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November 04, 2025
 

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Kaori Shoji
Kaori Shoji writes about movies and movie-makers for the Film Page, plus takes a turn at the Bilingual Column. Biggest mistake of her career: taking the very dignified Nagisa Oshima to McDonald's for an iced coffee.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 12, 2013
'La Migliore Offerta'
"La Migliore Offerta" ("The Best Offer") was a showcase piece at Tokyo International Film Festival, and as such it's a bit showy. But with Giuseppe Tornatore (of "Cinema Paradiso") at the helm and starring Geoffrey Rush (whose roles include the Marquis de Sade and King George's vocal coach), a dose of...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 12, 2013
'Man of Steel'
Director: Zack Snyder
CULTURE / Film
Dec 5, 2013
'Good Ol' Freda'
In 1961 Freda Kelly was 16, working in an office in downtown Liverpool. One day, her boss invited her to lunch at The Cavern Club, a venue famed for showcasing local talent, and among them was an enormously popular young band called The Beatles.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 5, 2013
'Xue Di Zi'
During the Qing Dynasty, the Yongzheng Emperor was so suspicious of his courtiers and paranoid about dissenters that he established a secret squad that went about with portable guillotines — bladed wheels that could decapitate an opponent instantly. "Xue Di Zi" (released in the West as "The Guillotines")...
CULTURE / Film
Dec 5, 2013
'The Berlin File'
Director: Ryoo Seung-wan
Japan Times
CULTURE
Dec 3, 2013
Well, she was just 17: How one girl got her dream job with The Beatles
Few people can claim to have spent the whole of their youth with The Beatles, and fewer still would have come out of the experience unscathed. Freda Kelly — who was 17 when she first laid eyes on the Fab Four at the now-legendary Cavern Club in Liverpool, is one of those people, perhaps the only one....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 28, 2013
'Liv & Ingmar'
Like Icarus, who flew too close to the sun, some actresses can get too close to their directors and go up in flames. This was certainly the case with Liv Ullmann (she was born in Tokyo, by the way), who met Ingmar Bergman in the mid 1960s on the set of "Persona." Bibi Anderson was the lead — at the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 28, 2013
'The Call'
Halle Berry has one of the sharpest, most distinctive haircuts in Hollywood, but in her latest, "The Call," she has no-nonsense, low-maintenance do that serves her character Jordan Turner well. Jordan is a 911 operator whose job requires dealing with dire emergencies around the clock. No time to fool...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 28, 2013
'After Earth'
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 21, 2013
'Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry'
Ai Weiwei is a controversial troublemaker in his homeland of China, but his reputation abroad is that of a brilliant dissident artist. His latest protest against the government was a gesture: Unable to leave the country, Ai sent an empty chair to the Stockholm Film Festival in lieu of his imposing presence....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 21, 2013
Who says you're lonely just because you're alone?
When "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" was published in 1999, some schools in the United States banned it from their libraries and reading lists for its depictions of graphic sexual scenes, drugs, homosexuality and teen pregnancy — the usual suspects. Of course, this only increased its street cred....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 21, 2013
'The Perks of Being a Wallflower'
It's not often you run into a film that makes you feel 16 years old again — and kinda good about it. An ode to the awkward years (or to the people who went through them) when each day was a nerve-racking ordeal involving high school hierarchies, "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" softly takes your hand...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 21, 2013
'The Last Stand'
Director: Kim Jee-woon
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Nov 17, 2013
We're not dating because we are too busy running
They say that the Japanese are no longer dating and everyone has become celibate (even The Observer newspaper had an article about that very subject.) The more popular term among us is "sexless." I hate to be the bearer of more bad tidings but it's actually true.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 14, 2013
'Stand Up Guys'
Picture a mobster in prison for 28 years, and then finally out on parole in the twilight years of his life. What's the first thing he'd want to do? In the case of Val (Al Pacino), it's "food, sex and drugs," not necessarily in that order. Fortunately, his best friend in the world, Doc (Christopher Walken),...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 14, 2013
'Lagerfeld Confidential (Japan title: Karl Lagerfeld: Fashion wo Tsukuru Otoko)'
Karl Lagerfeld's digs are gorgeous. Rodolphe Marconi's award-winning documentary "Lagerfeld Confidential" lingers on details in the top fashion designer's resplendent Paris apartment (a movie in itself), which is more art-installation sprawl of everything beautiful than an actual place to live.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 14, 2013
'Hunted Vol. 2 (Tsutaya exclusive)'
Language: English
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 7, 2013
'Everyday'
Michael Winterbottom doesn't have a signature style, nor even a favorite topic. His films can range from a close observation of a lesbian relationship in "Butterfly Kiss" to a slice off the Bosnian War in "Welcome to Sarajevo" to the sublime sci-fi antics of "Code 46." If there's a commonality to these,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 7, 2013
'The Iceman'
Michael Shannon plays real-life contract killer Richard Kuklinski in this crime drama/thriller. Known as "Iceman" or "Ice," Kuklinski allegedly committed hundreds of murders from the late 1940s until he was caught in 1986, many of them for the Mafia. Kuklinski gave numerous interviews out of his cell,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 7, 2013
'Los Ultimos Dias (The Last Days)'
Directors: David and Alex Pastor
The unstoppable rise of konbini tourism
Guests typically follow Ryo Ito’s lead as he weaves through the narrow, colorful aisles of convenience stores.
More Japanese universities pushing toward teaching in English
Waseda University in Tokyo
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.
Trump would make U.S. Supreme Court history by attending tariffs case
There is no record in the U.S. Supreme Court’s 235-year history of a sitting president ever attending arguments, according to Clare Cushman, director of publications and resident historian at the Supreme Court Historical Society.
Dodgers clinch back-to-back World Series titles as Blue Jays downed in thriller
Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto and teammates celebrate after winning the World Series against the Blue Jays. Yamamoto was named MVP for the series.
How airlines are refining their in-flight food in Japan's tourism boom
All Nippon Airways' gourmet program, The Connoisseurs, showcases the Japanese concept of "shun" (peak season for ingredients), giving passengers a preview of the refined cuisine that awaits them in Japan.
The unstoppable rise of konbini tourism
Guests typically follow Ryo Ito’s lead as he weaves through the narrow, colorful aisles of convenience stores.
Anime isn’t competing with Hollywood — it’s beating it
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.
Oasis returns to Japan after 16 years — and fans can still sing every word
Liam Gallagher commanded the stage with effortless charisma during Oasis' Tokyo Dome set on Saturday.
At Japan Mobility Show, BYD gears up to conquer Japan's EV market
BYD Auto Japan President Atsuki Tofukuji unveils the Racco at the Japan Mobility Show in Tokyo on Wednesday.

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

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

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