Culture
MUSIC
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Japan’s Harajuku District Strikes Chord with Global Music Brands
Tokyo’s Harajuku district is increasingly in tune with major music brands. U.S. company Fender Musi...
November 26, 2023
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Yoshiki’s Journey through Music; from Japan to U.S, from X Japan to Hollywood
LOS ANGELES — Yoshiki, the leader of rock band X Japan, took his place among about 300 legendary sta...
November 26, 2023
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Hatsune Miku Turns 16; Vocaloid Software Same Age as Fictional Background
Hatsune Miku, the virtual singer who boasts worldwide popularity, has turned 16. The most prominent ...
November 24, 2023
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88-Year-Old Okinawan Jazz Singer Teiko Saito Continues to Enchant Fans; Coming to Tokyo with Grammy Award Winner David Matthews
ISHIGAKI, Okinawa — Teiko Saito, 88, from Okinawa Prefecture started singing in a jazz band soon aft...
November 18, 2023
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2 Japanese Win Prizes in Int’l Sax Competition in Belgium
DINANT, Belgium (Jiji Press) — Japanese saxophonists Wataru Hirai and Kenta Igarashi won prizes in t...
November 12, 2023
ART
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Kaga Craftsmen Join Forces to Produce a New Series of Traditional Lacquerware
KAGA, Ishikawa — An association of businesses for Yamanaka lacquerware, a traditional handicraft in ...
December 3, 2023
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Wood-carver Brings Intricate Shapes to Life
KAMAKURA, Kanagawa — Kamakura-bori woodwork artisan Kazuhiko Mitsuki is deeply focused as he carves ...
December 3, 2023
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Traditional Venetian Glass Art Classes in Tokyo; A ‘Thousand Flowers’ Bloom in Millefiori Artwork
Millefiori is a traditional glass craft of Venice. It is characterized by a vividness and transparen...
November 17, 2023
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Colorful, Intricate Handmade Kaga Thimbles Make Comeback with Modern Motifs
Colorful, ornate and delicately designed ring-shaped Kaga yubinuki thimbles, thought to have been pr...
November 13, 2023
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Works by Artists with Disabilities Turn Tokyo Ward into Open-Air Museum
Shopping areas and other locations in Tokyo’s Koto Ward have turned into an open-air art museum as p...
October 20, 2023
MUSEUMS
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75th Annual Exhibition of Shoso-in Treasures Ends in Nara; Over 115,000 Visitors Flock to Nara National Museum
NARA — The 75th Annual Exhibition of Shoso-in Treasures ended Monday at the Nara National Museum in ...
November 14, 2023
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Mincho Identified as Painter of Centuries-Old ‘500 Arhats’; Name on Wooden Stick Provides Vital Evidence
The recent discovery of a wooden stick that was used to turn paintings into hanging scrolls has she...
October 21, 2023
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Museum Commemorating ‘Kiki’s Delivery Service’ Author Unveiled; Author Eiko Kadono, Architect Kengo Kuma Attend Ceremony
A literary museum showing the world created by writer Eiko Kadono, 88, famed author of “Majo no Takk...
October 18, 2023
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Timeless Treasures Set to Enthrall New Generations / The 75th Annual Shoso-in Exhibition
Fifty-nine treasures from the vast Shoso-in Imperial collection will be displayed at Nara National M...
October 3, 2023
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U.S. Photographer’s Historic Nagasaki Picture on Display at Iwate Pref. Exhibition
An exhibition featuring pictures taken by U.S. photojournalist Joe O’Donnell — known for his histori...
July 15, 2023
FASHION
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Thoughts on Rei Kawakubo Becoming a Person of Cultural Merit
The government has designated fashion design icon Rei Kawakubo a Person of Cultural Merit. Followi...
December 2, 2023
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Tokyo’s Shinjuku District Home to Traditional Kimono-Dyeing Technique
Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward, famous for its soaring skyscrapers and neon lights that adorn the Kabukicho d...
November 19, 2023
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Major Fashion Brands Taking Notice of Opposition to Exotic Leathers
At the latest Paris Fashion Week that ended in October, a woman caused a scene by crashing the show ...
November 19, 2023
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Make Your Custom Lipstick Shade at a Specialty Shop in Shibuya
All 50 vials of various pigments were placed on a table. As a small amount of blue pigment was added...
November 10, 2023
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Takayuki Kijima Vows to Make Hats Loved around the World
Kijima Takayuki, a hat brand created by the designer of the same name, is popular for its practical ...
November 5, 2023
MANGA & ANIME
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AI Helps Create New ‘Black Jack’ Manga Episode for Osamu Tezuka’s Iconic Maverick Doctor
A new episode of the manga “Black Jack,” one of the best-loved works by the late mangaka Osamu Tezuk...
November 21, 2023
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‘The Ramparts of Ice’ Is a Game Changer of Webtoon-Origin Manga
I like to read all kinds of manga, but I’ve never really gotten into webtoons. Originating in South ...
November 18, 2023
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Tokyo Facility to Showcase Japanese Anime Works Opens in Toshima Ward; Original Art on Display
A new facility to showcase Japanese anime opened in Toshima Ward, Tokyo, on Tuesday. ...
October 31, 2023
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Recommend Manga Lists to be Drawn up for Foreign Countries; Local Specialists, Japanese Agency to Select 100 Titles Per Country
To promote manga worldwide, the Cultural Affairs Agency has decided to create lists of 100 recommend...
October 31, 2023
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Plain-Looking Heroine is Radiant Star of High School Comedy
“Paying pilgrimage to sacred places” is a hobby of one of my otaku acquaintances. He recently publi...
October 21, 2023
FILM & TV
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Seeking Delicious Sake, Food on ‘Wandering Taverns’; Rui Yoshida’s Pioneering TV Show Reaches 20 Years
Rui Yoshida, known as the “Tavern Poet” 74, celebrates the 20th anniversary of the BS-TBS program “R...
December 3, 2023
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Live-Action Lupin III Spin-Off Available Worldwide; Tamayama Reprises Role of Jigen Daisuke
“Jigen Daisuke,” a live-action film starring the gunman and partner in crime of Lupin III from the p...
December 1, 2023
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Green-clad Superhero Event Spawns Miracle of Tokusatsu Stunts, Choreography
It has been about 20 years since I started organizing events about superheroes from tokusatsu sci-fi...
November 10, 2023
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Refugee Film Festival Starts in Tokyo with Documentaries from Afghanistan, South Sudan, Venezuela, Others
The plight of refugees from some of the world’s most turbulent places are being presented at an annu...
November 7, 2023
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Director of New Godzilla Film Pursuing ‘Japanese Spirituality’ of 1954 Original
TOKYO (AP) — Godzilla, the nightmarish radiation spewing monster born out of nuclear weapons, has st...
November 4, 2023
KABUKI / NOH / RAKUGO
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Bunraku Puppet Plays Get National Treasure Treatment, with Puppeteer Kanjuro Kiritake, Historic Shokoji Temple
Two bunraku puppet plays, featuring living national treasure and puppeteer Kanjuro Kiritake, were pe...
November 29, 2023
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Famed Storyteller Shinsho Still Draws Fans after 50 Years
Fifty years have passed since legendary rakugo storyteller Kokontei Shinsho V died on Sept. 21, 1973...
October 29, 2023
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Kabuki Firm Shochiku Offers English Audio Guides in Tokyo, Interpretation Event in Osaka to Draw Foreign Visitors in Japan
As foreign visitor numbers continue to recover, efforts to attract tourists are increasing, such as ...
October 22, 2023
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‘Demon Slayer’ Kabuki Production Canceled
A kabuki adaptation of the popular manga “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba” has been canceled, accordi...
August 3, 2023
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Rakugo Flyers Designed with Flair Earn Performers’ Praise
OSAKA — Kumiko Toyota, a shamisen player who provides backing mainly to performances by rakugo story...
July 6, 2023
PERFORMING ARTS
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Indian-Inspired Play Performed in Front of Tokyo Station; Outdoor Spectacle Part of Ongoing Tokyo Festival 2023
In broad daylight, visitors from a totally different world suddenly appeared in an office district o...
October 21, 2023
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Treasured Temple, Puppet Master to Enrich Toyama Staging of Bunraku Plays; Kanjuro Kiritake, Others to Perform Bunraku Puppet Plays
Living national treasure Kanjuro Kiritake and others will perform bunraku puppet plays at Shoko-ji t...
October 10, 2023
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Probe to Start over Death of Japan’s Takarazuka Revue Member
TAKARAZUKA, Hyogo (Jiji Press) — Takarazuka Revue Co., a popular Japanese all-female musical group, ...
October 8, 2023
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After 1 year, ‘Harry Potter’ Still Plays to Packed House in Tokyo
The play “Harry Potter to Noroi no Ko” (“Harry Potter and the Cursed Child”) is enjoying a successfu...
October 6, 2023
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‘Chainsaw Man’ Actor Naotake Tsuchiya Ecstatic to Bring Denji to Life
The popular manga and anime “Chainsaw Man” has made its stage debut, and Naotake Tsuchiya is ecstati...
September 22, 2023
BOOKS & LITERATURE
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Japan’s Waseda Univ. Awards 2 Writers Who ‘Crossed Border’ between Genres, Languages
Waseda University announced that this year’s Tsubouchi Shoyo Award went to writer Natsuki Ikezawa, w...
November 26, 2023
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Japanese Students Prefer Reading Novels on Physical Books; E-books Better for Reading Manga
Elementary, junior high and high school students who have used e-books tend to find novels, illustra...
October 28, 2023
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For Author Haruki Murakami, Reading Fiction Helps Us ‘See through Lies’ in a World Divided by Walls
OVIEDO, Spain (AP) — For Japanese author Haruki Murakami, the bloody conflict in the Gaza Strip is a...
October 21, 2023
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Spain’s Royals Honor Asturias Prize Winners, including Haruki Murakami
OVIEDO, Spain (AP) — American actor Meryl Streep on Friday received Spain’s prestigious Princess of ...
October 21, 2023
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Japan Writers Conference turns new page in 17th year
Like a good book passed around and reinterpreted over the years, the Japan Writers Conference has be...
October 8, 2023
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