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November 22, 2024
 

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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
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 5, 2016
Sneaky September in Japan brings storms, sadness and 'shukudai'
The ninth month may herald a welcome respite from the summer heat, or it may bring on the loneliness and depression that invariably accompanies the summer's end.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 31, 2016
Japan's team spirit remains youthful in anime
The word "seishun" ("youth") comprises the kanji characters for the words "blue" and "spring," which connotes the freshness and innocence of those earlier years in life. It's also the name of a genre of anime and manga. Even as the population ages, seishun manga and anime seem to lock themselves to the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 31, 2016
'Self/Less': Losing oneself in the narrative
The age of excessive high-tech is a good time to be filthy rich, especially if you happen to be an entitled scoundrel whose level of wealth-fueled egomania makes Scrooge look like a benevolent fuddy-duddy. In "Self/Less," Ben Kingsley as New York real estate mogul Damian is that scoundrel, and he pushes...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Aug 31, 2016
'Breath of the Gods': Deep breathing for a stressful life
Yoga takes up a huge chunk of Japan's fitness market. Some IT companies in the Tokyo area have even incorporated yoga and meditation into their daily schedules, just to show how much they care about their employees' health and mental state. But some employees need no prompts. According to healthcare...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 24, 2016
There are some very big issues with 'Little Boy'
Seventy-one years after Japan surrendered in World War II, a taboo in Japan has been broken, or, more precisely, ripped apart. A movie specifically about the U.S-Japan conflict that more than mentions the atomic bombs, directed by Mexico's Alejandro Monteverde, is opening this weekend. For many Japanese,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 24, 2016
'Lights Out': A cliched glow in the dark
Being afraid of the dark is a familiar childhood anxiety that has exploited in terrifying proportions in the horror genre. "Lights Out" knows how to cash in on the panic that can assail the mind when the lights go out. Bad things happen in darkness and "Lights Out" lays it on thick, even though the story...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Aug 24, 2016
Revisit the Showa Era at Jinbocho Theater
Jinbocho is one of the last remaining districts in Tokyo that retains a neighborhood feel. Dedicated to books, it has a large cluster of second-hand bookshops and is dotted with ancient coffee shops, including Saboru and Milonga. It's also known for showing wildly difficult movies at venues such as Iwanami...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 17, 2016
'The Trust': Cage makes a creepy comeback
These days, two things practically never happen with a movie starring Nicolas Cage: 1) we see his real hairline; 2) it's actually a good film. Online movie gossip claims Cage is knee-deep in financial trouble, which is why he's been working like a slave, apparently on anything, for the past decade or...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 15, 2016
In Japan, August is for remembering
For this island nation, the month of August has never really been about vacations and relaxation — at least not since 1945.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 10, 2016
These women ain't afraid of the 'Ghost-bros'
Excuse the time-honored phrase, but the new "Ghostbusters" is a whole new ball game. The hype surrounding its U.S. release last month was considerable, and not just because it's a long-overdue followup of a beloved 1984 Hollywood classic: It has also dared to do what few have done before, which is to...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 10, 2016
'Race': Jesse Owens, the winner against all odds
Now that the Olympic Games are underway, it's a good time to delve into the history of some of the great athletes of the past — in this case, U.S. track-and-field legend Jesse Owens, who astonished the world by winning four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 3, 2016
'Truth': Ask no questions, hear no lies
'The truth is out there" is the tagline from sci-fi thriller TV series "The X-Files," suggesting that perhaps all we had to do was find it and retrieve it like a lost frisbee.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 27, 2016
'A Walk in the Woods': Trekking up the path to friendship
Everyone needs to go for a walk — if only to clear their minds and get their circulation going. Reese Witherspoon walked 1,610 kilometers on the Pacific Crest Trail in "Wild" because her character (real-life author Cheryl Strayed) needed to clean her head of the mess that had become her life. In "A...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 25, 2016
Better to holiday at home than endure a resort during the Japanese summer
In the late-capitalist scheme of things, the Japanese resort probably makes sense. But speaking as a reformed resort junkie, I believe we can do better.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 20, 2016
'While We're Young': Generation X, meet the millennials
Noah Baumbach ("Frances Ha," "Greenberg") examines the concept of youth in "While We're Young" with a kind of clinical detachment. There's no glorifying or romanticizing, and he certainly doesn't seem too enamored by today's Bright Young Things.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 13, 2016
'Sing Street': 'I'm in a band' — it works every time
Filmmaker and former frontman for the Irish band "The Frames" John Carney completes his ode-to-music trilogy with "Sing Street" — following the star-studded "Begin Again" in 2013 and the excellent but underrated "Once" in 2007.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 11, 2016
For a salaryman in summertime, the living ain't easy
As any male over a certain age will tell anyone who'll listen, it's tough being a middle-aged salaryman.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 6, 2016
'Kampai!' raises a glass to sake education
For decades, sake (or nihonshu for the majority of Japanese) didn't really do it for the citizens of this archipelago. Cheap, ubiquitous and made from rice, it seemed too familiar — tacky even. Older people drank it at weddings, or swilled the stuff when they wanted to get uproariously drunk. Young...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 6, 2016
'Independence Day: Resurgence': Did the aliens wait too long to attack?
If you were old enough to enjoy the first "Independence Day" in 1996, then "Independence Day Resurgence" may scare the daylights out of you — and that's not meant as a compliment to the movie.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 29, 2016
Pacquet-Brenner takes us through 'Dark Places'
Two years after the opening of the pervertedly female-empowering "Gone Girl" (based on Gillian Flynn's best-selling novel), I'm one of the people who still get chills when remembering Rosamund Pike's monologue. "Gone Girl" officially put Flynn's name on the map in more ways than one. Her online reputation...
Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington. Investors in Japan and China sold a pile of U.S. debt in the last quarter, just before the U.S. presidential election.
Ishiba aggravates his own political failures with diplomatic faux pas
Prime Minster Shigeru Ishiba is greeted at the APEC summit in Lima by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday. The Japanese leader was criticized for remaining seated while meeting several world leaders at the event.
Japan's 3.31 million visitors in October set monthly record
Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in December 2023. Famous autumn leaf colors contributed to increased tourism demand last month from many markets across Asia, Europe and North America, the Japan National Tourism Organization has said.
Japan ranks last in romance satisfaction for second straight year
In a survey of 31 countries, Japan ranked last in terms of those who felt loved, with just 51% of respondents saying so.
Ruling coalition and DPP strike last-minute deal over economic policy
DPP policy chief Makoto Mahaguchi speaks at the party's policy gathering in Tokyo on Wednesday.
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.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.
Japanese expats in Asia find community through rugby
The Taiwan Fivewoods celebrate their victory at the 2023 Asian Japanese Rugby Cup in December of last year.
In Fukushima, a weekend of prose, poetry and translation
Aomori-based writer JJ Carter presented on tabletop gaming as creative inspiration for building characters and narratives.
For Dr. Nakamats, aging is just experience in action
Though he didn't win the recent gubernatorial election in Tokyo, the 96-year-old Dr. Nakamats' run was seen as inspirational in Japan's aging society.

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

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