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November 22, 2024
 

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Mark Schilling
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 20, 2019
'Makuko': Love, life and that same old E.T. story
The "visitor from another planet" story is doable, even for an indie filmmaker with no budget. All you need are aliens who have assumed human forms, but don't quite get the whole humanity thing. Two recent examples are Kiyoshi Kurosawa's 2017 films "Foreboding" and "Before We Vanish," in which aliens...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 19, 2019
Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival offers a world of fascination
Held annually from 1990, save for 2007 when its host town was facing financial difficulties, the Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival has become a little corner of Hokkaido where for four days in March the cinematically weird and wonderful can flourish.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 13, 2019
'Ramen Shop': Finding your family through food
Food is sustenance, food is pleasure and, as Eric Khoo's nostalgia-drenched "Ramen Shop" reminds us, food is memory.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Mar 7, 2019
Seeking out Japanese movies at a film festival in Bangalore
Going to Bangalore, a city of more than 10 million people in India's south, to spend five days watching movies is not the sort of thing I usually do. Which is exactly why I agreed to serve on a jury for the Network for Promotion of Asia Pacific Cinema (NETPAC) at the 11th Bengaluru International Film...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 6, 2019
'Running Again': Solving problems with a good run
Running scenes have been a staple since the start of the movies, but in the silent days the fleet-footed hero was usually trying to outrun the police. Now, competitive running in its various forms, from the ekiden relay to the marathon, has become a subset of the feel-good sports film in Japan, with...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Heisei Icons,Heisei Icons
Mar 1, 2019
Takeshi Kitano: From manzai comic to giant of Japanese film
Many Japanese filmmakers try to promote their films and talents abroad but stumble more than they succeed: Either Cannes rejects their latest masterpiece or Hollywood turns down their J-horror script.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 27, 2019
'The Island of Cats': Stress-free living with furry friends
Japanese movies about cats and their human companions are by now an established local genre — or rather a feel-good-movie sub-genre since nearly all try to leave the audience with warm smiles and lowered blood pressures. This has proven to be a reliable box office strategy: The owners of Japan's nearly...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 20, 2019
Localization 101: How to release a Steven Soderbergh film in Japan
Hollywood sends its products all over the world but global audiences can have widely different experiences of the same Hollywood movie. In Italy, dubbing foreign films is standard; in Japan, subtitling is, though dubbing has become more common, especially for films targeted at younger audiences.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 20, 2019
'Fly Me to the Saitama': Tokyo takes on its revolting neighbors
Places considered cool and uncool sometimes exist in uneasy proximity, like New York City and New Jersey — or Tokyo and Saitama. The prefecture adjacent to the Japanese capital has the image of being a land of boring commuter towns with no cultural attractions beyond shopping malls and family restaurants....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Feb 14, 2019
Could 'Shoplifters' or 'Mirai' pick up an Oscar? The chances are slim but real
The 2019 Oscar race is entering its final stretch, with prognosticators already unveiling their lists of winners. This year two Japanese films are up for Academy Awards — Hirokazu Kore-eda's "Shoplifters" (best foreign language film) and Mamoru Hosoda's "Mirai" (best animated feature film).
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 13, 2019
'Born Bone Born': A family reunited by a skeletal bath
Having attended a few funerals here and seen dozens more on the screen, I thought I knew a bit about the ceremonies and rituals surrounding death in Japan. But "Born Bone Born" by comedian and director Toshiyuki Teruya (aka Gori) proved me wrong — at least about his native Okinawa.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 6, 2019
'Whistleblower': Corporate drama dialed up to 11
Japan is justly praised for its law-abiding citizenry. Drop your wallet on the street here and a kind local is likely to come running after you to return it. On the corporate level, though, scandal follows scandal. One of the most common sights on Japanese news shows is company bigwigs bowing in apology...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 30, 2019
'12 Suicidal Teens': Teen suicide film deeper than most
Youth suicides hit a 30-year high in Japan in fiscal 2017, with 250 kids of high school age and under taking their own lives. Ijime (bullying) was a factor in many of these deaths, but there were others, as well as many unanswered questions.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 29, 2019
Perennials aside, 2019 promises movie classics in Japan
As a program advisor for the Udine Far East Film Festival in Udine, Italy, I have spent the last few months scouting Japanese films for the next edition, which will be held April 26 to May 4. This doesn't mean I've seen all the upcoming releases — sales companies are often not ready to screen their...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 23, 2019
'Divine Justice': The surprises behind closed doors
Love hotels feature in many Japanese films, including those, like Ryuichi Hiroki's "Kabukicho Love Hotel" and Izuru Kumasaka's "Asyl: Park and Love Hotel," that make such establishments a central focus. Typically guests drop their social masks within their walls, while employees get an up-close view...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 16, 2019
'Chiwawa': An enigma wrapped in a riddle
Edie Sedgwick was an Andy Warhol "superstar" and Bob Dylan muse who died at age 28 after bouts with mental illness and drug addiction — and has had a long afterlife as a legendary 1960s "it" girl.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 9, 2019
'Kono Michi': A biopic heavy on sentimentality
Biopics are a Hollywood staple, though poets don't usually get a lot of play, with the Beats (Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and company) among the prominent exceptions. The same is true in Japan: Notorious criminals are more likely to be the subjects of biopics here than famous wordsmiths.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 2, 2019
'Astral Abnormal Suzuki-san': YouTube comedy series makes it to the big screen
What is the future of films in Japan? Bigger spectacles backed by media conglomerates? Maybe at the top end of the industry. At the lower end, though, indie filmmakers have to find other ways to draw audiences and finance films. Crowdfunding helps some get made, while ceaseless and creative PR on social...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 28, 2018
'It Comes': The bogeyman cometh in Tetsuya Nakashima's horror debut
Tetsuya Nakashima has been filming the darker sides of human nature for more than two decades, the most commercially and critically successful example being his 2010 murder mystery, "Confessions."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 19, 2018
As two rule breakers gave the Japanese film world hope in 2018, elsewhere eyes turned to China
The Japanese movie business is something like a restaurant where new cooks and waiters arrive as old ones retire or die, but the menu remains much the same, decade after decade.
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.
Russia fired experimental ballistic missile at Ukraine, Putin says
Ukrainian firefighters work on a spot following an airstrike in Dnipro on Thursday.
Ishiba aggravates his own political failures with diplomatic faux pas
Prime Minster Shigeru Ishiba is greeted at the APEC summit in Lima by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday. The Japanese leader was criticized for remaining seated while meeting several world leaders at the event.
Japan's 3.31 million visitors in October set monthly record
Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in December 2023. Famous autumn leaf colors contributed to increased tourism demand last month from many markets across Asia, Europe and North America, the Japan National Tourism Organization has said.
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.
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.
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.

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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