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May 17, 2024
 

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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.
For Kaori Shoji's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jun 18, 2018
Why do the Japanese suck at learning English?
It's been said time and again: 日本人は英語がダメ (Nihonjin wa Eigo ga dame, The Japanese are terrible at English).
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
May 21, 2018
To know Japan, its people and its story, know its grub
Food in Japan is hardwired to emotion, personal identity and memory in a way that is often baffling to Westerners.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 16, 2018
Hyoe Yamamoto dives into Japan's culture of corporate corruption in 'Samurai and Idiots: The Olympus Affair'
Speaking as a Japanese person, it's a bit disheartening to see the words "samurai" and "idiot" in the same sentence. Filmmaker Hyoe Yamamoto's documentary "Samurai and Idiots: The Olympus Affair" not only pairs the two, it shows the lack of logic and wisdom behind the so-called samurai spirit that many...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN?
May 5, 2018
From Chiba to LA, and acting to filmmaking
Director/scriptwriter Atsuko Hirayanagi's film 'Oh Lucy!' reflects some of her own opinions on cultural divide.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 23, 2018
What would you pay to live in Minato Ward?
It was in 2001 when my friend, Chikako Sakamoto, paid ¥9.8 million for a six-tatami-mat apartment in Tokyo's central Minato Ward. The apartment was inside a 長期滞在者用 (chōki taizaisha-yō, long term resident's) wing of an old hotel in Roppongi, with a very low ceiling and no kitchen. Chikako...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Mar 31, 2018
Japan's companies are beginning to rethink paternity leave policies
When it comes to child care in Japan, women typically take on the lion’s share of the workload. Men, by comparison, are generally too exhausted after work to help out in any way.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 26, 2018
Japanese women find strength in Me Too
The Me Too movement has arrived in Japan at last, and more Japanese women are opening up about issues surrounding sexual harassment.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 6, 2018
Aisling Walsh paints a cinematic ode to an artist in 'Maudie'
Filmmaker Aisling Walsh is not a native Canadian — she's a Dubliner who has pursued most of her career in England. But Walsh fell in love with Nova Scotia after learning about Maud Lewis (1903-70), the beloved folk artist who spent her life in and around the province's southern town of Digby.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Mar 2, 2018
The surfing life is no breeze for Olympic hopefuls in Chiba Prefecture
Sixty years since its introduction to the country, Japan will host the world's first Olympic surfing competion. But where did Japan's surf scene begin?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN?
Feb 24, 2018
Filmmaker Kazuhiro Soda doesn't underestimate the power of observation
In late 1992, Kazuhiro Soda was attending a "company information session" in Tokyo, where young students about to graduate from university were introduced to various companies as prospective recruits.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Feb 12, 2018
A salaryman is left blinking in the dust left by the #MeToo charge
One Japanese salaryman laments the changes the #MeToo movement has had on relationships between men and women in his workplace.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Feb 10, 2018
Gift-giving etiquette in Japan is driving some recipients crazy
With spring looming, perhaps it’s time to re-think the national obsession with seasonal gifts and souvenirs.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language
Jan 29, 2018
In dog-loving Japan, a year for the mutts among us to make our marks
Canine-lovers have plenty to celebrate, what with this year being Inu-doshi, the Year of the Dog).
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 25, 2018
Reflecting on 20 years of female roles in 'The Ring'
In Japan, the "lord of the rings" is female, dressed in white with long black hair. The girl's name is Sadako, an evil ghost child who first appeared in Koji Suzuki's 1991 horror novel "The Ring" and went on to lead one of the biggest horror franchises of all time.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 24, 2018
Filmmaker Kwak Jae-Yong finds wild Hokkaido ripe for melodrama in 'Colors of Wind'
After making films in Japanese and Chinese, South Korean director returns to these isles for 'Kazo no Iro.'
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 10, 2018
Zen and the art of documentary film
It's the second day of the new year and unseasonably warm outside Pole-Pole Higashi-Nakano, one of Tokyo's few remaining art-house theaters. Husband-and-wife filmmakers Werner Penzel and Ayako Mogi take a seat in the morning sun, taking off their coats while marveling at the weather.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 10, 2018
'Love Disease': Online dating can be a brutal game
True crime cinema has always been an easy sell in Japan, with some titles becoming instant classics. Shohei Imamura's "Vengeance is Mine" ("Fukushu Suru wa Ware ni Ari," 1979) is acknowledged as the pioneer of that genre. Based on a real-life serial killer case from the 1960s, it combined flashy murder...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Jan 4, 2018
The tenacious trio set to rule Japanese cinema in 2018
Most of the actors I'm looking forward to seeing on screen in 2018 have only managed to make waves in the Japanese entertainment industry fairly recently, which, of course, just adds to the buzz they're likely to see this year.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Dec 30, 2017
Debate grows over the plight of foreign staff at convenience stores in Japan
Launched in 1993, Japan's Technical Internship Training Program for foreign nationals hasn't had the best reputation. The program was created to help visitors from developing nations live and work in Japan for as long as three years under the protective umbrella of Japan's labor laws.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Dec 25, 2017
The year-end flurry of mops and madness
Oh no, it's 'osoji' season!
Japanese stripper bids to have her porn movies taken off internet
Plaintiff Miyuki Ariga (left) speaks at a news conference along with her lawyer, Yoshitomo Morohashi, after filing a lawsuit at the Tokyo District Court on Monday.
Kishida defends planned rule to revoke foreigners' residency
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a meeting of the Lower House Judicial Affairs Committee on Wednesday.
Human bone-like objects found at Nippon Steel plant’s molten iron pot, with one worker missing
Police believe it’s highly possible that human bones found in a molten iron pot at Nippon Steel's Oita factory belong to a missing male employee.
Was Onosato's defeat of Terunofuji an era-defining bout?
Onosato (right) defeats Terunofuji at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo on May 12. While nothing in sumo is guaranteed, it seems almost inevitable that Onosato is destined for the top of the sport's pyramid.
Japan to review romanization system for first time in 70 years
An advisory panel to the education ministry will consider how the Japanese language should be transcribed into the Latin alphabet, including unifying different romanization styles currently in use.
Japanese rap creates its mecca in Pop Yours
Tokyo-based artist Jumadiba says he forgoes the label of simply “rap” for his music because the Japanese rap scene isn’t confined to a particular sound.
Who’s toughest on China? Biden’s tariff tactic ups ante as election looms.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks about new actions to protect American workers and businesses from China's "unfair" trade practices, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington on Tuesday.
Was Onosato's defeat of Terunofuji an era-defining bout?
Onosato (right) defeats Terunofuji at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo on May 12. While nothing in sumo is guaranteed, it seems almost inevitable that Onosato is destined for the top of the sport's pyramid.
Ishin struggles to set itself apart from other parties
Nippon Ishin no Kai Secretary-General Fumitake Fujita (right) speaks beside Yui Kanazawa, the party's candidate in the Tokyo 15th district by-election on April 28. Nippon Ishin lost in this by-election as well as another in Nagasaki held on the same day.
In Japan, 68,000 people over 65 projected to die alone at home this year
As Japan grapples with its population's rapid aging, supporting people who live and age alone is looming larger on the policy agenda.

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

Things may look perfect to the outside world, but today's mom is fine with some imperfection at home.
How 'Reiwa moms' are reshaping motherhood in Japan
By Mai Yoshikawa

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Vol. 35: Travel in time — and stay there
Vol. 35: Travel in time — and stay there

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