Word: samurais
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...Kumi Machida, who graduated from Tama Art University, Tenmyouya is self-taught, and he brings an autodidact's passion to his work. At his spartan studio on the northeastern outskirts of Tokyo, he kneels placidly on the floor, surrounded by works in progress, many of them featuring the stylized samurai that have become his trademark. He feels a kinship to their uncompromising independence. "[Famed samurai] Musashi Miyamoto learned his skill on his own, and beat everyone," he says. "I feel similar. Instead of learning from someone else, I think it's better that I just establish myself...
...Even more than Tenmyouya's stylized samurai or Matsui's feminist ghosts, Machida's surreal and often frankly sexual paintings-like Little Boy: Good Luck Talisman-seem to have little in common with staid 19th century forms. But Machida says artistic categories are "just brand names," so she doesn't feel as though she is violating some unwritten code. "I admire Japanese painting, but I learned from the tradition without even noticing it." And that's the point. As diverse as they are, as different as they are from their flowers-and-Mount Fuji predecessors, the neo-nihonga painters aren...
...before, the samurai of the speed-eating world seemed to have sensed that he may have met his match. At a press conference Kobayashi took a deep breath and slowly bowed his head. Such a move normally signals the beginning of his onslaught on a pile of food - hot dogs, cow brains, rice balls - that he devours in record time. But when Kobayashi looked up, he did not have hot dogs flopping out of his mouth. Rather he had tears streaming down his face...
...clearly counting on Fujimori's tough image, and party leaders say that he will focus on bringing home Japanese citizens who were abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 80s. "I strongly hope Mr. Fujimori, as the last samurai, will shake up a Japan that has lost its courage, self-confidence and gentleness," said the PNP's Kamei, who added that Fujimori will make use of his "knowledge, rich experience and reputation for our country's politics...
...clear now whether the Peruvian samurai with the accented Japanese will attract voters here who seem preoccupied with domestic issues, especially if Fujimori has to do all his campaigning via teleconferencing. But Fujimori's election could have a surprising impact on Japanese politics. If the ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) loses Diet seats in the July elections, as polls suggest, they could lose their majority in the upper house unless they can form a broader coalition with new allies. If Fujimori can help the PNP win additional seats, the small conservative party...