Denim Koi
Carp streamers featuring printed denim patterns are flying in Kurashiki City, the denim capital of Japan. The streamers were made by a blue jeans company and a carp streamer maker in Okayama Pre…
The archive
Art & Culture — page 6
Browse art & culture in the Akihabara archive.
The Sprawling Legacy of Isao Takahata, Co-Founder of Studio Ghibli
Isao Takahata, a master of Japanese animation who co-founded the beloved animation house Studio Ghibli with fellow titan Hayao Miyazaki, died following a battle with lung cancer at the Teikyo Un…
What Isle of Dogs Gets Right About Japan
A week ago, I saw Wes Anderson’s “Isle of Dogs,” or “Inu-ga-shima.” I saw it as someone who, upon hearing that name, is forcibly reminded of Oni-ga-shima, the isle of demons where…
Kengo Kuma designs Japan's first Ace Hotel
The Ace Hotel chain is opening its first Japanese outpost in Kyoto this winter, in a former telephone exchange building overhauled by Kengo Kuma. Japanese architect Kuma will convert the ShinPuh…
In Japan, Samurai Cuisine Is Racking Up Michelin Stars
In the town of Shiogama in Miyagi Prefecture, there’s a residential neighborhood overlooking Matsushima Bay, the epicenter of Japan’s catastrophic March 2011 earthquake and subsequent tsunami. On a q…
Samurai Parade
About 1,500 people dressed as samurai warriors in armor have paraded in central Japan to celebrate 16th-century warlord Takeda Shingen. The parade on Saturday in the streets of Kofu, Yamana…
Great Japanese Writers: Ryu Murakami
Often referred to in conversation as “the other Murakami,” I would argue that while not enjoying the sales and acclaim outside Japan that Haruki does, Ryu has done much more over his long career to p…
Studio Ghibli co-founder Isao Takahata dies at 82
Japanese anime director Isao Takahata, co-founder of the famed Studio Ghibli, has died at the age of 82. Mr Takahata was nominated for an Oscar in 2014 for The Tale of the Princess Kaguya b…
Women urged to get out of sumo ring
Women trying to provide emergency treatment to a person who collapsed in a sumo ring were urged to leave it during a sumo event. The Japan Sumo Association later said the appeal was inappropriate in …
Japanese AI Writes a Novel, Nearly Wins Literary Award
Authors beware, because an AI-written novel just made it past the first round of screening for a national literary prize in Japan. The novel this program co-authored is titled, The Day…