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The Latest on Art and Culture in the Kansai Region

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■ Keep up with the newest cultural undertakings in Kansai as our reporters bring you first-hand accounts of the area's most passionate artists.

2011/06/03: Vol.13 Sakai Craftsmanship and the Crafts Fair
2011/04/15: Vol.12 Creating Regional Possibilities: The Endeavors of Maizuru RB
2011/03/03: Vol.11 Remembering the Future: The Legacy of the Osaka Expo
2010/10/28: Vol. 10 Reconsidering Regional Power: New Proposals for People, Things, and Town Development in Iga, Mie
2010/08/06: Vol. 9　Will Kyoto Station Be the Next Center for Contemporary Art?
2010/06/09: Vol. 8　Tokushima: The Land of Ningyo Joruri (Puppet Theatre)
2010/04/28: Vol.7 An Intersection Between People, Nature, and Art:The Kanaz Forest of Creation, Awara, Fukui Prefecture
2010/02/25: Vol.6 Various Forms of “Wa” Born from the Encounters on the Sea and Mountains
2009/11/13: Vol.5 Japanese Cultural Redaction in Kumano Nachi
2009/09/25: Vol.4 The World's Only Headquarters for Borderless Art NO-MA; Omi Hachiman, Shiga Prefecture

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Take an in-depth look at the distinctive culture of the Kansai region of western Japan through the eyes of its foreign residents.

Social Distortion

Christopher Stephens finds out how Osaka became bad It hardly bears repeating. The people of Osaka are impudent, impatient, and ill-mannered; they talk too loud, don’t stop at red lights, and when it comes to money, are incredibly tight. Or are they? Kuroda Isamu, professor of Mass Media Studies at Kansai University, has been watching the way Osaka and its residents are portrayed in print and broadcast media for over 15 years. He argues that much of what we, and more recently Osakans themselves, believe about the city is little more than a stereotype that was perpetrated by Tokyo in the 1980s, and through constant repetition, has come to be accepted fact.