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December 02, 2024
 

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CULTURE

Film

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Keiichi Kaburagi (Ryusei Yokohama) goes on the run after being sentenced to death for a triple murder he insists he didn’t commit in Michihito Fujii’s “Faceless.”
CULTURE / Film
‘Faceless’: Fugitive thriller turns a blind eye to hard truths
Michihiro Fujii’s latest offers stylistic flourishes while treading the familiar terrain of the fugitive film.
CULTURE / Film
The mind-bending melancholy of ‘Lust in the Rain’
Shinzo Katayama’s hallucinatory film boldly explores both the absurdities of wartime violence and the erotic psyche.
CULTURE / Film
‘What Divides Us’ producer honors grandfather’s Hiroshima reportage
The feature film centers on the bond between a Japanese minister and an American journalist who worked together to document the aftermath of nuclear destruction.
A 19th-century warrior gets struck by lightning and wakes to find himself in 21st-century Kyoto in Junichi Yasuda’s surprise hit “A Samurai in Time.”
CULTURE / Film
Nov 21, 2024
The slow-burn success of ‘A Samurai in Time’
By James Hadfield
Junichi Yasuda’s film about a time-traveling warrior is a loving tribute to the “jidaigeki” (period drama) genre and its practitioners.
A strait-laced tax officer (Seiyo Uchino) teams up with a gang of con artists to take down a crooked property developer in “Angry Squad: Civil Servant and Seven Swindlers.”
CULTURE / Film
Nov 21, 2024
‘Angry Squad’: A caper comedy with a lot of heart
By James Hadfield
The film’s two-hour running time breezes by as a strait-laced tax officer joins a colorful crew of con artists.
A failed actor (Koji Seki, left) revisits memories of his ex-wife (Kano Ichiki) after learning about her unexpected death in “Performing Kaoru's Funeral.”
CULTURE / Film
Nov 21, 2024
‘Performing Kaoru's Funeral’: Ambitious drama reflects on love that doesn’t die
By Mark Schilling
Koji Seki brings gravitas to his role as a man tasked with serving as chief mourner for his dead ex-wife in Noriko Yuasa’s drama.
A socially awkward janitor (Haruka Ayase, left) hits the road to pick up a dying woman’s daughter (Kana Osawa) in “Route 29.”
CULTURE / Film
Nov 18, 2024
‘Route 29’: Misfits come together in touching road movie
By Mark Schilling
Though the protagonists spend more time on their feet than in a car, Yusuke Morii’s feature about two strangers hitting the road is picaresque and borderline precious.
Childhood friends Hiroto (Hiroya Shimizu, right) and Kanamori (Mahiro Takasugi, left) find their gangland loyalties put to the test in Takuro Iwaya’s “Oasis.”
CULTURE / Film
Nov 14, 2024
‘Oasis’: Real-life bromance elevates a generic crime drama
By James Hadfield
Co-stars Hiroya Shimizu and Mahiro Takasugi’s convincing chemistry as childhood friends carries Takuro Iwaya’s pulpy B-movie.
Daihachi Yoshida receives the Tokyo Grand Prix award for his film, “Teki Cometh,” at the closing ceremony of the Tokyo International Film Festival on Nov. 6.
CULTURE / Film
Nov 8, 2024
Festival glory for a dark Japanese comedy
By Mark Schilling
With sold-out screenings, international stars and an increase in guests, this year's Tokyo International Film Festival revived its rep as a global cinematic gathering.
An AI robot is cast into a wild environment and forced to adapt to her surroundings in “The Wild Robot.”
CULTURE / Film
Nov 8, 2024
TIFF’s animation entries rediscovered the art of the fable at this year's festival
By Erik Augustin Palm
This year’s animated lineup championed nature, connection and simplicity through stories that revel in the beauty of coexistence.

Don’t worry, you can still use your Japan health insurance card — for now
A My Number card reader at a pediatric clinic in Tokyo. While the government will stop issuing new health insurance cards on Monday, most people will remain unaffected by the move in the short term as existing health insurance cards can still be used for another year.
Pete Hegseth’s mother accused her son of mistreating women for years
Pete Hegseth, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be secretary of defense, speaks to reporters at the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington on Nov. 21.
Japan's wealthy fail to declare ¥65.5 billion in income
Wealthy people in Japan failed to declare a total of ¥65.5 billion in taxable income in the year through June, down 33.2% from the year before, a National Tax Agency report showed Friday.
Trump demands ‘commitment’ from BRICS nations on using dollar
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on the campaign trail pledged that he would make it costly for countries to move away from the U.S. dollar. And he’s threatened to use tariffs to ensure they complied.
Princess Aiko, only child of emperor, turns 23
Princess Aiko on Nov. 22 ahead of her 23rd birthday on Sunday at the Imperial Palace
Seven strangers and an algorithm: Can this new dinner app help you make friends?
Timeleft uses an algorithm to match its users with five or six strangers in an effort to prompt “human connection” over dinner at a restaurant. It determines the attendees with the help of a simple personality quiz available when you sign up for the service. 
Ukraine war reinvigorating Finland’s fighting spirit
A Finnish soldier operates a towed 155 mm field gun during the Northern Forest land force exercise in Rovajarvi, Finland, in May 2023.
The Geisha bean is the leading lady of Tokyo's coffee scene
Discovered in the 1930s, the Geisha coffee plant came to worldwide fame in the early 2000s and now represents some of the best coffee on the planet — Tokyo's top cafes included.
Ishiba sticks to the basics in second policy speech
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba delivers his policy speech at the Lower House of parliament in Tokyo on Friday.
Hiroshi Kurosaki looks beyond Japan for heart-wrenching drama
Hiroshi Kurosaki’s Netflix series “Beyond Goodbye” centers on a woman (Kasumi Arimura, left) who discovers her dead lover’s heart saved the life of a quiet pianist (Kentaro Sakaguchi).

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo is a popular place to foster curiosity in the natural sciences.
Can Japan's scientific community rebound from a Nobel nosedive?
By Tomoko Otake

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

The celebrated artist ‘updating’ the kimono
The celebrated artist ‘updating’ the kimono

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