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November 23, 2024
 

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Mark Schilling
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 25, 2015
Waking up and smelling the roasted coffee
Thomas Wolfe's posthumous novel "You Can't Go Home Again" was published in 1940, and critics and readers have been debating the truth of its title ever since. Wolfe himself had no doubt: His autobiographical writings, with their biting, thinly disguised portraits, made him persona non grata in his hometown...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 25, 2015
Kaguyahime no Monogatari (The Tale of the Princess Kaguya)
Director: Isao Takahata Language: Japanese (subtitled in English)
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 18, 2015
The mysterious attraction of an aging, domineering chauvinist
Love never was and never will be logical. Your 20-year-old daughter rolls her eyes at May-December romances in the movies — until she gets engaged to a 50-year-old guy. And you will declaim loud and long against her choice, until you start dating a 20-year-old yourself. I am speaking in a general way,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 18, 2015
Kinoshita and World War II
Director: Keisuke Kinoshita Language: Japanese (subtitles in English)
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 11, 2015
Is Japanese cinema sinking into a self-censorship swamp?
One great thing about living in Japan is the consideration, or omoiyari, people here commonly show for others. My newspaper delivery guy climbs the 25 steps to my front door and deposits a copy of The Japan Times in my mailbox every morning, rain or shine. His colleagues in the U.S. — my home country...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 11, 2015
Misono Universe: Screaming from the gutter to the stars
Amnesia is one of those medical conditions that might have been invented for the movies. For scriptwriters, it's a godsend — one bump on the hero's head and the story is rolling.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 11, 2015
Bokutachi no Kazoku (Our Family)
Director: Yuya Ishii Language: Japanese (subtitled in English)
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 4, 2015
Present For You: Baffling but pioneering stop-motion film
Stop-motion animation, in which objects are photographed frame by frame to achieve the illusion of motion, is nearly as old as the movies.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 4, 2015
Bannou Kanteishi Q: Mona Lisa no Hitomi (All-Round Appraiser Q: The Eyes of Mona Lisa)
Director: Shinsuke Sato Language: French, Japanese (subtitled in English)
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 28, 2015
Back to the love hotel for ex-pink film director
Interviews with people you know well can turn awkward if you try to be the probing questioner instead of the coffee-shop companion. No such worries with 61-year-old Ryuichi Hiroki, the former pink film (i.e., soft pornography) director who made his commercial and critical breakthrough with the erotically...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 28, 2015
Killers
Directors: Timo Tjahjanto, Kimo Stamboel Language: Japanese, Indonesian, English (subtitles in English)
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 21, 2015
Sayonara Kabukicho: Life and love in Shinjuku's red-light district
Ryuichi Hiroki has become a victim of his own success, though his studio employers probably don't see it that way. This one-time maker of so-called pink films (i.e., soft pornography), who became internationally celebrated for intimate indie dramas like "Vibrator" from 2003 and "Yawarakai Seikatsu (It's...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 21, 2015
Eclipse Series 42: Silent Ozu — Three Crime Dramas
Director: Yasujiro Ozu Language: Japanese (subtitles in English)
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 14, 2015
A longer look at the problems of 'Unbroken'
Why can't "Unbroken" — Angelina Jolie's hit World War II drama — catch a break in Japan? There are presently no plans to release the film here in theaters, on DVD or online, even though it has a strong Japan focus as well as a major role for popular local rock musician Miyavi (whose real name is...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 14, 2015
Thermae Romae 2
Director: Hideki Takeuchi Language: Japanese (subtitled in English)
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 7, 2015
100 Yen Love: Punching your way out of an old paper bag
Boxing films share a similar arc, typically climaxing in a big bout that decides everything — at least everything relevant to the hero's fate. This does not always means triumph, as fans of the "Rocky" series know, but even in defeat the hero usually inspires respect and sympathy, at the very least...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 7, 2015
Yamamoto Isoroku (Isoroku)
Director: Izuru Narushima Language: Japanese (subtitled in English)
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 1, 2015
What if 'The Interview' had been made in Japan?
It couldn't happen here — that was my first takeaway from the massive cyberattack on Sony Pictures Entertainment prompted by the Seth Rogen and James Franco comedy "The Interview." In the film, the two heroes journey to North Korea ostensibly to interview its real-life leader, Kim Jong Un, but in fact,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 1, 2015
The Vancouver Asahi: Angels are not in the outfield for immigrants
Of making baseball films there is no end. The sport provides an endless supply of ready-made narratives: from a fight to win the pennant ("Damn Yankees") or to simply win ("Major League"), to a player's struggle with illness ("Pride of the Yankees"), or an oversized ego ("Mr. Baseball").
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 1, 2015
Nyotaiju Gun Woman (Gun Woman)
Director: Mitsutake Kurando
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.
U.S. aircraft carrier returns to Japan carrying navy’s ‘most capable fighter’
U.S. 7th Fleet Commander Vice Adm. Fred Kacher speaks to reporters shortly after the arrival of aircraft carrier USS George Washington at Yokosuka naval base in Kanagawa Prefecture on Friday.
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.
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.
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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