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March 26, 2025
 

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JAPANESE FILM

A college student (Mizuki Yamashita, right) falls hopelessly in love with a stoic yet kindhearted high school student (Ryuto Sakuma) in “My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999.”
CULTURE / Film
Mar 21, 2025
‘My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999’ shows that even stoic gamers can fall in love
Yuka Yasukawa’s sweet rom-com with feather-light comedy offers more than a pastel-hued romantic fantasy.
The film to beat for the Niigata International Animation Film Festival’s top prize seems to be Kiyotaka Oshiyama’s “Look Back,” one of the two Japanese features in competition.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 20, 2025
Indie films vie for views at Niigata animation festival
From Satoshi Kon tributes to indie gems, this year's Niigata International Animation Film Festival continues its dedication to feature-length animation.
Singer and actor Ayumi Ishida was well known for her hit song "Blue Light Yokohama."
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Mar 18, 2025
Japanese singer and actor Ayumi Ishida dies at 76
"Blue Light Yokohama," released in 1968, sold over 1 million copies.
Junichi Yasuda’s surprise hit “A Samurai in Time” won the award for best film at the 48th Japan Academy Film Prize ceremony.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 15, 2025
‘A Samurai in Time’ wins top prize at Japan’s premier film event
This country’s answer to the Oscars also saw awards go to “Oppenheimer” and “Faceless.”
“Ravens” stars Tadanobu Asano as Masahisa Fukase, a real-life figure who was known for his photos of the psychedelic party scene of 1960s Shinjuku, portraits of his wife and images of the ravens of his home prefecture of Hokkaido.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 14, 2025
‘Ravens’ is a portrait of art, love and inner demons
Director Mark Gill brings the turbulent life of celebrated photographer Masahisa Fukase into focus in his new film.
Masao Adachi’s “Escape” is a fictionalized biopic about fugitive Satoshi Kirishima, played by Rairu Sugita (left) and Kanji Furutachi (right).
CULTURE / Film
Mar 13, 2025
‘Escape’: Masao Adachi’s fugitive biopic salutes a kindred spirit
The 85-year-old director keeps his revolutionary fire burning with a respectful portrait of a wanted terrorist who spent nearly half a century on the run.
College roommates Yumi (Shiori Kubo, left) and Ruka (Yuna Taira) become close friends despite being as different as night and day in “Nemurubaka: Hypnic Jerks.”
CULTURE / Film
Mar 13, 2025
‘Nemurubaka: Hypnic Jerks’: Opposites come together with quips and dry humor
“Baby Assassins” director Yugo Sakamoto swaps action for emotion in his coming-of-age film centered on two college roommates with different levels of ambition.
A welfare caseworker (Takumi Kitamura) heads down a dangerous path despite trying to do the right thing in “A Bad Summer.”
CULTURE / Film
Mar 7, 2025
‘A Bad Summer’: A scorching drama of simmering rage and its consequences
Hideo Jojo pushes into forbidden territory and navigates the darker currents of his latest film with assurance.
Globally, women are severely underrepresented among leading roles in cinema, with female directors accounting for just over 10% of the industry in Japan. Achieving gender equality on-set would have far-reaching consequences for the whole of society.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 7, 2025
Without women behind the camera, equality stays out of the frame
Cinema isn't only about what stories are told, but who tells them. Overcoming severe underrepresentation, women are reshaping the film industry and cultural narratives.
A group of talentless noiseniks are sent away on a year-long retreat to the countryside to write a hit song in “The Gesuidouz.”
CULTURE / Film
Mar 6, 2025
‘The Gesuidouz’ flips the bird at viewers
Kenichi Ugana’s horror-fixated punk-rock slacker comedy is one of the director’s laziest films to date.
Koichiro Ito, a producer of the hit Japanese anime film "Your Name," has been convicted of "violating laws on child prostitution and pornography" as well as non-consensual sex and the filming of indecent images, a Wakayama District Court spokesperson said on Monday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 3, 2025
'Your Name.' anime producer jailed over obscene acts against minors
Koichiro Ito was reportedly accused of paying a 15-year-old girl money in return for sex, and demanding that another teenager take and send him explicit photos of herself.
A scene from Satoko Yokohama's "Umibe e Iku Michi" ("Seaside Serendipity")
CULTURE / Film
Feb 23, 2025
Japanese movies win accolades at Berlin International Film Festival
"Futsu no Seikatsu," an animated movie directed by Yoriko Mizushiri, was awarded the Silver Bear Jury Prize for a short film at this year's Berlin International Film Festival.
“Yasuko, Songs of Days Past” centers on a real-life love triangle between poet Chuya Nakahara (Taisei Kido, left), actor Yasuko Hasegawa (Suzu Hirose, center) and literary critic Hideo Kobayashi (Masaki Okada).
CULTURE / Film
Feb 20, 2025
‘Yasuko, Songs of Days Past’ puts overlooked star in the spotlight
Kichitaro Negishi’s drama, based on a real-life love triangle among notable figures of the Japanese literati, captures the flavor of a bygone era.
“Hypnosismic — Division Rap Battle — Movie” centers on groups of male rappers from neighborhoods around Tokyo and Japan at large.
CULTURE / Film
Feb 20, 2025
‘Hypnosismic — Division Rap Battle — Movie' lets viewers remix the narrative
Armed with LED-lined gloves and their smartphones, audiences take control of the action for Japan’s first interactive movie.
A 45-year-old widow (Takako Matsu) repeatedly travels back in time to meet her future — and late — husband (Hokuto Matsumura) in “First Kiss.”
CULTURE / Film
Feb 6, 2025
‘First Kiss’: Time-traveling romantic drama isn’t afraid of a few wrinkles
Ayuko Tsukahara’s high-concept love story has wit and wisdom to spare with an endearing screen couple at its center.
Documentary director Kaku Arakawa’s filming style — naturalistic, intimate and unobtrusive — proved essential to portraying anime powerhouse Hayao Miyazaki as a man as flawed and human as he is a visionary artist in “Hayao Miyazaki and the Heron.”
CULTURE / Film
Jan 31, 2025
Two decades of unparalleled access into the world of Hayao Miyazaki
Documentary director Kaku Arakawa has spent years filming the anime powerhouse to reveal the man beyond the myth.
Gensho Yasuda’s “Make a Girl” follows an inventor whose relationship with the robot girlfriend he builds becomes increasingly complicated as she develops an unexpected sense of independence.
CULTURE / Film
Jan 30, 2025
Indie animator Gensho Yasuda paves his own way with a DIY spirit
With “Make a Girl,” the young Japanese creator takes the leap from short videos to full-length films.
“The Rose of Versailles” centers on the real-life Marie Antoinette (voiced by Aya Hirano) and the fictional Oscar Francois de Jarjayes (Miyuki Sawashiro) a few years before the French Revolution.
CULTURE / Film
Jan 30, 2025
‘The Rose of Versailles’ opts for empty opulence
Riyoko Ikeda’s seminal manga that tackled themes of political and sexual revolution gets a film adaptation that lacks the depth of its source material.
A young couple (Ryuya Wakaba and Mai Fukagawa) fulfill a lifelong dream of moving to the countryside, only to find their new community may have sinister intentions toward them in “Welcome to the Village.”
CULTURE / Film
Jan 30, 2025
‘Welcome to the Village’: Tradition takes a twisted turn in the countryside
The ancient tradition of “murahachibu,” ostracizing community members as punishment, gets a contemporary twist in Hideo Jojo’s slow-burn thriller.
Strange things are afoot in Ryota Kondo’s “Missing Child Videotape” as Keita (Rairu Sugita) investigates the 13-year-old disappearance of his younger brother.
CULTURE / Film
Jan 23, 2025
‘Missing Child Videotape’: Subtle chiller may leave J-horror fans underwhelmed
Ryota Kondo’s eerie ghost story debut goes for ambient dread rather than jump scares.
Ozeki Onosato on doorstep of yokozuna promotion after latest title
Onosato celebrates after winning the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka on Sunday.
Japan's first foreign swordsmith opens workshop in Hiroshima Prefecture
Johan Leutwiler checks a sword he made at his workshop studio in the Kui district of Mihara, Hiroshima Prefecture.
Tokyo court strips Unification Church of religious corporation status
Nobuya Fukumoto (far left), a lawyer for the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, known as the Unification Church, is surrounded by the media at the Tokyo District Court on Tuesday after it ordered the group to be stripped of its religious corporation status.
Japan launches new Joint Operations Command to unify SDF branches
The head of the Self-Defense Forces' new Joint Operations Command, Gen. Kenichiro Nagumo, inspects an honor guard Monday morning at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo.
Applications for forgery-proof passports start in Japan
New Japanese passports will be printed using laser technology based on banknote printing techniques, making forgery more difficult.
New SDF command will be key for contingency planning, Australian commander says
A Maritime Self-Defense Force SH-60K "Super Auk" from JS Shiranui prepares to land on HMAS Brisbane during Exercise Malabar 2023 while off the coast of New South Wales, Australia.
Cherry blossom season kicks off in Tokyo after warm weekend
Blooms are seen on the Meteorological Agency's sample cherry tree at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Monday.
Japanese wages likely to rise more than 5% again this year
Wages are set for another big increase this year as annual negotiations secure generous agreements.
Stay at home if Mount Fuji erupts, government panel says
Mount Fuji in November. For the first time, the government has released specific guidelines on how residents should act in the event that Mount Fuji erupts.
In pictures: Tokyo's weeklong celebration of baseball's best
Shohei Ohtani belts a home run in the fifth inning of the second game of the Tokyo Series between the Dodgers and Cubs.

Podcast

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

Longform

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