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April 04, 2025
 

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MUSIC

Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 2, 2019
Sho player Ko Ishikawa pushes the boundaries of gagaku with free improvisation
Ko Ishikawa plays the sho, a bamboo free-reed mouth harp that first came to Japan from China in the Nara Period (710-794). Despite what you might expect, however, the way he plays the instrument isn't conventionally traditional.
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 / Music
Dec 18, 2018
Music in 2018: Saying goodbye to Heisei with 'U.S.A.'
The final full year of the Heisei Era was one of the most discombobulating for Japanese music this decade. Nostalgia for the soon-to-end era clashed with efforts to figure out where J-pop goes moving forward. Tunes covered in cobwebs suddenly became the soundtrack for viral dances on trendy video apps....
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Dec 16, 2018
Tech keeps it smart for 2019
A lot of new gadgets aren't essential to life, but they can help make daily living a little more fun, easier and convenient.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 28, 2018
Music and charity come together at Second Harvest Japan fundraiser
Instant Karma will provide the soundtrack to a night at What the Dickens that hopes to make a difference.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 12, 2018
Jewish human rights group blasts K-pop band BTS over A-bomb T-shirt and hats with Nazi logo
A leading Jewish human rights group has denounced popular K-pop band BTS, whose live performance on Japanese TV was canceled last week, over a T-shirt mocking victims of the atomic bombing of Japan while also claiming that a photo shoot had shown them wearing hats with a Nazi logo.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Nov 11, 2018
Michael Jackson's 'Bad' tour leather jacket sells for $298,000 at auction, three times asking price
Michael Jackson's iconic black "Bad" jacket, which he wore on his first solo tour, sold for $298,000 late Saturday, about three times its original asking price, at a New York auction which featured items from music legends Prince, Madonna, John Lennon and others, officials announced.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Nov 2, 2018
Saying 'I've been used,' Kanye West distances himself from politics
Three weeks after a bizarre White House meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, rapper Kanye West said on Tuesday he was distancing himself from politics.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / Sound Off
Nov 1, 2018
SuperDeluxe provided a safe space for experimentation that Tokyo will miss
For the past 16 years, Tokyo's SuperDeluxe has been a place where it felt like almost anything could happen, and it quite often did. So when the venue announced a few weeks ago that it would be closing in January, after its building was earmarked for demolition, the news was akin to hearing that a close...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / Sound Off
Oct 25, 2018
Amid Japan's multitude of music festivals, Frue is worth celebrating
As the opening set started at Festival de Frue last year, it was clear the organizers wouldn't be making a profit. Quirky J-pop act Wednesday Campanella, who had played to a capacity crowd at Fuji Rock Festival a few months earlier, kicked off its performance in front of an audience of just a few dozen...
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
CULTURE / Music
Sep 18, 2018
Japan and China: Forging ties in the electronic underground
WWWβ — a subterranean space under Shibuya's WWW and WWWX venues dedicated to "club alternative" — is a frequent stop for DJs and producers at the cutting edge of electronic music. But when a large crowd packed itself into the venue on April 20 for an evening of dark, experimental and at times abrasive...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / Sound Off
Aug 30, 2018
It'll take more than Ayumi Hamasaki to help streaming services in Japan
Ayumi Hamasaki has seen better days as a J-pop superstar, but she still carries some clout. So it should have been noteworthy that her newest release, the five-song "Trouble," would arrive on streaming services a bit earlier than in stores. That's a win for fledgling in-Japan operations such as Spotify...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 30, 2018
Minyo Crusaders sing a song from every corner of Japan
A muffled bass line is soon matched by Katsumi Tanaka's staccato electric guitar riff loosely emulating a shamisen. Congas and timbales start grooving in the rhythm of cumbia before the horn section dives in, setting the stage for Fredy Tsukamoto to belt out a high-pitched, vibrato-filled rendition of...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 14, 2018
Jia Pengfang left his home in rural China with an erhu and a dream
Jia Pengfang's talent with the erhu took him around the world, but would audiences overseas appreciate the traditional Chinese instrument?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN?
Aug 11, 2018
Duo Yumeno: Making music across the Pacific
Contemporary classical duo bring together the cello, koto and shamisen for original classical contemporary compositions.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Aug 10, 2018
'Namie Amuro generation': Okinawa moms pursue dream of fame
Five Okinawa women in their 40s, who practiced singing and dancing as teens at the same school as pop diva Namie Amuro, have recently relaunched their music careers after a lengthy break with a goal of achieving fame.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 9, 2018
Towa Tei goes deep on death and puns
Towa Tei has mortality on his mind.
As ‘Buy Canadian’ grows, more U.S. firms say retailers turning away products
Empty shelves with "Buy Canadian Instead" signs are seen in the American Whiskey section of the BC Liquor in Vancouver, British Columbia, on March 10.
U.S. tourist arrested after bringing a handgun into Japan
Hyogo police believe the handgun a U.S. tourist inadvertently brought into Japan slipped through security procedures at Kansai International Airport in Osaka Prefecture.
Trump unveils 10% global tariff, with Japan levy set at 24%
Trump tosses a MAGA hat to the crowd during an event in which he unveiled new tariffs in the White House on Wednesday.
Meiji says sayonara to bottled milk, a staple of Japan's bathhouses
Meiji bottled milk lined up in a fridge at Kosugiyu, a bathhouse in Tokyo. The sticker urges patrons to enjoy the milk one last time before it’s gone.
Japan’s leader didn’t read the job description
Prime Minister and ruling Liberal Democratic Party leader Shigeru Ishiba is facing a political funding scandal that has damaged his reputation and sparked speculation that internal efforts to remove him are underway.
Nintendo to launch the Switch 2 on June 5
The controllers for the Switch 2 will attach to the console magnetically rather than sliding on rails as with the original device.
A new human trafficking trend emerges from Myanmar scam centers
Victims of scam centers who were tricked or trafficked into working in Myanmar gather at a compound inside KK Park, a fraud center on the country's border with Thailand, after a multinational crackdown in February.
Meiji says sayonara to bottled milk, a staple of Japan's bathhouses
Meiji bottled milk lined up in a fridge at Kosugiyu, a bathhouse in Tokyo. The sticker urges patrons to enjoy the milk one last time before it’s gone.
A Canadian made a weekend trip to Costco a Japanese pastime
Under the watchful eye of Ken Theriault, Costco representative director and Japan country manager, the American membership-model wholesaler has flourished in Japan.
On defense, Japan may avoid Trump's worst impulses — for now
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth chat after reviewing an honor guard during a welcome ceremony at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Sunday.

Podcast

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

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
By Johan Brooks

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