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April 06, 2025
 

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Mark Schilling
CULTURE / Film
Dec 7, 2013
Re-examining Yasujiro Ozu on film
Yasujiro Ozu once had a reputation for making films only other Japanese could understand.
CULTURE / Film
Dec 7, 2013
Tracing the unhurried history of iconic director Yasujiro Ozu
Dec. 12, 1903: Yasujiro Ozu is born in Tokyo's Fukagawa district, the second of five siblings. His father is a prosperous fertilizer wholesaler from Matsusaka, Mie Prefecture. Ozu lives in Matsusaka with his brothers and sisters from 1913 to 1924.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 5, 2013
'Hajimari mo Owari mo Nai (No Beginning, No End)'
When I first saw a trailer for Shunya Ito's "Hajimari mo Owari mo Nai (No Beginning, No End)," an all-but dialogue-free film starring dancer/actor Min Tanaka, I thought it might be a 95-minute performance piece — and thus better reviewed by a dance critic than by me.
CULTURE / Film
Dec 5, 2013
'Shijushichinin no Shikaku (47 Ronin)'
Director: Kon Ichikawa
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 28, 2013
Yamashita and Maeda reunite for slacker dramedy
Nobuhiro Yamashita has used a variety of sources for his films since his 1999 feature debut "Donten Seikatasu (Hazy Life)," including his own experiences as a struggling indie director. But the inspiration for his latest, "Moratorium Tamako (Tamako in Moratorium)," is out of the ordinary by any standard:...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 28, 2013
'Moratorium Tamako (Tamako in Moratorium)'
Japanese college students may be the nation's leisure class, known more for their partying and playing than studying, but their seemingly carefree minds are often clouded by worries about a post-graduation job. Even serious students — yes, they do exist — have to sweat through arduous and frustrating...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 28, 2013
'Wara no Tate (Shield of Straw)'
Director: Takashi Miike
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 21, 2013
'Kaguya-hime no Monogatari (The Tale of Princess Kaguya)'
Isao Takahata has long been overshadowed by longtime colleague and Studio Ghibli cofounder Hayao Miyazaki. The younger man (Takahata is 78, Miyazaki 72) has had more and bigger hits, including his latest, the World War II-themed "Kaze Tachinu (The Wind Rises)," while Takahata's last feature animation,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 21, 2013
'Gokudo Kyofu Dai-gekijo: Gozu (Gozu)'
Director: Takashi Miike
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 14, 2013
'Yurusenai, Aitai (Again)'
Press screenings here are usually cut-and-dry affairs, with the sole sales pitch being a PR staffer reciting the film's opening date and running time before the show begins. The one I attended for "Yurusenai, Aitai (Again)," the feature debut by award-winning shorts director Junichi Kanai, was blazingly...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 14, 2013
'Heisei Tanuki Gassen Pom Poko (Pom Poko)'
Director: Isao Takahata
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 7, 2013
'Shijukunichi no Recipe (Mourning Recipe)'
In these days of ubiquitous movie prerelease news and hype, it's harder to remain a blank sheet going into the theater — unless you totally block out everything but the title.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 7, 2013
'Himawari to Koinu no Nanokakan (7 Days of Himawari & Her Puppies)'
Director: Emiko Hiramatsu
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 31, 2013
'Kiyosu Kaigi (The Kiyosu Conference)'
Koki Mitani is one of those very Japanese conundrums: Considered a master of comedy and a box-office king at home, he remains little known abroad — despite a career that spans three decades and includes work as a playwright and scriptwriter, as well as his six films to date as director.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 31, 2013
'Late Mizoguchi'
Director: Kenji Mizoguchi
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 24, 2013
'Bashauma-san to Bigmouth (The Workhorse and the Bigmouth)'
It's hardly surprising that gaman ("perseverance") is the watchword of many a local movie. Just as their heroes gut through to glory in film after film, real-life Japanese endure everything from deadly natural disasters to boring meetings, telling each other to ganbaro ("keep trying"). How admirable,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 24, 2013
'Mimi wo Kaku Onna (The Ear Cleaner)'
Director: Hiroshi Horiuchi
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 17, 2013
TIFF's programming director explains the festival's direction
Since 2007, when he took over as programming director of the Tokyo International Film Festival's Competition section, Yoshihiko "Yoshi" Yatabe has been a point person in TIFF's drive to elevate its status in the region and the world. A former film distributor, publicist and producer, Yatabe joined the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 17, 2013
'Jinrui Shikin (Human Trust)'
Sometimes as a reviewer of Japanese films I feel I am on the wrong side of the cultural divide, with no way to bridge the gap.
CULTURE / Film
Oct 17, 2013
'Gokudo Kuroshakai/Nihon Kuroshakai'
Director: Takashi Miike
3D printer used to construct train station building in Japan
A train station building (front) is assembled from parts printed using 3D printer technology, in Arida, Wakayama Prefecture, on Wednesday.
Nissan says it will not take new U.S. orders for Mexican-built Infiniti SUVs
A Nissan manufacturing complex in Aguascalientes, Mexico. Nissan says it will not take new orders from the United States for two Mexican-built Infiniti SUVs following new auto tariffs levied by the U.S.
Japan digs deep to address 'national crisis' caused by Trump tariffs
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during a news conference at the Prime Minister's Office on April 1. He has said that Japan is facing a "national crisis" following the introduction of new tariffs by the United States.
Tokyo’s KK Line to close for decadelong overhaul as public greenway
People enjoy running and yoga on Tokyo Expressway’s KK Line, a 2-kilometer elevated expressway cutting through the capital’s commercial Ginza district, when it was opened as a pedestrian space in May last year.
Japan promises 'bold and speedy' response to Trump’s surprise 24% tariffs
U.S. President Donald Trump unveils new U.S. tariffs at the White House in Washington on Wednesday.
‘Let’s make it practical’: NATO chief eyes greater defense-industrial ties with Japan
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte plans to visit Japan on Tuesday and Wednesday — his first to the Indo-Pacific region since taking office in October, as he seeks to implement lessons from the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Tottori takes a bold leap forward in the arts
The city of Kurayoshi in Tottori Prefecture celebrated the opening of its public art museum with festivities such as a parade that drew 1,000 revelers.
Haruki Murakami TV adaptation revisits 30 years of watershed moments
Though Haruki Murakami's trademark whiff of offbeat existentialism is threaded throughout NHK's "After the Quake," the final episode — conceived as a sequel to the story "Super-Frog Saves Tokyo" — is the most stylized, featuring an anthropomorphic talking frog (voiced by Non) and his erstwhile associate Katagiri (Koichi Sato).
Nintendo to launch the Switch 2 on June 5
The controllers for the Switch 2 will attach to the console magnetically rather than sliding on rails as with the original device.
A new human trafficking trend emerges from Myanmar scam centers
Victims of scam centers who were tricked or trafficked into working in Myanmar gather at a compound inside KK Park, a fraud center on the country's border with Thailand, after a multinational crackdown in February.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan
By Johan Brooks

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