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November 23, 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
Mar 15, 2013
'Jack the Giant Slayer'
A fantastical (and technically stunning) spin on a classic bedtime story, "Jack the Giant Slayer" doesn't tell us anything new, but some moments may give nightmares to the under-12s. The fee-fi-fo-fum ambience is there, but director Bryan Singer (of "X-Men" franchise fame) instead mostly turns the dials...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 15, 2013
'Searching for Sugar Man'
Ever heard of a Detroit-based musician by the name of Sixto Rodriguez? If so, you're extraordinarily well informed, or perhaps you spent some time in South Africa during the late 1970s. But if you're unaware of the man or his music, "Searching for Sugar Man" is the best place to start, and the payoff...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 15, 2013
The Bourne Legacy
In this major overhaul of the lucrative "Bourne" franchise, Matt Damon is replaced by Jeremy Renner ("Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol") and Bourne himself is relegated to a mere mythic figure instead of appearing as a flesh-and-blood agent. Groan? Possibly. Renner as agent Aaron Cross is rough around...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 11, 2013
A personal invitation to the I-hate-cherry-blossoms club
It's that time of year when the Japanese turn their thoughts to what I call the 3-S's: sakura (桜, cherry blossoms), sakamori (酒盛り, drinking parties) and shuran (酒乱, getting raucously drunk).
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 8, 2013
Lockout
Directors: James Mather, Stephen St. Leger
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 8, 2013
'Bel Ami'
If you thought the tsk-tsk antics of the French aristocracy ended when the peasants stormed the Bastille, "Bel Ami" is here to tell you that corruption and debauchery among the upper classes carried on for at least a century more.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 8, 2013
'Amour'
You're old, sick and bedridden. You've just suffered a stroke and lost most of your motor skills. Who will tend to your basic needs, brush your hair and see to it that you hold on to at least a semblance of personal dignity? Increasingly in the modern world, the answer to that is a professional caregiver....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 1, 2013
'Flight'
Be prepared for the most terrifying flying experience you're ever likely to encounter, expertly created by Robert Zemeckis ("Forrest Gump," "Back to the Future") and engineered on-screen by Denzel Washington. "Flight" may put you off air travel for a while, but on the other hand if the plane you're aboard...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 1, 2013
'Shadow Dancer'
If you'll excuse the pun, Andrea Riseborough is a star on the rise. In her home ground of Great Britain she's famed for her role in 2010's "Brighton Rock," and in the U.S. she turned heads last year with her performance in Madonna's "W.E." In her face you see a wealth of what many psychiatrists have...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 1, 2013
'Haywire'
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Feb 26, 2013
Everything you wanted to know about Western women (but were afraid to ask): No-holds-barred guide targets Japanese men
Here's an open secret: Japanese men have a bad international reputation on the romance front.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 22, 2013
Silver Linings Playbook
Sometimes life falls off its dreary grid and takes on the texture and flavor of strawberry chiffon cake. That's kind of what happens when watching "Silver Linings Playbook": The more this romantic comedy-drama about an ex-teacher with mental-health problems and the people around him progresses, the more...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Feb 17, 2013
Bringing the love of short films to a local audience
If there was a birthday cake for the Brillia Short Shorts Theater, it would probably be an elegant, minimalist affair — no excessive decorations, nothing too calorific and five slim candles giving off a modest orange glow. One of just four movie theaters in and around Tokyo dedicated to short films,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 15, 2013
'A Good Day to Die Hard'
I know what you're thinking. You're thinking that if you had to see yet another 20th-century action star, alive and well and kicking ass for the benefit of the over-40s crowd — and that star is Bruce Willis, whom you can remember as having a full head of hair (brunette) and a terrible taste in suits...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Feb 11, 2013
Providing for old age somehow connects to V-day blues
I was talking to a joshikōsei (女子高生, high school girl) friend of mine (yes, I'm fully aware of this exalted position) and she told me that these days in sociology class, Japanese teens are taught that by the time they start paying taxes, the ratio of college grad workers to nenkinzoku (年金族,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 8, 2013
How to cope when home is where the radiation is?
When she hears the phrase "a sense of home," filmmaker Michale Boganim always endures a wave of sadness. "Home can mean a whole lot of things, but to me it has connotations of displacement and loss," she tells The Japan Times. "I come from a family that was always moving around, and even as we were moving,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 8, 2013
'Land of Oblivion'
It's 1996. Anya (Olga Kurylenko) works as a guide on a tour bus that takes people through Pripyat, a town located just 3 km from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine. The tourists, all of varying ages and nationalities, listen somewhat bored to Anya's descriptions of April 26, 1986, a decade...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 1, 2013
'Jack Reacher'
Every time I witness the presence of Tom Cruise in Tokyo, I imagine the possibilities of him moving here as a permanent resident. He loves sushi (apparently a frequent customer at Sukiyabashi Jiro). He knows the streets of Ginza. He's clearly work addicted. Unlike in the U.S. no one here will ever direct...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 1, 2013
Dedication on a plate in 'Jiro Dreams of Sushi'
To be a shokunin (artisan) in Japan means, among other things, rising in the morning to do the exact same thing as yesterday and the day before and the day before.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 1, 2013
'Jiro Dreams of Sushi'
To describe "Jiro Dreams of Sushi" as a foodie film is akin to picking an English rose and calling it a flower. This documentary by New York-based David Gelb is at once a celebration of one of the world's most popular and coveted meals, and a firsthand observation of Japan's most famous sushi chef at...
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.
U.S. aircraft carrier returns to Japan carrying navy’s ‘most capable fighter’
U.S. 7th Fleet Commander Vice Adm. Fred Kacher speaks to reporters shortly after the arrival of aircraft carrier USS George Washington at Yokosuka naval base in Kanagawa Prefecture on Friday.
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.
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.
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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