author

 
 

Meta

James Hadfield
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 17, 2018
'It's Boring Here, Pick Me Up': A rural road movie with no destination
What passes for countryside in Japan is often a vast sprawl of low-rise development: chain restaurants, big-box stores, gas stations and pachinko parlors. While there's no shortage of films that have tried to capture the ennui of life in such areas, the results are often as uninspiring as the locations...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 10, 2018
'The Chaplain': Ren Osugi shines as a clergyman working on death row
The sudden death of Ren Osugi last February robbed Japanese cinema of one of its most dependable actors. That loss is rendered all the more acute by "The Chaplain," Osugi's final screen role, and his debut as producer. It's the kind of serious, intelligent drama that might struggle to get made without...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 2, 2018
'Music progresses when people make mistakes': Foodman favors taking risks on new album
Last month, the return of Ultra Japan to Tokyo provoked the usual eye-rolls with its parade of EDM superstars gallivanting onstage to obviously pre-recorded sets. But trust Takahide Higuchi — the Nagoya-based producer better known as Shokuhin Matsuri aka Foodman — to see the funny side.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 26, 2018
'Cafe Funiculi Funicula': Extra spoonfuls of sentimentality make this flick hard to swallow
An old-fashioned coffee house serves up a dash of mystery and a great dollop of sentiment in Ayuko Tsukahara's "Cafe Funiculi Funicula." Based on a pair of best-selling novels by playwright-turned-author Toshikazu Kawaguchi, this aggressively tear-jerky paean to life, death and past regrets plays like...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 25, 2018
Electronic artist Tim Hecker delves into ancient Japanese court music and negative space on 'Konoyo'
For the first decade of his career, the Canadian composer and sound artist Tim Hecker specialized in transmuting digital audio into thick miasmas of sound that combined orchestral richness with the sensory assault of noise music. But after reaching an apotheosis — and his largest audience to date —...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 19, 2018
In defense of difference: Hikaru Toda's 'Of Love & Law' showcases the efforts of two lawyers fighting discrimination in Japan
For all its many attractions as a place to live, Japan can be unforgiving for anyone who's perceived as different.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 12, 2018
'Come On Irene': You can't buy love ... or a decent protagonist
In the late 1980s, Japanese media ran a flurry of reports on an alarming shortage of brides in the country's rural areas. Unable to find potential partners at home, bachelors in farming villages were searching for wives in mainland Asia — sometimes with support from their local governments, and often...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 29, 2018
'And Your Bird Can Sing': A vague take on the complexities of youth
The work of the late novelist Yasushi Sato, who took his own life in 1990, has been enjoying a minor cinematic renaissance over the past decade. Starting with Kazuyoshi Kumakiri's "Sketches of Kaitan City" in 2010, the author's stories have spawned four films to date.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 31, 2018
More hip-hop, more J-pop and a typhoon: Fuji Rock 2018 was full of new energy
Nothing encapsulated the strangeness of this year's Fuji Rock Festival than the spectacle that unfurled on the main Green Stage on Saturday night. After delivering what was already one of the silliest sets of the weekend, EDM producer Skrillex returned for his encore, accompanied by a surprise guest...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 25, 2018
Fuji Rock sees a slow pivot to a more Japanese lineup
When Fuji Rock Festival started in late 1990s, the principal attractions were invariably imported. Although the event also featured plenty of Japanese bands, even in the early years, it was Westerners that exerted the biggest draw — from Red Hot Chili Peppers and Foo Fighters to Bjork, Aphex Twin and...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 11, 2018
'Shino Can't Say Her Name': A teenage struggle that speaks to everyone
There's a point in many teenagers' lives where few things are more mortifying than the prospect of having to speak in public. High school freshman Shino (Sara Minami) has it worse than most. When she's by herself, she can talk perfectly fine, even play-acting the conversations she wishes she was having...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 4, 2018
Hikaru Utada learns to accept heartbreak on 'Hatsukoi'
It's the title that grabs you first. Hikaru Utada's seventh album makes a conspicuous nod to her 1999 debut, but the preternaturally mature teen of "First Love" is now a twice-divorced mother with ample life experience to draw on.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 27, 2018
'Punk Samurai Slash Down': An audacious adaptation that may look better on paper
One of the frequent complaints lodged against the Japanese film industry is that producers are reluctant to bankroll anything that isn't based on an existing novel, manga or TV series. There's a lot of truth in the criticism, but not every screen adaptation of an existing property is a product of bet-hedging....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 20, 2018
'The Cat in Their Arms': Forget the idol-pop plot points and stick with the pets
You probably know the type: lonely, maybe even a little antisocial and more comfortable talking to cats than people.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 13, 2018
Juliette Binoche gets to see the 'real' Japan in 'Vision'
"It's so warm in here!" exclaims Juliette Binoche. "You know in (Michael) Haneke's film, I have a scene where I kind of suffocate and I think that I'm going to die? It feels like that! Do you think you can open the window?"
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 13, 2018
'Batman Ninja': The Caped Crusader's Japan jaunt is a missed opportunity
Following in the noble tradition of "Sharknado," "Snakes on a Plane" and "Sex and the City 2," this elaborately executed nonsense is the kind of project where you just know that the title came first. "Batman Ninja" (or "Ninja Batman" as it's being called here) answers the question nobody had thought...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 6, 2018
'50 First Kisses': Swipe left on this rom-com redo
An incorrigible playboy spots a young woman at a diner in Hawaii and is instantly smitten. After he plucks up the courage to talk to her, they hit it off and arrange to meet again at the same place the following day. But when he goes back, she treats him like a complete stranger. It turns out she has...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 30, 2018
'Deadpool 2': A tad tame but still a ton of fun
Blame it on the Bat. For a brief period, Deadpool seemed like the most subversive player on the cinematic superhero circuit, deflating the genre's pretensions with a barrage of self-referential humor and fourth wall-breaking asides. But after last year's "The Lego Batman Movie," he's starting to look...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 23, 2018
'Isle of Dogs': Mutt ado about nothing?
If you've ever flipped on a TV in a hotel room in a country whose language you don't understand, you'll know what it's like to try to grasp for meaning when all the usual semantic signposts are gone.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 17, 2018
'The Shoot Must Go On': Masayoshi Sukita captures some of rock music's most iconic figures
Even if you don't recognize the name, you probably know his shots. Photographer Masayoshi Sukita has captured images of rock gods and movie stars that deserve that most overused of epithets: iconic.

Longform

Eme-Ima Kitchen is one of over 10,000 kodomo shokudō in Japan. A term first used in 2012 to describe makeshift eateries offering free or cheap meals to disadvantaged kids, it now refers to a diverse range of individuals, groups and organizations working to provide not only food but a sense of belonging to both children and adults.
Japan’s ‘children’s cafeterias’ are booming — but is that a good thing?