Two of Japan‘s best-selling pop acts will play in Washington to mark the centennial of the capital’s cherry blossoms and offer thanks for U.S. support after last year‘s tsunami, organizers said Monday.Misia, Japan’s best-known R&B singer who has sold more than 30 million albums, will perform on March 25 at a ceremony to celebrate 100 years since Japan gifted the celebrated pink-flowering trees to the United States.AKB48, an all-girls J-Pop band named after Tokyo‘s geek culture neighborhood Akiha

Art sleuths said on Monday they believe they have found traces of a Leonardo Da Vinci masterpiece on a hidden wall in a palace in Florence that has not been seen in over four centuries. A close-up of Giorgio Vasari`s fresco bearing the words "Cerca Trova",( seek and you shall find), that is painted

Savina Museum of Contemporary Art presents interactive, real-time ‘social networking arts’A hideous looking robot came to life when the number posted on one of its arms was called on a phone. Various parts of the robot creaked and turned, and drops of reddish brown paint slid down a thin tube onto a feather swooshing across a white canvas laid in the center of the machine. A colorful abstract painting was created only a few minutes later. When the caller says it is finished, it is finished. The

Actor Cho Hee-bong performs oldest surviving  Korean silent film ‘Crossroads of Youth’What would it have been like to watch a silent film with live narration and music?Today’s moviegoers were given an opportunity to watch Korea’s oldest surviving silent film, “Crossroads of Youth.” last week, accompanied by live music and narration ― all in the 1930s style. Just like the “silent era” in the 20s and 30s, they saw and heard a “byeonsa” ― Korean term for silent-film narrator ― “performing” each an

The National Gugak Center will hold a special fashion and music gala with hanbok designer Lee Young-hee in New York in October to commemorate the 130th anniversary of ties between Korea and the United States.One-hundred musicians will play royal court banquet music entitled “Music of Peace, Dream of the Dynasty,” adapted from Bongsudangjinchan Banquet, which was dedicated to the 60th birthday of Hyegyeonggung Hong, the mother of King Jeongjo. About 50 other performers, including dancers, will al

Universal Ballet president and director to lead company on tour of South Africa this monthMore than 1,000 people gave a standing ovation in November last year at the finale of the Universal Ballet Company’s “Shim Chung” at the Royal Opera House in Oman. Two months ago in January, about 100 middle-aged women crowded a restaurant in Tokyo, Japan, to attend the fan meeting of UBC’s young ballerinos Lee Seung-hyun and Kang Min-woo. The show “This is Modern 3,” which took place few days later at the

K-pop stars strutted down the runway on Sunday, moving to the rhythm of their hit songs.“K-collection in Seoul,” a fashion show/concert held at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena at Olympic Park in Bangi-dong, featured popular K-pop groups such as Girls Generation, Big Bang, IU, MBLAQ, Infinite, T-ara, Miss A and Secret. Some of the stars walked down the catwalk decked in impressive outfits as well as showcasing their songs on stage. Actor Yeo Jin-gu who rose to stardom after starring in the MBC hit d

Exhibitions“Song for Nobody”: Bae Young-whan’s solo exhibition at Plateau in Taepyeongro, central Seoul, looks back on the last 15 years of his artistic career. The artist, who represented Korea at the 2005 Venice Art Biennale, filled the 43-square-meter exhibition space with 26 works that share the same theme, but are very diverse in genre and materials. His chandelier work “Insomnia -- Song of Dionysos” which appeared in director Im Sang-soo’s 2008 movie “The Housemaid,” is on show. The exhibi

Springsteen’s anger channeled in new albumBruce Springsteen"Wrecking Ball" (Columbia)Nearly three decades ago, Bruce Springsteen wrote with sadness about a man showing his young son a hometown ravaged by outside economic forces, a town the family was about to leave.He’s not sad now. He’s angry, mighty angry. On the new song, "Death to My Hometown," he wants to "send the robber barons straight to hell, the greedy thieves who came around and ate the flesh of everything they found, whose crimes hav