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July 17, 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
May 8, 2014
'Blue Jasmine'
We love watching rich people be rich and happy, but maybe we love it more when the cash stops flowing. There's a Japanese phrase for that, and roughly translated, it goes like this: "The unhappiness of others tastes of honey." In that vein, Woody Allen's newest work, "Blue Jasmine" — a film that...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 8, 2014
'The Secret Children'
Hiroshi Nakajima is one of the few Japan-born directors working in Hollywood, and his second feature, "The Secret Children," opens tomorrow. Exploring the issue of human clones with an all-American cast, "Children" has the uminstakable sheen of a made-in-the-USA sci-fi thriller. That said, Nakajima's...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 8, 2014
'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire'
Director: Francis Lawrence
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 1, 2014
This tale of brutal vengeance is no fantasy
A thousand things can go wrong in a kidnapping investigation, and "Prisoners" goes through about 100 of them before you lose count. After that it's easy to blackout under the chokehold of desperation that defines both the film and its protagonist, Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman).
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 1, 2014
'Prisoners'
Cinematically speaking, Thanksgiving is beginning to have the same connotations as the white picket fences and manicured lawns of suburban America: symbols of disaster or tragedy. In "The Company Men" (2010), Ben Affleck feels his jobless life unravelling at the Thanksgiving table. In "Four Brothers"...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 1, 2014
'Labor Day'
There's nothing like an extremely stressful situation to bring people together. Keanu Reeves said something like that in "Speed," and by the end of the movie he had a relationship in the works with Sandra Bullock. By the sequel, though, they had already broken up. Stressful situations are not always...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 1, 2014
'R.I.P.D. (Ghost Agent)'
Director: Robert Schwentke
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 24, 2014
'The Amazing Spider-Man 2'
Spider-Man returns once again — something other superheroes also have a tendency of doing. Marvel Comics' entomological superhero, aka Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield), is up to his web-spinning ways again in "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" — the second in the rebooted "Spider-Man" movie series...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 24, 2014
'Omamamia'
Let's get one thing clear: Women want to lose weight. Even if they're rail thin, women still want to be skinnier than they are. That is, everyone except German actress Marianne Sagebrecht, who wears every one of her pounds with regal grandeur and walks into each scene as if she owns the movie.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 24, 2014
'Prison Break: The Final Break'
Directors: Brad Turner and Kevin Hooks
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 24, 2014
The amazing thing about a modern Spider-Man
Too often, superheroes are clueless about what women want. Sure, they can catch the villains and save the world, but when it comes to relationships, they stink.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 20, 2014
I heart cherry blossoms — the rise of Japan's petit nationalism
My friend Naoki has a new strategy when it comes to getting dates; these days he says the best bet is to kusuguru (くすぐる, tickle, or appeal to) a woman's sense of aikokushin (愛国心, patriotism).
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 17, 2014
Tortured POW meets his Japanese tormentor
"He is most interested in having contact with you for he has lived with many unanswered questions all these years, questions to which perhaps only you can help him to find the answers." So wrote Patricia Lomax in a letter sent from her home in England to Takashi Nagase, who at the time lived in Okayama...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 17, 2014
'The Railway Man'
Speaking as a Japanese, "The Railway Man" is extremely difficult to sit through, as it deals with the treatment of British POWs by the Japanese Army after they took Singapore during World War II.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 17, 2014
'The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones'
While other fantasy heroes and heroines — such as Katniss Everdeen ("The Hunger Games") or, heck, Harry Potter — had no time or funds to enjoy themselves, the heroine of "The Mortal Instruments," Clary Fray (Lily Collins), is a privileged teenager living in a cozy Brooklyn apartment with her attractive...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 17, 2014
'47 Ronin'
Director: Carl Rinsch
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 10, 2014
'August: Osage County'
As far as craziness in families goes, it can't get worse than what's shown in "August: Osage County." Start to finish, the film recalls rusty barbed wire, the type usually seen around maximum security prisons. Mind you, the story has nothing to do with prisons or crime (unless bad-mouthing and mean-spiritedness...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 10, 2014
'Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones'
Despite the unoffical verdict that the "found footage" genre is dead as the dodo, there are those who have a weakness for the stuff, namely myself. Forgive me if I seem predisposed toward "Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones," but it does breathe a bit of life into the found-footage cadaver.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 10, 2014
'The Killing'
Language: English
CULTURE / Film
Apr 10, 2014
Finding a heap of treasure in 'Zipang Punk'
It's the late 16th century, when Japan was in the vicelike grip of rich and ruthless warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Things were good at the top, but the rest of Zipang (Japan) was poor, hungry and repressed. Welcome to "Zipang Punk — Goemon Rock III."
Who needs AI when you have Hatsune Miku?
Over the first six months of 2024, a handful of songs using Vocaloid singer Hatsune Miku’s voice have enjoyed widespread attention, underlining a global interest in the character and the technology she represents.
Yen’s woes seem too big for even a BOJ hike this month to solve
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo
China’s economic growth comes in worse than expected
Pedestrians in the Wangfujing shopping area in Beijing on July 11, 2024. China's economic growth in the second quarter was lower than forecast, adding pressure on Chinese leaders to lift confidence at the Chinese Communist Party's third plenum this week.
Kansai airports to increase takeoff and landing slots ahead of Osaka Expo
Kansai International Airport in Izumisano, Osaka Prefecture. The upper limit on the number of takeoff and landing slots at the airport as well as Kobe Airport in Hyogo Prefecture will be raised in spring next year ahead of the 2025 World Exposition in Osaka.
Shooter came within inches of killing Trump, but left few clues as to why
An aerial view shows the stage where Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump had been standing during an assassination attempt the day before, and the roof of a nearby building where a gunman was shot dead by law enforcement, in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Sunday.
The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'
Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.
How to beat Japan’s summer heat in ways better for the planet
Tenugui towels hang up to dry at a dyeing company in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, on May 8. The durable and versatile tenugui, which many people have in their homes, can be used in many ways to cool one’s body.
After Trump shooting, U.S. presidential race might take a violent turn
United States Secret Service Counter Snipers stand guard on a rooftop during a campaign rally for U.S. President Donald Trump in Avoca, Pennsylvania, in 2020.
No AC this summer? No problem (for me).
Think air conditioning is a requirement for a Tokyo summer? Think again.
She’s paying ¥1 million to help behind the scenes at the Paris Olympics
Mai Tarumi, who previously volunteered at the postponed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, has a travel budget of ¥1 million for her trip to volunteer at the Paris Games.

Podcast

You can often see generations of families enjoying performances together at Fuji Rock Festival.
Japan’s summer music festivals are feeling the heat in more ways than one

Longform

Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.
The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'
By Tomoko Otake

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