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December 30, 2024
 

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Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 7, 2008

'Jumper'

"Jumper" is one of those films that feels like it was a marketing strategy before it was a script. Or maybe it was one of those films where they had a cool new special effect and just needed to throw together something resembling a story to showcase it in. Or maybe it was both: create one shot of star...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 7, 2008

Hewar

Forget the iffy politics: Syria has got some great music. It is the country of legendary oud (lute) maestro Farid Al-Atrash as well as Sabah Fakhri, an iron-larynxed singer who for many years held the world record for the longest uninterrupted vocal performance (10 hours). More recently, the likes of...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 22, 2008

'Evening'

Lest we forget what it is to be a woman, there's always the chick flick to remind us exactly what this may imply. In the case of "Evening," the implying rather has the effect of a tidal wave. There they are, all the usual suspects: love (unrequited and otherwise), weddings, marriages, careers, motherhood,...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 17, 2008

In Japan, there's a 'quiet revolution' afoot

First of two parts
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 15, 2008

'Sisters'

"Sisters," the remake of the 1973 cult movie by Brian de Palma, is living proof of the culinary adage that fresh is always better. There's so much here that's just been scooped out of the can and nuked in a microwave — most of what had made the original "Sisters" compelling and scary has been reheated...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 10, 2008

Kurosawa cohort tells illuminating Showa tails

Alongside great artists are those who witness their triumphs and setbacks, recording behind-the-scenes episodes that illuminate the processes of art.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 8, 2008

'The Kite Runner'

Horror movies, especially those of the J-Horror kind, often try to scare us with vengeful ghosts. The real ghosts in our lives, though, aren't those who crawl out of TV screens but the ones who haunt our memories. These ghosts exist as regrets, and trying to exorcise them can be a long and painful process....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 25, 2008

'American Gangster'

According to gangster-cinema logic, a gang boss wallows in crime and murder largely because he feels obligated (often willingly so) to look after the people on his turf: to keep the streets safe, his family well-fed and his business thriving. The contradiction is, of course, that by doing so a gang boss...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 22, 2008

Newly democratic Bhutan in a tight spot

MADRAS, India — Bhutan is now a democracy. Its transition from a monarchy to a democracy has been smooth. The tiny country, where Buddhism is the state religion, has been applauded by the world for changing with the times, and not waiting to be pushed like Pakistan, which has stubbornly refused to...
CULTURE / Film
Jan 18, 2008

'Earth'

The nature documentary has long been a staple of the small screen, whether its NHK or the BBC, but in recent years more and more have been showing up in the cinemas.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 11, 2008

'The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford'

The story of Western outlaw Jesse James gets rewritten for every generation — indeed it was being rewritten even while he lived. As the former confederate guerrilla-turned-bandit embarked on a spree of bank and train robberies in the 1870s, gunning down unarmed bystanders repeatedly, James was also...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 11, 2008

Passing politics from generation to generation

'La Faute a Fidel!" is, in a sense, a project engineered by daughters. Director Julie Gavras' father is the famed prorevoltionary director Costa Gavras, its lead actress Julie Depardieu is the daughter of Gerard, France's most treasured actor. And Nina Kervel, who was age 9 when the film was made, comes...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 4, 2008

'Silk'

It took a long time for me to recover from the blast of bullsh*t Orientalism that was "Memoirs of a Geisha." There were the usual symptoms: nausea, shaky hands and an attack of shudders every time I passed by the Oriental Bazaar on Tokyo's Omotesando avenue, among others.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / ON THE ROAD
Dec 30, 2007

From start to sale in 15 secs

What looks like NASA's mission-control center is actually the world's biggest, most high-tech car auction.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Dec 21, 2007

Celebrate Chaplin's life in film

With his little mustache, oversize pants, bowler hat and walking stick, Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977), known as the Little Tramp, became the greatest comic icon in the early 20th century, and his ingenious mime still captivates audiences today.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 21, 2007

Inspired by repression

I am a very private person," says Marjane Satrapi, author of "Persepolis" and co-director of the new film based on her graphic novels. It's a curious statement coming from someone who's poured her own life into an autobiographical novel, but as she repeatedly pointed out to The Japan Times, it's not...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Dec 21, 2007

The art of youth

An Aladdin's Cave of small, distinctive retail spaces, the Laforet building at a main crossroads in trendy Harajuku has been a shopping magnet for young people since it opened in 1978. This year, for instance, more than 3,000 lined up outside awaiting the start of its New Year sale. And whereas its Shibuya...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 21, 2007

'Persepolis'

When Art Spiegelman's "Maus" came out in 1986 (a later edition would win a Pulitzer Prize in 1992), many mused that the graphic novel had come of age. Finally, it seemed, it was possible to meld words and pictures with the richness, depth, and insight of a novel. All sorts of topics could be tabled now,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 7, 2007

He's in the realm of the senses

Francois Ozon is a filmmaker renowned for adopting a different style with every film — he has made scathing, pseudo-pornographic short features ("Sitcom," "See the Sea"), a rich, velvety musical ("8 Femmes"), and a restrained but sensual tale of bereavement ("Under the Sand"). His latest, "Angel,"...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 6, 2007

Look back in anger

One way to learn what happened in one of history's most noxious but disputed episodes is to ask Satoru Mizushima. After what he calls "exhaustive research" on the seizure of the then Chinese capital Nanjing by Japanese troops in 1937, estimated to have cost anywhere from 20,000 to 300,000 lives, Mizushima...
CULTURE / Film
Nov 30, 2007

'The Nativity Story'

Motherhood is a rum thing to begin with but motherhood in the mid-teens, in superconservative ancient Nazareth, engaged to a man you've never met and who is definitely not the father of the baby — well, then it would be time to hit the panic button, if only such a thing had existed.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 22, 2007

Festival swaps mobsters for something 'safe'

In days past, a film festival held within rough-and-tumble Kabukicho might be assumed to feature a sampling of the work from gangster-flick director Seijun Suzuki ("Tokyo Drifter," "Branded to Kill"), or perhaps "Yojimbo," the Akira Kurosawa classic where a samurai arrives in a village run by two groups...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 16, 2007

'Waitress'

Pie-making is a tricky business, as are most other things in life. In "Waitress," pie-maker (or rather, pie-genuis as she's known to her friends) and waitress Jenna's habitual reply to "How are you doing today?" is a rolling of the eyes and a quiet, heartfelt, "Same old shipwreck."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 9, 2007

'Four Minutes'

"Four Minutes" was inspired by a single photograph of an 80-year-old woman who worked as a piano teacher in a women's prison. She sat at her instrument, her hands placed lightly on the keys, and filmmaker Chris Kraus was struck by the contrast between her old, ravaged face and youthful, elegant hands....
CULTURE / Film
Nov 9, 2007

Tokyo's FILMeX: small but tasty

Now in its eighth year, Tokyo FILMeX (Nov. 17-25) continues to prove that good things come in small packages. With the sprawling Tokyo International Film Festival over, think of FILMeX as the more interesting, more memorable nijikai (after party) following TIFF's pomp and circumstance. FILMeX's devoted...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 9, 2007

'Vacancy'

Some film reviewers seem to have the idea that their job involves simply telling you the film's story. They'll walk you through the first act, the second act and often well into the third act, stopping just short of ruining the ending for you. But really, haven't they already spoiled the beginning and...
CULTURE / Film
Nov 2, 2007

A guy and a girl

In "Once," the couple consisting of the Guy (Glen Hansard) and the Girl (Marketa Irglova) make sweet music but never get together.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 2, 2007

'Once'

The characters in "Once" don't even have names; it's just the Guy (Glen Hansard) and the Girl (Marketa Irglova), and the story spans about 10 days in their lives one autumn in Dublin. "Once" was a sleeper hit at the Sundance Film Festival — and it's like a small, shining halo of brightness that recalls...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Oct 28, 2007

Lost in an Aegean dream

Herodotus, the so-called Father of History, made a few rather extravagant claims in his time (his time being the 5th century B.C., which is when he wrote the world's first history books).
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / SHORT TAKES
Oct 26, 2007

The Invasion

Director: Oliver Hirchbiegel
Ukraine risks losing all Russian land it seized within months, U.S. says
Ukrainian soldiers carry the coffins of three comrades killed in recent fighting in eastern Ukraine during their funeral in the western city of Lviv on Dec. 20.
Honda-Nissan deal sets up next fight for bankers in Japan M&A boom
A Nissan dealership and a Honda dealership in Tokyo. As the two firms negotiation a potential merger, Nomura Holdings is advising Honda, while Nissan has retained Mizuho Financial Group and Bank of America.
Osamu Suzuki, who ran Suzuki Motor for five decades, dies at 94
Osamu Suzuki, a former president of Suzuki Motor, in October 2016
Uranium detected in extracted Fukushima nuclear fuel debris
Nuclear fuel debris recovered from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant No. 2 reactor
Rejecting the Nippon Steel bid is a slap in the face to Japan
U.S. Steel workers who support the takeover by Nippon Steel rally outside the company's headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in September.
How Hokkaido quietly became a culinary treasure trove in 2024
The central Hokkaido city of Asahikawa made headlines this year when one of its suburbs was named as the best place to live in Japan — a ranking earned in part due to the community's many outstanding restaurants and cafes.
Bling-Bang, baby: The J-pop soundtrack of 2024
Hip-hop duo Creepy Nuts' uptempo “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born” quickly became a TikTok favorite after its release days into 2024, which helped turn the song into a Billboard Japan Hot 100 topper for 19 weeks before rising up viral streaming charts around the world.
Flu cases surge above ‘warning’ levels in much of Japan
Authorities are calling for utmost vigilance as Japan heads into the New Year holiday season, when many people plan getaways.
Dodgers voice Stephen Nelson paves way for Japanese Americans in media
Dodgers announcers Stephen Nelson and Jessica Mendoza pose with Ichiro Suzuki before a game against the Mariners in Seattle in 2023.
Start the new year not with one temple visit, but seven
At each shrine and temple, priests create festive, decorative go-shuin stamps, and you can collect the marks of all seven of the lucky gods on one piece of paper (called a shikishi) to serve as a good-luck talisman.

Podcast

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

Longform

Visitors to Kyoto walk along a street near Kiyomizu Temple in April. A popular tourist spot, Kyoto has seen what locals feel to be an overwhelming amount of tourists in 2024.
Is Japan ready for 60 million tourists?
By Kathryn Wortley

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