A man in a suit sits onstage at a Roppongi theater in May and fires a fart-fueled dart at a balloon. Later, another comedian flips through oversize image boards to tell an increasingly absurd narrative about feeding ever-larger pies to an old lady. The audience responds with bewilderment, laughter and applause. This is Yoshimoto Comedy Night Owarai, an English-language comedy show staged every Monday by Yoshimoto Kogyo, the powerhouse talent agency best known for its comedians. The Osaka-based company also stages a similar event called Nandeyanen every Friday at Yoshimoto…
Posts published in “Culture”
Explore Japanese culture, traditions, festivals, arts, heritage, history and modern cultural trends with independent coverage from The Japan Journal.
The former Shimazu family residence’s main building, located in the capital’s Shinagawa Ward, was designed by British architect Josiah Conder, who is also known for such landmarks as the Rokumeikan in Tokyo. Built of brick and with a building area of approximately 925 square meters, the house was completed and officially opened in 1917. The building has two above-ground floors and one basement level. Today, it serves as the main building of Seisen University, where it is actively used for classes and other university activities while being carefully preserved. A…
BUSAN, South Korea (Kyodo) — UNESCO decided Sunday to add a group of ancient sites in Nara Prefecture that show the formation of Japan’s centralized state to the World Heritage list, marking the country’s 27th such site. The decision on the “Asuka-Fujiwara: Archaeological sites of Japan’s Ancient Capitals and Related Properties” was made during a meeting of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization World Heritage Committee held in Busan, South Korea. The ruins are highly regarded for demonstrating the process by which the centralized state was established, against…
NAGOYA (Kyodo) — Ukrainian sekiwake Aonishiki moved into the outright lead Friday at the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament after an outstanding victory over ozeki Kirishima that knocked the Mongolian-born grappler off the top rung of the leaderboard. The 22-year-old Aonishiki, who clinched his repromotion to ozeki by reaching 10 wins on Wednesday, improved to 11-2 on Day 13 at IG Arena by dispatching Kirishima (10-3) with a brilliantly executed under-shoulder swing down. The two other overnight leaders, 13th-ranked maegashira Takerufuji and 14th-ranked Shishi, also fell to second place with their…
NAGOYA (Kyodo) — Ukrainian dynamo Aonishiki captured his third top-division title at the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament on Sunday, winning a three-way championship playoff against fellow sekiwake Atamifuji and Mongolian-born ozeki Kirishima after the trio finished deadlocked at 12-3. Aonishiki’s gritty playoff victory capped off a remarkable performance by the 22-year-old, who secured automatic repromotion to ozeki by reaching the 10-win benchmark at the 15-day tournament while laboring with a painful foot condition. Having started the final day at IG Arena with the outright lead, he was brought back to…