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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
Oct 14, 2015
Atom Egoyan brings the oppression of winter into 'The Captive'
Every parent's worst nightmare plays out in "The Captive," Canadian auteur Atom Egoyan's followup to "Devil's Knot," which opened in Japan last year.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Oct 10, 2015
Home sweet home: Preserving the traditional Kanazawa townhouse
Traditional wooden townhouses called machiya could once be found throughout Japan and were especially common in cities such as Kyoto and Nara in Kansai, as well as Kanazawa in Ishikawa Prefecture.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 7, 2015
Trip from hell goes to heaven in 'What We Did on Our Holiday'
We've all heard the adage that it takes a village to raise a child, but considering the state of villages these days, it could be the other way around. A case in point is "What We Did on Our Holiday," in which three kids unwittingly cure the ill will, pretensions and animosity among the adults in their...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 30, 2015
Down and out with Tokyo's manga artists
That Japanese movies are often adapted from Japanese manga is no secret. Less well known is the subgenre of films about the lives of some Japanese mangaka (manga artists), which is informally known as mangakamono. Many of these fictional biopics have gone on to become local blockbusters, but we'll get...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 30, 2015
In 'Fathers and Daughters' it doesn't take a village to raise a child, only Russell Crowe
Dads and their female offspring are a whole different pot of stew from mothers and their girls — both in the movies and in real life. Director Gabriele Muccino ("The Pursuit of Happyness") takes on the theme in "Fathers and Daughters," but doesn't bring anything new to the party. In fact, his movie...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Sep 30, 2015
Tokyo International Film Festival showcases classic anime, J-horror and yakuza films
The Tokyo International Film Festival, Japan's biggest film fest and a showcase for foreign movies that otherwise might never see the light of day here, will run from Oct. 22 to 31 this year. Opening the festival is Robert Zemekis' "The Walk," and the closer is local tearjerker "Kishuten Eki Taminaru"...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 23, 2015
Some fly high and some stay hidden in 'Bird People'
'Bird People' recalls all that's delightful about French cinema: it's well-crafted without heaviness, poignant without being sentimental.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 16, 2015
'That Awkward Moment' takes a submarine to the depths of male idiocy
This is a question for dudes: Why do you assume it's always the woman who wants the stable, solid relationship and that men want to remain free, unencumbered and sex-crazy?
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 14, 2015
When disaster strikes in Japan, keep calm and carry a diaper
Long before 3/11, Japan had been disaster-prone — a historical fact of life that has made the Japanese hyper-hazard-conscious.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 9, 2015
'San Andreas' struggles to hold water in post-3/11 Japan
In the 1970s, Hollywood disaster movies were a lucrative genre. In 1974 "Earthquake" and "The Towering Inferno" were released, and the decade saw the box-office success of multiple "Airport" films.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 9, 2015
Colin Firth wages war with lower classes in 'Kingsman: The Secret Service'
Under normal circumstances, any movie with Colin Firth has me from the moment he says "Hello." And "Kingsman: The Secret Service" shows off Firth playing a super-cool gentleman spy in a super-elite British intelligence unit wearing a super-bespoke suit. And he even quotes one of Hemingway's greatest...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 2, 2015
'Pixels' is more of an insult than ode to Pac-Man
When you're a film critic, you are occasionally assailed by one of two overwhelming urges: first, to quit, and second, to punch Adam Sandler in the face.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 2, 2015
Al Pacino's 'Danny Collins' is so charming he doesn't need to be good
What's the difference between Bill Murray and Al Pacino these days? Not much. Pacino might be shorter, Murray might have less hair, but otherwise they could be spiritual brothers from alternate cinema universes — seriously. Someday, a producer will stumble upon that truth and make a buddy movie with...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Sep 2, 2015
Japanese theater group travels to Europe by film
Getting a Japanese film on the international festival circuit isn't as easy as it sounds — and even more so for "Ao no Ran," the latest film in the popular Geki×Cine series that fuses stage production with cinema.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 26, 2015
Backpacking women take back the mountains
If you've read Cheryl Strayed's memoir, "Wild: Lost and Found on the Pacific Crest Trail," you'll be familiar with her particular tone: a combination of lyrical feminism and gritty self-help manual. Her book chronicles the three months she spent hiking the United States' Pacific Crest Trail (fondly known...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 26, 2015
'The Best of Me' has enough cornball to start a biofuel company
You've never known love until you've kissed in the pouring rain. I've come to believe this is a fact of life after watching one too many movies written by Nicholas Sparks (e.g., "The Notebook" and "Nights in Rodanthe"). Other facts include: You should never ever stop dieting, even after you hit 35, in...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 19, 2015
Norway's 'Ballet Boys' dive deep into the world of dance
The road to becoming a professional athlete is paved with thorns, but there's more trouble than that awaiting three aspiring male ballet dancers in the Norwegian documentary "Ballet Boys." Directed by Kenneth Elvebakk, the film examines the lives of teens Lukas, Syvert and Torgeir, which involve practice,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Aug 19, 2015
Tale of Tuscan beekeeping and family breakdown has a sting
Italian drama "The Wonders" opens on Aug. 22 and it's well worth a look (or two or three).
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 17, 2015
Farewell until next year, heat, humidity and o-haka-mairi
Summer is when the Japanese commune with family, ghosts and an ignoble wartime past.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 12, 2015
Frida Kahlo and the secret life of women's objects
Miyako Ishiuchi is one of Japan's most formidable photographers — a woman who has been passionately interested in women and their bodies for the whole of her 50-year career. At 68 years old, her fascination with the female physique remains intact, but over the past six years she has added two subtexts...
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.
Russia launched intercontinental ballistic missile during attack on Ukraine, Kyiv says
A Yars intercontinental ballistic missile is launched during a test from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in Northern Arkhangelsk region of Russia, in this still image captured from video released on Oct. 29.
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.
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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