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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
May 31, 2013
'Oldboy' director casts dark shadow on Hollywood
“Stoker,” a film so rich and chocolatey with nuance and innuendo you could eat it with a spoon, is, amazingly, directed by a filmmaker who doesn't speak English.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 31, 2013
'Stoker'
Meet the Stoker family: wealthy, well-bred and seemingly isolated from the world. Mom Evie (Nicole Kidman) seems to have nothing more to do than weave elegantly around the house with a drink in her hand, looking fabulous. Dad Richard (Dermot Mulroney) is an architect who got his Ph.D at the age of 24....
CULTURE / Film
May 31, 2013
'Here Comes the Boom' (Japan title: Tokon Sensei)
Director: Frank Coraci
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 31, 2013
'Maniac'
Elijah Wood, best known for his work in the "Lord of the Rings" series and for having been around since babyhood, is perhaps looking to branch out as an actor. That would explain "Maniac," a remake of the 1980 slasher movie recognized among horror fans as the precursor to "The Silence of the Lambs."...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 24, 2013
'The Place Beyond the Pines'
Though religion is never an issue, the sins of the fathers is a theme that reverberates with biblical overtones in "The Place Beyond the Pines." After his intense examination of a marriage gone sour in "Blue Valentine," director/writer Derek Cianfrance teams up once again with actor Ryan Gosling...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 24, 2013
'Celeste and Jesse Forever'
You don't know what you've got until it's gone. This banal platitude is the essence of "Celeste and Jesse Forever," a romcom that recalls those heartwarmin,' chick-pleasin' love stories of the 1990s and early 2000s.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 24, 2013
'The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 2'
Director: Bill Condon
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 17, 2013
'Bill Cunningham New York'
Bill Cunningham is one of the long-revered icons of The New York Times: If you are incredibly lucky, you may catch a glimpse of his blue-jacketed figure walking through the doors of the Times building on Eighth Avenue, camera bag slung around his shoulder, his jaunty step belying his 84 years.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 17, 2013
'In Their Skin (Japan title: Replica)'
Director: Jeremy Power Regimbal
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
May 13, 2013
It ain't easy being a bilingual girl
This bilingual thing ... they say that it's a both curse and a blessing. Watakushigotode kyōshukudesuga (私事で恐縮ですが, A thousand pardons for having the gall to talk about myself), but I think of it more like a stigma. It's not the same for millenials — they were born and raised in a kinder...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 10, 2013
'God Save My Shoes'
The Why is missing from the How in "God Save My Shoes," a documentary focusing on the female obsession for footwear. But the package is still a treat — if we can't afford to buy 300 pairs of sculpted beauties, the next best thing is to salivate over footage of other women throwing open their shoes...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 10, 2013
'Eames: The Architect and the Painter'
Produced by Jason Cohn and Bill Jersey (there is no director credit), documentary "Eames: The Architect and the Painter" examines Charles and Ray Eames, one of the 20th century's most enduring and influential couples in industrial design. They were eccentric, too: In the film, a colleague of the Eames'...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 10, 2013
'Taken 2 (Japan title: 96 Jikan Revenge)'
Director: Olivier Megaton
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 3, 2013
'Gangster Squad'
You know the drill," says L.A. gang lord Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) to his henchmen, and they immediately pick up actual drills and get to work on their victims. The screen gets sprayed with enough blood to relieve a drought. So if Mickey Cohen says "Hammer it out," are those henchmen going to get hammers...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 3, 2013
'Ruby Sparks'
Directors: Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 26, 2013
Murakami's 'Jellyfish Eyes' blends kawaii and creepy into a postquake critique
In the West he's been referred to as 'the other Murakami.' To those in Japan, the difference is so prominent that very few would ever confuse artist-cum-filmmaker Takashi Murakami with novelist Haruki Murakami.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 26, 2013
Gondry's bus proves a great vehicle for teen drama
Franu00e7ois Truffaut once said that the most important quality for a filmmaker is to retain his inner child. In that sense, Michel Gondry fits the bill almost to a fault.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 26, 2013
'The We and the I'
Being a teenager in America must be more delightful than being a teenager in Pakistan, right? But as "The We and the I" demonstrates with much insight and jarring eloquence, the American teen deal comes with its own pain. No, really. Handcrafted with loving care by French director Michel Gondry, "The...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 26, 2013
'The Last Stand'
They just don't make movies like "The Last Stand" anymore: so bad that bad becomes the new normal. Directed by Korea's Kim Jee Woon ("The Good, the Bad and the Weird"), this resurrects the "Governator" aka Arnold Schwarzenegger, in his first lead role in over a decade. He plays Sheriff Ray Owens, the...
CULTURE / Film
Apr 26, 2013
'The Mule (Border Run)'
Director: Gabriela Tagliavini
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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