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May 02, 2024
 

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Mark Schilling
For Mark Schilling's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 23, 2023
‘Red Shoes’: Boxing tearjerker makes for a lightweight entry
Toshiro Saiga’s drama geared toward a mainstream audience tugs at the heartstrings but doesn’t deliver an emotional punch in the way of Sho Miyake’s “Small, Slow but Steady.”
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 16, 2023
'Yudo': A heartwarming ode to a good, old-fashioned soak
Masayuki Suzuki’s film pays tribute to the neighborhood public bath with a rush of nostalgia and feel-good laughs.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 9, 2023
‘Egoist’: Layered LGBTQ drama offers bittersweet romance
Through Daishi Matsunaga's intimate direction, Ryohei Suzuki delivers a committed performance as a gay magazine editor who falls in love with his financially struggling personal trainer.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 2, 2023
'Baian the Assassin M.D.': Lead actor brings gravitas to killer role
While Etsushi Toyokawa portrays the film's murderous hero with nuance and depth, the period drama's storyline creaks with age.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 27, 2023
Japanese films set to dominate cinemas in 2023
Toei looks to challenge Toho's box-office supremacy with blockbuster hopefuls, while anime maestro Hayao Miyazaki and film auteur Hirokazu Kore-eda are set to unveil new features this year.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 26, 2023
‘The Legend & Butterfly’: A political romance gets a fresh spin
Haruka Ayase dominates the screen as the wife of Oda Nobunaga in a heavily fictionalized telling of the couple's relationship amid the warlord's quest to unify Japan.
Japan Times
Film / Reviews
Jan 19, 2023
‘Natchan's Little Secret': Outdated comedy runs out of gas
Yasujiro Tanaka’s comedy about three drag queens who hit the road for a friend’s funeral feels like a throwback to old-school TV shows with over-the-top portrayals of gay characters.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 12, 2023
‘Trapped Balloon’: Grief-stricken characters rise above cliched plot
Though the storyline offers few surprises, Toko Miura and Masahiro Higashide give layered and raw performances as two islanders grappling with loss in Hiroyuki Miyagawa's drama.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 5, 2023
‘We Make Antiques! Osaka Dreams’: Con-men hijinks bring on laughs
The third installment in the “We Make Antiques!” series may not steal many new hearts, but Kiichi Nakai and Kuranosuke Sasaki provide enough laughs to keep the capers going.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 22, 2022
‘I Am What I Am’: Knights in shining armor need not apply
Toko Miura takes on her first starring role in Shinya Tamada's drama that pushes back on rom-com conventions and focuses on a woman who seeks out independence rather than a romantic partner.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / 2022 in Review
Dec 16, 2022
Marginalized voices in film spoke louder in 2022
While Ryusuke Hamaguchi's 'Drive My Car' and Chie Hayakawa's 'Plan 75' received wide acclaim at home and abroad, the Japanese film industry took stock of a sobering reality.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 15, 2022
‘Small, Slow but Steady’: An exploration of human fragility
The focus of Sho Miyake's drama is less on blood-flecked pugilism and more on outside-the-ring drama, including the protagonist's struggle with her own reasons for fighting.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 8, 2022
‘Dr. Coto's Clinic 2022’: Heartwarming drama offers predictable prognosis
Much of the original cast from Fuji TV's 2003 drama “Dr. Koto's Clinic” return for this feature film about the highs and lows of life as an island physician.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 1, 2022
‘Phases of the Moon’: A thoughtful yet unconvincing tale of rebirth
Ryuichi Hiroki's melodrama about reincarnation adeptly navigates multiple timelines with a sensitive touch while revealing unspoken Japanese beliefs.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 25, 2022
Kah Wai Lim's ode to Japanese mini-theaters gets meta
The director's new film, 'Your Lovely Smile,' is a love letter to indie cinema that doubles as a plea for help to keep struggling theaters open.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 24, 2022
‘She Is Me, I Am Her’: A masterful portrayal of pandemic life
Actor Nahana delivers powerful performances as four different characters in Mayu Nakamura's omnibus film about the loneliness of the pandemic.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 17, 2022
‘A Man’: A searing study of Japan’s prejudices
Kei Ishikawa's piercing drama unravels the mystery of a man's decisions to leave his past behind while laying out society's intolerance of “outsiders.”
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 10, 2022
'2 Women': Shinobu Terajima shines as celebrated novelist
The actress gives a luminous performance as a fictional version of Jakucho Setouchi, an author turned Buddhist nun, in Ryuichi Hiroki's biopic.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 3, 2022
‘Your Lovely Smile’: A sincere tribute to indie cinemas
In Kah Wai Lim's drama about a struggling director who wanders around Japan pitching his films to independent theaters, Hirobumi Watanabe plays a version of himself with heart and humor.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 27, 2022
‘Whisper of the Heart’: First love story is sweet but shallow
Yuichiro Hirakawa's live-action adaptation of a manga by Aoi Hiiragi predictably pulls at heartstrings, but doesn't measure up to the classic anime version released in 1995.
'So hot you can't breathe': Extreme heat hits the Philippines
A pedestrian cools himself with a folding hand fan as he waits for a ride along a road in Manila on Wednesday, as extreme heat hit the Philippines.
Did Japan intervene to prop up the yen? Analysts think it did.
A man walks past an electronic board displaying the exchange rate for the yen against the U.S. dollar (right) in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Town to block view of Mount Fuji in response to overtourism
The town government of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to set up a 2.5-meter-high screen to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji looming behind a convenience store.
Number of vacant homes in Japan hits record high of 9 million
A vacant house in Tokyo is seen demolished in January 2020.
Weak yen fattens tourist wallets in Japan
People visit the Ameya Yokocho market in Tokyo's Ueno district during the Golden Week holiday on Tuesday.
Kishida sets sights on energy and climate in South America trip
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will use a policy speech in Sao Paulo to set out his vision for ties between Japan and South America, almost 10 years after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe advocated for stronger ties between the two in the same city.
Yellow sand allergy: A health issue made worse by climate change
A screenshot of the Meteorological Agency's satellite image of clouds and yellow sand (in pink) on Sunday.
Climate change, chalky grains and the risks for Japan’s rice farmers
A farmer plants seedlings in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture. Japan’s self sufficiency rate for rice is nearly 100%, compared with 38% for food overall, on a calorie basis.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
Theaster Gates’ ambitious ‘Afro-Mingei’ brings Black Chicago to Tokyo
Theaster Gates' “A Heavenly Chord” lines up church pews before seven speakers and a Hammond B3 organ, a type of electric organ prevalent in Black American churches.

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

When trying to trace your lineage in Japan, the "koseki" is the most important form of document you'll encounter.
Climbing the branches of a Japanese family tree
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Vol. 35: Travel in time — and stay there
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