Japan
After serving as a Tokyo radio DJ in the '90s, Ken rebooted his career in 2000 as a writer and journalist. Starting as the Music Editor for The Asahi Evening News, he has since contributed stories on Japanese culture and music for TIME Magazine, The International Herald Tribune, The Japan Times and other publications. He currently resides in Tokyo, working as a freelance writer, narrator and translator. Website: kenkawashima.com
Keigo Oyamada remembers well his first encounter with rock 'n' roll. He was in the fifth grade and an older cousin played him some Love Gun-era Kiss. "I liked them right off," says Oyamada, 33. "They all looked like manga monsters to me."
It is ironic that the musician who has capitalized most on the predominantly Caucasian subculture of cool kids tripping out on Thai and Indian beaches would himself be Asian, but that's precisely what has happened.
Interviewing Tokyo techno pioneer Ken Ishii, who broke out globally long before he hit back home in Japan. Ishii opens up about the cultural differences in the Japanese music scene and abroad.
Ken Kawashima interviews the legendary conductor during his tenure as the principal conductor of the Vienna State Opera.
Ken Kawashima's reportage of photographer Tomoki Imai takes them to the environs of the wrecked TEPCO Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant in 2013 .
Interview with Hideaki Anno, creator of the now iconic "Evangelion" series, talking about his upbringings and the hit-potential of Japanese anime overseas.
Ken Kawashima interviews soccer legend Arthur Antunes Coimbra, better known as Zico, for Skyward, Japan Airline's in-flight magazine. Zico, then the manager of Japan's National Soccer squad reveals the many hurdles he faced in taking the young team to the World Cup.
Yamaguchi gives new life to old works As a child, Akira Yamaguchi spent countless hours hunched over his desk, doodling the many space-age rocket ships and humanoids he encountered in his bedroom anime collection. The young artist, however, also remembers feeling a sense of guilt whenever he attempted to mimic more traditional Japanese art forms by past masters like Hokusai.
DAVID SYLVIANA spiritual journey that begins within By KEN KAWASHIMASpecial to The Japan Times What is the sound of the universe? What does one hear? These are questions that crossed David Sylvian's mind prior to the making of his most recent album "Blemish," the debut release of his Samadhi Sound label last year.
The legal fight goes on to save sacred Mount Takao With its oddly ear-shaped black-and-white striped body, the hammer-size mimigata tennannsho, a grass that grows in the depths of Mount Takao's forests, has long been an object of fascination and loathing to hikers in the western Tokyo quasi-national park, where it's not just its grotesque shape that repels, but the fact that it is semipoisonous as well.
A reportage on the 2013 charity efforts in Japan and New Orleans to provide tsunami-stricken musician-children in the Tohoku area with musical instruments. The article later helped spawn an American Consulate exchange program between the young Tohoku and New Orleans students.
Interviewing the late manga legend and Japanese national treasure Shigeru Mizuki.
RADIO & TV
Hosted the long-running morning show "Tokyo Bay Morning," the hit-request program "Tokyo Bayline 7300" and "Fujitsu Hyper Media Towns" for clubbers.
Hosted the seminal '90s music video show Mutoma Japan (later Bubblegods) broke many industry standards with its indie and avant-garde approach and guests such as Radiohead, Henry Rollins and The Beastie Boys.
Was hired by the FM station to repeat the success of his former Bay FM request and interview program with "NACK-5 The Hit Operation."