara, just after I arrived as a Chinese student in Japan about 30 years ago, I felt somehow nostalgic as it had an atmosphere of old China," says Cai Guo-Qiang, as he explains his work for Culture City of East Asia 2016, Nara, a cultural project that launched in March....
Japan Times
WORLD
Oct 3, 2016
Dozens killed in Ethiopia stampede after police fire warning shots at protesters attending festival
More than 50 people were killed in a stampede in Ethiopia's Oromiya region on Sunday that was triggered when police used teargas and shot guns into the air to disperse anti-government protesters at a religious festival.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 20, 2016
Out of the ordinary comes a new art festival
I've never been comfortable with the idea that Japan has three "most beautiful" places. It's a tradition, or a received wisdom, if you like, to rank the triad of the land bridge Ama-no Hashidate, the rocky islands of Matsushima and the sacred torii in the water at Miyajima as the indisputable height...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Sep 14, 2016
Director Naomi Kawase celebrates her hometown with the Nara Film Festival
Film festivals can be the product of one person's passion, but that person is rarely a regular invitee to that most prestigious of festivals: Cannes. Director Naomi Kawase, who has both won Cannes prizes and sat on Cannes juries, fits that description as the executive director of the Nara International...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 8, 2016
The UNHCR Refugee Film Festival finds increased focus on Europe for 11th edition
The status of refugees and displaced people continues to worsen since the European refugee crisis first gained widespread attention in 2015. In the news refugees may be portrayed as powerless victims, but the tremendous strength they show in taking strides toward a better future is anything but. The...
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Sep 7, 2016
The Yufuin Film Festival: a movie paradise on Earth
Before attending my first Yufuin Film Festival, which was held Aug. 24-28 this year, I wondered what attracted Japanese film folk — from nationally known actors to directors of zero-budget documentaries — to this town in northern Kyushu.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 1, 2016
WorldService Project set to shake up Tokyo Jazz Festival
The Tokyo Jazz Festival is a varied event, featuring artists of every age and from all corners of the globe. Yet, like most mainstream jazz festivals, the lineups can be somewhat middle of the road, inoffensively safe in a way that keeps more underground acts outside the castle walls.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 1, 2016
Tokyo Jazz Festival celebrates its 15th anniversary with an ensemble of top-notch musicians
Tokyo Jazz Festival is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year and its lineup is a healthy mix of up-and-coming artists and giants of the genre.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 21, 2016
Sukiyaki Meets the World music festival thinks global and acts local
In his classic polemic against modern Japan, "Dogs and Demons," Alex Kerr described how a system of government loans and subsidies in the 1980s spurred a nationwide outbreak of grandiose construction projects. Today, the Japanese countryside is littered with oversized, underused cultural centers, many...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Aug 12, 2016
California roll creator Hidekazu Tojo's continuing quest to broaden palates overseas
A namigai (geoduck pronounced gooey-duck) is not a pretty creature. Native to North America's west coast, it looks like a beige slug that has outgrown a clam shell. Hidekazu Tojo is about to convince an audience to eat it.
Japan Times
JAPAN / AT A GLANCE
Aug 2, 2016
Yasukuni Shrine glows in its traditional mid-summer show
It's like a midsummer night's dream.

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan