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Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 21, 2018

'Going the Distance': A powerful take on the Japanese definition of family

Marriages in Japan were long between families, with the omiai (arranged marriage) process typically serving to both introduce prospective partners to each other and vet their respective family backgrounds. Have the wrong sort of ancestors? The wedding's off.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 24, 2018

'Midnight Bus': A trundling bus trip to boresville

Taizo Harada plays Toshikazu 'Riichi' Takamiya in Masao Takeshita's 'Midnight Bus,' a film that feels overlong and lacks emotional punch.
Jan 18, 2018

Ribenji Garu / Aeon Cinema Kyoto Katsuragawa / 2018-01-20 to 2018-01-26

Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 17, 2018

'Our house': A deftly constructed work of mystery

What if the same dwelling was populated by two pairs of seemingly living humans, neither of whom is aware of the other? That is the conundrum posed by Yui Kiyohara's 'Our House.'
Jan 5, 2018

Kung Fu Yoga (dubbed) / Osaka Station City Cinema / 2018-01-06 to 2018-01-12

until Jan. 7 16:30 / from Jan. 8 9:10
Jan 5, 2018

Little Women / Cinema Novecento / 2018-01-06 to 2018-01-12

Jan. 6 no screenings / Jan. 7 12:45
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 3, 2018

Koji Yakusho reveals what makes a good director and how it feels to play 'dirty'

With a career spanning four decades, Koji Yakusho has been both a star overseas ("Memoirs of a Geisha," "Babel") and an award-winner at home, most notably for his 1996 breakthrough "Shall We Dance?" But through it all he has maintained a Tom Hanks-esque nice guy image.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 20, 2017

Surefire formulas failed Japanese cinema in 2017

In a quarter-century of reporting on the Japanese film industry, I've yet to find one optimist about its future.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 20, 2017

A courtroom drama, an alien takeover and the lives of sex workers all feature in the best Japanese films of 2017

This year was bad for Japanese films box office-wise, but not quality-wise. Here are my best 10:
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Dec 2, 2017

Eli K. P. William's dystopian 'The Naked World' is not a tale for technophobes

It's been a banner year for science-fiction films. In October, cinema fans flocked to see Harrison Ford in "Blade Runner 2049." And "Star Wars: The Last Jedi," featuring Mark Hamill and the late Carrie Fisher, premiers in the U.S. on Dec. 15.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Nov 23, 2017

Sun, sand and the silver screen

Launched in 1981 by Jeannette Paulson Hereniko, the Hawaii International Film Festival (HIFF) was the first film festival in the United States to focus on films from the Asia-Pacific region. Being a bridge between East and West is still its mission, but HIFF now has plenty of company around the world....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Nov 18, 2017

Ishiro Honda: The master behind Godzilla

Everyone knows "Godzilla," the 1954 film that introduced Japan's most famous monster to the world. But the name of its director, Ishiro Honda, was for a long time only mentioned by foreign critics and fans in passing, if at all.
Nov 9, 2017

Rodin / Le Cinema 1, 2 / 2017-11-11 to 2017-11-17

10:30, 13:00, 15:30, 19:00
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Nov 8, 2017

When you go to a film festival, all you can do is roll the dice and pray for gold

Covering a film festival is what's known in the profession as a crapshoot. No matter how many screenings you manage to clock, you're probably going to miss half of the flicks that end up winning prizes.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 3, 2017

Tokyo International Film Festival closes with social issues in the spotlight

The Tokyo International Film Festival has always struggled to distinguish itself from other big film events. It doesn't have the cultural cachet of Venice, Cannes or Toronto, and even within Asia it falls behind Busan and Hong Kong in terms of the caliber of works it sometimes attracts. But it always...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 1, 2017

'Goodbye, Grandpa!': Even at a funeral, there's no escaping a dysfunctional family

Funerals are just about as common in Japanese family dramas as weddings, but few films make them the focus of the story. The funniest would be Juzo Itami's "The Funeral," a 1984 black comedy about two married middle-aged urbanites negotiating the intricacies of a traditional Japanese funeral when the...
Japan Times
MULTIMEDIA
Oct 27, 2017

The faces of the Tokyo International Film Festival 2017

The 30th Tokyo International Film Festival, which opened on Wednesday, is screening a variety of cinema from all over the world at various venues in Tokyo. The festival runs until Nov. 3, when the jury will announce the winning films from the competition.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 25, 2017

Tokyo International Film Festival opens with a rainy red carpet

After walking the red carpet on the opening night of the 30th Tokyo International Film Festival, Yu Aoi pointed out to the emcee that she and the other three "muses" of the festival — fellow actresses Sakura Ando, Hikari Mitsushima and Aoi Miyazaki — were all born in the same year, 1985, thus lending...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 24, 2017

Japan's main film festival has come a long way from the days of 'bubble era' excess

The Tokyo International Film Festival, which begins on Oct. 25, will celebrate its 30th edition this year. It was first held in 1985 and I started attending it, as a reporter, in 1991.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Oct 14, 2017

'A Hundred Years of Japanese Film': Donald Richie gives us the long shot

Donald Richie didn't just open a window on Japanese cinema — the renowned film critic broke down a wall and put in a cultural door.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 5, 2017

Food, folks and film: Yamagata festival dives deep into documentaries

Once an obscure corner of a film world dominated by the fantasies of Hollywood, documentaries are now drawing more attention from both paying audiences and wider society. And the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, whose 15th edition unspools from Oct. 5 to 12 in Yamagata, has long been...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 27, 2017

'Poolsideman': Bringing life to the mundane

In his three films to date, Hirobumi Watanabe has created a unique cinematic world. "And the Mud Ship Sails Away" (2013), "7 Days" (2015) and now "Poolsideman" (2016) were all shot in black-and-white in Watanabe's native Tochigi Prefecture, with music by younger brother Yuji and cinematography by Woohyun...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE
Sep 17, 2017

Japanese professor studies U.S. 'birth of a nation' and finds common humanity

Understanding racial issues is key to knowing America's history and, through that, modern Japan's, says Keiko Shirakawa.
Sep 7, 2017

Wonder Woman (dubbed) [3-D] / Aeon Cinema Minatomirai / 2017-09-09 to 2017-09-15

Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Sep 7, 2017

Mizuko Yamaoka takes a different approach in documentary about people with disabilities

Disability presents different challenges for everyone but wheelchair users share a common dilemma: Their mode of locomotion stands out, while they often struggle with social isolation. That was my takeaway from "The Lost Coin," a 2016 short by Mizuko Yamaoka, a filmmaker who has been using a wheelchair...
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Sep 2, 2017

'The Encyclopedia of Japanese Pop Culture': A quality guide to the Showa Era and beyond

As members of Japan's postwar baby boom generation approach their seventh decade, they have been wallowing in an extended nostalgia boom over the historical and cultural accouterments of the Showa Era (1926-89). If you feel left out of the discussion, the antidote is to hunt down a copy of this book,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 24, 2017

'Sekigahara': A bold attempt to portray one of Japan's most decisive battles

The Battle of Sekigahara was fought on Oct. 21, 1600, and changed the course of Japanese history. Tokugawa Ieyasu and his Army of the East won an overwhelming victory over the Army of the West led by Ishida Mitsunari, resulting in the political unification of the country and the rule of the Tokugawa...

Longform

A man offers prayers at Hebikubo Shrine in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward. The shrine is one of several across the country dedicated to the snake.
Shed your skin and reinvent yourself in the Year of the Snake