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July 17, 2024
 

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Mark Schilling
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 13, 2014
Kids Return: Saikai no Toki (Kids Return: The Reunion)
Director: Hiroshi Shimizu
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 6, 2014
Live-action Ghibli remake delivers a new Kiki
When is a remake not a remake? Arguably, Takashi Shimizu's "Majo no Takkyubin (Kiki's Delivery Service)" is less a reworking of the Hayao Miyazaki animation classic (which this reviewer praised on this page in 1989) than his own interpretation of the 1985 Eiko Kadono fantasy novel on which the Miyazaki...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 6, 2014
'Ieji (Homeland)'
Many documentaries have been made about the nuclear-plant disaster in Fukushima and its aftermath, but relatively few feature films. One reason could be seen in the rough handling local critics gave "Kibo no Kuni (The Land of Hope)," Sion Sono's 2012 film set in a near-future Japan that has again experienced...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 27, 2014
'Ai no Uzu (Love's Whirlpool)'
Sex and love — can the twain ever meet? In the world of fūzoku, a euphemism for Japan's enormous sex industry, that question is usually answered in the negative.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 27, 2014
'Futaba Kara Toku Hanarete (Nuclear Nation)'
Director: Atsushi Funahashi
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 20, 2014
Debate still rages over Abe-endorsed WWII drama
Takashi Yamazaki's World War II drama "Eien no Zero (The Eternal Zero)," whose pilot hero joins the tokkōtai (kamikaze) suicide squadron in the closing days of the war, has soared to the box office heights since its Dec. 21 release. After ranking No. 1 in the charts for eight weeks in a row, the film...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 20, 2014
'Tokyo Nanmin (Refugee in Tokyo)'
It can be easy to fall through the cracks of many societies, even one like Japan's that seems to have a wide safety net, beginning with Mom and Dad.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 20, 2014
'Manatsu no Houteishiki (Midsummer's Equation)'
Director: Keigo Higashino
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 13, 2014
'Iya Monogatari: Oku no Hito (The Tale of Iya)'
Cycling in the mountains near Tokyo, I often have two thoughts: First, I feel sorry for big-city denizens missing all the natural beauty so near. Second, I wonder how the locals can wrest a living from their tiny fields and orchards, perched precariously on the slopes.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 13, 2014
'Color 4 Ozu: Eien Naru Ozu Color (Color 4 Ozu: Forever Ozu Color)'
Director: Yasujiro Ozu
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 6, 2014
'Mogura no Uta: Sennyu Sosakan Reiji (The Mole Song: Undercover Agent Reiji)'
Directors in a profitable rut often feel the urge to try something new, even though the box office tells them to keep making the same old. Sometimes a change of genre can work wonders. After grinding out 48 episodes of the "Tora-san" dramedy series, Yoji Yamada ventured into the feudal past for the first...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 6, 2014
'R100'
Director: Hitoshi Matsumoto
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 30, 2014
'Dakishimetai: Shinjitsu no Monogatari (I Just Wanna Hug You)'
Of Japanese medical melodramas there is no end. Targeted largely at the female audience, they appear on the lineups of Toho and other major distributors with the regularity of cherry blossoms in April.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 30, 2014
'Kuroyuri Danchi' (The Complex)
Director: Hideo Nakata
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 23, 2014
Actress Nikaido sets her own agenda
Many young Japanese film actors start as models or pop stars and then, as they accumulate magazine covers or CD sales, move into TV and films. Many also play versions of themselves again and again on screen, which may suit their fans just fine, but makes for repetitive viewing.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 23, 2014
'Chiisai Ouchi (The Little House)'
Several veterans of Japan's old studio system are still working, but Yoji Yamada is the only one still directing for the studio he started out with, back in 1954. He has directed 81 films for Shochiku; his extraordinary box-office success with the "Tora-san" series, 48 films from 1969 to 1995 about the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 23, 2014
Joze to Tora to Sakana-tachi (Josee, the Tiger and the Fish)
Director: Isshin Inudo
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 16, 2014
'Bilocation'
"There will never be another you" goes the jazz standard, but is it true? Have you ever thought that your spitting image might be wandering the world somewhere? What if you encountered you on the street? I would make fast tracks in the opposite direction.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 16, 2014
'Fune wo Amu (The Great Passage)'
Director: Yuya Ishii
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jan 11, 2014
An inside look at the anime industry
Many books about anime and its makers have been published abroad in English and other languages, but few are by Japanese critics and scholars. In Japan, it's the reverse, with non-Japanese anime writers excluded from publishers' lists.
Who needs AI when you have Hatsune Miku?
Over the first six months of 2024, a handful of songs using Vocaloid singer Hatsune Miku’s voice have enjoyed widespread attention, underlining a global interest in the character and the technology she represents.
Yen’s woes seem too big for even a BOJ hike this month to solve
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo
China’s economic growth comes in worse than expected
Pedestrians in the Wangfujing shopping area in Beijing on July 11, 2024. China's economic growth in the second quarter was lower than forecast, adding pressure on Chinese leaders to lift confidence at the Chinese Communist Party's third plenum this week.
Kansai airports to increase takeoff and landing slots ahead of Osaka Expo
Kansai International Airport in Izumisano, Osaka Prefecture. The upper limit on the number of takeoff and landing slots at the airport as well as Kobe Airport in Hyogo Prefecture will be raised in spring next year ahead of the 2025 World Exposition in Osaka.
Shooter came within inches of killing Trump, but left few clues as to why
An aerial view shows the stage where Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump had been standing during an assassination attempt the day before, and the roof of a nearby building where a gunman was shot dead by law enforcement, in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Sunday.
The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'
Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.
How to beat Japan’s summer heat in ways better for the planet
Tenugui towels hang up to dry at a dyeing company in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, on May 8. The durable and versatile tenugui, which many people have in their homes, can be used in many ways to cool one’s body.
After Trump shooting, U.S. presidential race might take a violent turn
United States Secret Service Counter Snipers stand guard on a rooftop during a campaign rally for U.S. President Donald Trump in Avoca, Pennsylvania, in 2020.
No AC this summer? No problem (for me).
Think air conditioning is a requirement for a Tokyo summer? Think again.
She’s paying ¥1 million to help behind the scenes at the Paris Olympics
Mai Tarumi, who previously volunteered at the postponed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, has a travel budget of ¥1 million for her trip to volunteer at the Paris Games.

Podcast

You can often see generations of families enjoying performances together at Fuji Rock Festival.
Japan’s summer music festivals are feeling the heat in more ways than one

Longform

Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.
The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'
By Tomoko Otake

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Exploring Japanese culturevia Tohoku’s festivals
Exploring Japanese culturevia Tohoku’s festivals

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