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November 06, 2025
 

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CULTURE

Film

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A happy-go-lucky guy with many obsessions (voiced by Masaya Sano) becomes intensely interested in a young woman named Pechka (Moka Kamishiraishi) in “The Obsessed.”
CULTURE / Film
‘The Obsessed’: Charming anime dances to its own tune
"Crayon Shin-chan" director turns a 2001 novel into a quirky, rough-edged musical anime.
CULTURE / Film
‘Two Seasons, Two Strangers’ captures the subtle sadness of Yoshiharu Tsuge’s manga
Director Sho Miyake transforms two of the cult manga artist’s stories into a poetic film that’s hard to forget.
CULTURE / Film
Across borders and screens, Tokyo film festival finds humanity in migration
Five films screened at this year’s TIFF put migration and its human impact front and center.
After its July release, “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba — Infinity Castle,” an animated feature adapted directly from a TV arc, became the highest-grossing Japanese film ever.
CULTURE / Film
Oct 31, 2025
Anime isn’t competing with Hollywood — it’s beating it
By Alicia Haddick
Once a niche passion, anime has become a global obsession. “Demon Slayer” lit the fuse. “Chainsaw Man” just proved it’s unstoppable.
Ikken Yamamoto plays a shell-shocked Self-Defense Force veteran whose past comes back to haunt him in “Flames of a Flower.”
CULTURE / Film
Oct 29, 2025
‘Flames of a Flower’: A bold interrogation of Japan’s pacifist identity
By James Hadfield
Oudai Kojima’s PTSD drama turned politically charged thriller takes aim at Japan’s postwar contradictions.
Koto Nagata’s “Baka’s Identity” follows three men (from left: Yuta Hayashi, Takumi Kitamura and Go Ayano) in Japan’s fake ID trade, bound by crime and brotherhood.
CULTURE / Film
Oct 29, 2025
‘Baka's Identity’ exposes an underworld of stolen names and lost souls
By Mark Schilling
In Koto Nagata’s thriller, Japan’s vulnerable youth on society’s margins risk everything — even who they are.
In “Climbing for Life,” Sayuri Yoshinaga (right) portrays Junko Tabei, the first woman to summit Mount Everest, alongside Yuki Amami as the journalist who covered the expedition.
CULTURE / Film
Oct 23, 2025
‘Climbing for Life’ doesn’t break new ground, but knows its footing
By James Hadfield
Sayuri Yoshinaga brings quiet strength to the biopic about the first woman to summit Mount Everest — even when the film itself plays it safe.
Yukari (Hana Sugisaki, right) is brought out of her shell by a beautiful hostess (Kotona Minami) in “Meets the World.”
CULTURE / Film
Oct 23, 2025
‘Meets the World’: A tragicomic hunger for connection
By Mark Schilling
Between grilled meat and gay manga, Daigo Matsui’s latest is a darkly funny tale of friendship, fantasy and female loneliness.
Jessie Buckley attends the premiere of "Hamnet" at the London Film Festival on Oct. 11.
CULTURE / Film
Oct 17, 2025
Oscar-buzzy 'Hamnet' changed me, actress Jessie Buckley says
By Hanna Rantala
Chloe Zhao’s “Hamnet” reimagines Shakespeare’s family life, with Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal exploring love, loss and artistic rebirth.
A hitman (Ryuhei Matsuda, left) and a spiritual ascetic (Yosuke Kubozuka, right) go to infinity and beyond in “Transcending Dimensions.”
CULTURE / Film
Oct 16, 2025
‘Transcending Dimensions’: A wild trip to enlightenment
By James Hadfield
Toshiaki Toyoda’s latest feature is a spiritual odyssey with punk energy and cosmic chaos.

The second life of Japan's net cafes
Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
More Japanese universities pushing toward teaching in English
Waseda University in Tokyo
Takaichi leads first ministerial meeting on policies regarding foreign residents
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi attends a ministerial meeting on policies regarding foreign nationals and immigration on Tuesday at the Prime Minister's Office.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 slumps 4%, led by losses in tech sector
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei stock average index briefly tumbled more than 2,000 points on Wednesday morning following a downbeat session on Wall Street fueled by fears of a bubble in the artificial intelligence sector.
A narrow Pacific waterway at heart of U.S. plans to choke China’s vast navy
Philippine and Australian troops fire an M777 howitzer during live fire exercises as part of joint military drills in Laur, Nueva Ecija, the Philippines, in August.
Takaichi’s balancing act: Supporting Taiwan and stabilizing China ties
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi shakes hands with Lin Hsin-i, Taiwan’s presidential adviser, on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit meeting in Gyeongju, South Korea, on Saturday in this image posted to Takaichi's official X account.
From 1973 to 2025: A Japanese American skater’s long ride to recognition
Judi Oyama at Winchester Skatepark in San Jose, California, in January 1979. The Skateboarding Hall of Fame inductee and Guinness World Record holder still skates and hopes to inspire older women.
More Japanese universities pushing toward teaching in English
Waseda University in Tokyo
Young Indonesians in Japan find their political voice
Indonesian students at Hiroshima University hold posters of the 17+8 Demands, demanding transparency and action from their homeland’s government.
The unstoppable rise of konbini tourism
Guests typically follow Ryo Ito’s lead as he weaves through the narrow, colorful aisles of convenience stores.

Podcast

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

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes
By Alex K.T. Martin

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Foreign wrestlers have a long history in sumo

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