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July 25, 2026
 

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KOBO ABE

A Tokyo man who scuttles around the city in a dirty cardboard box finds himself fighting off odd characters in Gakuryu Ishii＊s ※The Box Man.§
CULTURE / Film
Aug 17, 2024
＆The Box Man＊: Absurdist Kobo Abe adaptation speaks to the present
Director Gakuryu Ishii makes the novel＊s philosophical musings and metaphorical conundrums more audience-friendly while saying something true about the modern day.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 13, 2021
＆Woman of the Photographs＊: An existentialist fable for the Instagram age
Takeshi Kushida＊s debut feature playfully riffs on Kobo Abe＊s novel, ※The Woman in the Dunes,§ in a surrealist fable about the pitfalls of image retouching.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Aug 1, 2020
＆A Late Chrysanthemum＊: A short story collection full of pathos and maturity
This anthology of short stories may tend toward the morally dubious, but it＊s a solid introduction to literary masters of the 20th century.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR 51勛圖厙OPHILES
Dec 8, 2018
Kobo Abe＊s ＆The Ark Sakura＊: A surreal narrative worth reading twice
＆The Ark Sakura,＊ Kobo Abe＊s puzzling, dream-like narrative about an obese recluse living in a vast underground bunker, is a dense interlacing of punning wordplay, psychological excavation and surreal imagery.
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR 51勛圖厙OPHILES
Oct 13, 2018
Kenzaburo Oe＊s ＆Teach Us to Outgrow Our Madness＊: Reflections on father-son relationships
In Oe＊s ＆Teach Us to Outgrow Our Madness,＊ the lifelong sense of obsession and profound sense of guilt engendered within his own familial history finds acute literary expression.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR 51勛圖厙OPHILES
Jun 9, 2018
Kobo Abe＊s ＆Kangaroo Notebook＊ is absurdist, surrealist and occasionally exasperating
Is this bizarrely oneiric journey, daikon sprouts and all, really just Kobo Abe＊s exteriorized exploration of a tortured psyche?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR 51勛圖厙OPHILES
Apr 7, 2018
Lose yourself in ＆The Face of Another,＊ Abe＊s existentialist fantasy
Losing face and the public humiliation associated with it is something that we all dread but, in Kobo Abe＊s 1964 fantasy ＆The Face of Another,＊ the metaphorical term is made real.
CULTURE / Books
Aug 29, 2015
Mishima, Murakami and the elusive Nobel Prize
Will he or won＊t he? It＊s about the time of year when the Japanese media descends into a frenzy of speculation about whether Haruki Murakami will land the Nobel Prize in literature, becoming the first Japanese literary laureate since Kenzaburo Oe in 1994.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 12, 2015
A disfigured face drags ghosts back to postwar Berlin in ＆Phoenix＊
In Kobo Abe＊s 1964 novel ※Tanin no Kao§ (※The Face of Another※), a scientist left disfigured by an industrial accident dons a synthetic mask and poses as a different man in order to seduce his estranged wife. When she responds rather too readily to his advances, he reacts angrily, only to discover that...
51勛圖厙 / History
Jan 1, 2015
Donald Keene reflects on 70-year Japan experience
My first visit to Japan was very short, only a week or so in December 1945. Three months earlier, while on the island of Guam, I had heard the broadcast by the Emperor announcing the end of the war. Soon afterward, I was sent from Guam to China to serve as an interpreter between the Americans and the...
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR 51勛圖厙OPHILES
Dec 27, 2014
The Woman in the Dunes
Certain books must be read, even with the knowledge that the reading will be painful. Kobo Abe＊s masterpiece ※The Woman in the Dunes§ is one such book. Called an ※existential fable,§ it is no surprise that Abe＊s favorite writers were Franz Kafka, Friedrich Nietzsche and Edgar Allan Poe.
Japan weighs regulating Pokemon cards amid trading mania
A Pokemon event is held in Jakarta on July 11
Head of Swiss euthanasia firm dies after collapsing while ascending Mount Fuji
Around 200,000 people typically scale the 3,776 meter Mount Fuji each year.
Indian brothers make manga debut in Japan
Two Indian brothers made their manga debut in Japan with "Kung Fu Kung Fool" 〞 an action-comedy series that follows the adventures of a notorious thief and a young boy.
Japan scientists identify clusters of protein believed to trigger Alzheimer＊s disease
A team of researchers said they found a ※seed§ that accelerates the amyloid beta accumulation process in the brain, naming it ※Peak 1 amyloid beta,§ as seen in a mouse's brain.
A perfect storm: Kaze Fujii fans flock to Fuji Rock
Okayama-born singer-songwriter Kaze Fujii has carved out a distinctive place in Japanese pop since his major-label debut in 2019.
The sci-fi sensibilities of electronic trio Black Boboi
Black Boboi was formed in 2018 when solo artists Julia Shortreed, Utena Kobayashi and Ermhoi came together under Kobayashi＊s newly founded label, Bindividual.
A perfect storm: Kaze Fujii fans flock to Fuji Rock
Okayama-born singer-songwriter Kaze Fujii has carved out a distinctive place in Japanese pop since his major-label debut in 2019.
Can Japanese comedy get laughs in English? Yoshimoto Kogyo lets the jokes rip
Wes-P has millions of followers and his viral clips made him recognizable out of Japan.
The 180-day locals: Life on Japan＊s digital nomad visa
Christopher Flinn works remotely from Tokyo earlier this month. Japan issued 646 digital nomad visas in 2025, but tourism officials are hoping to increase that figure in the coming years, with Japan's relatively cheap cost of living and the weak yen seen as potential draws for young professionals.
Japan reveals hint of new defense spending target in fiscal blueprint
The Self-Defense Forces' Type 16 mobile combat vehicle fires during a joint live-fire drill with U.S. Marines as part of the annual Resolute Dragon exercises in Yufu, Oita Prefecture, on June 28.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo＊s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo＊s ＆stadium of desire＊

Longform

For many people, utility poles and power lines have become such a familiar part of Japan＊s landscape that they often go unnoticed.
Why Japan＊s utility poles won＊t be disappearing anytime soon
By Alex K.T. Martin

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