Moscow, Russia: a cultural guide

Lisa Grainger offers a cultural guide to Moscow, where the city's warmth and colour become more apparent the longer you stay.

Snow gathers on St. Basil's Cathedal in Red Square, Moscow Photo: Corbis Images

By Lisa Grainger 8:00AM GMT 28 Dec 2010

As I soon discovered, Moscow isn’t like St Petersburg, with its postcard-pretty European-style palaces and fountains and pleasure boats. It’s unashamedly the powerhouse of Russia, the epicentre from which authority and money radiate – with a surfeit of cultural institutes, architecture and statues to remind everyone of its power and wealth.

Buildings – from Ivan the Terrible’s St Basil’s Cathedral to Stalin’s 1950s skyscrapers – are massive and impressive. Museums, of which there are more than 80, house world-class collections, from spacecraft to modern art. The city centre is home to dozens of packed theatres and world-class concert halls, from the contemporary glass House of Music to the old Moscow Conservatoire, where Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich were tutors and Rachmaninov and Skryabin pupils. And in the heart of it all stands the Bolshoi.

While the actual theatre has been closed since 2005 for renovations, performances have continued inside the institution’s equally grand New Theatre next door. Like its neighbour, this theatre specialises in chandeliers, intervals with champagne with caviar blinis, and Russian dancing at its grandest: all passion, pomp, soaring hand-painted scenery and perfectly-practised flocks of ballerinas. When the real Bolshoi opens in October 2011, we’re promised even more velvet, gilt and grandeur.

Grandeur is what Moscow does well, particularly in the Kremlin, where you could spend years rather than days. What shouldn’t be missed? The carriages, armour, gold-embroidered tsarinas dresses and Fabergé eggs, in the State Armoury; the jewellery in the Diamond Fund room; the Cathedral of the Assumption and Cathedral of the Annunciation; the State Kremlin palace, just to see the corridor of chandeliers; and of course, St Basil’s Cathedral, on neighbouring Red Square, to marvel at the onion domes that overlook Lenin’s black marble tomb.

After all that culture, brisk strolls are essential – and pleasurable – in the compact city centre. There’s plenty of street culture to soak up, whether it’s bling (around Kuznetsky Most), fashionable (inside Vogue Café, where sulky models and oligarchs sip espresso), decadent (the chandelier-lit Eliseevsky food-hall) or just plain fascinating (like the shop in the Museum of Modern History, stuffed with Soviet memorabilia).

I stayed in Moscow for a month, and still didn’t have time to visit half the museums and art galleries I’d planned. By the time I left, I’d been seduced by its culture and developed odd crushes: on the woolly-bearded Tolstoy, on the Russian painter Ilya Repin whose realist work I’d discovered in the Tretyakov Gallery, and on vodka (particularly the toe-warming herb varieties). On the way back to the airport, I hardly noticed the greys. My head was too full of the artistic riches that I’d seen and pleasure from treasures stashed in my suitcase: stamps, paintings, caviar, chocolate, classical recordings, posters – and, yes, a little vodka.

GETTING THERE

BA (0844 493 0787; www.ba.com), BMI (0844 848 4888; www.flybmi.com), Aeroflot (020 7355 2233; www.aeroflot.co.uk) and Transaero (007 495 788 8080; www.transaero.ru/en) fly direct to Moscow. From either of the city’s airports (Sheremetyevo and Domodedovo), the easiest route to the city is by taxi, which costs about £40 (booked at the airport, or in advance at www.waytorussia.net). Or take the Aeroexpress to Paveletsky station, which connects with the metro (£4; 40 minutes) or buses (£2; up to 90 minutes, depending on traffic).

Visas must be obtained in advance; The Russia House is helpful (020 7403 9922; www.therussiahouse.co.uk), as is VFS Global (0905 889 0149; http://ru.vfsglobal.co.uk).

Further information at www.visitrussia.org.uk and www.moscow-taxi.com. Useful books include DK Eyewitness Moscow (£12.99), for clear maps, sights and metro tips, and Frommer’s Moscow Day by Day (£7.99), whose set walks take in the main sights. Recommended apps: Lonely Planet Moscow City Guide ($5.99) and Moscow Metro by Presselite (99c), to navigate the underground.

PACKAGES

Regent (0845 277 3317; www.regent-holidays.co.uk), Steppes East (01285 880980; www.steppeseast.co.uk), The Ultimate Travel Company (020 7386 4646; www.theultimatetravelcompany.co.uk) and Original Travel (020 7978 7333; www.originaltravel.co.uk) offer a variety of packages.

THE INSIDE TRACK

Moscow’s metro is simple to navigate if you have a map with station names in Russian and English. Multiple-journey cards save time at ticket stations.

Museum shops in Moscow sell authentic crafts, especially the History of Moscow Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art (for oddball local crafts) and the Museum of Modern History (for Soviet memorabilia).

Izmailovo market is touristy but entertaining, particularly if followed by an hour in the Vodka Museum (www.vodkamuseum.ru).

Foodies should drop in at the 1901 Eliseevsky food hall (www.eliseevskiy.ru), still lit by glittering chandeliers, or the gourmet section of Gum Arcade, by Red Square, for takeaway treats.

THE BEST HOTELS

Hotel Gallery ££

Art is the theme of this four-star hotel, with paintings dotted around renovated interiors. Rooms are basic but bright and the restaurant popular (007 495 719 0155; www.hotelgalery.ru; doubles from £140).

The Metropol £££

Unmistakably Russian, cavernous and old-fashioned – and endearing for it (499 501 7840; www.metropol-moscow.ru/en; from £280).

The Ritz-Carlton ££££

Where world leaders stay if they’re not housed with Putin; glamorous and very central (495 225 8888; www.ritz-carlton.com; from £410 double).

THE BEST RESTAURANTS

Elki Palki £

Russia’s version of McDonald’s. Staff wear local costume and a telega (buffet) is lined with bowls of borscht, salads, pickled vegetables and starters (8 Neglinnaya; 495 628 5525; www.elki-palki.ru).

Café Pushkin ££

Grand, old-fashioned tea-shop; elaborate cakes, biscuits and snacks; elegant panelled walls and chandeliers (26a Tverskoy Bulver; 229 5590).

The Most £££

A lavish baroque-style French restaurant; fine food served amid gilt, red velvet, crystal and trompe l’oeil (6/3 Kuznetsky Most; 660 0706). The neighbouring Bolshoi (which serves modern Italian cuisine) is equally glamorous (789 8652).

What to avoid

Wine in restaurants is four to 10 times the price it is in Britain.

Antiques cannot be exported, so don’t buy icons without stamped paperwork from the Ministry of Culture – which may take weeks to obtain.

Moscow may be freezing in winter, but streets are empty, museums easier to get into, the orchestras and ballet and theatre companies have returned from their tours, and the snow sets off the architecture beautifully. Plus, prices plummet with the temperatures. Just be sure to wrap up.

Museum signs are in Russian only; if you are not with a guide, take a good guidebook.

Give rundown Gorky Park a miss. Instead, go to the Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics to see real rockets – and the first dog (now stuffed) to go into space.

Sandra Bullock out in neighbor poll

Updated at 1200 PST Tuesday, December 28, 2010

NEW YORK: Americans would most like to live next door to actress Sandra Bullock in 2011, but the cast of the reality show "Jersey Shore" made the most undesirable neighbors, according to a poll released on Tuesday.

Bullock, who has won huge audiences with her All-American, girl-next-door image, earned more than a quarter of the vote in the annual poll on the most desirable celebrity neighbors, conducted by online real estate marketplace Zillow website.

She was followed by conservative Republican politician, Sarah Palin. That may bode well for people in Arizona as on Monday, headlines trumpeted the news that her daughter, Bristol Palin, had bought a home in the state.

President Barack Obama, his wife Michelle and daughters Malia and Sasha dropped three places to No. 4 on the list after coming out on top last year. They were proceeded by talk show hosts Ellen DeGeneres and wife Portia DeRossi at No. 3. Rounding out the top five was talk show host Conan O'Brien.

But the extroverted Italian-American cast of "Jersey Shore," which has scored impressive TV ratings and won fans with their fist pumps and tans, were voted the worst neighbors for 2010, followed again by the Obamas at No. 2 and Sarah Palin at No. 3.

"It was voyeuristic fun getting to know the 'Jersey Shore' crew as they partied and fist-pumped week after week on reality television, but do we want to live 'up close and personal' next door? Americans said 'no way,'" according to Zillow Vice President of Marketing and Communications Amy Bohutinsky.

Kanye West and Mel Gibson rounded up the top five worst neighbors in the No. 4 and No. 5 spots, respectively.

The survey asked U.S. adults which celebrities and politicians they would most like to be their neighbor, and with whom they wouldn't want to share a fence.

2,800 dancers set Guinness record

Updated at 1435 PST Tuesday, December 28, 2010

HYDERABAD (India): Over 2,800 Kuchipudi dancers performed the classical Indian dance at Hyderabad’s G M C Balayogi Stadium on Sunday, which created a new Guinness world record for the assembly of the largest number of such artistes.

President Pratibha Patil witnessed the mega event. Representative of the ‘Guinness Book of World Records’ announced the new world record has been created by over 2,800 Kuchipudi dancers, most of them children.

Dance was performed in ‘hindola raga’ for over 11minutes. The participants came from about 15 countries and from every town of Andhra Pradesh. Show was choreographed by veteran Kuchipudi exponent and Padma Bhushan recipient Vempati China Satyam.

Prominent Kuchipudi dancers Yamini Krishna Muthy, Sobha Naidu, and Raja and Radha Reddy were also involved in the event.

Fuji Heavy may suspend output of Stella EV

Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2010

Kyodo News

Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. is considering suspending production of its only electric vehicle, sources said Monday.

Details including the timing of the suspension have not been decided, but the maker of Subaru brand cars could suspend production of the EV when the automaker stops manufacturing the Stella minivehicle, the EV's base car, the sources said.

Fuji Heavy plans to withdraw completely from minivehicle production sometime around 2012.

Fuji Heavy began selling the plug-in Stella electric vehicle to corporate customers and local governments in July 2009 with a sales target of 400 units by the end of March 2011.

The Stella EV, manufactured at a plant in Ota, Gunma Prefecture, is priced at ¥4.73 million.

Fuji Heavy is seeking to launch a plug-in gasoline electric hybrid vehicle, which can be recharged using a household electrical outlet, in the mid-2010s.

The automaker is seeking support from its top shareholder, Toyota Motor Corp., an industry leader in the development and marketing of gas-electric hybrids.

Hitachi LCD biz to be run by Foxconn

Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2010

Kyodo News

Hitachi Ltd. is negotiating with Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., the world's largest contract electronics maker, to pick up its controlling stake in a liquid crystal display unit, sources said Monday.

The Taiwanese manufacturer, widely known as Foxconn, will likely invest around ¥100 billion in Hitachi Displays Ltd., now owned 75.1 percent by Hitachi with the remainder held by Canon Inc.

Hon Hai is expected to take a majority stake in Hitachi Displays by acquiring new shares to be issued by the Hitachi subsidiary.

Hitachi Displays is expected to use the proceeds to establish a new plant in Chiba Prefecture.

Hitachi apparently wants to rid itself of unprofitable operations to focus on its infrastructure business. Hon Hai will probably tap Hitachi's knowhow in LCD panels to lower production costs for displays used in smart phones, the sources added.

Hitachi Displays already contracts part of its LCD production out to Chimei Innolux Corp., a Hon Hai group firm.

If they team up, Chimei and Hitachi Displays will probably command a combined share of the global LCD market comparable to that of industry leader Sharp Corp.

Hon Hai makes display panels for Apple Inc.'s iPhones and iPads and has been expanding production by buying Sony Corp.'s LCD television factories in Mexico and Slovakia.

Canon sought to turn Hitachi Displays into a subsidiary before scrapping the plan in September.

China's No. 1 impediment to an IT military revolution

Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2010

By HOLMES LIAO

Special to The Japan Times

WASHINGTON — China's belief in asymmetric warfare may be one of the major forces driving its efforts at the national level to develop missiles, submarines and, more recently, cyber-warfare capability. Chinese cyber-warfare concepts subscribe to the notion of "the inferior defeating the superior," which draws inspiration from both Sun Tzu and Mao Zedong.

Though China has achieved remarkable successes in its nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles programs, other military research and development successes are rare. Chinese achievements in nuclear weapons and missiles resulted from concentrated resources, effective coordination of distinct specialties, and determined leadership directed at the achievement of a single, well-defined goal.

Unlike most weapon programs, which were developed in total government secrecy, dual-use information technologies (IT) are out in the open. Indeed, IT in the West is developed mostly in the civilian sector and then migrated into military applications. In recent years, U.S. weapon systems have been heavily embedded with commercial- off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware and software components.

As a result, powerful military technologies have been developed more efficiently. Likewise, cutting-edge cyber-warfare technologies and capabilities are largely developed in an open commercial market and are outside direct government control.

Consequently, the rapid development of electronics and computer applications in the 1980s and 1990s seem to have eluded China, despite its many national programs for technological modernization. In the IT area, China's private sector, with extensive foreign contacts and more up-to-date technologies, may have even surpassed the technological level of the research and development establishment associated directly or indirectly with the People's Liberation Army (PLA).

We have seen evidence that more pressure for contacts between the military and civilian sectors has been mounting and that the PLA is increasingly relying on "borrowed" expertise from the private sector.

The PLA's highly selective procurement and deployment of modern technologies for military operational capabilities will pose great difficulties because technology is advancing faster than it can be acquired, tested and applied in a military environment. As other nations' militaries continue to advance, the PLA's modernization efforts face moving technological goalposts.

Most notably, China's military- industrial complex seems to suffer from technological disadvantages in areas such as electronics, computers and software — areas where the civilian sector advances almost daily. The Chinese military-industrial complex, with its military top-down control, may not have the wherewithal to compete with other democracies' IT industries.

On the operational level, China's cyber warriors deploy concealment, deception and camouflage measures to hide its trails, but their effectiveness does not seem promising, given that the United States is credited with most IT development.

With the help of the U.S. National Security Agency, for example, Google and other high-tech companies were able to trace the source of cyber attacks back to China, despite the Chinese attackers' deliberate efforts to mask their footprints. In that regard, even if the PLA is able to develop certain "asymmetric" capabilities, it is still a long shot to expect it to defeat the U.S. in information battlefields where the latter seems to set the rules and leads the race.

Unless China can exploit certain weaknesses on the network and succeeds in developing some asymmetric advantages, the U.S. will retain systems that possess the skills and tools to retaliate.

The PLA's cyber capabilities can probably delay American intervention in a military contingency, but the chance of China leapfrogging the U.S. technologically to bring about the downfall of the U.S. in an all-out cyber war seems rather remote. Therefore, apprehension of "asymmetric warfare" capabilities may disappoint the PLA.

German deployment of submarines during both world wars was initially an asymmetric nightmare for its opposing forces. Japan's kamikaze tactics was a desperate asymmetric response to the U.S. naval supremacy near the end of World War II. Similarly, Egyptian fast boats carrying anti-ship cruise missiles ware also an asymmetric threat to Israeli destroyers in the 1960s.

But as technologies matured and corresponding countermeasures and doctrines were perfected, Germany's enemies developed anti-submarine warfare, Americans congregated their anti-air artillery firepower on the kamikaze planes, and Israelis used chaff to confuse anti-ship cruise missiles.

The chaos created by Chinese hackers on U.S. technology companies is due to the fact that IT is still in its infant stage. Logic in software is inherently complex, making it difficult to verify mathematically and very expensive to validate exhaustively.

Despite much hype, most IT products in the commercial world rarely go through the same vigorous development processes as in defense and aerospace sectors. Unlike the aerospace industry, where reliability and safety is of utmost importance, one rarely finds sound engineering disciplines and certified solutions in the information industry. Consequently, hackers around the world exploit ubiquitous weaknesses in many U.S. information applications laden with COTS components.

It is often argued that an autocracy rounds up resources better than a democracy. So, it is concluded that a dictatorship is more efficient in achieving national objectives, especially military ones. This may be true in public policymaking, but an oppressed and authoritarian society is ill-suited for the free flow of information; in fact, it is antithetical to the very notion of an IT revolution.

IT has been shown to exert profound impacts on society, which inevitably undergoes extensive transformation. An information revolution is much more than technological or military; it influences the social and national fabric of a country. The Chinese autocratic model exposes the inability to cope with the "third wave" of the technological revolution.

In the late 19th century, China's attempts to modernize its armed forces failed miserably because no other up-to-date social elements existed to support the technological innovation.

China's greatest impediment to achieving an information-based revolution in military affairs is the authoritarian nature of its political control over society.

The Chinese should learn from the failures of their 19th-century military revolution and reshape their society (and government) to be competitive in the new millennium. The capabilities to cope with the challenges posed by information warfare will not naturally come until the social transformation is complete.

Holmes Liao, a former adjunct lecturer at Taiwan's War College and an adviser to the foreign minister, now works for a defense electronics company in Washington, D.C.

Kabuki going strong, 400 years on

Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2010

Farewell: People take a last look at the Kabuki-za in Chuo Ward, Tokyo, on April 30 before it closed for renovation. The venue is set to reopen in 2013. SATOKO KAWASAKI PHOTO

FYI

KABUKI

By ALEX MARTIN

Staff writer

The media frenzy over kabuki star Ichikawa Ebizo's drunken midnight brawl in Tokyo last month may be a testament to how, 400 years after its birth, the genre remains a highly popular form of entertainment integral to Japanese culture.

Despite Japan's radical transition from an isolated, feudal nation to a developed industrial democracy, kabuki has managed to successfully cultivate new fans and become the most popular form of traditional dance and drama.

Below are questions and answers regarding kabuki.

What are the origins of the term?

Kabuki is derived from the term "kabuku," meaning "to slant" or "to sway," that was used in the late 16th and early 17th centuries to describe "kabuki-mono," or people who were out of the ordinary and preferred to dress in extravagant attire.

While the kanji for kabuki were slightly altered several times in its early years, it eventually settled on the present three characters that, when defined individually, represent singing, dancing and skill.

What is the history of kabuki?

The origins of kabuki can be traced back to 1603, when Izumono Okuni, supposedly a "miko," or female shaman, of Izumo Taisha, a Shinto shrine in what is now Shimane Prefecture that is reputed to be the oldest in Japan, began an original dance performance in Kyoto that soon became hugely popular and spawned many imitators.

But the "okuni"-style female kabuki troupes and "wakashu" kabuki, another style popular at the time that featured young boys, were both banned in the mid-17th century by the Tokugawa shogunate for their eroticism and the fact that many of the actors also served as prostitutes.

The bans led to the formation of "yaro" kabuki, all-male troupes in which actors also played female roles and which became the basis for modern-day kabuki, according to the book "Omoshiroi Hodo Yoku Wakaru Kabuki" ("An Easy Guide to Kabuki") by Sho Munakata.

The Genroku Period (1688-1704) in the mid-Edo Period is considered kabuki's golden age, when its structure and various styles were determined and when kabuki, which initially had a stronger base in Kamigata, or what is now roughly the Kinki region, also became popular in the capital, Edo.

Kabuki continued to flourish through the Edo Period and the Meiji Era, spawning countless original acts and "families" of actors that continue to perform to this day.

What are some prominent kabuki plays?

Kabuki plays can broadly be divided into two main categories, the "jidai-mono" (historical stories) and the "sewa-mono" (domestic stories).

Since the shogunate censored the representation of contemporary events or any criticism of its rule, the jidai-mono plays were often based on historical events from the 12th to 14th centuries, sometimes using them to depict contemporary events.

Popular themes included the Gempei War of the late 12th century and the Nanboku-cho Wars of the 14th century. Famous jidai-mono plays include "Yoshitsune Senbonzakura" ("Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees"), which premiered in 1748 and depicts Genji warlord Minamoto no Yoshitsune's journey across Japan in pursuit of three warlords of the rival Heike clan.

Sewa-mono plays meanwhile depict the lifestyles of common townspeople and peasants and include stories of romance, love-suicides such as the popular "Sonezaki Shinju" written by the great Chikamatsu Monzaemon, and even ghost stories, including the famous "Tokaido Yotsuyakaidan" by master playwright Tsuruya Namboku.

According to a survey taken by the Yomiuri Shimbun in 2008, the three most popular kabuki plays are "Kanjincho" ("The Subscription List"), another story based on the Gempei Wars and that features the well-known characters Yoshitsune and Benkei, "Yoshitsune Senbonzakura," and "Kyoganoko Musume Dojoji," a kabuki dance piece based on the noh play of the same title.

Noh, a classical form of drama, predates kabuki and has been performed since the 14th century. Like kabuki, a typical noh performance lasts a whole day but is interspersed with short farcical sketches called "kyogen."

Who are some famous kabuki actors?

Throughout the centuries, kabuki has given rise to various household names that actors have passed on from generation to generation.

For example, Ichikawa Danjuro, the father of Ebizo who took over the stage name in 1985, is the 12th in line to assume the prestigious name that dates back to Ichikawa Danjuro I.

According to the book "Heisei no Kabuki" ("Kabuki in the Heisei Era") by Akira Nohara, Danjuro was one of the earliest kabuki actors to pioneer the valiant "aragoto" style of acting that has since been closely associated with his name and Edo-style kabuki, in contrast to the elegant "waji"-style performances that were popular in the Kinki region.

Other famous contemporary names include Nakamura Kanzaburo XVIII, Onoe Kikugoro VII and Matsumoto Koshiro IX, all well-known kabuki actors who also perform in contemporary drama, cinema, and other stage performances.

How has kabuki flourished in modern times?

Shochiku Co., founded by brothers Matsujiro Shirai and Takejiro Otani in 1895, has been solely responsible for managing and promoting kabuki performances over the past century.

While Shochiku is also known as a movie production company that has made films by well-known directors, including Yasujiro Ozu and Kenji Mizoguchi, it has continued to place its main emphasis on kabuki, directly managing venues like the Kabuki-za in Chuo Ward, Tokyo, which is currently undergoing reconstruction and is set to reopen in 2013. Shochiku's other kabuki theaters include the Shinbashi Enbujo in Tokyo, the Minami-za in Kyoto and Osaka's Shochiku-za.

Taisuke Agata, head of public relations at Shochiku, said no written contracts exist between the company and kabuki actors, but said it has become an unspoken rule that Shochiku is the company responsible for staging kabuki performances.

"It's a very peculiar world — we don't exchange any written contracts with our actors, but it's been naturally considered our job when it came to managing kabuki performances," he said.

Agata said that while the popularity of kabuki waned during and after the war, when the Kabuki-za was destroyed by U.S. bombing raids, it gradually regained its prominence in the following years.

The late Emperor Hirohito and Empress, posthumously named Showa, visited the newly built Kabuki-za in 1953, and the first kabuki performances in the United States were held for 54 days in 1960, expanding kabuki's presence overseas.

Agata said that the introduction of earphone guides in 1975 was also a landmark event, proving immensely popular with viewers unaccustomed to kabuki's unique style, plots and world view. The English version was introduced in 1982.

The Kabuki-za began hosting year-round performances from 1991 thanks to kabuki's increasing popularity, and Agata said he believes kabuki's popularity has hit an all-time high in recent years with an estimated fan base of 3 million.

Shochiku also premiered its "cinema kabuki" films in 2005, which allow customers to view performances in movie theaters, and in May opened its official English-language kabuki website (www.kabuki-bito.jp/eng), where visitors can learn about kabuki and book tickets online.

Agata recommended that beginners start by simply going to experience a performance, stressing that even without prior knowledge, kabuki can be enjoyed for its vibrant performances and music, dramatic plots, and colorful costumes and stage sets.

"I recommend people to relax and casually enjoy a kabuki performance — it's not highbrow, just pure entertainment," he said.