Tag - koji

 
 

KOJI

Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 23, 2015
Top 10 films of 2015: War, slackers and a love hotel
It's hard to be an optimist about the present state of Japanese cinema. One reason is the decline of the mid-budget film, previously the refuge of much quality work, with many talented directors going either fully commercial or extremely indie. Micro-budget films are not inferior per se but their subject...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 18, 2015
Fukada's 'Sayonara' captures android intimacy
'We all die alone" is a thought voiced by the famous (Hunter S. Thompson and Orson Welles among them), but it seems to state the obvious. We also all have toothaches alone, do we not?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 11, 2015
Director Koji Fukada explores nuanced human-robot divide in 'Sayonara'
Whether it's the anthropomorphic cyborg cat Doraemon, Sony's artificially intelligent canine pet Aibo or even baby harp seals created to assist dementia patients, robots have long been recognized in Japan as capable of providing therapeutic and emotional assistance for their human owners.
JAPAN
Nov 9, 2015
After controversial security laws comment, Doshisha president loses re-election bid
Koji Murata, the president of Doshisha University in Kyoto Prefecture who drew flak in July for supporting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's security legislation, has lost his bid for re-election.
SPORTS
Oct 4, 2015
Biracial athletes making strides in changing Japanese society
This summer, a pair of young biracial Japanese athletes drew widespread attention, an indication that the nation's sports scene has entered a new era.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 16, 2015
Girls take charge of their love lives in 'Chigasaki Story'
Koji Fukada's 2013 beach film "Hotori no Sakuko" ("Au Revoir l'Ete") was a loving homage to French master Eric Rohmer, with lengthy European-style vacations bestowed on Fukada's Japanese protagonists.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Sep 5, 2015
An analysis of 'Koji Kondo's Super Mario Bros. Soundtrack'
Is the soundtrack to the original Super Mario Bros. game a musical achievement and pop-culture milestone on par with Miles Davis' Bitches Brew? Author Andrew Schartmann sets out to build exactly this case in "Koji Kondo's Super Mario Bros. Soundtrack" — part of Bloomsbury's 33 ⅓ series on classic...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 29, 2015
Koji Hirata finds the 'soul of tango' through his bandoneon
Koji Hirata encountered the bandoneon, a type of concertina, at the young age of 13. While it's common for a teenager to take up a musical instrument, Hirata showed an unusually high level of commitment when, at 16, he took a solo trip to Argentina to learn it.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 26, 2015
Ex-AKB48 star resists a sleazy stranger on train in 'Round Trip Heart'
Pushing a food-and-drinks cart on an express train used to be a something of a glamour job for young Japanese women (or something of a comedown if they aspired to be flight attendants).
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 5, 2015
A more complex portrayal of Emperor Hirohito
Emperor Hirohito, who is posthumously known as Emperor Showa, had a procession of public images during his long reign from 1926 to 1989 — though none were quite accurate.
JAPAN
Jul 17, 2015
Doshisha academics denounce president's support for security bills
More than 70 professors and other faculty members at Kyoto's Doshisha University say they are "ashamed" by comments from their president, Koji Murata, in support of a set of security bills at a Diet committee hearing earlier this week.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / MLB / MAN ABOUT SPORTS
Jun 30, 2015
Emulating 'Evil Empire' lands Red Sox in last place
Awhile back, Boston Red Sox president Larry Lucchino famously referred to the arch rival New York Yankees as "The Evil Empire."

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan