author

 
Menu
Search
 
November 22, 2024
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

Meta

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 1, 2014
Under the Skin: Elegant but queasy piece of cinematic poetry
Jonathan Glazer makes ambitious, scary movies, but he's not prolific — his last outing was "Birth" (2004), a film starring Nicole Kidman that gave new meaning to the word "creepy." Now he has made "Under the Skin," an elegant but queasy piece of cinematic poetry which recalls "2001: A Space Odyssey."...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 1, 2014
Hostages
Language: English
Japan Times
LIFE / Language
Sep 29, 2014
'Nihon danshi’ continue to look on as stockings get stronger
Just so you know, it's a bad time to be male in Japan. Even my brothers say the supermacho, sports-obsessed, chauvinist faux-samurai kanchigai (勘違い, have it all wrong). They say that society is so hard on men that if they were given the choice between a man or woman's life, "onna-no hōga ii (女の方がいい,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 24, 2014
Red Obsession: Turning pale as French wine moves to China
Australian filmmaker Warwick Ross ("Reckless Kelly," "Young Einstein") is part of a growing trend among directors and producers — he has a day job.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 24, 2014
Himself He Cooks
'If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change" is one of Mahatma Ghandi's most famous maxims and in Punjab, India, there's a temple that's a living example of those words. A documentary about that temple, titled "Himself He Cooks," is both empowering and humbling, a paradisal...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 24, 2014
Mindscape
Watching Mark Strong is always a pleasure: You can fantasize about him being a brother of Jason Statham, with Stanley Tucci as their benevolent uncle. Think of the three of them at a table in an Italian restaurant, all wearing black suits.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 24, 2014
Person of Interest: Season 3
Language: English
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 17, 2014
Jersey Boys
Either Clint Eastwood had the flu or he wanted to distance himself from "Jersey Boys" as much as possible while still managing to direct it. Either way, it's impossible not to sense a certain coldness on the part of Eastwood here — you just don't feel love emanating from the frames in the manner of...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 17, 2014
Deliver Us From Evil
It used to be that the horrors of the real world marched pretty much in lock step with the horrors being touted by the media — a centuries-old case in point is how the Spanish Inquisition hired professional artists to paint scenes of torture and misery for advertising purposes.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 17, 2014
Lost Girl: Season Two
Language: English
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 10, 2014
Frances Ha
My mom used to say the trouble with being in your 20's is not realizing how ridiculous you're usually behaving. My take on it is that everyone should have periods of ridiculousness as often as possible, or we end up becoming bitter and shriveled in our old age.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 10, 2014
Night Train to Lisbon
What does a man do when he wants to make a clean break? Hop on a train to Lisbon. That's what Swiss professor Raimund Gregorius (Jeremy Irons) does during "Night Train to Lisbon." One minute he's walking the chilly streets of Bern, Switzerland, and the next he's boarding the train for Portugal.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 10, 2014
The Karate Kid (Best Kid)
Director: Harald Zwart Language: English, Chinese (subtitled in English)
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 3, 2014
I, Frankenstein
Compared with vampires, who always seem to be sleek and sexy, Frankenstein's monster has had it rough. Those head bolts are one thing, and then there are the leathery scars all over his face and his massive, clunky awkwardness. To make matters worse, while vampires are never deprived of dating and relationships...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 3, 2014
Yves Saint Laurent
One of the most iconic designers of the 20th century, Yves Saint Laurent made a stunning debut at age 21 and seemingly never stopped enthralling the world with his creations. This movie tells us otherwise: Saint Laurent (played by Pierre Niney) had his share and more of hurt, humiliation and disappointment....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 3, 2014
Eat Pray Love (Tabete, Inotte, Koi wo shite)
Director: Ryan Murphy Language: English, Italian, Portuguese (subtitled in English)
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 1, 2014
Farewell to the sun-scorched suffering of another summer
Back in the day, the customary question among Japanese gakusei around this time of year was 'Natsu yasumi du014d datta?' (How was summer vacation?). But that was in the days of no smartphones or Skype, when there was a lot less of this hankering for tsunagari (connectedness).
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 28, 2014
She came, she stole and she conquered
In my family of many brothers, the "Lupin III" animated TV series was the only program we could agree to watch. Once the electric guitar riffs of the Yuji Ohno-penned theme song began, a blissful peace descended on our living room. The fighting stopped and all eyes were glued to the family's beat-up...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 27, 2014
Farewell to Taiwanese cinema, but not to love
If Taiwanese director Tsai Ming-liang threw a dinner party, it's easy to guess who would be invited. Tsai has staunchly and consistently worked with the same small cluster of actors from his 1992 debut film "Rebels of the Neon God" through to "Stray Dogs," which will open in Tokyo on Sept. 6, under the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 27, 2014
The Finishers (Great Days! Yume ni Idonda Chichi to Ko)
Boys can be creatures of sheer wonder. That's the takeaway conviction after watching "Des Toutes Nos Forces (released in English as "The Finishers"). By boys, I mean young (or young at heart) men with pure minds and high ideals, willing to push themselves to the utmost limits to reach a goal that has...
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.
Tokyo Metro’s overseas efforts begin in earnest with London deal
Tokyo Metro will soon have a role in the running of London's Elizabeth Line, a major train route serving the U.K.’s capital city and environs.
Russia fired experimental ballistic missile at Ukraine, Putin says
Ukrainian firefighters work on a spot following an airstrike in Dnipro on Thursday.
Ex-yokozuna Kitanofuji dies at 82
Yokozuna Kitanofuji enters the ring during the May 1970 grand sumo tournament in Tokyo.
Man charged with murder allegedly made victim date other men for money
A car carrying suspect Ryotaro Masuda, who was indicted for allegedly beating his 25-year-old girlfriend to death, leaves the Shibuya Police Station in Tokyo on Thursday.
Shohei Ohtani wins National League MVP award
Shohei Ohtani celebrates after hitting a three-run home run against the Padres during the National League Division Series at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles last month.
The slow-burn success of ‘A Samurai in Time’
A 19th-century warrior gets struck by lightning and wakes to find himself in 21st-century Kyoto in Junichi Yasuda’s surprise hit “A Samurai in Time.”
Around a quarter of Japan married couples in their 20s met through dating apps
A survey released by an organization promoting “Good Couples Day” shows that 24% of couples in their 20s met their marriage partner through a dating app.
'Tokyo Swindlers': Get deep into the minds of real estate con artists
In Ko Shinjo's "Tokyo Swindlers," a group of con artists manipulates real estate giants into falsified deals within the highly competitive, quick market.
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.

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

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

mission sustainability vol.12 : Kose Corp.Kose takes pride in creating beauty in the world
mission sustainability vol.12 : Kose Corp.Kose takes pride in creating beauty in the world

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER