Category: Art

  • 7 New Kengo Kuma Buildings to See in Japan

    7 New Kengo Kuma Buildings to See in Japan
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    Kengo Kuma and Associates (KKAA) has featured dozens of buildings across Japan in recent years. One of the firm’s most notable creations is the New National Stadium for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, but the structures are varied and recent designs include a public bath and a Shinto shrine. KADOKAWA MUSEUM OF CULTURE AND MUSASHINO… Read more

  • Kawase Hasui : Revitalizing Artist of Ukiyo-e Art

    Kawase Hasui : Revitalizing Artist of Ukiyo-e Art
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    Kawase Hasui is considered one of the most important Japanese landscape painters of the 20th century. His prints, produced under the direction and stern eye of his publisher, Watanabe Shōzaburō (1885-1962), are the modern continuation of the unforgettable works of Hiroshige and Hokusai , masters of the Ukiyo-e Art. With his art, Kawase was able… Read more

  • Film about the tsunami tragedy is released, despite the initial rejection of the victims

    Film about the tsunami tragedy is released, despite the initial rejection of the victims
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    Film director Kazuhiro Terada’s latest work is once again trying to give a voice to people who challenge authority, but those he supported wanted nothing to do with the project. After all, they had experienced the worst imaginable in their lives, followed by additional and unwarranted misery. But Terada persisted and eventually won over some… Read more

  • Murakami will release a novel in April, his first since 2017

    Murakami will release a novel in April, his first since 2017
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    The legions of “harukists” around the world should mark April 13 on their calendars. That’s the date internationally acclaimed author Haruki Murakami’s first full-length novel in six years will be released in Japan. Publisher Shinchosha made the announcement on February 1. The title has not been revealed. The publisher said a digital version of the… Read more

  • Koto – National Instrument of Japan

    Koto – National Instrument of Japan
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    Koto (箏) is a stringed instrument that came to Japan, via China, in the 7th or maybe 8th century. In its beginnings it had only five strings, then it went on to have seven and when it arrived in Japan, it already had 12 strings, which increased to 13 strings. It is considered the National… Read more

  • Haiku – Poetry that evokes the essence of Japan in three lines

    Haiku – Poetry that evokes the essence of Japan in three lines
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    Haiku poetry is the microcosm of a larger idea or feeling that evokes images, moments and much of the essence of Japan. Its simplicity is essential, as are Japanese Zen Buddhism, tea ceremonies, and Japanese cuisine. Being simple is a very important value that is always represented in Japanese culture and in the beauty of… Read more

  • Ukiyo-e art brings Chinese literary heroes to life

    Ukiyo-e art brings Chinese literary heroes to life
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    Few art forms are as quintessentially Japanese as woodblock print. However, its roots are not purely indigenous, and its development in the last decades of the 17th century owes much to China. “The diversity of subjects, the use of vivid colors to enhance expressiveness, not to mention the technology itself, all of these elements bear… Read more

  • Reimagining the Japanese Kimono with AI-Generated Art

    Reimagining the Japanese Kimono with AI-Generated Art
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    There is a lot of discussion and debate about whether AI art should be considered art or not. Some say that it should be considered as such since we do not define art by the process but by the result. In this case the real question is who is the artist? Others mention that it… Read more

  • Japanese Folk Dances approved as UNESCO Intangible Heritage

    Japanese Folk Dances approved as UNESCO Intangible Heritage
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    A collection of traditional Japanese folk dances “Furyu-odori” has been approved for inclusion in UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list, an important factor in maintaining cultural diversity in the face of increasing globalization. The understanding of the intangible cultural heritage of different communities contributes to the dialogue between cultures and promotes respect for other ways of… Read more

  • Murakami Haruki Receives Prestigious Cino Del Duca Award 2022

    Murakami Haruki Receives Prestigious Cino Del Duca Award 2022
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    Japanese author Haruki Murakami has received the prestigious 2022 Cino Del Duca World Prize, an international literary prize that recognizes a novelist whose works convey a message of modern humanism. “Taking inspiration from daily events, Murakami also blends surreal and magical incidents in his works,” judges said at the award ceremony in Paris on June… Read more