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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
CULTURE / Film
Apr 13, 2016
'The Eichmann Show': The reality is far more horrific than the fiction
Like many things, journalism used to have a gravitas that has all but disappeared from today's media. That point is brought home in "The Eichmann Show," a BBC film about what is deemed the first globally broadcast televised documentary.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 6, 2016
'45 Years': When love is lost but can never be forgotten
As divorce rates rise in most of the industrialized world, being with the same partner for 45 years these days calls for a major celebration (perhaps a medal would be more in order), which is exactly what Kate (Charlotte Rampling) and Geoff (Tom Courtenay) decide to do in the British film "45 Years."...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 6, 2016
'Cop Car': Joy-riding with dire consequences
Do you smell the Bacon?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 30, 2016
Keanu Reeves' concoction of 'The Whole Truth'
The American judicial system may not have its finest hour in "The Whole Truth" but the film is nonetheless a gripping 90-minute courtroom drama that keeps you on the edge of your seat. The film is unflattering to lawyers and unkind to witnesses — no one has an easy time here, including the unfortunate...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 30, 2016
A terrible film saved by the dog
One of the two stars I gave this film is to honor the combined team of Terry Jones, the director and co-writer (and former member of Monty Python), and Simon Pegg, the star who is never out of a single frame. Actually, make that 1.5 stars for these two gents.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Mar 30, 2016
Documentary delves into the darker side of Kawasaki
Kawasaki in Kanagawa Prefecture is famed for three things: yakiniku barbecue restaurants, sex shops and a high crime rate. Though parts of the city are middle class, a grittier and lower-income image of Kawasaki has persisted through the years.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 23, 2016
Altering the history and gender of 'The Danish Girl'
Are you into Scandinavian design? If you are, "The Danish Girl" will have you swooning. Even the first 10 seconds of the opening scene will provoke design envy and, for those who care about the details, Copenhagen apartment envy, circa 1926. Director Tom Hooper is clearly enthralled by Danish art and...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 16, 2016
The transformative power of Japan's 'magical girls'
There is one surprising thing about Japan's male-dominated — some may say rabidly misogynistic — society: manga and anime support women. True, there are plenty of examples to the contrary (take a short stroll through any Akihabara anime shop if you need proof). But at the same time, the modern Japanese...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 16, 2016
'Mia Madre' unpacks the burdens that women carry
Why does the burden of balancing work, family and sanity almost always ends up on the shoulders of women? Hints can be gathered in "Mia Madre," winner of the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at the Cannes Film Festival last year.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Mar 16, 2016
What Japan can learn from French blockbuster 'Serial (Bad) Weddings'
Love between different races is one thing, and then there's marriage. Guess which is more complicated.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 14, 2016
Japanese go out on a limb for health (but not for love)
You could say that health has become a national obsession — one of the most obvious side-effects of Japan's super-aged society.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 9, 2016
'Love is Strange' when you're an aging couple in a big city
These days, love and real estate seem to go hand in hand when it comes to U.S. cinema. Throw in encroaching old age and you have a winning film: an adult love story that many aged city dwellers can truly relate to. Considering that one in four Tokyo residents are older than 65, it's no wonder older people...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 2, 2016
'The Lobster' offers a sci-fi solution for 'sexless Japan'
Back in the 1990s, an unmarried woman in Japan who was 25 or older might have been called a "Christmas cake." The term equated them with the seasonal cakes that were sold for half price after Dec. 24, and it contained an explicit warning for women: Catch a man before you turn 25 because that's your official...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Mar 2, 2016
The drama of work: Exploring Japan's 'oshigoto' genre
There's a genre in Japanese fiction called oshigoto (work). It has been around for a while, but after the disasters of March 11, 2011, it really took off — perhaps we realized that the only thing going for us was a willingness to work our backsides off.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 24, 2016
Takeshi Kitano and the men who watch women sleeping
An older man, a much younger woman and a mystery that surrounds their relationship — for the Japanese, it's a familiar story. The woman doesn't say much, letting her youthful allure and beauty do most of the talking. The man doesn't say much either; he's more interested in looking at and pampering...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 24, 2016
Meryl Streep as a runaway rocker in 'Ricki and the Flash'
It has been seven long years since Jonathan Demme came out with what is popularly known as a "woman's movie" (don't say "chick flick" — there's a difference) with "Rachel Getting Married." In many ways, "Ricki and the Flash" feels like the sequel to that earlier film. Both movies examined the behavioral...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 17, 2016
'Sherlock: The Abominable Bride' leaps off the BBC and into cinemas across Japan
Red alert to Sherlockians. You have likely been suffering from withdrawals after the cliffhanger finale to the BBC series "Sherlock," which left us on a veritable desert island without murder mysteries or the comforting presence of Martin Freeman as John Watson and — worst of all — no Benedict Cumberbatch...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Feb 17, 2016
Tokyo festival for 'alternative visions' is loaded with art films
The Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions 2016 is on until Feb. 20 and is taking place in one of Tokyo's most highfalutin chunks of real estate: the area around Yebisu Garden Place in the Ebisu neighborhood.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Feb 15, 2016
It's the season of love: Won't someone please grab hold of my chin?
In Japan these days, it can seem as if love itself is on the decline — and that no one really cares.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 10, 2016
Introducing the complex refugee experience to Japan
The plight of refugees is dauntingly hard to comprehend for the majority of Japanese who have been brought up believing they live in a racially homogeneous nation. (Let's reserve the falseness of this belief for another story.)
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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SWCC keeps changing with keyword ‘new challenges’

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