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August 15, 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
CULTURE / Film
Jun 29, 2016
'Alice Through the Looking Glass': Growing up is a complicated thing
Nothing is sacred anymore, but there really should be limits — even for Disney. "Alice Through the Looking Glass" is the sequel to Tim Burton's somewhat disastrous "Alice in Wonderland" (2010), which is where they really should have drawn the line. I regret to report that things in Wonderland have...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Jun 29, 2016
Werner Penzel's art therapy for the soul
The documentary "While We Kiss the Sky" (Japanese title "Kofuku wa Hibi no Naka Ni") opens nationwide this weekend, and it proffers a lot of hope and optimism for the future of Japanese society.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jun 25, 2016
Mary Reynolds says gardeners should take a walk on the wild side
Both horticulturalists and casual gardeners will be enthralled by "Dare to be Wild" ("Flower Show!" in Japan), a film based on the life of landscape designer Mary Reynolds.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 22, 2016
'Extraction': Mourning the career of Bruce Willis
Will Bruce Willis ever make it back to the fold of respected Hollywood action stars? Judging from his antics in his latest outing, "Extraction," the short answer to that is a huge "No." The long answer involves a private eulogy to an illustrious action career, and a tearful ode to all that was wonderful...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 15, 2016
The 'Silvered Water' of 'Syria Mon Amour'
"Syria Mon Amour," the Japan title of "Silvered Water, Syria Self-Portrait," is a direct homage to Alan Resnais' 1959 classic antiwar movie "Hiroshima Mon Amour" and reflects a desire on the part of the two-person distribution team to put the film in a Japanese context. The original title, however, is...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 15, 2016
'Irrational Man': The muddled world of Woody Allen
In the manner of Captain Renault in "Casablanca," I was shocked — shocked! — to find so much dialogue in a modern-day movie. But then "Irrational Man" is a Woody Allen venture and, apparently, Allen is unaware, or has chosen to ignore, that couples today do not talk incessantly with each other the...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jun 13, 2016
For 'overtime refugees,' home is where the heart isn't
At night in Japan's big cities, overtime refugees roam the streets in search of alcohol, solace or a quiet place to sit with their laptops.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 8, 2016
'Money Monster': Jodie Foster's thrilling investment
Money is the new sex at the movies. Actually, if we're honest, maybe it was also the old sex. Whatever — in our overly consumerist society, money is on everyone's mind and more filmmakers are discovering the excitement that a stock chart can generate.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 1, 2016
'Southpaw': Boxing that lacks punching power
Just because you've seen this story before doesn't mean you shouldn't see it again ... I think. "Southpaw" is an excessive, some may even say maniacal, retread of boxing movie classics such as the "Rocky" franchise, "The Fighter" and "Raging Bull. But it's so well performed and extravagantly financed...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 25, 2016
'The Huntsman: Winter's War': On reflection, there's little new here
There are so many conflicting messages in "The Huntsman: Winter's War" that after the first half hour you give up trying to decipher them, only to realize they aren't messages at all but a grab bag of snippets from various Hollywood blockbusters.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
May 25, 2016
A little 'je ne sais quois' from Eric Rohmer
Everything we know about French films, we learned from Eric Rohmer. At least for Japanese cinema lovers, that's what it felt like, especially in the late 20th century.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
May 23, 2016
The secret joy of being a Japanese woman (no, really)
This patriarchal society provides a lot more wriggle room for women, leaving men with precious little in terms of loopholes and options.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 11, 2016
'Beyond The Reach': Desert thriller runs dry on substance
I couldn't stop thinking about sunscreen during the first two minutes of "Beyond the Reach." After 15 minutes I was trying to conjure up images of polar ice caps and northern lights. This is what happens when fragile people like me are overexposed to UV rays, even when they are cinematic. The sight...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 4, 2016
'Six Four': Japan held hostage by the Showa Era
'Don't you understand what is to have a child taken from you? How could you be a policeman and not understand that?"
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 4, 2016
'Backtrack': Haunted by other people's pasts
These days, according to a New York Times Opinionator article by Richard Brouillette (March 16, 2015), the psychotherapist's job is on shifting ground. Doctors are now dealing less with relationships and family problems and treating more patients suffering from workplace trauma and financial stress....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 27, 2016
Van Sant plots a bleak hike through Aokigahara
At least Arthur Brennan didn't want sushi, an AKB48 concert or a night out on the town with a maiko (trainee geisha) on his arm. As Japan's ranking soars on the international travelers' destination lists, the more cliched their itineraries seem to get. But Matthew McConaughey's Brennan of Gus Van Sant's...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 27, 2016
'Noma My Perfect Storm': Pierre Deschamps serves food for thought
Over the past decade or so, the demand and expectations of high-end restaurants around the world have gone up, with more people interested in enjoying quality or unusual culinary experiences. This might seem a bit rich coming after the United Nations declared in 2009 that global food production needs...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 25, 2016
Give my love to Kyoto — if you get to see her
The 'hometown of the Japanese heart' is bursting at the seams with foreign tourists. There just isn't any room for us indigenous Japanese folk anymore.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 20, 2016
'The 5th Wave': Not quite on the crest of YA action films
The good news is that since the "Hunger Games" series of films, the young-adult (YA) action film genre is officially not only a thing, but also a Hollywood force to be reckoned with. The bad news is that not all YA movies are made equal, but the duds are still likely to spawn sequels.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 13, 2016
‘Spotlight’: a beacon for investigative journalism
In 1976 the film "All the President's Men" portrayed the true story of Washington Post reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward (Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford) uncovering the Watergate Scandal. It wasn't the first time in cinema that journalists took center stage, but it was one of few films that...
Japan to revise consumption tax exemption for overseas tourists
Tourists walk through Nakamise shopping street near Sensoji Temple in Tokyo in April
Japan's tourism industry hit by cancellations after megaquake alert
A beach closed due to a megaquake alert in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, from Friday to Thursday.
Focus shifts to incoming typhoon as Tropical Storm Maria dissipates
Newly formed Tropical Storm Ampil, which is forecast to approach eastern Japan this weekend, is seen on the left side of this satellite image.
Kishida to step down in September in bid to show ‘LDP has changed’
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a news conference Wednesday at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo.
Publisher finds surprise audience after translating history textbooks
Yamakawa Shuppansha president Takeshi Nozawa holds the publisher's textbook on Japanese history — used in high schools across Japan — alongside the new English version in Tokyo on May 23.
Economic security is about strengthening and sustaining growth, former minister says
Former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi says changes in the international balance of power, along with deepening economic interdependence, have led some countries to attempt to use their economic power to impose their will on others.
Ice bandanas, convenience store breaks: Running under Japan’s summer sun
Blistering heat is becoming a fixture of summer in Japan, but a few tweaks to your routine can make your outdoor runs bearable — if not enjoyable — until cooler temperatures return.
Japan issued its first-ever megaquake alert. What does that mean?
Naoshi Hirata (center), chairman of a committee tasked with evaluating the risk of a Nankai Trough earthquake, speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Friday.
France brings down the curtain on its Olympic party with Tom Cruise and Leon Marchand
Fireworks are set off during the closing ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics at Stade de France in Saint-Denis on Sunday.
Japan fuels U.S. LNG boom even as climate targets and impacts loom
Flaring at the Cameron LNG export terminal in Hackberry, Louisiana. Flaring, a common sight at LNG plants, is a controlled burning of gas for reasons ranging from depressurizing equipment to disposing of gas that can’t be used. The practice is a "waste of money" and negatively impacts climate change and human health, says the International Energy Agency.

Podcast

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

Longform

Sociologist Gracia Liu-Farrer argues that even though immigration doesn't figure into Japan's autobiography, it is more of a self-perception than a reality.
In search of the ‘Japanese dream’
By Thu-Huong Ha

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Azabudai Hills, Tokyo’s green new downtown ‘village’
Azabudai Hills, Tokyo’s green new downtown ‘village’

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