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August 15, 2024
 

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James Hadfield
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 31, 2016
'Gods of Egypt': What an ungodly mess
In the latest issue of Kinema Junpo, Japan's most venerable film magazine, you can read a lengthy tribute to Gaga, the dogged independent movie distributor that's marking its 30th anniversary this year. The occasion is certainly worth commemorating: This is the company that released "Seven," "Talk to...
Japan Times
CULTURE
Aug 25, 2016
Koenji's Awa Odori festival celebrates 60 years
For the past few weeks, visitors and residents in Koenji have been haunted by a song — a plaintive, pentatonic melody that seems to circle endlessly, never quite resolving. You can hear it playing over speakers on the station platform just before the train doors close. It's there again as you walk...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 21, 2016
Sukiyaki Meets the World music festival thinks global and acts local
In his classic polemic against modern Japan, "Dogs and Demons," Alex Kerr described how a system of government loans and subsidies in the 1980s spurred a nationwide outbreak of grandiose construction projects. Today, the Japanese countryside is littered with oversized, underused cultural centers, many...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 17, 2016
Superhero films need to reach beyond the geeks
Where superhero movies are concerned, you should never trust a critic. When David Ayer's "Suicide Squad" opened to a barrage of negative press in the U.S. earlier this month, some fans responded by lashing out at film journalists online. One even launched a petition against the review aggregator site...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 17, 2016
'Song of the Sea': Seals, fairies and ancient folk songs
When Isao Takahata's "The Tale of Princess Kaguya" lost out to "Big Hero 6" in the competition for Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards last year, it was a reminder of how thoroughly 3-D computer animation has eclipsed more traditional techniques. In the 15 years since the award was introduced,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 10, 2016
'The Jungle Book': Darker yet infinitely more beautiful
After decades spent wrestling with the logistics of international shoots, Hollywood seems to be coming full circle. It's like the early days of cinema again, when exotic locales were evoked within the confines of a movie studio, though today's filmmakers aren't so reliant on hand-painted scenery any...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 29, 2016
Babymetal, Beck and Boredoms bring strong sets to Fuji Rock's 20th birthday bash
"This is Fuji Rock No. 20," said Beck Hansen, lounging against the drum kit at the end of his hit-laden Saturday night set at this year's Fuji Rock Festival. "Twenty years goes in the blink of an eye, so I think we need to just take a moment here to appreciate ... take this in."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 24, 2016
Keigo Oyamada sees U.S. 'Fantasma' tour as a good warm-up to new Cornelius material
Hikaru Utada's "First Love" may have sold more copies, but it's hard to think of a Japanese album from the 1990s that has endured like "Fantasma." Keigo Oyamada was 28 years old when he released his third full-length as Cornelius in 1997: a dense collage of polychromatic meta-pop, full of improbable...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 17, 2016
With more than 220 acts at Fuji Rock, planning your schedule in advance is crucial
There will be 223 acts performing at this year's Fuji Rock Festival. Planning out your schedule in advance is recommended, traveling to and from the stages can eat up precious time. Here's the route that I'm considering.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 13, 2016
Korean films take on the thorny topic of Japan
Last year, one of the biggest films in South Korea was a swashbuckling tale of freedom fighters battling against a cruel oppressor: Japan.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Jul 13, 2016
The Qualite Fantastic! Cinema Collection festival has choice gems among the trash
Opened in 2012, Cinema Qualite has been a welcome anomaly amid the grim decline of Japan's once-vibrant "mini theater" (arthouse) scene.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 30, 2016
Retreat from the heat to the cinema this summer
The summer blockbuster is dead — or at least, it has ceased to exist as a distinct entity. Four decades after "Jaws" set the template for mass-market Hollywood spectacle, the so-called event movie has expanded its turf so dramatically that July and August, once the most fiercely contested box-office...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 29, 2016
'The Program': Stephen Frears cycles round the edges
From the NFL's deflated footballs to the bribery allegations besmirching Tokyo's Olympic bid, it can feel like the entire apparatus of professional sport has become hopelessly corrupt. But are the fans also complicit?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 22, 2016
'Twisted Justice': Gangster black comedy is a shade off
In 2003, a Hokkaido cop named Yoshiaki Inaba was sentenced to nine years in jail, on charges including drug use and possession with intent to supply. During his trial, the former police inspector revealed that his impressive career record had involved an unhealthy degree of collusion with contacts in...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 1, 2016
There’s a real story behind the ‘Fake’ documentary
Everybody loves a good scandal, and they don't come much riper than the tale of Mamoru Samuragochi. The public unmasking of "Japan's Beethoven" — a celebrated "deaf" composer who turned out to be neither completely deaf nor the main author of his work — was one of the biggest domestic news stories...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 1, 2016
'Deadpool': Shooting off at the mouth and at the hip
Living in Japan, you get accustomed to scrolling through a film's release dates on IMDb, only to discover that it's arriving here months behind the rest of the world. Such has been the case with "Deadpool," which opened everywhere from the U.S. to the Republic of Macedonia back in February, but has taken...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 29, 2016
Forget clubbing: Outdoor festivals offer a natural alternative
When the revised adult entertainment business law comes into effect on June 23, bringing an end to Japan's archaic ban on all-night dance parties, it will mark the end of what has been a challenging period for the nation's nightclubs. But beyond the major metropolises, at campsites and off-season ski...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 18, 2016
'Hentai Kamen: Abnormal Crisis': Japan's pervy hero is top-crotch
If you're craving an alternative to the self-important bluster of Hollywood's never-ending superhero pageant, there's no need to wait until "Deadpool" opens in Japanese cinemas next month. For a quick fix of trashy comic-book irreverence, this homegrown product should do the trick nicely.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
May 11, 2016
Big issues in film short 'World of Tomorrow'
Given the limited options for theatrical release, short films are generally condemned to the purgatory of YouTube, which makes the case of "World of Tomorrow" especially striking. Since premiering at last year's Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Short Film Grand Jury Prize, this 16-minute animation...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 6, 2016
Review: Worldwide Session at Studio Coast
Gilles Peterson has spent his entire career buoyed by gushing enthusiasm, but when the London-based DJ and record label boss declared a gig in Tokyo on May 4 to be a "career highlight," he was probably being sincere.
Japan to revise consumption tax exemption for overseas tourists
Tourists walk through Nakamise shopping street near Sensoji Temple in Tokyo in April
Japan's tourism industry hit by cancellations after megaquake alert
A beach closed due to a megaquake alert in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, from Friday to Thursday.
Focus shifts to incoming typhoon as Tropical Storm Maria dissipates
Newly formed Tropical Storm Ampil, which is forecast to approach eastern Japan this weekend, is seen on the left side of this satellite image.
Kishida to step down in September in bid to show ‘LDP has changed’
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a news conference Wednesday at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo.
Publisher finds surprise audience after translating history textbooks
Yamakawa Shuppansha president Takeshi Nozawa holds the publisher's textbook on Japanese history — used in high schools across Japan — alongside the new English version in Tokyo on May 23.
Economic security is about strengthening and sustaining growth, former minister says
Former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi says changes in the international balance of power, along with deepening economic interdependence, have led some countries to attempt to use their economic power to impose their will on others.
Ice bandanas, convenience store breaks: Running under Japan’s summer sun
Blistering heat is becoming a fixture of summer in Japan, but a few tweaks to your routine can make your outdoor runs bearable — if not enjoyable — until cooler temperatures return.
Japan issued its first-ever megaquake alert. What does that mean?
Naoshi Hirata (center), chairman of a committee tasked with evaluating the risk of a Nankai Trough earthquake, speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Friday.
France brings down the curtain on its Olympic party with Tom Cruise and Leon Marchand
Fireworks are set off during the closing ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics at Stade de France in Saint-Denis on Sunday.

Podcast

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

Longform

Sociologist Gracia Liu-Farrer argues that even though immigration doesn't figure into Japan's autobiography, it is more of a self-perception than a reality.
In search of the ‘Japanese dream’
By Thu-Huong Ha

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