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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
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jun 18, 2018
Why do the Japanese suck at learning English?
It's been said time and again: 日本人は英語がダメ (Nihonjin wa Eigo ga dame, The Japanese are terrible at English).
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
May 21, 2018
To know Japan, its people and its story, know its grub
Food in Japan is hardwired to emotion, personal identity and memory in a way that is often baffling to Westerners.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 16, 2018
Hyoe Yamamoto dives into Japan's culture of corporate corruption in 'Samurai and Idiots: The Olympus Affair'
Speaking as a Japanese person, it's a bit disheartening to see the words "samurai" and "idiot" in the same sentence. Filmmaker Hyoe Yamamoto's documentary "Samurai and Idiots: The Olympus Affair" not only pairs the two, it shows the lack of logic and wisdom behind the so-called samurai spirit that many...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN?
May 5, 2018
From Chiba to LA, and acting to filmmaking
Director/scriptwriter Atsuko Hirayanagi's film 'Oh Lucy!' reflects some of her own opinions on cultural divide.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 23, 2018
What would you pay to live in Minato Ward?
It was in 2001 when my friend, Chikako Sakamoto, paid ¥9.8 million for a six-tatami-mat apartment in Tokyo's central Minato Ward. The apartment was inside a 長期滞在者用 (chōki taizaisha-yō, long term resident's) wing of an old hotel in Roppongi, with a very low ceiling and no kitchen. Chikako...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Mar 31, 2018
Japan's companies are beginning to rethink paternity leave policies
When it comes to child care in Japan, women typically take on the lion’s share of the workload. Men, by comparison, are generally too exhausted after work to help out in any way.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 26, 2018
Japanese women find strength in Me Too
The Me Too movement has arrived in Japan at last, and more Japanese women are opening up about issues surrounding sexual harassment.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 6, 2018
Aisling Walsh paints a cinematic ode to an artist in 'Maudie'
Filmmaker Aisling Walsh is not a native Canadian — she's a Dubliner who has pursued most of her career in England. But Walsh fell in love with Nova Scotia after learning about Maud Lewis (1903-70), the beloved folk artist who spent her life in and around the province's southern town of Digby.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Mar 2, 2018
The surfing life is no breeze for Olympic hopefuls in Chiba Prefecture
Sixty years since its introduction to the country, Japan will host the world's first Olympic surfing competion. But where did Japan's surf scene begin?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN?
Feb 24, 2018
Filmmaker Kazuhiro Soda doesn't underestimate the power of observation
In late 1992, Kazuhiro Soda was attending a "company information session" in Tokyo, where young students about to graduate from university were introduced to various companies as prospective recruits.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Feb 12, 2018
A salaryman is left blinking in the dust left by the #MeToo charge
One Japanese salaryman laments the changes the #MeToo movement has had on relationships between men and women in his workplace.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Feb 10, 2018
Gift-giving etiquette in Japan is driving some recipients crazy
With spring looming, perhaps it’s time to re-think the national obsession with seasonal gifts and souvenirs.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language
Jan 29, 2018
In dog-loving Japan, a year for the mutts among us to make our marks
Canine-lovers have plenty to celebrate, what with this year being Inu-doshi, the Year of the Dog).
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 25, 2018
Reflecting on 20 years of female roles in 'The Ring'
In Japan, the "lord of the rings" is female, dressed in white with long black hair. The girl's name is Sadako, an evil ghost child who first appeared in Koji Suzuki's 1991 horror novel "The Ring" and went on to lead one of the biggest horror franchises of all time.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 24, 2018
Filmmaker Kwak Jae-Yong finds wild Hokkaido ripe for melodrama in 'Colors of Wind'
After making films in Japanese and Chinese, South Korean director returns to these isles for 'Kazo no Iro.'
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 10, 2018
Zen and the art of documentary film
It's the second day of the new year and unseasonably warm outside Pole-Pole Higashi-Nakano, one of Tokyo's few remaining art-house theaters. Husband-and-wife filmmakers Werner Penzel and Ayako Mogi take a seat in the morning sun, taking off their coats while marveling at the weather.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 10, 2018
'Love Disease': Online dating can be a brutal game
True crime cinema has always been an easy sell in Japan, with some titles becoming instant classics. Shohei Imamura's "Vengeance is Mine" ("Fukushu Suru wa Ware ni Ari," 1979) is acknowledged as the pioneer of that genre. Based on a real-life serial killer case from the 1960s, it combined flashy murder...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Jan 4, 2018
The tenacious trio set to rule Japanese cinema in 2018
Most of the actors I'm looking forward to seeing on screen in 2018 have only managed to make waves in the Japanese entertainment industry fairly recently, which, of course, just adds to the buzz they're likely to see this year.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Dec 30, 2017
Debate grows over the plight of foreign staff at convenience stores in Japan
Launched in 1993, Japan's Technical Internship Training Program for foreign nationals hasn't had the best reputation. The program was created to help visitors from developing nations live and work in Japan for as long as three years under the protective umbrella of Japan's labor laws.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Dec 25, 2017
The year-end flurry of mops and madness
Oh no, it's 'osoji' season!
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.

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