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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
May 20, 2011
'Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides'
Those under 25 may not know what I'm talking about, but the older you get, the more thankful you become for things that work and stick around and that you've loved for a long, long time. No, this isn't about Woody in "Toy Story": The man I'm referring to here is Johnny Depp.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
May 16, 2011
Rebuilding Japan gives many a new pride and purpose
Once, I dated a guy who preferred being in Japan to being abroad, who held that we were citizens of a glorious and beautiful nation and the desire for foreign experiences was one of the deplorable legacies of the Meiji Restoration (1868), which was when Japan officially opened her doors to the rest of...
CULTURE / Film
May 13, 2011
'Gainsbourg'
You just don't see guys like him anymore — and if you did, he wouldn't be on the guestlist of your next party. Serge Gainsbourg, the eternal enfant terrible of the Parisian culture scene who died in 1991 at the age of 62, has been resurrected on screen by French filmmaker Joann Sfar.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 29, 2011
'Letters to Juliet (Japan title: Juliet Kara no Tegami)'
"Letters to Juliet" is a rare chick flick that makes you feel glad to be a chick (play along with me please), glad the weather's getting warm and definitely glad this year's skirt lengths are short and skimpy.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 22, 2011
'Unknown'
Life as you know it can shatter and change in just a few short minutes — ain't that the truth. For Dr. Martin Harris (Liam Neeson) in "Unknown," the shock comes twofold: Although he can remember his own identity and life prior to his taxi accident, no one else recognizes him — not even his wife....
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 20, 2011
A personal letter from a Miyagi hinanjo resident
I never thought at my age, that I would be in this spot. But this is where I am at 74, in the taiikukan (体育館 gymnasium) of a middle school in Miyagi Prefecture, now known as a hinanjo (避難所 evacuation center) for people who lost their homes to the earthquake and tsunami that hit the region...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 15, 2011
'Mahler on the Couch'
How lucky that Gustav Mahler and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart never moved in the same social circle (though they both took Vienna by storm, Mozart preceded Mahler by about a century) — it's likely they would have engaged in a battle of spitballs. By all accounts, Mahler was a sour fuddy-duddy (his nickname...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 8, 2011
'Blue Valentine'
What happens in a marriage that goes awry seems — dare I say it — similar to what goes down at a stricken nuclear power plant. A thousand experts may be called in, engineers may work around the clock, but in the end, the damage will prove to be beyond repair. And in both cases, dissection and analysis...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 1, 2011
'Burnt by the Sun 2: Exodus (Japan title: Senka no Nadia)'
A college friend of mine had gone from judo instructor to Self-Defense Force soldier, and when I asked him what triggered his move, he replied that in modern-day Japan, the SDF was the quickest way to attaining inner calm and career satisfaction. "It's not like I actually have to fight in a war," he...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 25, 2011
'Time to Die (Japan Title: Komorebi no Iede)'
If the compensation of old age is wisdom, then 91-year-old Aniela (Danuta Szaflarska) has enough smarts to fill an iPad. In her case, however, that wisdom is neither spoiled by excessive intellect nor embittered by experience. She has simply reached that state where she knows only the things worth knowing....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 18, 2011
'Somewhere'
Those who say that "Somewhere" is too slow and goes nowhere are probably missing the point. Sofia Coppola — the filmmaker behind this droll Hollywood fairy tale — loves the static state: She's a rare American woman who gives the impression of never having rushed anywhere her entire life. Behind her...
CULTURE / Film
Mar 18, 2011
Stars certain movie business will bounce back
Each new day since the March 11 earthquake seems to bring something worse, but the Japanese entertainment industry is no stranger to disaster and mayhem. There's a been-there-seen-it-all mindset, nurtured by a long history of alternating repression and liberation, plus natural disasters in between.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 16, 2011
Through the shaking, Japan comes together
For centuries, Japan had operated on the unvoiced logic that the only certainty in this world is disaster — specifically, tensai (天災, heavenly disaster). Four centuries ago, Edo (江戸, Old Tokyo) citizens said to each other that they had four major things to fear: jishin (地震, earthquakes),...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 11, 2011
'The Fighter'
"The Fighter" doesn't bring anything new to the boxing picture genre — but it's packed to the gills with all that reminds us why such movies enthrall.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 9, 2011
Japanese women and the art of being alone
One of the biggest changes in Tokyo women over the past five or so years has been their new-found capacity for solitude. Tokyo joshi (女子, young girls, single women or any female who sees herself as being a relatively free-spirited individual) had been notorious — even among themselves — for their...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 4, 2011
'Chatroom'
Speaking strictly from a J-cinema fan/patriot point of view, "Chatroom" is a cause for celebration. It's set in London, stars some of the brightest young talent in the United Kingdom, centers around the timely topic of social networking — and the whole thing is directed by Japanese horror meister Hideo...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 25, 2011
'The Tourist'
"The Tourist" is a dud but at least, um, it's a Milk Dud. These are chocolaty chunks of caramel guaranteed to wreak havoc on the body's calcium supply and most likely do damage to one's sanity. Still, they're great fun to chew on as long as they last — and that about sums it up for the movie as well....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 18, 2011
'Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Japan title: Boonmee Ojisan no Mori)'
You have to be in a certain frame of mind to appreciate "Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives," (released in Japan as "Boonmee Ojisan no Mori"). The kind of frame that comes at a point in life when you're ready to discard material wealth and social position, to rid yourself of stressful relationships...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 11, 2011
'A Serious Man'
If you thought being Japanese is hard work, try the Jewish life for a taste of something gut-wrenching — or so implies "A Serious Man," created by brothers Joel and Ethan Coen.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Feb 9, 2011
Marriage has little to do with romantic love
You want to know the truth about why fewer Japanese are dating, getting married or even splurging on the occasional French dinner for two? We can of course, blame it on the big bad fukeiki (不景気, recession) but that would be a big fat lie.
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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