Walking home the other night, I glanced furtively over my shoulder and clocked the notorious tattoo-enforcement police heading in my direction. I ducked into a nearby konbini and cursed that bad decision inked onto my forearm in the 1990s. Ah, the '90s, when all we ...
The world first began to take notice of Japanese fashion in the 1980s after Issey Miyake and Kenzo Takada began presenting their collections in Paris. Their work signaled a departure from an industry dominated by Western norms, and their unusual aesthetic shocked fashion critics. This ...
One of the world's largest art festivals, Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale is held across this mountainous Niigata region every three years. Its goal is to revive the area by encouraging visitors to interact with the countryside and its locals. The festival showcases artworks located in around ...
Shisaku is a homophone meaning essay, a meditation upon a subject, a policy or measures a government takes. A fitting title for analyst Michael Cucek's blog which provides insight and opinion on Japanese politics, with a distinct hint of satire. In the eight years ...
As Tokyo's Ueno Park Zoo and the nation mourn the death of the first panda cub to be born in Japan in 24 years, we can show our support for the institution, and other zoos, by visiting other rare and unusual animals. Just like us ...
During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, not only did music, art, literature and the performing arts influence each other, but some artists created works that spanned art forms. Among such artists was the famous French composer Claude Debussy. To celebrate the 150th year ...
"Kaeru" — the Japanese word for "to change, return, exchange" that can also mean "to be able to purchase" — is the central theme of artist Hiroshi Fuji's solo exhibition, "Central Kaeru Sation." Fuji's work brings together more than 50,000 toys collected over 13 years ...
Eiji Mitooka is one of Japan's leading train designers, and he is particularly well known as the designer for the Kyushu Railway Company. His work has been highly acclaimed and won him many awards in the industry, not to mention fans. The Art Tower Mito ...
Osamu Wataya is a photographer, but only in the dictionary sense of the word. Most artistic photographers use their subjects to make a work of art, "I want to be able to serve my subjects," he says, "I want my subjects to be able ...
"Inaudible Sound" was originally a one-day event that was scheduled for March 19, 2011, but was canceled after the Great East Japan Earthquake. This year, the three originally commissioned artists — Hiroharu Mori, Toshiya Tsunoda and Shigeru Matsui — have been reunited to show works ...
