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November 22, 2024
 

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Mark Schilling
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 6, 2018
'Enokida Trading Post': A slacker film goes for lazy laughs
Japan has long had an image as a country of workaholics, dedicating their lives to the almighty yen. But recent Japanese movies, especially at the lower end of the budget spectrum, are full of furiitā ("freeter," a fairly young part-timer or freelancer) trying to decide what to do with their lives....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 30, 2018
'Over Drive': An unrealistic racing flick puts the action into top gear
Car movies from Japan are few and far between, which is strange given the huge automotive industry and millions of car lovers here. Now industry leader Toyota has joined forces with Toho, Japan's biggest film distributor and exhibitor, to fill that gap with "Over Drive," a full-throttled cinematic ode...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
May 23, 2018
Young filmmakers looking to follow in Hirokazu Kore-eda's footsteps have their work cut out for them
Hirokazu Kore-eda joins a list of Japanese master filmmakers after winning the top prize at Cannes. The road he took to get to this point, however, is not an easy one to copy.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 23, 2018
'The Man from the Sea': A Japanese savior washes up in Aceh
Koji Fukada leads a younger generation of Japanese directors who are more internationally minded than their predecessors. He even used French export titles for his first two features — "Hospitalite" (2010) and "Au Revoir l'Ete" (2013) — reflecting the influence of French cinema, particularly the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
May 17, 2018
Udine film festival can teach Japanese directors a few things about international appeal
I've been an adviser to the Udine Far East Film Festival since 2000. The event, held in Udine, Italy, is the largest festival in Europe dedicated to popular cinema from Asia.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 16, 2018
'Mori, the Artist's Habitat': A delightful dip into a creator's world
Fact-checking biopics is an easy game for critics to play since nearly all films about real people fudge facts or even outright lie to tell a story. I've played the game myself, but in the case of Shuichi Okita's delightful "Mori, the Artist's Habitat," it's almost beside the point.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 9, 2018
'The Blood of Wolves': Old-school yakuza thrills are back
The yakuza movie used to bestride the Japanese film industry like a colossus, but now clings to its margins. A well-known director occasionally essays the genre, as Takeshi Kitano did last year with "Outrage Coda," but a true revival has yet to come.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 2, 2018
Is the feudal era over for Japan's talent agencies?
Japanese show business definitely has a feudal side. Talent agencies control their tarento (talent) much in the way the daimyō (feudal lords) controlled the samurai in their clans, supporting their livelihoods in return for absolute fealty. And just as samurai were expected to stay with one clan their...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 2, 2018
'Oh Lucy!': A made-in-Japan take on the American road trip movie
I've seen my share of Japanese movies set partly or wholly in the United States. With a few exceptions, the filmmakers only skim the exotic surface, while the Japanese characters never become more than fish out of water gasping for a breath of the familiar, be it instant noodles or spoken Japanese.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 25, 2018
'Love × Doc': A rom-com on doctor's orders
When successful Japanese scriptwriters direct films, they tend to try too hard, cramming in characters, gags, plot twists and a blizzard of cuts. Sometimes, the busyness works, as in Koki Mitani's "Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald," a 1997 screwball comedy about a chaotic radio broadcast that delivers on its...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 18, 2018
'Inuyashiki': It's a bird, it's a plane ... it's salaryman!
Fantasizing about instantly acquiring superpowers is something you do as a kid — or when you're late for an appointment and imagine flying to it like Superman. But what if your power-up comes when you're creaky in the joints and counting the days to retirement?
CULTURE / Film
Apr 11, 2018
'The Bastard and the Beautiful World': Former SMAP stars let loose in a quartet of twisted tales
The members of SMAP, the five-man mega-group that disbanded in December 2016, had their share of hit films, though their central field of operation was always television. Now three of them — Goro Inagaki, Shingo Katori and Tsuyoshi Kusanagi — star in a four-part omnibus film with a limited release,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Apr 6, 2018
Isao Takahata's gentle spirit enriched the world of Japanese animation
Isao Takahata, who died on Thursday at age 82, was long overshadowed by Studio Ghibli colleague Hayao Miyazaki, even though he was Miyazaki's senior when they both worked together at Toei Animation in the 1960s, as well as a co-founder, together with Miyazaki and producer Toshio Suzuki, of Ghibli in...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 4, 2018
'Yamato (California)': Hanae Kan does well as an aspiring rapper that's straight outta Japan
The American military bases in Okinawa are often in the news, usually because of an accident, protest or crime. The bases elsewhere in Japan, not so much. These reminders of a postwar occupation now seven decades in the past have mostly faded from the public imagination.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 28, 2018
'Eriko, Pretended': Fake tears fuel a tale of self-discovery
People who secretly fear they are phonies when in actuality they aren't are said to suffer from "imposter syndrome." The title heroine of Akiyo Fujimura's debut feature "Eriko, Pretended" has the opposite problem: She calls herself an actress but in 10 years has only landed one paying gig in her chosen...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 21, 2018
'Smokin' on the Moon': A stoner buddy flick takes a serious turn
Marijuana was a subject for comedy back when I was taking my first clumsy steps into stoner culture: The comedy routines of Cheech and Chong, the music of Commander Cody, the midnight screenings of the unintentionally hilarious 1936 film "Reefer Madness."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 14, 2018
'Sakura Guardian in the North': A melodrama 'Sayurists' can be proud of
Sayuri Yoshinaga is the last star of Japan's postwar studio era to still be a box-office force. Playing a pure-hearted teen in films for Nikkatsu in the 1960s, she attracted a huge, mainly male, following known as "Sayurists."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 8, 2018
'Legend of the Demon Cat' presents the multicolored beauty of Chen Kaige's China
The current decade has seen China's film market rise to heights exceeded only by Hollywood; in 2017, box-office earnings grew nearly 13.45 percent year-on-year to a splendiferous 55.9 billion yuan ($8.6 billion). This bonanza has spurred massive investment and fueled out-sized ambitions.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 7, 2018
'Tremorings of Hope': The aftershocks linger in a town devastated by 2011 disaster
After the Great East Japan Earthquake and resulting nuclear disaster of March 11, 2011, dozens of documentary filmmakers headed north to the devastated Tohoku region, specifically the hard-hit coastal areas of Fukushima, Miyagi and Iwate prefectures. One filmmaker, however, had already been filming there...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 28, 2018
Kazuo Hara returns to form as a documentary filmmaker with 'Sennan Asbestos Disaster'
Kazuo Hara became famous — some would say notorious — for the documentaries he made about individuals who defied Japanese social norms and laws.
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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