Culture
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Manga & Anime
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‘One Piece’-Themed Shinkansen Train Debuts; Celebrates 50 Years of ‘Grand’ Sanyo Shinkansen Line
OSAKA — West Japan Railway Co. on Saturday debuted a new Shinkansen train themed around popular a...
April 12, 2025
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Junji Ito’s Horror Manga Irresistible to Fans at Home and Abroad; Horror Mangaka Carries Surprisingly Positive Image
Junji Ito’s popularity has been growing worldwide. The 61-year-old manga artist is known for his ...
April 11, 2025
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Anime Song Veteran Takayuki Miyauchi Belts Out 70 Songs in a Row at 70th Birthday Concert
A song is sung from the heart.I rediscovered this principle at a recent concert by anison (anime ...
April 11, 2025
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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
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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
Film & TV
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South Korean Director Ryoo Seung-wan Uses Action, Emotion to Depict Realistic Hero Character in ‘I, The Executioner’
There are several South Korean directors, such as Bong Joon-ho, whose work I never want to miss. ...
April 18, 2025
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Kansai TV President Resigns over Sexual Violence Scandal at Fuji TV; Mishandling of Incident Criticized in Report
OSAKA — Kansai Television Co. President Toru Ota left his post at the TV broadcaster on Friday in...
April 5, 2025
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Shiori Kubo, Yuna Taira Star in Film ‘Nemurubaka’ about Briefness of College Life
Based on Masakazu Ishiguro’s hit manga, the film “Nemurubaka -Hypnic Jerks-,” released in theater...
April 4, 2025
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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
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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
Kabuki / Noh / Rakugo
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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
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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
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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
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‘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
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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
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‘Demon Slayer,’ Japan’s Popular Manga, Back with 5th Stage Play; Performers Kato, Urai Discuss Playing Their Roles
The smash hit manga “Kimetsu no Yaiba” (“Demon Slayer”) is back with its fifth stage play adaptat...
March 28, 2025
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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
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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
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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
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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
Art
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Anime Creators to Get Career Boost from New Organization, as Japan Looks to Grow Overseas Market
The Cultural Affairs Agency plans to establish a new organization by the end of fiscal 2025 to he...
April 20, 2025
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Japanese Designer Wins 1st Prize for Newcomers at International Furniture Fair in Milan
MILAN — A lamp and containers created by a Japanese designer using palm tree bark dyed with a tra...
April 10, 2025
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Many Japan Companies, Brands Show Up at Milan Design Week; Time & Style, Lexus Among Firms Showing Off Their Latest Designs, Tech
MILAN — Milan Design Week, which hosts various design and art events in and around Milan, began o...
April 9, 2025
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Colorful, Adorable Art Soaps Showcase Realistic, Delicious Textures
Colorful cakes, popsicles and parfaits — all looking good enough to eat — are actually soap. Thei...
March 31, 2025
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Artist Turns Computer, TV Parts into Tiny Creatures
Artist Koichi Miyajima uses small electronic parts to make artworks that are cute and fun, and so...
March 28, 2025
Fashion
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Dior Unveils Fall Collection at Garden of Historic Kyoto Temple; Traditional Japanese Textiles Incorporated in Pieces
KYOTO — Taking over the historic garden of Toji temple, a World Heritage site in Kyoto, French fa...
April 16, 2025
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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
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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
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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
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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
Music
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Music Awards Japan Ready to Make Noise; Atarashii Gakko! Help Inaugurate Japan’s Answer to The Grammy Awards
Japan’s answer to the Grammy Awards will be launched this spring. Music Awards Japan (MAJ) will b...
April 18, 2025
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Cultural Affairs Agency Commissioner: Prioritize Support for Creators, Artists Regarding Music Awards Japan
The Cultural Affairs Agency will take a cooperative role in staging Music Awards Japan.“Allowing ...
April 18, 2025
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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
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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
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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
Books & Literature
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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