Culture
- Gadgets, Hospitality industry, Bars, pubs and clubs, Music, Pop and rock, Japan, Technology, Business, World news, Culture
‘Where honour and ridiculousness collide’: in praise of karaoke’s inventor, on his death at 100
Shigeichi Negishi’s invention invites us to cast off humility and take a shot at singing stardom. His legacy w…
- Oscars 2024, Japan, World cinema, Hayao Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli, World news, Asia Pacific, Culture, Animation in film, Film
‘Irreplaceable’: will Hayao Miyazaki, Japan’s animation auteur, ever retire?
The Boy and the Heron’s Oscar win has prompted debate over whether the 83-year-old could put down his pencilIt…
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‘I express purely through my songs and silhouette’: Ado, the platinum-selling pop star with a secret identity
She’s a massive success in her native Japan, but has never revealed her face. As she plays the UK for the firs…
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‘My father buried his friends in minus-40 Siberia’: director Hirokazu Kore-eda on trauma and childhood
The maker of Shoplifters and I Wish talks about Monster, his dark new film about our dangerously fragmented wo…
- Oscars 2024, Japan, Hayao Miyazaki, Oscars, World news, Asia Pacific, Awards and prizes, Culture, Animation in film, Film
The Boy and the Heron, Hayao Miyazaki’s last film, wins Oscar for best animation
Master Japanese director wins his second Oscar for story of a young boy searching for his mother during the se…
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Tokyo offers toilet tours amid flush of excitement over Wim Wenders’s Oscar hopeful
Shibuya district is offering tours of its architect-designed public facilities that feature in Perfect DaysJap…
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Akira Toriyama, creator of Dragon Ball manga series, dies aged 68
Japanese artist remembered for his ‘unique world of creation’ including comic series that spawned films, video…
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‘I am not very good at design’: architecture’s top honour goes to Riken Yamamoto
The Pritzker prize has been won by the 78-year-old Japaneses master whose whose work ranges from an open-acces…
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Disney series Shōgun breaks mould with careful respect for Japanese culture
High-budget series with largely Japanese cast avoids well worn western orientalist fantasies and wins plaudits…
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‘If God is in everything, that includes toilets’: Kōji Yakusho on cleaning high-art loos in Wim Wenders’ Perfect Days
The star of Tampopo, Babel and The Eel reveals how it felt to share the screen with 17 stunning Tokyo lavatori…
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Finding Her Beat review – women-only taiko drumming troupe takes on the US
The challenges of bringing the Japanese drum style to an American audience are laboriously told, but the perfo…
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Seiji Ozawa obituary
First Japanese conductor to gain recognition in the west who achieved superstar statusSeiji Ozawa, who has die…
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Lovingly reconstructed miniatures of Tokyo houses – in pictures
The Swedish artist Christopher Robin Nordström had wanted to visit Tokyo since he was a child and, when he fin…
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Lovingly reconstructed miniatures of Tokyo houses – in pictures
The Swedish artist Christopher Robin Nordström had wanted to visit Tokyo since he was a child and, when he fin…
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You need to calm down: Taylor Swift can fly from Tokyo to Super Bowl in time, says Japan embassy
Singer should be able to see boyfriend Travis Kelce in person despite 17-hour time change and 12-hour flight, …
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A crappy day out: Melbourne’s poo museum is now open for business
The new Instagram-ready space is a celebration of defecation, wrapped up in the Japanese kawaii aesthetic. Tob…
- Music, Japan, MANGA, Comics and graphic novels, Jazz, World news, Asia Pacific, Books, Anime, Culture, Animation in film, Film, Film adaptations
Blue Giant review – electrifying animation captures the ecstasy of live music
A sublime score from Hiromi Uehara drives this coming-of-age-anime, which brings three young jazz musicians to…
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Pokémon with guns: why Palworld could become 2024’s biggest game
This survival adventure from a relatively small Japanese studio sold 5m copies within three days of its releas…
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Around the World in 80 Weighs review – I thought this kind of depressing, deeply misguided TV was over
In an oddly jaunty new documentary, ‘plus-sized pilgrims’ travel the world to get dieting tips. It seemed like…
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All of Our Heartbeats Are Connected Through Exploding Stars review – dreamlike study of tsunami survivors
Swedish visual artist Jennifer Rainsford has made an at times mesmerising film that follows the aftermath of J…