The annual Salon du Livre was held in Paris this past March 16–19, and Japan was the "guest of honor" for the first time in 15 years and the second time in the book fair's 31-year history. Before leaving for France, novelist Hirano Keiichirō, one of 20 Japanese writers taking part, talked to Nippon.com about the significance of the event and the role of literature in postdisaster Japan.
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In Japan, the name Kondō Fumio is practically synonymous with tempura. Food-lovers from all over the world flock to his Tokyo restaurant, Tempura Kondō, to savor the dishes that have earned the establishment two Michelin stars. We interviewed Kondō about the creativity that has won him his faithful following.
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In December 2011 violinist Takezawa Takeshi, the concertmaster in France’s National Orchestra of Lorraine, performed his first solo recital in Japan in two years. In this interview he talks about his musical career and influences and discusses what role music can play in Japan’s recovery from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
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After the March 11 disaster dealt a severe blow to Japanese manufacturers, Nissan earned international praise for its swift recovery from the crisis. Shiga Toshiyuki talks about his company’s approach to risk management and strategy for growth in the face of adversity.
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Kita Toshiyuki is an award-winning product designer whose work fuses Japanese traditions with a contemporary, cosmopolitan sensibility. We talked to him about the characteristics of Japanese design and its potential to restore an ailing economy.
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The Department of Japanese and Japanese Literature at Cairo University is a major center for Japanese studies in the Arab world and has produced many of the region’s Japanese scholars and Japan specialists. We talked to the head of the program about the state of Japanese studies in the Arab world today.
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