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CULTURE

Film

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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.

Ryuya Wakaba plays a man determined to kill the person who murdered his girlfriend, only to find he’s stuck reliving the same day over and over with his foe still alive in “Penalty Loop.”

CULTURE / Film

Mar 28, 2024

‘Penalty Loop’: Murder on repeat loses meaning

By Mark Schilling

Shinji Araki’s dark comedy about two antagonists stuck in a time loop is intriguing, but lacks logic and satisfying answers.

Directed and co-written by Sunao Katabuchi, animated film “In This Corner of the World” depicts the beauty of nature and the horrors of war with equal potency.

CULTURE / Film

Mar 27, 2024

Films that give the Japanese perspective of the atomic bomb

By Marigold Warner

Movies about the nation's darkest days — in genres such as dramas, fantasies and anime — offer another side to Christopher Nolan's 'Oppenheimer' story.

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

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

Prize winner Maki Imoto catches light with glass

Prize winner Maki Imoto catches light with glass

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