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July 17, 2024
 

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Mark Schilling
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 14, 2011
'Ichimei (Hara-kiri: Death of a Samurai)'
The samurai movie has a great and glorious tradition, but Japanese directors have long been of two minds about the samurai themselves. For every "Chushingura" remake that celebrates the samurai ethos of loyalty and self-sacrifice, there is a genre masterpiece that questions it.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 7, 2011
'Tsure ga Utsu ni Narimashite (My S.O. Has Depression)'
Here's a confession: I'm not a big reader of manga, including the many that have been made into Japanese films. Given the limited amount of reading time I have left on Earth, I'd rather spend it with Proust than "Gantz." So sue me.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 30, 2011
'Hayabusa'
When Hayabusa, a Japanese satellite sent to collect soil samples from a distant asteroid, returned safely to Earth in June 2010, many Japanese felt an excitement and pride more akin to a World Cup win than an event that, abroad, was a one-day news story to all but space geeks.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 23, 2011
'Kazoku X (Household X)'
The recent spate of Japanese family dramas by Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Hirokazu Koreeda, Shinya Tsukamoto, Yuya Ishii and other indie directors has produced much outstanding work, but the on-screen alienation can be depressing, to be honest. The housewives (almost never career women) in these films live especially...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 23, 2011
Actress Kaho Minami on speaking without words
Kaho Minami has had a busy and varied career as an actress since her 1985 debut in Kohei Oguri's "Kayako no Tameni" ("For Kayoko"). In addition to appearing in everything from commercial hits (Takashi Miike's "Yokai Daisenso [The Great Yokai War]," 2005) to films with leading indie directors (Jun Ichikawa,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 16, 2011
A decent fright flick, but shame about the 3-D
Once considered a fad consigned to the dustbin of Hollywood history, 3-D now looks about as likely to fade away as color and sound. It's waning with the box-office failure of crappy conversions from 2-D, yes, but the six 3-D films that have grossed $1 billion or more worldwide suggest that the mass...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 2, 2011
'Hanezu no Tsuki (Hanezu)'
Naomi Kawase is the most lyrical of Japanese directors now working. As both a documentarian and a feature filmmaker, she discovers in the common materials of everyday existence — sun, wind, water, trees, insects, people — a beauty and transcendence that is always present, seldom noticed....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 26, 2011
Young souls a sacrifice too far for fictional wartime officers
The conventional Japanese World War II movie is something of a paradox. Usually set in the war's closing days and after (I've heard Emperor Showa's surrender statement so many times now I could recite it in my sleep), with a pacifist message implicit or explicit, it nonetheless celebrates traditional...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 19, 2011
'Usagi Doroppu (Bunny Drop)'
Movies about single guys who become suddenly burdened with the responsibilities of parenthood, whether from Hollywood ("Three Men and a Baby") or Japan (the underrated "Yukai Rapusodi [Accidental Kidnapper]"), follow a pattern set in stone: After rising to various patience- and character-testing occasions,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 12, 2011
'Ichimai no Hagaki (Post Card)'
Kaneto Shindo is, at 99, the oldest film director in Japan and, after Portugal's centenarian Manoel de Oliveira, the world. As a scriptwriter active since the 1930s, he has worked on many commercial films, but as a director, starting in 1951 with "Aisai Monogatari (Story of a Beloved Wife)," he has taken...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 5, 2011
'Reikai no Tobira Sutorito Byu (Gate to Another World: Street View)' / '2channeru no Noroi Gekijoban (Curse of 2channel, The Movie)'
Every August, Japanese horror films appear in theaters here, cashing in on the traditional belief that chills from scary stories help beat the summer heat. And every August, critics lament that they don't match up to the products of J-horror's glory years — the late 1990s to early 2000s.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 29, 2011
'Tokyo Ningen Kigeki (Human Comedy in Tokyo)'
Koji Fukada's 2010 black comedy, "Kantai (Hospitalité)," about a smiling stranger who wanders into the lives of a middle-class family and wreaks havoc, has a lot of invention and charm, despite the slightly silly conga-line climax. Deserved winner of the Best Picture Award in the Japanese Eyes section...
CULTURE / Film
Jul 22, 2011
From Up on Poppy Hill (Japan. title: Kokuriko-zaka Kara)
Director: Goro Miyazaki
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 15, 2011
'Peace'
Most serious documentaries made in Japan, especially for television, follow a basic just-the-facts format. A presenter or narrator and various talking heads explain and interpret what we are seeing, from beauty shots of tourist spots to footage grabbed on the run in a war zone. Meanwhile, in the background,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 8, 2011
'Fuyu no Kemono (Love Addiction)'
The once-thriving Japanese indie scene is in trouble , nearly everyone who has anything to do with it agrees: Its core young audience has been seduced by the dubious delights of the multiplex, while the "mini theaters" (art houses) and small distributors that could once count on the occasional indie...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 1, 2011
'Ogawa no Hotori (On the Bank of the Stream)'
When I saw Yoji Yamada's "Tasogare Seibei (The Twilight Samurai)," a lyrical, low-key 2002 drama about a low-ranking, family-loving samurai forced to kill for his clan, it struck me as a throwback to the genre's 1950s Golden Age. But this, I later discovered, was the first feature based on the fiction...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 24, 2011
'Tokyo Koen (Tokyo Park)'
Shinji Aoyama might be described as a Japanese arthouse version of Quentin Tarantino: A smart, dedicated cinephile who works his influences into his films while experimenting with various genres, from the gangster film ("Chinpira," 1996) to mystery ("Lakeside Murder Case," 2004). But whereas Tarantino's...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 24, 2011
Director Ishii brings style to family drama
Japanese directors with any kind of ambition usually end up making a family drama, which is to Japanese cinema what the Western used to be to Hollywood: the core national genre.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 17, 2011
'Saya Zamurai (Scabbard Samurai)'
of manzai comedy duo Downtown, Hitoshi Matsumoto has sat atop the slippery pole of popularity on Japanese television for nearly two decades. He has also directed two films, 2007's "Dai-Nipponjin (Big Man Japan)" and 2009's "Shinboru (Symbol)," that have screened widely abroad, while occasioning some...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 27, 2011
'My Back Page'
The Japanese student-protest movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s had much in common with its American counterpart, from its massive street demonstrations to its taste in music (The Beatles and Bob Dylan) and movies (anything with Dustin Hoffman or Jack Nicholson).
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

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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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