Rockin’ in Rhythm: Japan’s Battling Big Bands
Jazz was not merely a music to be accepted or reviled, but rather a metaphor for Japan’s participation in global cultural trends.
Journey to Disaster: Toshiro Mifune in “Band of Assassins”
He asked to be shaved because he knew exactly what was going to happen to his head
Salute to Toshiro Mifune: Japan’s Greatest Movie Star
When Hideyoshi orders his soldiers to cut off the man’s nose and ears, he fights back
Rock Gods in Japan: Who’s Appropriating Who?
A famous number of theirs compares a girlfriend’s physical attributes to those of a high-performance sports car.
Bopping and Bathing in Beppu
Ichiro has never left his hometown. He has his pick of the local females
Herzog’s Onoda: The Twilight World
Crickets scream at the cosmos… A crocodile ate a countess…
Laugh and Live: A Barbarian on Japan’s Art Island
“The guy went to beaches all over the world to take these photos, and they all look the same?”
The Hunter: Reconsidering Shintaro Ishihara Part 2
He doubted that Queen Elizabeth would apologize for the Opium Wars if she visited China
The Provocateur: Reconsidering Shintaro Ishihara
Ishihara helped to mould the era, and the era helped to mould him
The Salesman from Hell: Fujiko A.’s Dark Masterpiece
Essentially a variation on the Faust story set in the world of office workers and hostess bars, it is emphatically for adults