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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
Jun 9, 2004
A camp experience to remember
The summer Todd Graff turned 14, his parents saw an ad in The New York Times about a summer camp called Stage Door Manor. Unlike other camps, this one taught the kids to act and perform in musicals, and since Graff had always loved to sing, his parents (both musicians) encouraged him with enthusiasm....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 9, 2004
I was a teenage thespian freak
Camp Rating: * * * 1/2 (out of 5) Director: Todd Graff Running time: 111 minutes Language: English Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] Being a teenager is difficult, but when you're a teenager aspiring to be a music star, that difficulty gets multiplied by 10. So goes...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jun 3, 2004
Shall we meet at Sutaba, Tsutaya or the dog's tail?
Doing the machiawase (setting up a meeting place) is one of things that define Japanese relationships, especially relationships in Tokyo.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 2, 2004
The unbearable heaviness of being
21 Grams Rating: * * * * (out of 5) Director: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarittu Running time: 125 minutes Language: English Opens June 5 [See Japan Times movie listings] "21 Grams" struts and shows off like a cowboy in a rodeo -- the director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarittu pulls out all the stops...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 26, 2004
Rob Reiner recycles himself
Alex and Emma Rating: * * (out of 5) Director: Rob Reiner Running time: 95 minutes Language: English Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] When Alex met Emma he was a destitute writer. His words had left him, he was being hounded by loan sharks and the plaster on his ceiling...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 25, 2004
The mane attraction
In 1979, Japan was in the Dark Ages. Dark that is, in terms of hair. No one dyed their hair any other color but black and when they reached for lighter tints, were considered a bit on the bizarre side.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 19, 2004
A crazy little film about love
Kitchen Stories Rating: * * * * (out of 5) Director: Bent Hamer Running time: 95 minutes Language: Norwegian, Swedish Opens May 22 [See Japan Times movie listings] In the early 1950s, the Swedish Home Research Institute dispatched a team of researchers to Norway to observe how middle-aged...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
May 13, 2004
Lovable children of Edo -- where have you gone?
Being a Tokyoite doesn't have the same glamorous connotations as being a Parisian or New Yorker, but inside Japan, we've managed to rack up some notoriety. A Tokyo local, or Edokko (Child of Edo, as Tokyo was called before the 1868 Meiji Restoration) as many in the older generations still like to identify...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 12, 2004
Diving into feminine mystique
Swimming Pool Rating: * * * * (out of 5) Director: Francois Ozon Running time: 102 minutes Language: English Opens May 15 [See Japan Times movie listings] Extremely straight or very gay? For me, this has always been a burning question with regard to director Francois Ozon. His latest...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 5, 2004
Future through sepia-colored glasses
Immortel (ad vitam) Rating: * * 1/2(out of 5) Director: Enki Bilal Running time: 104 minutes Language: English Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] The future is not now, it's retro in "Immortel (ad vitam)" (released in Japan as "God Diva") -- the latest Euro sci-fi created...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 28, 2004
Between blue and gray, love finds a way
Cold Mountain Rating: * * * * (out of 5) Director: Anthony Minghella Running time: 152 minutes Language: English Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] Sixty-some years after Scarlett O'Hara clutched that handful of earth and swore she would never go hungry again, another...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 21, 2004
The director's stand-in
In many ways, Remy in "Les Invasions barbares" is director Denys Arcand's alter ego. Says the 63-year-old director, "I suppose he was a way of facing my life and my crimes, you know."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 21, 2004
The best gift a son could give
Les Invasions barbares Rating: * * * * (out of 5) Director: Denys Arcand Running time: 99 minutes Language: French Open April 24 [See Japan Times movie listings] In "Les Invasions barbares (Barbarian Invasions)," a dying father pulls his grown-up son to his chest and says, "When you...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 15, 2004
One day, Japan's 'losing dogs' will howl in unison
There's a new phrase out there and it's making a lot of people self-conscious. "Makeinu (losing dog)," which once meant nothing more than the literal translation, now indicates that swelling segment of the Japanese population: single people over 30.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 7, 2004
We love a woman in uniform
View From the Top Rating: * * 1/2 (out of 5) Director: Bruno Barreto Running time: 87 minutes Language: English Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] "View From the Top" should really be called "Airport! (Just Kidding)" or "Yikes at JFK" but after 9/11, jokes about flying...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 31, 2004
Science advances with age
Something's Gotta Give Rating: * * * 1/2 (out of 5) Director: Nancy Meyers Running time: 128 minutes Language: English Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] I used to think that science-fiction meant aliens and giant meteors, but with each passing year I become convinced...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 25, 2004
The bento -- a scrumptious expression of love
As the season of hanami (cherry-blossom viewing) comes upon us, it's timely to reflect on the single most important aspect of hanami -- the o-bento (boxed meal). I say this because I grew up in a family in which the creation of the hanami bento was so elaborately planned, heatedly discussed and lovingly...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 24, 2004
Room without a view
No Quarto de Vanda Rating: * * * * (out of 5) Director: Pedro Costa Running time: 178 minutes Language: Portuguese Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] Behold Vanda's face. Presumably, she's still in her early 20s but her skin already has the swarthy lifelessness of a junkie's,...
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 23, 2004
Taste: the final frontier
Now that Japanese food is like, totally in all over the globe, chances are that you (a Westerner) will not be grossed out by the smell of roasting sanma or the sight of dried eel kidney floating in clear soup.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 17, 2004
He's gone and forgot it all again
Paycheck Rating: * * * (out of 5) Director: John Woo Running time: 118 minutes Language: English Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] In the world of sci-fi literary giant Philip K. Dick, memory is a commodity and a liability. Memory is what his characters try to protect...
Ishiba delays meeting with Trump, citing legal restrictions
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba waves upon arrival for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, in Callao, Peru, on Friday.
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.
Rising sex tourism exposes loopholes in Japan's anti-prostitution law
While financial misfortunes during the COVID-19 pandemic may have driven some women to work the streets, others simply want more money to spend — or want to pay off their debts — at host clubs.
Japan ranks last in romance satisfaction for second straight year
In a survey of 31 countries, Japan ranked last in terms of those who felt loved, with just 51% of respondents saying so.
Ruling coalition and DPP strike last-minute deal over economic policy
DPP policy chief Makoto Mahaguchi speaks at the party's policy gathering in Tokyo on Wednesday.
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.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.
Japanese expats in Asia find community through rugby
The Taiwan Fivewoods celebrate their victory at the 2023 Asian Japanese Rugby Cup in December of last year.
In Fukushima, a weekend of prose, poetry and translation
Aomori-based writer JJ Carter presented on tabletop gaming as creative inspiration for building characters and narratives.
For Dr. Nakamats, aging is just experience in action
Though he didn't win the recent gubernatorial election in Tokyo, the 96-year-old Dr. Nakamats' run was seen as inspirational in Japan's aging society.

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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