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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
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jan 21, 2013
Men shouldn't fear seductive snake women this year
Did you have a hatsuyume (u521du5922, first dream of the new year) and did it involve hebi (u86c7, snakes)? If the answer is yes to both, omedetu014d gozaimasu, you've hit the jackpot.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 17, 2013
'Cesare Deve Morire'
Roberto Rossellini once said that a good movie has the power to change the world, and here's a film made by his compatriots (octogenarian Italian brothers Paolo and Vittorio Taviani) that may prove him right. It certainly alters the way one looks at the world, at history and how art can lock people in...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 11, 2013
'The Expatriate'
There's an irresistable temptation to describe "The Expatriate" as a discount version of the Jason Bourne series. Pretty much the whole package indicates it's the same product in a different wrapper: You get the handsome CIA agent; the exotic European location; the order issued from Langley to rub out...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 4, 2013
'Freelancers'
To everything there is a season, even for Hollywood superstars such as Robert De Niro. Having starred in some of the best and most memorable American films of the 20th century, De Niro has remained enthroned in the Hollywood kingdom — but the time when he can walk into any scene and take immediate...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 2, 2013
'The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel'
Mr. Antonini, who lived in the house next to ours in Brooklyn, had a rejoinder for all life's ailments. "You think you got problems?" he'd say with a querulous edge to his voice. "Wait till you get to my age, and I'll show you some problems!" At this point Mr. Antonini's son Denny would make his standard...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / BEST OF 2012
Dec 28, 2012
In the name of sincerity and love, this list is for you
I've been thinking about you. About what you want from life, from relationships, from the movies. This list isn't about me, it's about you. Your needs, your dreams, all that jazz. This may seem like a hodgepodge selection of titles with no connecting thread, but believe me, these films reflect the way...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Dec 24, 2012
Switching to mama mode is not easy for today's gals
Bad news on the kekkon sensen (結婚戦線, marriage front) — hardly anyone's doing it. According to a government survey, more than 60 percent of single men and close to 50 percent of single women are not in relationships, nor are they particularly interested in dating. At this rate, Japan's already...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 21, 2012
'Les Miserables' / 'Anonymous'
At this time of year, it feels good to unplug the computer, stash your electronic devices away and crack open something heavy and dense. While this could be a mega-size box of chocolate (or bottle of bourbon), it's just possible our senses crave something more demanding, more literary and Old World....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 7, 2012
Holiday gift ideas for the film buff you love best
As the end of the year approaches and the air is filled with the kerching of winter bonuses and brazen consumerist excess, thoughts turn to our loved ones, and the trinkets that will best pacify them at gift-swapping time. For the cinephile in your life, the JT's film critics suggest the following fine...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 7, 2012
'Salmon Fishing in the Yemen'
What with the recent misery in Gaza and Israel, it's hard to wrap your mind around a feel-good story coming out of the Middle East, but here it is, "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen," opening at Japanese theaters over a year after its premiere at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 30, 2012
The gentleman in the tux and what he did for Japan
In 1967, James Bond made his official Japan debut in "You Only Live Twice": The gentleman spy came to Tokyo and Fukuoka, saw some sumo, consorted with ninja and got intimate with two homegrown Bond girls. Directed by Lewis Gilbert, "You Only Live Twice" goes down in Japan's collective memory as the one...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 30, 2012
'You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger'
Have you noticed that it's a lot easier to find older men in the movies than older women — in front of the camera and behind it?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 23, 2012
'Trouble With the Curve' / 'Dream House'
The season of family gatherings is upon us, and here are two movies featuring The Dad in a big way. Though not as familiar as The Mom, The Dad is a cozy Hollywood institution, often deployed to prod at adult male shortcomings — from cold, distant workaholic to warm-hearted slob around the house. There's...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Nov 19, 2012
Plan A: Live long and inconspicuously
Among other things, being Japanese means embracing a distinct and particular weirdness. The Japanese are well aware of this fact, and generations of Nipponjin (日本人, Japanese) have pondered on how hen (変, strange) we are since the country opened its doors to outsiders some 150 years ago. Encountering...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 16, 2012
'Lockout'
Luc Besson is turning out to be this hefty boardroom type who likes to kick back in his private office (no doubt equipped with a bar, high-tech treadmill, elliptical machine and shower) while getting a young, newbie filmmaker (in this case two of them) to sweat through the process of making an action...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 9, 2012
'388 Arletta Avenue'
Stalker movies are a subgenre in themselves — a good chunk of horror movies feature stalkers and stalkees and the really watchable ones (see 2005's "Dark Water") are heavily psychological, delving into the minds of certain people who get their kicks out of watching and harassing certain other people,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 2, 2012
'W.E.'
Love her or not, one admirable factor about Madonna is that she has never stopped being the Material Girl. She's doing this at 54 and she'll likely keep it up at 84.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 26, 2012
'A Room With a View' / 'Another Country'
Note to self: Do not travel back in time to the 20th century. Or to be more accurate, to early 20th-century England. We've been conditioned to think it was all hot scones and tennis on the lawn, but after a closer viewing of historical facts I have learned that only a certain segment of the populace...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 19, 2012
'The Conspirator'
When it comes to American presidents, Abraham Lincoln stands atop a lofty pedestal all by himself — beyond reproach and certainly beyond scandal. It's hard to conjure a mental picture other than that of the marble Lincoln Memorial statue, seated in Washington, D.C., as the words of the Gettysburg Address...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 19, 2012
Tokyo International Film Festival hits 25
This year, Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) celebrates its 25th edition and will hold commemorative programs, including a three-day screening of six Japanese films from the Showa Era (1926-89) in the very Showa-esque district of Nihonbashi.
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.
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.
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.”
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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