author

 
Menu
Search
 
November 23, 2024
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

Meta

Kaori Shoji
Kaori Shoji writes about movies and movie-makers for the Film Page, plus takes a turn at the Bilingual Column. Biggest mistake of her career: taking the very dignified Nagisa Oshima to McDonald's for an iced coffee.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 2, 2011
'Surviving Life'
Czech novelist Milan Kundera once said in an interview that Prague "is full of quirks and poetry, unlike any other city in the world." If that's true, then Czech filmmaker Jan Svankmajer has molded himself into Prague incarnate, embodying the essence of the city through himself and his work.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 26, 2011
Life from a global perspective, and into the past
It may not be a cinematic masterpiece, but "Life in a Day" is a prophetic example of where film may be headed. Everything that has surrounded and defined the film industry — studios, locations, directors, casts and theaters — all of these are condensed into two letters: PC. Flip open a laptop and...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 22, 2011
Whose fault is the rise and fall of the Japanese ojisan?
The Japanese ojisan (おじさん, middle-aged and older male) hasn't been too genki (元気, full of cheer) or assertive lately. Just the other day, I witnessed a company nomikai (飲み会, drinking party) at a beer garden where the only persons swilling nama (ナマ, draft beer) by the tankload, pulling...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 19, 2011
'Kung Fu Panda 2'
So we've been told by news programs and eyewitnesses that the pandas at Ueno Zoo have been snacking and dining instead of diligently procreating, and now Tokyo's best-loved cubs from China are too hefty to do much more than lie around and chew. Bad.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 12, 2011
'In a Better World'
Woody Allen once said that it's easy to like people who make us laugh, but people who make us think don't get invited to a whole lot of parties.
CULTURE / Film
Aug 5, 2011
Iranian filmmaker seeks Japanese male in his 60s (but not like that)
Kiyoshiro Imawano is gone. Kiyoshi Kodama is gone. Yoshio Harada is gone. Some of the rockin'est, rollin'est, hottest/coolest older guys in the archipelago are no longer around to console us with their sizzling presences.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 5, 2011
'Let Me In'
If 12-year-old Owen in the sweetly horrific vampire movie "Let Me In" could travel forward through time three decades to 2011 and meet his own self at 42, what would he say? "Let Me In" is set in the early 1980s, when Ronald Reagan was U.S. President, Russia was the Soviet Union and the Western world...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 29, 2011
'Edge of Darkness'
Even vegetarians get blood lust sometimes, and if you're in that particular mood, look no further than "Edge of Darkness" for your carnivorous kicks.
CULTURE / Film
Jul 22, 2011
French film unveils the suffering child within
When it comes to wartime atrocities committed against civilians, burying that memory shouldn't be a historical option. Yet so many incidents have slipped through the net — either through deliberate political cover-ups or perhaps through a collective wish to part from the heavy burden of remembered...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 18, 2011
Goodbye summertime blues, hello summer proper
The late, great rock musician Kiyoshiro Imawano covered Eddie Cochran's classic "Summertime Blues" back in the 1980s, and the lyrics were prophetically brilliant.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 15, 2011
'Under the Hawthorn Tree'
One of my girlfriends in high school had super-strict parents. Not only was she required to be home by the ungodly hour of 8 p.m. every night, she was allowed no boys in her life, and her dad even forbade her to smile and say "thank you" to the delivery guy. On the other hand, this girl recognized the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 8, 2011
Asia's gay film scene opens Tokyo up to brave new experiences
Now in its fourth year, the Asian Queer Film Festival is an eye-opener for anyone who has thought that "queers" have a bad time in their quest for love and freedom in Asia.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 8, 2011
'Devil'
Either the devil is running out of ideas, or he needs some expert coaching from a certain Japanese power company (hint: headquarters in Tokyo). You get a movie with the one-word title "Devil" and almost all that happens is five people getting stuck in an elevator? Pfff.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 1, 2011
'Love and Other Impossible Pursuits'
One of the disconcerting aspects of movie-going is how — on more occasions than you're prepared for — you have to endure the sight of a favorite actor playing someone despicable. For me, that happens sometimes with Natalie Portman. Gorgeous and sizzling and talented, she's always lovely to watch...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jun 27, 2011
This summer the scent of Showa will linger in the heat
There's a distinct whiff of nostalgia in the air and it's coming from the general direction of the subway and JR stations. Also from the kaden ryōhanten (家電量販店 discount shops for consumer electronics) now doing excellent business with items like the senpūki (扇風機 electric fan) and nisōshiki...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 24, 2011
'Biutiful'
Ninety percent of the time, it's too much to bear even for the audience, so imagine what those people up on the screen are going though. Mexican filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu revels in shoveling out far more than a fair share of atrocious luck and tremendous suffering to his characters, and...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 24, 2011
First Tohoku documentary captures tsunami aftermath
Japan will probably be seeing many more, but "Mujo Sobyo" beats all others as the first documentary on the aftermath of the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake and tsunami. A 75-minute film shot and made in 50 days and now playing at the Auditorium Shibuya theater in Tokyo (with screenings in Osaka and Nagoya...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 17, 2011
'13'
Being thrown in a cramped, damp room full of extremely muscular men may sound like an ideal way to spend an evening, but take it from me: There are issues. The air's so coated with testosterone it's hard to breathe, the conversation is far, far from anything resembling romantic and, worst of all, these...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 10, 2011
'X-Men: First Class'
After watching a movie such as "X-Men: First Class," you really don't want to sit down at some steel gray desk and write about it. Turning aerial somersaults while telepathically transmitting brilliant sentences into your laptop sounds more the thing to do.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 27, 2011
'Chloe'
Who would have thought that the Americans (and we're talking North Americans) could beat the French in the game of lust, infidelity and lacy lingerie? "Chloe" is a remake of "Nathalie," a 2003 film by French femme director extraordinaire Anne Fontaine; but in terms of sheer sexiness mileage, this U.S....
Tokyo Metro’s overseas efforts begin in earnest with London deal
Tokyo Metro will soon have a role in the running of London's Elizabeth Line, a major train route serving the U.K.’s capital city and environs.
Man charged with murder allegedly made victim date other men for money
A car carrying suspect Ryotaro Masuda, who was indicted for allegedly beating his 25-year-old girlfriend to death, leaves the Shibuya Police Station in Tokyo on Thursday.
Russia fired experimental ballistic missile at Ukraine, Putin says
Ukrainian firefighters work on a spot following an airstrike in Dnipro on Thursday.
Ex-yokozuna Kitanofuji dies at 82
Yokozuna Kitanofuji enters the ring during the May 1970 grand sumo tournament in Tokyo.
The slow-burn success of ‘A Samurai in Time’
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.”
Shohei Ohtani wins National League MVP award
Shohei Ohtani celebrates after hitting a three-run home run against the Padres during the National League Division Series at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles last month.
The slow-burn success of ‘A Samurai in Time’
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.”
Around a quarter of Japan married couples in their 20s met through dating apps
A survey released by an organization promoting “Good Couples Day” shows that 24% of couples in their 20s met their marriage partner through a dating app.
'Tokyo Swindlers': Get deep into the minds of real estate con artists
In Ko Shinjo's "Tokyo Swindlers," a group of con artists manipulates real estate giants into falsified deals within the highly competitive, quick market.
Japan, U.K. and Italy discuss inviting more countries to joint fighter project
A new concept model of a next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy is on display in Farnborough, Hampshire, in July.

Podcast

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

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?
By Kathryn Wortley

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

SWCC keeps changing with keyword ‘new challenges’
SWCC keeps changing with keyword ‘new challenges’

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER