December 16, 2019
A special exhibition titled “Man, God & Nature in the Ancient World: Masterpieces from The Al Thani Collection,” which aims to evoke the ancient world through 117 items from the collection assembl...
When journalist Shiori Ito told police in Tokyo of her claim she was raped by a TV reporter in April 2015, police issued an arrest warrant, but they suspended it in June that year, according to media ...
KYOTO — Although different clans held power at different times, buke military aristocrats controlled policy in Japan for about 700 years, starting in the late 12th century. Members of the buke famil...
LOS ANGELES — Three Japanese animated feature films were nominated in the independent film category of the Annie Awards, the International Animated Film Association said Monday. The awards are of...
CHIBA — Amid a solid increase in both foreign tourists and foreign residents in Japan, greater attention is being paid to smooth and accurate communication between them and locals. Advanced translat...
A unique show combining kabuki and “Star Wars” was presented in Tokyo on Thursday.
“Star Wars Kabuki: Rennosuke Kojin Sanbon” featured characters from the “Star Wars” series, whose names...
Kabuki, a Japanese traditional performing art, can be roughly sorted into two categories: Edo kabuki and Kamigata kabuki. Edo is present-day Tokyo, while Kamigata is an area that includes Kyoto and ...
Images from the popular “Captain Tsubasa” soccer manga series cover Keisei Electric Railway Co.’s Yotsugi Station in Katsushika Ward, Tokyo, from floor to ceiling. The station is much talked abo...
When denim lovers think quality, they think Japan. So it should come as no surprise that a small Kyoto-based label has won a luxury lifestyle award for Best Artisan Denim Design Specialists 2019 from ...
A seven-day solo program by popular rakugo storyteller Shunputei Ichinosuke was held at the Yomiuri Otemachi Hall in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, from Oct. 21 to 27. I went to all the performances — three e...
Tara Westover, born to a Mormon fundamentalist family in 1986, received no formal schooling but taught herself enough to enter college, eventually earning her PhD in history at the University of Cambr...
Matsumoto Hakuo II is the rare actor who can perform at a high level both in Japanese traditional kabuki and Western musicals. He has played the lead role in “Man Of La Mancha” since it premiered ...
The Tokyo Grand Tea Ceremony was held at two venues in Tokyo in October. Aimed at allowing more people to casually experience the traditional Japanese tea ceremony, the annual event was organized by t...
KYOTO — Aristocrats serving in the Imperial court in Kyoto were called kuge (court nobles). Unfortunately, the kuge lost political and military power in the Middle Ages. (I’m not a descendant of a...
When we look into the future, we only see imaginary events that could happen. But when we look into the past, we see real events that did happen. It might be said that memory is the closest thing we h...
Next summer, the air above Ariake, a waterfront area in Koto Ward, Tokyo, is going to be filled with bicycles. Airake is to be the scene of many 2020 Olympic and Paralympic events, including BMX races...
What comes to mind when you think of Finland? Perhaps you associate the country with Santa Claus or the Moomin characters. Far more ancient than either of these is the sauna, which is also gaining fan...
One of the best things about kyogen — the comic interludes to Noh plays — is the sheer number of lines delivered with unique intonation. When someone appears on stage, they describe themselves ...
Upon darting into an exhibition room at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo in Koto Ward, Tokyo, two boys were caught by surprise and took a step backward. “Ugh! What on earth is this?” one of...
If the world’s endless wars are getting you down, a dose of Mohammed Hanif’s dark humor might be the medicine you need. After all, how better to demonstrate the absurdity of war than by telling an...
“I wish people wouldn’t say things like, ‘It’s elaborate and high in quality’ when discussing animation.” I was startled by this remark from animation director Mamoru Hosoda during an Au...
KYOTO — The Reizei family of Kyoto has transmitted the style of waka poems since Japan’s medieval age. Not only the Reizei family but also most of the other aristocratic families that served the ...
The last of a series of exhibitions of photographic portraits by Kishin Shinoyama, 78, who has for decades taken photos of people in the spotlight, is being held at Gallery AaMo at Tokyo Dome City in ...
ISHINOMAKI, Miyagi — The Reborn-Art Festival will run through Sept. 29 in Ishinomaki and nearby municipalities in Miyagi Prefecture, to support reconstruction from the 2011 Great East Japan Earthqua...
When American travel writer Porter Fox decided to explore the approximately 6,400-kilometer length of the border between Canada and the continental United States, he started at the eastern end, aboard...
KYOTO — Amid the decline in the number of jikata — the geiko specializing in shamisen and nagauta (long epic songs) — in Kyoto’s entertainment districts, women in their 20s and 30s who have c...
KYOTO — An international conference on museums wrapped up on Saturday with a resolution stating that museums around the world should play a central role as “cultural hubs” for exchanges that tr...
MASHIKO, Tochigi — Utilizing part of the living national treasure potter’s residence, the Shoji Hamada Memorial Mashiko Sankokan Museum exhibits his works as well as handicrafts that he collected...
Ueno Station, the “Gateway to the North,” was where men from Japan’s northern Tohoku region used to arrive in Tokyo by overnight train, looking for work during the high economic growth period, i...
How does a woman find the courage to have a child? In Jessie Greengrass’ intelligent debut novel, “Sight,” she immerses herself in medical history, reading about Wilhelm Rontgen’s discovery of...
The various props used for kabuki plays include swords, smoking pipes, Japanese umbrellas and folding fans, and prop masters must prepare items appropriate to the specific time period depicted in each...
Avid classical music fans know how special the BBC Proms is. Held every summer at the Royal Albert Hall in London, the music festival with a history of more than 120 years has a mission to bring class...
About 40 movie- and video-related companies are active in the city of Chofu, Tokyo, which was once known as “the Hollywood of the Orient.” Clean water for use in film developing was one factor...
Large sparks flying, a welder in a protective mask joins together iron parts using thousands of degrees of heat. This is a familiar scene at construction sites and factories, but it’s rare to experi...
The hotter it gets, the more I use my air conditioner. The more everyone uses their air conditioners, the hotter the world gets, thanks to the CO2 from the coal, oil and natural gas burned to generate...
To get anywhere, you need to know where you’re headed. But simply having a compass does not guarantee you’ll reach your destination. There are always pitfalls to avoid on the way, and it takes com...
A festival of events introducing Japanese culture to the culturally diverse United States is being held in Washington and other cities this year. Shinto, animals and “The Tale of Genji” are all ke...
The triumph of the film “Bohemian Rhapsody” has created yet another Queen craze all over the world. Japan is no exception. According to Twentieth Century Fox Japan, the film had been watched by ov...
Rakugo is a one-person show in which the performer — wearing a kimono and kneeling on a traditional square cushion — tells a usually comical story, distinctively portraying multiple characters thr...
You may find it difficult to locate the gallery. There’s no sign, and even if you’re in the right spot, you can’t see what it’s like inside because the curtains are drawn tight, as if shutting...
Sixty-five years after first hitting theaters, Godzilla is still going strong and boasts a global following. “Godzilla: King of the Monsters,” Hollywood’s latest film starring Japan’s iconic k...
Floral designers and practitioners of traditional Japanese flower arranging put their skills to the test in a “hanaike flower arranging battle” held in Ota Ward, Tokyo, in late May. The event had ...
Whenever asked what the secret to producing a hit in the business field is, Jerome Chouchan gives the same answer, saying, “You don’t reach a target; a target reaches you.” Such Zen-like questio...
Kabuki star Nakamura Shido II upholds the career theme of “tradition and innovation.”
Kabuki actors form troupes in “family” units with their “specialty” basically passed down from fat...
In his first official function as president of the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) in March 2012 — as a replacement for the disgraced Jack Warne...
You are at risk of heart disease. So is everyone else. Heart attacks are “the most common cause of death throughout the world,” according to New York cardiologist Sandeep Jauhar. Fortunately, th...
“Are you, by any chance, taking me to the Sakurai now?” my friend asked, rather excitedly, responding to my brief explanation of a Japanese teahouse I was about to take her to in Tokyo’s Aoyama ...
A major, unspecified disaster has struck Japan, prompting the government to introduce a policy of complete isolation that prohibits both international travel and the use of English words. The governme...
Unusual new kabuki plays based on world-famous stories are currently being performed at Tokyo’s three major theaters, adapted respectively from a fairy tale, a manga and a comedy film. Each is a nov...
When talking about South Korean culture, the first things that come to mind might include K-pop music, spicy food, bustling city markets or neon-colored hanbok dresses. But authentic Korean culture al...
What is normal? This is the key question for readers of “Convenience Store Woman,” a best-selling novel by Sayaka Murata. Many people try to fit in and meet social expectations to be considered ...
