Bird Sorrowing for Spring: Yoko Ran at Mandala
“Yoko Ran’s singing voice… seems to drag the listener back into the darkness of the womb.”
Sayonara to the Svengali of Boy Bands
The music industry is “a cruel and shallow money trench, where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs.”
Carmen Maki’s Musical Half-Century
Both Carmen and Terayama were brought up by single mothers – who were themselves often absent – with little or no memory of their fathers.
Manga Amongst the Marbles: the Triumph of “Trashiness”
Tezuka stands in relation to Japanese manga rather as Akira Kurosawa does to Japanese film
When Worlds Collide: Carlos Ghosn at Namamugi
Again, the rules of the road are in dispute, as is the key question of who decides them
New Era, New Emperor, New Realities
Five members of the British royal family, including the future King George V, got tattooed in Yokohama
Dancing Fools and Watching Fools: Alan Booth’s Journey
Just as the gap between the writer and reader has shrunk, so has the gap between the writer and the written about
New Book: “On Kurosawa – A Tribute to the Master Director”
My latest book “On Kurosawa – A Tribute to the Master Director” explores AK’s work and life
Reiwa: Get Ready for the Age of Harmony and Auspicious Plum Blossom Viewing
The Western system makes the future seem predictable and mappable. Under gengo the future is radically uncertain.
R.I.P. Yuya Uchida: Sayonara to Japan’s Mr. Rock’n Roll
His party political broadcast, mostly in idiosyncratic English, turned out to be a classic of the genre.