A Test of Characters: The True Story of the War in the Pacific

Distinguished historians, many of them with high school graduation diplomas, are reeling in shock following the discovery of a series of...

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Book Review: "A Tractate on Japanese Aesthetics" by Donald Richie

THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF FOREIGNERS: The one who visits the holiest zen garden and sees nothing but a dirty pond, a bit of gravel, and some s...

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Manga: Haramaki Kitty

My own creation - Haramaki Kitty! He is loosely based on the famous Sanrio character Hello Kitty and is actually supposed to be Hell...

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Ten Great Things About the Japanese

People around the world were deeply impressed by the manner in which the Japanese handled the big quake earlier this year. By "hand...

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Exhibition: Hiroshi Teshigahara

Hiroshi Teshigahara, who died in 2001, is chiefly remembered as the avant-garde film director who gave celluloid form to author Kobo Abe...

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Exhibition: Taro Okamoto

The second part of the 100th anniversary show honors the legacy of an artistic phenomenon Visiting the Taro Okamoto Museum of Art is...

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Photo: Game Show Hostesses

These two lovely ladies were snapped at the Tokyo Game Show 2011, held at Makuhari Messe in Chiba Prefecture. Along with Gamescom in G...

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Lady Gaga on Japanese TV

Lady Gaga with her new Hello Kitty look appearing on Japanese breakfast TV, 29th of June, 2011. The subititles say, "The reason fo...

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Photo: Educational Toilet Paper

Because Japan is an exporting country that is heavily reliant on its overseas business, much emphasis is put on learning English. New me...

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Exhibition: Chikanobu Yoshu

Edo to Meiji: Ukiyo-e artist Chikanobu Yoshu tracked the transformation of Japanese culture The popularity of ukiyo-e woodblock pri...

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Photo: Sleeping on the Train

One of the things that stands out when you arrive in Fujiland are all the people sleeping in public. In libraries, parks, schools, col...

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Video: Tadasu Takamine's "Too Far To See"

This is a short film I took of Tadasu Takamine's installation "Too Far To See," the centrepiece of his large solo show, w...

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Hawaiians Not Welcome

Have the former giants of sumo secretly been shut out? Imagine an Olympic Games where the IOC decided that Blacks could not compete ...

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Exhibition: Japanese Posters of the 1930s

Ideas from left, right and center For those of us living today, the 1930s seem a rather scary period. Following the Wall Street cras...

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Roppongi Art Night

The all-night art festival puts a cute, nostalgic, pagan spin on Roppongi's area rebranding Roppongi Art Night is more than just a coll...

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Interview: Wakiro Sumi

Evidence, 2006 Wakiro Sumi's works invite quiet contemplation Maybe it's just as well that the Kamakura Museum of Moder...

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Photo: The Great Earthquake of 11th March, 2011

Damage outside the author's home in Urawa, Saitama Prefecture. This is about 250 miles from the centre of the earthquake, which stru...

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FICTION: PHIRIP MALROWE - PRIVATE ENGLISH TEACHER

It was a hot night in the city. I sat in my office on the 9th floor of the "Let's Building" looking out over the neon ...

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