Culture
Culture Popular Articles
-
Weigle, YNSO Give Compelling Performance of ‘Wozzeck’ Opera in Tokyo
The Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra (YNSO) gave a compelling performance of “Wozzeck,” the dark...
March 23, 2025
-
What Does Hiroshi Fujiwara even Do?; Multitalented Art Sensation Discusses His Work
Hiroshi Fujiwara has been active on the music scene since the 1980s. He has been a driving force ...
March 21, 2025
-
Paul Smith Holds 1st Fashion Show in Tokyo Since 2011; Eponymous Designer Appears Showcasing New Design
British clothing brand Paul Smith on Wednesday held its first fashion show in Tokyo in 14 years.<...
March 20, 2025
-
Oscar Nominated Gem ‘Magic Candies’ is an Animated Masterpiece
Starting today, Yasuko Onda, a Yomiuri Shimbun senior writer, will write about and recommend movi...
March 21, 2025
Manga & Anime
-
Director of Annie-Nominated ‘Look Back’ Creates Short Film for Disaster-Hit Fukushima Prefecture
FUKUSHIMA — A new animation created by Kiyotaka Oshiyama — known as the director of blockbuster a...
March 17, 2025
-
Folktale-Inspired Manga Unique in Format Confronts Readers with Harsh Reality; Final Installment of Kanta on Manga
This is the final installment of this column, which began in the spring of 2015. Since last fall,...
February 21, 2025
-
‘Ranma½’ Back After 30 Years; Beloved Japanese Anime Classic Transformed, Original Cast Returning
After 30 years, Rumiko Takahashi’s slapstick rom-com “Ranma1/2” is back. With its bold characters...
January 17, 2025
-
Animation Legend Rintaro’s Autobiographical Manga, a Reverse Import from France
“Ginga Tetsudo 999” (“Galaxy Express 999”) in 1979, “Genma Taisen” (“Harmagedon”) in 1983 and “Me...
January 17, 2025
-
Cosplaying Gaining Ground, Inspiring New Businesses; Growth Area in Japan’s Pop Culture
Cosplaying is becoming ever more popular. Once treated as only a pastime for enthusiasts, it is g...
January 2, 2025
Film & TV
-
Oscar Nominated Gem ‘Magic Candies’ is an Animated Masterpiece
Starting today, Yasuko Onda, a Yomiuri Shimbun senior writer, will write about and recommend movi...
March 21, 2025
-
Japanese Movies Win Prizes at Berlin Festival
BERLIN (Jiji Press) — "Futsu no Seikatsu” (Ordinary Life), an animated movie directed by Japan’s ...
February 23, 2025
-
Actor Eiji Akaso Wants to Keep Challenging Himself
To be honest, “Sozoku Tantei” (“Inheritance Detective”), the title of a drama now airing on the N...
February 21, 2025
-
Legend Tokusatsu Actor Haruta Makes Directorial Debut, Japan Release Eagerly Awaited
“Karasu no Hane o Tsukurou Onna” (“Raven Woman”) is a new film conceived and directed by Junichi ...
February 14, 2025
-
Nobuyuki Suzuki Is ‘Salary Man Kintaro’ of Reiwa Era; Popular Manga a Story about Tuna Fisherman Who Becomes Salary Worker
“Salary Man Kintaro,” a popular manga by Hiroshi Motomiya depicting the lives of salaried workers...
February 7, 2025
Kabuki / Noh / Rakugo
-
Kabuki Star Plays Exiled Priest on Remote Island; Real-Life Setting Highlights His Lonely Despair
MISHIMA, Kagoshima — In the latter years of the Heian period, which stretched from 794 to the lat...
December 29, 2024
-
Sign Language Kyogen by and for Deaf People
The 40-year-old Japanese Theater of the Deaf put on a performance of kyogen, a form of traditiona...
November 24, 2024
-
English Commentary, Workshops Provide New Appreciation of Kabuki, Noh; Kyoto Theaters Organize Events to Educate Foreign Visitors
KYOTO – Kabuki and noh theaters in Kyoto are providing English explanations of performance highli...
November 4, 2024
-
‘Photo Time’ for Noh, Kabuki Audiences Spreading in Kansai Region; Traditional Arts Working to Draw in Audiences
KYOTO — “Photo time,” which provides an opportunity for audiences watching noh, kabuki and other ...
November 3, 2024
-
New “Lupin III” Kabuki to Be Simultaneously Streamed Worldwide in 28 Countries and Regions, in 1st for Shochiku Co.
The “Lupin III” kabuki play will be simultaneously live streamed on Aug. 11 at 9 p.m. JST, in 28 ...
August 3, 2024
Performing Arts
-
See ‘Boonboomger’ Superhero Stage Show in Tokyo for a Chance to Catch Tokusatsu Action Live
If you have never seen a superhero stage show in Japan, I think you are missing out. These “hero ...
March 14, 2025
-
xxxHOLiC Stage Play Returns After 2023 Cancellation; CLAMP’s Dark Fantasy Manga Reenters the Spotlight
“Engekichou Itan ‘xxxHOLiC’ -Zoku Sai-,” a stage production of the popular manga series by CLAMP,...
January 24, 2025
-
New Imperial Theatre to Open in 29-Story Building in FY2030; Current Facility Scheduled to Close Next Month
The new Imperial Theatre will open in the Yurakucho district of Tokyo in fiscal 2030, Toho Co. an...
January 16, 2025
-
Neo-Yasugibushi: Modern Arrangement of Upbeat Loach Scooping Dance; Ram Rider, Karin Make New Spin on Folk Performance
YASUGI, Shimane — Yasugibushi, a traditional song and dance about loach scooping, or dojo sukui i...
December 24, 2024
-
Rokyoku Artist Spreads Traditional Performing Arts through Social Media
Rokyoku narrative singer Tamagawa Nanafuku is using the modern-day vehicle of social media to spr...
December 15, 2024
Art
-
Brothers in Japan Spotlight Artists with Intellectual Disabilities; Hope to Change Society’s Perception of People with Disabilities
This is the mission of Heralbony Co., a Morioka-based planning company that handles artworks by a...
March 7, 2025
-
Special ‘Contemporary Art Flavor’ Umaibo to Sell for ¥100,000; Tomokazu Matsuyama Looks to Create new Value with Art
Umaibo, a stick-shaped puffed corn snack which usually sells for ¥15 each, will be offered up in ...
March 6, 2025
-
Spray Paint Art Adds Color to Everyday Life; Pair of Artists, Yoka Paint, Spreading Joy through Street Art
FUKUOKA — Colorful pictures painted on cold, lifeless walls and shutters are attracting attention...
February 28, 2025
-
Attache Cases Infused with Kumiko Traditional Woodworking Technique
MANIWA, Okayama — A furniture and fittings manufacturer in Maniwa, Okayama Prefecture, has develo...
February 16, 2025
-
New Art Museum on Naoshima Island in Kagawa Prefecture Set to Open in May; Museum, Designed by Famous Architect Tadao Ando, to Feature Asian Artists
The Naoshima New Museum of Art, designed by world-renowned architect Tadao Ando, is set to open o...
February 8, 2025
Fashion
-
What Does Hiroshi Fujiwara even Do?; Multitalented Art Sensation Discusses His Work
Hiroshi Fujiwara has been active on the music scene since the 1980s. He has been a driving force ...
March 21, 2025
-
Paul Smith Holds 1st Fashion Show in Tokyo Since 2011; Eponymous Designer Appears Showcasing New Design
British clothing brand Paul Smith on Wednesday held its first fashion show in Tokyo in 14 years.<...
March 20, 2025
-
Tokyo Fashion Show Showcases Horror Manga ‘Tomie’; Models Embody Bewitching, Beautiful, Immortal, Multiplying Girl
A fashion show showcasing the horror manga “Tomie,” about a girl who keeps regenerating after dea...
March 20, 2025
-
Tokyo’s Asakusa Hanayashiki Amusement Park Holds Yoshiokubo’s Show as Part of Tokyo Fashion Week
A fashion show featuring Japanese brand Yoshiokubo was recently held at Asakusa Hanayashiki amuse...
March 19, 2025
-
AI Becoming More Widely Used in Japan’s Fashion Industry
With the widespread use of generative artificial intelligence in the fashion industry, AI is bein...
February 16, 2025
Music
-
Weigle, YNSO Give Compelling Performance of ‘Wozzeck’ Opera in Tokyo
The Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra (YNSO) gave a compelling performance of “Wozzeck,” the dark...
March 23, 2025
-
Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra’s New Season Promises Exciting Music Journey
The Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra’s 2025-2026 (fiscal 2025) season will begin on April 16. Th...
March 19, 2025
-
Meet Neil, 13, Attracting Attention as Japan’s Newest, Multi-Talented Pop Star
Okinawa Actors School in Naha, which has fostered such pop music stars as Namie Amuro, Da Pump an...
March 14, 2025
-
Scores for Historic Tokyo Beethoven Concerts Found
Scores used at the first full performances of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 “Choral” by Japanese mus...
March 9, 2025
-
Thousands Take Part in Beethoven’s Ninth in Tokyo; Concert Includes 5,000-strong All-Ages Chorus
More than 3,000 spectators enjoyed listening to Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 “Choral” in concert a...
February 27, 2025
Books & Literature
-
Japanese Novelist Asako Yuzuki Says She Wrote Her Novel ‘Butter’ in Reaction to Male-Centered Media; Finds Warm Embrace for Her Novel in U.K.
Japanese writer Asako Yuzuki is getting attention abroad for her novel “Butter,” which touches on...
February 15, 2025
-
Bound to Please / In “Miyabaru 198,” a Hamlet with Centuries of History Faces an Unpeopled Future
The Yomiuri Shimbun‘Miyabaru 198’ By Carl Stimson By Alex Breeden / Japan News Staff Wri...
January 2, 2025
-
To Get Published in Japan, Write Nonfiction
If you are a foreign writer in Japan and hope to get published, your best bet is to go the nonfic...
January 2, 2025
-
Bound to Please / How to Eat Well, Stay Sane and Enjoy Life with Help from Japan
In Japan, people eat all manner of things fried. There’s fried chicken (karaage), fried pork (ton...
December 1, 2024
-
Picture Book About Calf to Be Eaten Soon Becomes Popular; Song to Accompany Book Released
A picture book depicting a calf that has accepted its fate of being eaten and is going to visit i...
November 3, 2024
Museums
-
Japan’s Fukuoka to Create ‘City of Culture, Art’ Through Renovation of Museums; City Hopes to Pass on Culture to Future Generations
FUKUOKA — The city of Fukuoka will start a full-scale renovation of its municipal art museum and ...
February 9, 2025
-
Simose Art Museum Wins UNESCO’s Prix Versailles; Hiroshima Prefecture Museum Was Judged ‘World’s Most Beautiful’
HIROSHIMA — Simose Art Museum, which sits on the coast of the Seto Inland Sea, won this year’s Pr...
February 2, 2025
-
Immersive Digital Ukiyo-E Experience Opens in Tokyo
TOKYO (Jiji Press) — A new art exhibition immersing visitors in the world of Japan’s “ukiyo-e” tr...
December 28, 2024
-
Two Large Exhibitions of Ancient Haniwa Figures from Today’s Perspective; Five Haniwa Warriors Gathered for 1st Time
Two large exhibitions in Tokyo are showcasing ancient haniwa clay figures, which are important ar...
December 2, 2024
-
Background Art From ‘The Boy and the Heron’ on Display at Studio Ghibli Museum; Features 120 Drawings for Film Directed by Hayao Miyazaki
The background art from Studio Ghibli's animated film "Kimitachi wa Do Ikiru ka?" (The Boy and th...
November 25, 2024
JN Popular Articles
-
-
-
-
-
JN TOP STORIES
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
