Kaori Shoji - The Japan Times

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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

May 20, 2011

'Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides'

Those under 25 may not know what I'm talking about, but the older you get, the more thankful you become for things that work and stick around and that you've loved for a long, long time. No, this isn't about Woody in "Toy Story": The man I'm referring to here is Johnny Depp.

LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL

May 16, 2011

Rebuilding Japan gives many a new pride and purpose

Once, I dated a guy who preferred being in Japan to being abroad, who held that we were citizens of a glorious and beautiful nation and the desire for foreign experiences was one of the deplorable legacies of the Meiji Restoration (1868), which was when Japan officially opened her doors to the rest of...

CULTURE / Film

May 13, 2011

You just don't see guys like him anymore — and if you did, he wouldn't be on the guestlist of your next party. Serge Gainsbourg, the eternal enfant terrible of the Parisian culture scene who died in 1991 at the age of 62, has been resurrected on screen by French filmmaker Joann Sfar.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Apr 29, 2011

'Letters to Juliet (Japan title: Juliet Kara no Tegami)'

"Letters to Juliet" is a rare chick flick that makes you feel glad to be a chick (play along with me please), glad the weather's getting warm and definitely glad this year's skirt lengths are short and skimpy.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Apr 22, 2011

Life as you know it can shatter and change in just a few short minutes — ain't that the truth. For Dr. Martin Harris (Liam Neeson) in "Unknown," the shock comes twofold: Although he can remember his own identity and life prior to his taxi accident, no one else recognizes him — not even his...

LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL

Apr 20, 2011

A personal letter from a Miyagi hinanjo resident

I never thought at my age, that I would be in this spot. But this is where I am at 74, in the taiikukan (体育館 gymnasium) of a middle school in Miyagi Prefecture, now known as a hinanjo (避難所 evacuation center) for people who lost their homes to the earthquake and tsunami that hit the region...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Apr 15, 2011

'Mahler on the Couch'

How lucky that Gustav Mahler and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart never moved in the same social circle (though they both took Vienna by storm, Mozart preceded Mahler by about a century) — it's likely they would have engaged in a battle of spitballs. By all accounts, Mahler was a sour fuddy-duddy (his nickname...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Apr 8, 2011

'Blue Valentine'

What happens in a marriage that goes awry seems — dare I say it — similar to what goes down at a stricken nuclear power plant. A thousand experts may be called in, engineers may work around the clock, but in the end, the damage will prove to be beyond repair. And in both cases, dissection...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Apr 1, 2011

'Burnt by the Sun 2: Exodus (Japan title: Senka no Nadia)'

A college friend of mine had gone from judo instructor to Self-Defense Force soldier, and when I asked him what triggered his move, he replied that in modern-day Japan, the SDF was the quickest way to attaining inner calm and career satisfaction. "It's not like I actually have to fight in a war," he...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Mar 25, 2011

'Time to Die (Japan Title: Komorebi no Iede)'

If the compensation of old age is wisdom, then 91-year-old Aniela (Danuta Szaflarska) has enough smarts to fill an iPad. In her case, however, that wisdom is neither spoiled by excessive intellect nor embittered by experience. She has simply reached that state where she knows only the things worth knowing....

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Mar 18, 2011

Those who say that "Somewhere" is too slow and goes nowhere are probably missing the point. Sofia Coppola — the filmmaker behind this droll Hollywood fairy tale — loves the static state: She's a rare American woman who gives the impression of never having rushed anywhere her entire life....

CULTURE / Film

Mar 18, 2011

Stars certain movie business will bounce back

Each new day since the March 11 earthquake seems to bring something worse, but the Japanese entertainment industry is no stranger to disaster and mayhem. There's a been-there-seen-it-all mindset, nurtured by a long history of alternating repression and liberation, plus natural disasters in between.

LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL

Mar 16, 2011

Through the shaking, Japan comes together

For centuries, Japan had operated on the unvoiced logic that the only certainty in this world is disaster — specifically, tensai (天災, heavenly disaster). Four centuries ago, Edo (江戸, Old Tokyo) citizens said to each other that they had four major things to fear: jishin (地震, earthquakes),...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Mar 11, 2011

"The Fighter" doesn't bring anything new to the boxing picture genre — but it's packed to the gills with all that reminds us why such movies enthrall.

LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL

Mar 9, 2011

Japanese women and the art of being alone

One of the biggest changes in Tokyo women over the past five or so years has been their new-found capacity for solitude. Tokyo joshi (女子, young girls, single women or any female who sees herself as being a relatively free-spirited individual) had been notorious — even among themselves —...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Mar 4, 2011

Speaking strictly from a J-cinema fan/patriot point of view, "Chatroom" is a cause for celebration. It's set in London, stars some of the brightest young talent in the United Kingdom, centers around the timely topic of social networking — and the whole thing is directed by Japanese horror meister...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Feb 25, 2011

"The Tourist" is a dud but at least, um, it's a Milk Dud. These are chocolaty chunks of caramel guaranteed to wreak havoc on the body's calcium supply and most likely do damage to one's sanity. Still, they're great fun to chew on as long as they last — and that about sums it up for the movie as...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Feb 18, 2011

'Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Japan title: Boonmee Ojisan no Mori)'

You have to be in a certain frame of mind to appreciate "Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives," (released in Japan as "Boonmee Ojisan no Mori"). The kind of frame that comes at a point in life when you're ready to discard material wealth and social position, to rid yourself of stressful relationships...

Japan Times

CULTURE / Film

Feb 11, 2011

'A Serious Man'

If you thought being Japanese is hard work, try the Jewish life for a taste of something gut-wrenching — or so implies "A Serious Man," created by brothers Joel and Ethan Coen.

LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL

Feb 9, 2011

Marriage has little to do with romantic love

You want to know the truth about why fewer Japanese are dating, getting married or even splurging on the occasional French dinner for two? We can of course, blame it on the big bad fukeiki (不景気, recession) but that would be a big fat lie.

You can often see generations of families enjoying performances together at Fuji Rock Festival.

Japan’s summer music festivals are feeling the heat in more ways than one

Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.

The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'

By Tomoko Otake

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