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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
Jul 16, 2014
Escape From Tomorrow
An audacious kick-in-the-ribs at the Disney kingdom, "Escape From Tomorrow" is cool, cool stuff — albeit in a clunky and kitsch Ed Wood kind of way.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 16, 2014
Les Reines du Ring
French mothers have a reputation for being smoking, skinny bundles of alluring discontent, decked out in black dresses and heels.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 16, 2014
Thor: The Dark World
Director: Alan Taylor
Japan Times
LIFE / Language
Jul 14, 2014
In Japan, the 'collapse of the family' is old news
One of the things the Japanese media love to discuss is kazoku no hōkai (家族の崩壊, collapse of the family) — an evergreen topic that's been around since the late 1960s, a time when most urban Japanese families could first afford a television. Academics and tarento (TV personality) commentators...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 10, 2014
'Maleficent'
"Maleficent" takes you on a ride into a non-kiddie realm of betrayal, vengeance and mother-daughter brouhaha. Is that a good thing for a Disney audience? On the other hand, look at "Frozen," which dealt with some sibling rivalry and female empowerment issues. That worked, so there's no reason why "Maleficent"...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 9, 2014
Cinema's silent moment with God
If one word could describe "Into Great Silence," what would that be? The film's creator Philip Groning doesn't hesitate when he says, "Monastery." Almost a decade years after its European release, "Into Great Silence" will finally open in Japan this month. In an interview with The Japan Times in Tokyo,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 9, 2014
'Into Great Silence'
Imagine a movie that's not a movie at all, but an act of contemplation. This is "Into Great Silence." Sometimes a prayer, more often a rumination, it's a film that sprung from one man's urge for silence. Director Philip Groning wanted to make a documentary about the monks living in the Grande Chartreuse...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 9, 2014
'The Devil's Violinist'
This is a tribute to Niccolo Paganini, the 19th-century violinist often resurrected on screen, mainly for his utter, utter hotness — it was said Paganini didn't make a distinction between the Stradivarius in his hand and whatever lady he happened to fancy at that moment.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 9, 2014
Gossip Girl
Director: Various
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 2, 2014
'Edge of Tomorrow'
Some movie stars never let up, and Tom Cruise is a prominent example. In his 50s now, Hollywood's resident Prince Charming is still making action movies with the same laddish physique and boyish smile showcased in the first "Mission: Impossible." Cruise is in nitty-gritty mode this time in sci-fi thriller...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 2, 2014
'Ironclad: Battle for Blood' (Ironclad Blood War)
If extraterrestrials visited England in the year 1221, they would have taken one look and gone home. Life was horrible then — full of marauding, armored men, hell-bent on driving the pointy ends of swords into each others' midriffs. That's how "Ironclad: Battle for Blood" portrays medieval living among...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 2, 2014
'Downton Abbey'
Directors: Various
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 26, 2014
Facing death at the Earth's highest reaches
Peter Hillary was born in 1954, one year after his father, Sir Edmund Hillary, and Nepalese sherpa Tenzing Norgay became the first men in history to stand on the summit of Mount Everest.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 26, 2014
'Beyond the Edge'
Ah yes, adventure movies. We love the plight of the guy who's unlikely to make it, just as much as the sight of him defying the odds.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 26, 2014
'Oldboy'
For an Asian female, watching Park Chan-wook's "Oldboy" in 2003 was somewhat agonizing, akin to a wisdom tooth extraction by a dentist with a limited supply of painkillers. Now Spike Lee ("Do the Right Thing," "Miracle at St. Anna") has made a remake under the same name — "Oldboy." This time, the dentist...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 26, 2014
'Snowpiercer'
Director: Bong Joon-ho
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 19, 2014
'Her'
The fact that the promotional poster for "Her" features the lone, male, mustachioed face of Joaquin Phoenix tells you most of what you need to know about this gentlyhorrific tale of the nearfuture. This is a world that very much resembles our own, but taken a little further, in terms of dealing with...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 19, 2014
'3 Days to Kill'
This is one terrible movie — the equivalent of a date that any sane woman would avoid like bird flu. Now that I've stuck on the warning label I can relax, and tell you that I secretly loved "3 Days to Kill."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 19, 2014
Jobs (Steve Jobs)
Director: Joshua Michael Stern
Japan Times
LIFE / Language
Jun 15, 2014
True confessions of a bijogā (beautiful jogger)
This is the story of a 39-year-old female runner who works in advertising and runs six times a week.
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

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