Tag - festival

 
 

FESTIVAL

Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Aug 7, 2015
Injury forces famed conductor Ozawa to cancel festival performances
Renowned conductor Seiji Ozawa has been forced to cancel his appearance at this month's Seiji Ozawa Matsumoto Festival in Nagano Prefecture due to a hip injury, festival organizers said.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 31, 2015
Shibuya shines in summertime Bon dance festival
International students and workers in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward slipped into yukata summer kimono and enjoyed traditional folk dancing Friday during the district's second annual summer festival.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 31, 2015
Never mind the lineup: Fuji Rock is more than music
It has only been three years since Fuji Rock Festival posted its highest-ever attendance figures, with a little help from Radiohead and The Stone Roses, but you wouldn't have known it from the steady drumbeat of glumness that heralded this year's edition. Following a lackluster showing in 2014, when...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 31, 2015
Aomori festival won't let 'Star Wars' floats join parade
Organizers of the Aomori Nebuta Matsuri, which gets underway this Sunday, will not allow much-awaited floats based on "Star Wars" characters to parade on the city's streets, fearing they go against the festival's cultural tradition and would attract too many visitors, causing turmoil.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jul 30, 2015
The triennial World Ballet Festival brings classics, rarities and international dance talent to Tokyo
While music fans are still reeling from this year's Fuji Rock Festival (and prepping for Rock in Japan and Summer Sonic ahead), classical music fans are just warming up as the World Ballet Festival is set to hit Tokyo this weekend.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 25, 2015
Hundreds of thousands flock to watch annual Sumida River fireworks spectacle
Some 20,000 fireworks were let off during the annual Sumida River Fireworks Festival on Saturday, turning the evening sky into a spectacle of dazzling colors.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 23, 2015
Noel Gallagher brings his High Flying Birds back to Fuji Rock and where the 'mania' began
It doesn't take much to set Noel Gallagher off. We are sat in a backstage portacabin at London's peculiarly ragbag Clapham Calling festival, and I've just mentioned to the former Oasis songwriter that "Chasing Yesterday," the second solo album under his High Flying Birds banner, is the U.K.'s fastest...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 23, 2015
Hocori to give Fuji Rock a groove to be proud of
Tagging their work as electronic "buddy" music, Takuji Sekine and Yosuke Momono say their group, Hocori, is a way for two instrumentalists to indulge in artificial beats.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 7, 2015
Enjoy something new under the sun at Japan's outdoor art festivals
There's no excuse to stay indoors this summer when so many regions in Japan are offering great outdoor art festivals. Here's a few that we think are worth putting on the sun lotion for.
Japan Times
CULTURE
Jun 18, 2015
A festival for every weekend of your summer
Festivals (matsuri) of all kinds are a staple of Japanese culture and summer is the premier season to experience them. In recent years, the country has seen a bit of a boom in cultural festivals, to the point that it's possible to book every weekend of your summer around them. We're here to help by highlighting...
Japan Times
CULTURE
Jun 18, 2015
Yoyogi and Hisaya Odori parks get cultured during the summer
As one of the biggest tourist spots in Tokyo, Harajuku offers visitors endless consumerist pursuits — it's certainly not a place for those who seek peace and quiet.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Jun 12, 2015
Tasting the many shades of Japan's regional sake
At the risk of sounding like a killjoy, I have to confess that drinks festivals rarely excite me. These events are often promoted as learning opportunities that can help you improve your tasting skills and discover new brands. While the lure of convenience (the chance to sample hundreds of varieties...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Jun 3, 2015
Festival of off-center European films comes to Tokyo and Kyoto
One of the main goals of a film festival is to show movies that audiences won't get to see otherwise. For the festival operators there's another objective: testing reactions to films and stories, and using that information for marketing purposes. And with the number of film festivals being held in Japan...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
May 27, 2015
Could Kiyoshi Kurosawa's win at Cannes change Japan's luck?
Kiyoshi Kurosawa won the best director prize in the Cannes Film Festival's Un Certain Regard section on Sunday, but he also deserves a prize from the Japanese film industry for single-handedly turning its presence at the world's most prestigious film festival from a vague embarrassment to a cause for...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 21, 2015
The must-see list is long at Short Shorts film fest
When it comes to getting a movie fix these days, more people opt for their computer screens than venturing outside to a theater. Hollywood has countered this trend with a slew of 3-D blockbusters and cinematic largesse, but how does the short film fare?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 21, 2015
Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia searches for that 1-in-5,000 movie
Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia director Seigo Tono has been with the event since its second edition in 2000, when it was called the American Short Shorts Film Festival and showed only U.S. films. Since then it has evolved into what Tono describes as "a global event, featuring cutting-edge shorts...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
May 13, 2015
Sign of the times as yakuza classic gets kudos at Cannes
In the early 2000s, when I was writing a book about yakuza movies, veterans of the genre's 1960s and '70s heyday I met had a fierce pride in their work but no illusions about its low ranking in the film-world hierarchy. In particular, the Toei studio's films about sword-swinging or gun-toting gangsters...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Apr 22, 2015
The Zushi Beach Film Festival resists the ban on loud music and tattoos
Zushi Beach — a popular getaway for people seeking to escape Tokyo's stifling summer heat — may have banned "loud" music, tattoos and barbecues, but hey, at least it still has a film festival.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 18, 2015
Is Asian cinema caught in a festival feeding frenzy?
On March 5, tickets went on sale for Joe Hisaishi's concert at a 1,200-seat theater in Udine, Italy — and they were sold out in less than a week. In Japan, where Hisaishi is well known as a composer for his soundtracks to films by Hayao Miyazaki, Takeshi Kitano and many others, this rush for tickets...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Feb 21, 2015
Finding thrills on plum blossom hill
February is a tricky month for venturing out in Tokyo. Daylight hours lengthen and the light softens slightly, but the weather itself seems controlled by a sadist at the thermostat.

Longform

Traditional folk rituals like Mizudome-no-mai (dance to stop the rain) provide a sense of agency to a population that feels largely powerless in the face of the climate crisis.
As climate extremes intensify, Japan embraces ancient weather rituals