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April 01, 2025
 

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James Hadfield
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 10, 2021
‘In Those Days’: Say hello to the fanboy life of days gone by
Rikiya Imaizumi's bittersweet comedy-drama delves into the fan culture that flourished during the heyday of idol collective Hello! Project in the early 2000s.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 3, 2021
‘The Cinderella Addiction’: Can stepmothers get their happily ever after?
Ryohei Watanabe's tragicomedy about the dark side of parenting is fitfully stylish, but gets a little too twisted for its own good.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 20, 2021
‘I Fell in Love Like a Flower Bouquet’: Millennial romance with a Gen X heart
Kasumi Arimura and Masaki Suda star in an entertaining but inauthentic portrait of 2010s romance, penned by veteran TV screenwriter Yuji Sakamoto.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 13, 2021
‘Woman of the Photographs’: An existentialist fable for the Instagram age
Takeshi Kushida's debut feature playfully riffs on Kobo Abe's novel, “The Woman in the Dunes,” in a surrealist fable about the pitfalls of image retouching.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 9, 2020
‘Silent Tokyo’: All is not calm this Christmas Eve
In Takafumi Hatano's blockbuster action thriller, a peace-loving terrorist threatens to blow up Tokyo, throwing the capital's citizens into a panic.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 3, 2020
‘Alice in Borderland’: Deadly journey through the looking glass leaves little impression
Netflix's sci-fi suspense series about a young man forced to go through a series of twisted challenges takes place in a cityscape that looks all too familiar in 2020.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 25, 2020
‘Tezuka’s Barbara’: A dazzlingly dull descent into madness
Macoto Tezka's adaptation of his father's racy 1970s manga is visually intoxicating, but liable to leave viewers with a hangover.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 18, 2020
‘Me & My Brother’s Mistress’: Sneaky siblings will surprise you
When we first see Yoko (Nanami Kasamatsu), the stone-faced heroine of “Me & My Brother’s Mistress,” she’s looking right into the camera lens. Then she raises a camera of her own and starts taking photos, capturing her older brother, Kenji (Satoshi Iwago), emerging from a love hotel with someone...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 11, 2020
‘Sakura’: A family held together by dogged devotion
Hitoshi Yazaki turns Kana Nishino's novel about a family overcoming tragedy with the help of their dog into an amiable but wildly uneven drama.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 5, 2020
‘Georama Boy, Panorama Girl’: Not your typical teen romance
Natsuki Seta's playful adaptation of a manga by Kyoko Okazaki avoids the more conventional plot points of 'seishun eiga' (youth films).
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 28, 2020
‘Dancing in Her Dreams’: Falling under the seductive spell of a bygone era
Hideyuki Tokigawa's film romanticizes the heyday of Hiroshima's strip theaters and the dancers who brought late-night fantasies to life.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 22, 2020
Veteran Koji Yakusho brings his movie star clout to the Tokyo International Film Festival
This year's TIFF ambassador discusses the festival experience, the effects of COVID-19 on the film industry, and discovering his inner Marie Kondo.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 21, 2020
‘True Mothers’: An intimate look at two sides of adoption
Naomi Kawase's drama tackles child adoption and teenage pregnancy with seriousness and compassion, while drawing a stand-out performance from Aju Makita.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 16, 2020
In ‘True Mothers,’ Naomi Kawase examines what makes a family
Naomi Kawase draws on personal experience in her new film, an intimate look at adoption that blurs the line between documentary and fiction.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 30, 2020
‘All the Things We Never Said’: Life is bleak, so find a friend to lean on
Yuya Ishii draws some raw performances from his cast in a low-budget, self-produced drama about alienation and unraveling relationships.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 17, 2020
‘The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese’: Looking for love in the wrong places
Isao Yukisada's gay romance offers refreshing scenes of domestic intimacy, but can't resolve the underlying problems of its manga source material.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 3, 2020
‘The Brightest Roof in the Universe’: Looks nice, lacks sparkle
Michihito Fujii changes pace but can't quite find the right tempo on this lightweight follow-up to gritty award winner “The Journalist.”
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 27, 2020
‘Soiree’: Melancholy drama casts a beautiful spell
Bunji Sotoyama's intimate late-summer drama about a couple who take flight from their hometown is evocative and emotional.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 20, 2020
‘Crazy Samurai Musashi’: One-cut carnage is bloody exhausting
Yuji Shimomura's “Crazy Samurai Musashi” boasts a 77-minute continuous shot in which Tak Sakaguchi slashes his way through nearly 600 adversaries.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 6, 2020
‘Dos Siki’: Dos Monos cuts the fat and ups the ante
Tokyo-based trio Dos Monos' second album is an EP-length explosion of energy and confidence.
Japan's biggest beef bowl chain Sukiya to shut nearly 2,000 stores after rat and bug contamination
Zensho Holdings, operator of fast-food chain Sukiya, said it will close all of its stores in Japan, except for a small number in shopping centers, between Monday and Friday following recent contamination incidents.
Alert raised for volcano in southwestern Japan
Shinmoedake, a volcano located between Miyazaki and Kagoshima prefectures, in November 2019
Japan considers all possible options as Trump threatens new auto tariffs
Subaru cars awaiting export at a port in Yokohama on Thursday.
Nankai Trough earthquake could kill 298,000 people, government says
Residents participate in an evacuation drill held with West Japan Railway in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture, in January 2024 to prepare for a Nankai Trough earthquake and a possible tsunami following the quake.
A Canadian made a weekend trip to Costco a Japanese pastime
Under the watchful eye of Ken Theriault, Costco representative director and Japan country manager, the American membership-model wholesaler has flourished in Japan.
A Canadian made a weekend trip to Costco a Japanese pastime
Under the watchful eye of Ken Theriault, Costco representative director and Japan country manager, the American membership-model wholesaler has flourished in Japan.
Tokyo tech failures lean into misfortune, mistakes and missteps
Tsuyoshi Domoto in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward on March 28. As an entrepreneur, Domoto experienced plenty of setbacks but maintains a positive attitude and continues to pursue his dreams.
Who among the opposition would join the ruling coalition?
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba enters his office in Tokyo on Friday.
Traveling the Three-Star Road, the tourist route made from thin air
Scenes like this snow-covered bridge leading to the village of Shirakawa-go are what make the Three-Star Road worth traveling — its name notwithstanding.
Recent spate of wildfires in Japan and South Korea linked to climate change
Smoke and flames rise from a wildfire in Andong, South Korea, on Tuesday.

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