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April 19, 2024
 

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CULTURE

Film

Film
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“Beyond the Fog” depicts the struggles of a family-run inn through the eyes of the proprietor’s 12-year-old daughter (Shuri Miyake, right, with Asami Mizukawa).
CULTURE / Film
‘Beyond the Fog’: Evocative mood piece leaves a dreamy impression
Daichi Murase’s understated drama about a dying community in rural Nara Prefecture benefits from Takeshi Dodo’s beautiful cinematography.
CULTURE / Film
'Tatsumi’: Gang life drama goes for violence overkill
Hiroshi Shoji’s blood-soaked feature presents a sympathetic and layered protagonist fighting to make amends.
CULTURE / Film
‘Ripples of Physis’ marvels at patterns in nature
Ayako Mogi’s winding yet engrossing visual essay probes humanity’s urge to perceive order in the natural world.
Discomfort and life lessons ensue after a 60-something-year-old man (Shofukutei Tsurube, center) marries a much younger woman (Ayami Nakajo, left) while living with his 39-year-old daughter (Noriko Eguchi) in “Amalock.”
CULTURE / Film
Apr 11, 2024
‘Amalock’: Family comedy plays questionable age gap for laughs
By Mark Schilling
Noriko Eguchi delivers a relatable performance as a woman who is disconcerted by her father’s marriage in Kazuhiro Nakamura’s film.
Renegade director Koji Wakamatsu (Arata Iura, right) heads to Nagoya in the early 1980s to open his own cinema in “Hijacked Youth Dare to Stop Us 2.”
CULTURE / Film
Apr 4, 2024
‘Hijacked Youth Dare to Stop Us 2’ captures origins of indie theater boom
By James Hadfield
Junji Inoue’s semi-autobiographical film is a love letter to independent cinemas — and their fans.
Abe no Seimei (Kento Yamazaki), an apprentice at a school of mystic arts, gets wrapped up in a murder investigation in “The Yin Yang Master Zero.”
CULTURE / Film
Apr 4, 2024
‘The Yin Yang Master Zero’: Imaginative action film casts a dazzling spell
By Mark Schilling
Shimako Sato’s VFX-heavy, big-budget fantasy about practitioners of mystic arts goes beyond the genre standard.
Both Godzilla and Kong have a rich screen history to draw on, but “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” feels like a desperate attempt for the crossover franchise to justify both its existence and its continuation.
CULTURE / Film
Apr 4, 2024
‘Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire’: Running out of steam
By Alissa Wilkinson
The latest in the Warner Bros. Monsterverse franchise shows signs of an anemic imagination.
A poster for "Oppenheimer" is displayed at a theater in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward on Friday. The film's Japan debut came eight months after its global release.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 29, 2024
'Oppenheimer' opens in Japan eight months after global release
By Kathleen Benoza
Japan screenings were delayed as the worldwide premiere was only weeks before the anniversary of the 1945 bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Joel Vaudreuil's "When Adam Changes" won the grand prix at this year's Niigata International Animation Film Festival, the largest festival devoted to feature-length animation in Asia.
CULTURE / Film / CULTURE SMASH
Mar 28, 2024
Niigata film festival showcases cutting-edge overseas talent
By Roland Kelts
The six-day event dedicated to feature-length animation presented a lineup of stories that were psychologically rich and emotionally dark.
Takeru Satoh (right) and Masami Nagasawa play an engaged couple whose relationship is put to the test by memories of an earlier romance in Tomokazu Yamada’s “April, Come She Will.”
CULTURE / Film
Mar 28, 2024
‘April, Come She Will’ promises more than it delivers
By James Hadfield
Tomokazu Yamada’s ruminative romantic drama sets out to interrogate love story cliches, but ends up succumbing to them.

No link to Nankai Trough quake seen after temblor in Shikoku
Satoshi Harada from the Meteorological Agency explains about the magnitude 6.6 earthquake during a news conference early Thursday.
Thousands evacuated as Indonesia volcano erupts
Indonesia's Mount Ruang spews hot lava and smoke as seen from Sitaro, North Sulawesi, on Wednesday.
Why hasn't Japan moved to prop up the weak yen?
Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Snake on a train: Discovery of serpent delays Tokyo-Nagoya shinkansen
A Tokaido shinkansen. It is unclear whether the snake was venomous or how it ended up on the train, and there was no injury or panic among passengers.
Sex differences could be key to the successful treatment of long COVID
A new study has found that women with long COVID had significantly lower levels of testosterone compared to those who had recovered from their infection.
'House of the Owl' brings Hollywood values to Japanese TV
In the new Disney+ series “House of the Owl,” Min Tanaka (left) plays a powerful political fixer, or “kuromaku,” who has a troubled relationship with his adult children, particularly his idealistic son, played by Mackenyu.
Benefits and risks: AUKUS looks to take gamble on Japan
U.S. President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and British leader Rishi Sunak deliver remarks on the AUKUS partnership, after a trilateral meeting, at Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego in March last year.
Kyoto’s demon night parade lives to haunt another day
In a Kyoto long past, the "hyakki yagyō" (100 demon night parade) haunted a sleepy corner of Kyoto. Now, one enterprising monster enthusiast has won a small batttle to keep the march alive.
U.S. deploys midrange missile system in Indo-Pacific for first time
A U.S. Army Mid-Range Capability (MRC) Launcher arrives as part of the capability’s first deployment into theater on Northern Luzon, Philippines, April 8.
Unpacking the chaotic by-election in a scandal-hit Tokyo district
People listen to a campaign speech in Tokyo's Koto Ward on Tuesday.

Podcast

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.
[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Longform

Historically, kabuki was considered the entertainment of the merchant and peasant classes, a far cry from how it is regarded today.
For Japan's oldest kabuki theater, the show must go on
By Lance Henderstein

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Vol. 34: Tokyo, a vanguard city for sustainability
Vol. 34: Tokyo, a vanguard city for sustainability

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