From April 19 to June 28, the Toronto Reference Library (789 Yonge Street) hosts From Hanga to Manga: The Graphic Art of Japanese Storytelling—hanga being the Japanese art of woodblock printing, and manga being your otaku nephew's reason for living, that is. The exhibition features a collection of rare illustrated books, woodblock prints, and comics from the libraries of the TPL Special Collections, the ROM, and Japan Foundation Toronto. In conjunction with the exhibition,......

Photo by roboppy from Flickr. Don't be fooled by the beanage—red bean paste, eaten most often in Japan, Korea, and China, is sweet and not overly legumey on the palate. Boiled down and mashed to a paste of varying levels of smoothness, red beans are not only tasty, but also super healthy—high in iron, thiamin, protein, fiber, and low in fat. Sure, you could pull out your bean-eating spoon and straight-up consume a can......

Today’s release on Xbox Live Arcade is Trigger Heart Exelica, an originally Japan-only Dreamcast "bullet hell" vertically scrolling shooter, and if that sentence doesn’t make any sense to you whatsoever, that’s totally fine. You see, we’re actually here to mention last week’s Xbox Live Arcade release, N+. It's based on N, the freeware game sensation developed by Toronto independent game developers Metanet Software, but the main difference is that you have to own a......

Even though Moss Park dance punk duo MSTRKRFT ">believe that, as dance music artists, "there's much better places for us to be," (this is said right at the 4:16 mark, of all times) Toronto's other homegrown house producers have taken the entire electro world by storm in the last few months. One needs only to point one's browser to the website Beatport, which has quickly become the DJ world's number one website for downloading......

A Milton woman went on a rampage with a samurai sword on Sunday, injuring her boyfriend and an off-duty firefighter, smashing windows at a gas station and hacking at a parked car. While Torontoist doesn't condone senseless irrational violence, you've got to give her points for style. After a firestorm of criticism, the City has put the brakes on their controversial plan to sell land in Yorkville to McDonalds. The problem is that since there's......

For decades, Toronto has been one of Hollywood's most versatile back lots. Along the way, every specialized branch of the multi-headed film and television biz has sprouted up in the city. Camera, electrical, post production, locations and ... plane crash and natural disaster recreations? Yep, TV series like Discovery Channel's Mayday recreate the drama and the horror of famous plane crashes. Art director Adrian Greenlaw and his crew of disaster dressing specialists range across......

Eat Me is a regular feature about the nooks and crannies of Toronto's restaurant scene, about the amazing restaurants that are––for some reason––criminally underpatronized. It's pretty easy to find sushi places in this city. From the Bloor Street strip to North York, sushi places range from suspiciously cheap to ridiculously expensive, from having incredibly creative culinary creations to the same old rolls. Quietly tucked on the east edge of Little Italy is Jun Jun Sushi......

November 14 to 18 marks the return of the Reel Asian International Film Festival. Last night, the Japan Foundation played host as filmmakers and media types gathered at a press conference to kick off the 11th annual incarnation of the fest. And with more than 70 independent works from all over the world, this year’s Reel Asian Festival will be worth cracking open that golden piggy bank for. Showcasing work from 13 different countries,......

This weekend, Toronto will be a rockin' city, as the 2007 World Rock Paper Scissors Championships cut into town. The game of Rock Paper Scissors has been settling scores on playgrounds since long before little brothers came into existence. In fact, some say it originates back to the year 200 BC in Japan, where it was referred to as "Jan-Ken." Others say it started as an early Scandinavian pastime, while others trace it back......

The Ontario government will spend around $27 billion on nuclear power between now and 2025 in a bid to keep the lights on in the province. If history is any indicator, the nuke plans will be characterized by inefficiencies, unanticipated delays,and massive cost overruns, but will at least ensure that future generations have access to a secure supply of radioactive waste. 14 teens have been arrested in a series of violent muggings in Toronto's......

“That’s something you won’t find at Loblaws,” said Frank Yip, as he gestured toward the delectable-looking barbecued meats hanging behind glass at the deli. He’s right; though a staple in Chinatown, it’s a tantalizing display that might be unfamiliar to Toronto citizens used to a more typical grocery shopping experience. It’s also the perfect welcome to T&T Supermarket—the new best friend of Portlands-area foodies. Mr. Yip, construction and engineering manager for T&T, was on......

"Busker? Don't even know 'er!" jokes aside, Toronto's annual street performer extravaganza is back until Sunday with a new roster of bizarre talents from around the globe. Buskerfest, the last of the major summer street festivals, draws about 350,000 spectators over four days and it's the best place to see someone jam a sword down one's esophagus up close. Magicians and balloon artists are also present for the kiddies, and there are plenty of......

I love the smell of police raid in the morning. Toronto Vice arrested 60 people in the Jane and Finch area this morning in a raid called Project Kryptic. They seized "30 kilos of cocaine, hash oil and marijuana with an estimated street value of $1 million" from the Driftwood Crips. That's actually pretty badass. Hey, buddy...we're not mad that you stole the Hershey bars, we're just concerned that they may be contaminated with......

"What's The Frequency, Campus?" highlights some of the intriguing shows and special programming happening on Toronto's campus and community radio stations. The Show: Mental Chatter The Host: Denise Benson Where and when: CKLN 88.1 FM, Mondays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Denise Benson has been hosting Mental Chatter for an astounding 19 years. It’s an excellent Monday morning blast of musical energy—she spins everything from jazz to house to rock, as well as......

For the entire month of May, the Deep Wireless festival will be taking place at various venues, from the west end to your very own living room. Presented by New Adventures in Sound Art, this is the sixth edition of the annual festival that explores the medium of experimental sound and radio art. Don't let the idea of experimental audio art put you off. It's far more accessible than it sounds, and with a......

Sprockets begins this weekend! Yay! Despite not being aimed at us, Sprockets is one of our favourite film festivals in town for what it represents, which is getting kids out to see, discuss and think about world cinema. It’s pretty important if you have kids to make sure they don’t grow up into adults who say “if I wanted to read, I’d get a book” when faced with a subtitled film. Admittedly, not everything......

Thanks to Shanghaist Editor Dan Washburn for calling our attention to the latest Cost of Living Survey from the Economist Intelligence Unit, which rates 132 cities worldwide by how much it costs to live there. Toronto, for all our complaining, comes in as only 43rd most expensive, behind North American leader New York City at 28, and fellow Canucks Vancouver and Montreal at 34 and 36 respectively. Blame Honest Ed and all those dollar stores......

Celia Franca, Photo: Janine; Karen Kain, Celia Franca and Veronica Tennant, Photo: Bruce Zinger; Celia Franca in Lilac Garden, Photo: Ken Bell Celia Franca, companion of the order of Canada, founder of The National Ballet of Canada, and Artistic Director for 24 years, died at the age of 85 today in The Ottawa Hospital. Says current National Ballet artistic director, Karen Kain, "[Franca] inspired generations of dancers by her example and her devotion to......

It's tough to get excited about Kikkoman soy sauce bottles. They've been around since 1961, and you find them at every sushi dive in the city. But, at one time, they were the height of tableware innovation, and for that reason, they're included in a new show at the Design Exchange: Japanese Design Today 100. This exhibition, co-presented by the Japan Foundation, celebrates 100 everyday objects that each, in their own way, broke design......

By now most of you are probably familiar with Toronto's homespun Pillow Fight League and its roster of lovely looking and colorfully named pillow pugilists. Its campy girl-on-girl smackdowns have earned it a good deal of attention in the media and a loyal following of fans. The PFL isn't the only pseudo-sport in town worthy of attention, though. Toronto is also home to two rival leagues that are both redefining pro-wrestling in their own......

Tomorrow night, the Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design is welcoming Yoshiharu Tsukamoto to lecture about the Practice of Lively Spaces as part of their spring 2007 lecture series. Tsukamoto was born in Kanagawa, Japan and obtained his doctorate in Architecture at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. He and his partner Momoyo Kaijima established Atelier Bow-Wow publishing several books investigating the urban landscape in Tokyo. Their practice has also won several awards, including the NAX......

Think the World's Biggest Bookstore. Scratch that - think of a bookstore of free books that is as big as the world. Inspired by tracking websites such as Where's George? (the U.S. counterpart of Where's Willy?), Ron Hornbaker and Kaori Iha-Hornbaker gave birth to BookCrossing- members leave books in random public places for others to find, read, and leave in another place for another person. Referred to as "releasing books 'into the wild,'" it's a......

In a bizarre and tragic scene yesterday, former Toronto Blue Jay (and current New York Yankee) pitcher Cory Lidle perished after flying his plane into an apartment building in New York. The United States heads to the United Nations hoping for a UN resolution that will impose sanctions on North Korea. And North Korea threatens retaliation if Japan goes ahead and imposes sanctions in response to last weekend’s nuclear test. And George W. Bush denies......

And so yet another day passes without incident, because we didn’t go to any parties or anything! We think, um, there was a Latin America party (or something) but we didn’t go. There was also, apparently, the OMDC Sales Cocktail Party, presented by the Ontario Media Development Corporation. We had to miss that, though, as we’d booked some time in the video library. Ah well! Not much in the way of star spotting today then,......

It started like most conflicts on Stillepost, Toronto’s message board for the more melodramatic members of its indie music scene. On July 7, “torontoindie.com” posted: “Who wants an interview? Please respond with an email: lidia@torontoindie.com. Subject title: (band name) interview”. A mere fifteen minutes later, torontoindie.com (born Lidia) seems to have planted the seed for conflict herself with a reply to her own post: “First I get blasted for not enough interviews. Now nothing?......

Hot Docs, North America’s largest documentary film festival begins tonight and there is a lot on offer with 99 films this year, so you’ll forgive us if we only cover this weekend’s picks today. After all, we haven’t even picked up our pass yet! Friday April 28th Dear Pyongyang (6:30pm, ROM) – North Korea holds a fascination, right or wrongly, for many of us, and the rare glimpse we’re allowed into this secretive nation are......

During the World Cup huge parts of the city were paralyzed by fans celebrating victories. We're wondering whether similar things will be happening because of the World Baseball Classic? Cuba and the Dominican Republic are already in the semis at the WBC. Torontoist wants to know whether members of this city's Cuban or Dominican population will be congregating anywhere in the event of a victory? The wildcard is Korea. The Korean team are the only......

The CN Tower is the world's tallest free-standing structure, it's a mantra that almost all Torontonians can recite, and it's been that way for around three decades. Well, it seems like the CN tower's record holding status is being challenged by not one or two but by at least three challengers. The latest is in Tokyo, where NHK, Japan's national broadcaster is planning a tower that'll dwarf good old CN. Dubai, where skyhills and hockey......

Observant readers of the Urban Toronto forum pointed out this Aussie ad campaign that asks tourists "Where the bloody hell are you?" We're not sure how the "strong language" will translate in China, Japan, India and Europe where these ads will be translated but in the English speaking world the reception seem to be quite positive. The fact that it piqued the curiousity of foreign journalists is a step in the right direction. And as......

Well, we’ve already mentioned the Australian Film Festival today, but, of course, there’s still space for our little round up of cinema’s new releases and indie and rep film for the week. Not only are our friends with the babies that have been eaten by dingos holding their own festival, but the University of Toronto Film Festival starts this Valentine's Day (Tuesday, for all you bad husbands out there) at Innes Town Hall, 2 Sussex.......