Tag - the

 
 

THE

Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 6, 2019
'Siblings of the Cape': Uncomfortable, yet compelling
There are films that take you places you rather wish they wouldn't. Within the first 10 minutes of "Siblings of the Cape," I was ready to stop watching, but something about Shinzo Katayama's scruffy, transgressive debut kept me hooked.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 27, 2019
'The Island of Cats': Stress-free living with furry friends
Japanese movies about cats and their human companions are by now an established local genre — or rather a feel-good-movie sub-genre since nearly all try to leave the audience with warm smiles and lowered blood pressures. This has proven to be a reliable box office strategy: The owners of Japan's nearly...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Feb 27, 2019
Fiennes cousins, actor and explorer, adventure on the Nile for TV
Squeezing through tiny tunnels into a mummy's tomb is not something to rattle veteran British explorer Ranulph Fiennes.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / RECENTLY PUBLISHED BOOKS ABOUT JAPAN
Feb 23, 2019
'From Truant to Anime Screenwriter': A raw glimpse into the soul of an impressive talent
Filmmaker Mari Okada's own story, 'From Truant to Anime Screen Writer,' that of a child trapped in the prison of her hypersensitivity, is baldly and grimly told, a struggle against her demons of isolation, humiliation, and self-loathing.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 21, 2019
Inua scoops Arrival of the Year prize at the World Restaurant Awards
At the inaugural awards ceremony for The World Restaurant Awards (WRA) in Paris on Feb. 18, Tokyo-based Inua took home the Big Plate award for Arrival of the Year, a prize for new restaurants that opened between Sept. 1, 2017, and Sept. 30, 2018. Of the five Japan-based restaurants on the 2019 WRA shortlist,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 20, 2019
'Fly Me to the Saitama': Tokyo takes on its revolting neighbors
Places considered cool and uncool sometimes exist in uneasy proximity, like New York City and New Jersey — or Tokyo and Saitama. The prefecture adjacent to the Japanese capital has the image of being a land of boring commuter towns with no cultural attractions beyond shopping malls and family restaurants....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / WORKS BY JAPANESE WOMEN
Feb 16, 2019
Discover new worlds beyond the 'here and now' with Nahoko Uehashi's inventive fictions
Nahoko Uehashi revolutionized the fantasy genre in Japan with her naturalistic works of fiction, using her background as a cultural anthropologist to craft realistic imaginary worlds that garnered her legions of fans across genders and ages.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 8, 2019
Chemical Brothers, The Cure and Sia among first batch of acts for Fuji Rock Festival '19
Also appearing on the bill are Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke, James Blake, Mitski and Janelle Monae, with many more still to be announced.
Japan Times
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Feb 6, 2019
Life after 'The Bachelor Japan': The one who got away
Searching for love on the reality TV series "The Bachelor Japan," a record number of women have already applied for the show's third season, set to stream on Amazon Prime Video later this year. Bosses at the paid subscription service will no doubt be hoping for more of the same regarding viewing figures...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 6, 2019
U.K. revisiting secret plan to keep Irish border open after Brexit using Fujitsu tracking tech, Sun reports
Britain's department for exiting the European Union has been examining a secret new high-tech plan of keeping the Irish border open with the plan to be ready for a road test in March, the Sun newspaper reported late on Tuesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 5, 2019
The actors hoping to save Kyoto University's Yoshida Dormitory
Students and stage fans will see whether a hastily arranged series of performances of Bertolt Brecht's "The Threepenny Opera" this weekend can break a decades-long standoff over the closure of Japan's oldest student dormitory: the wooden Yoshida ryō (Yoshida Dormitory) at Kyoto University.
Japan Times
CULTURE / CULTURE SMASH
Feb 3, 2019
The story behind anime localization
'The structure of Japanese storytelling does not adhere to a strict three acts. At times, the story meanders and takes the viewer on a seemingly unrelated path. ... Characterizations are richer, deeper, darker. Plots are often complex and convoluted, serving primarily as vessels to display incredible visuals.' — Mary Claypool, anime localization expert
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Feb 2, 2019
How Japan unleashed Lu Xun's ferocious literary passion
Although he was poised to be a doctor, Lu Xun, the most celebrated of all modern Chinese authors, abandoned medicine for something he felt would truly enlighten and modernize his nation: literature.
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Feb 2, 2019
Tiramisu copyright furor highlights the internet's importance
Allegations of copyright infringement have undermined a high-profile attempt to sell a renowned coffee-flavored Italian dessert in Tokyo.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 31, 2019
The Future Eve gets experimental with prog rock pioneer Robert Wyatt
Progressive rock and experimental music personality Robert Wyatt said goodbye to the music world in 2014 when he announced his retirement with the cryptic statement, "there is a pride in (stopping), I don't want (the music) to go off." That didn't mean that something pre-dating his retirement wouldn't...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 29, 2019
Perennials aside, 2019 promises movie classics in Japan
As a program advisor for the Udine Far East Film Festival in Udine, Italy, I have spent the last few months scouting Japanese films for the next edition, which will be held April 26 to May 4. This doesn't mean I've seen all the upcoming releases — sales companies are often not ready to screen their...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 26, 2019
Five Japanese restaurants on the shortlist for new culinary award
A legendary Kyoto restaurant serving kaiseki, Japan's exquisite multicourse haute cuisine. A traditional grilled-eel specialist in Tokyo with roots dating to the days of the shoguns. An irreverent fast-food joint where fish burgers rule. The newly opened offshoot of one of Scandinavia's most innovative...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jan 26, 2019
'Murder in the Crooked House': Behind the mask of a classic Japanese murder mystery
Japanese-English translator Louise Heal Kawai reveals the challenges of sourcing translation commissions and how one text — Soji Shimada's 'Murder in the Crooked House' — was more intellectually rewarding than she initially assumed.

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