By Mark Schilling

For By Mark Schilling's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:

‘Sado Tenpesuto’

Feb 15, 2013

‘Sado Tenpesuto’

Beginning with 2001′s “Ichiban Utsukushi Natsu (Firefly Dreams),” a Yasujiro Ozu-esque drama about a friendship that develops between a rebellious teenage girl and an elderly former actress in the countryside, John Williams has been directing films in Japan with Japanese talent that do not ...

‘Kiiroi Zo’

Feb 8, 2013

‘Kiiroi Zo’

Ryuichi Hiroki has become the go-to director for romantic dramas that quality-wise are a cut above the local formula weepers whose starred-crossed lovers are parted by a slow, beautiful death (though Hiroki’s couples are hardly immune to life’s vicissitudes). At the same time, his ...