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May 04, 2024
 

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James Hadfield
For James Hadfield's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 5, 2023
‘Angry Son’: A sensitive portrayal of modern youth
Kazuki Horike gives a standout performance as a gay biracial teen in Kasho Iizuka's flawed but heartfelt coming-of-age tale.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 15, 2022
‘Old School’: A sloppy fun time in the criminal underworld
Yukiya Kitamura brings some hard-knock swagger as a private sleuth trawling Japan's seedy underbelly in Kotaro Ikawa's film noir throwback.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 9, 2022
Sho Miyake's ‘Small, Slow but Steady’ brings audiences into a silent ring
Rather than try to beat the 'Rocky' movies at their own game, the director subverts tropes and focuses on the beauty of boxing in his film about a deaf pro fighter.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 8, 2022
‘Fragments of the Last Will’: You’ll need tissues for this WWII tearjerker
Takahisa Zeze's period drama about the true-life story of a Japanese soldier's fight for survival in a Soviet camp aims for the heart.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / Sound Off
Dec 4, 2022
Ryuichi Sakamoto keeps the music going with a 'profound' concert
The upcoming “Playing the Piano 2022” concert will showcase a musician still exploring new horizons while contemplating the finiteness of life.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 1, 2022
‘First Love’: More of a fling than a true romance
A Netflix series inspired by two Hikaru Utada pop songs is frivolously entertaining but doesn't carry much weight.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 24, 2022
‘Motherhood’: More soap opera than psychological thriller
Erika Toda and Mei Nagano offer contrasting perspectives on a frosty parent-child relationship in Ryuichi Hiroki's “Motherhood.”
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 17, 2022
‘Remember to Breathe’: Tensions simmer in mother-daughter drama
Mao Inoue gives a subtle but poignant performance as the long-suffering adult child of an aging single mother in Masakazu Sugita's muted sophomore feature.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 11, 2022
'By the Window' offers a cinematic lesson in taking your time
Director Rikiya Imaizumi throws convention aside to focus on complex characters that audiences can relate to in his new film, which won the Audience Award at the recent Tokyo International Film Festival.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 5, 2022
Tokyo International Film Festival sees welcome uptick in crowds
The 35th edition of the major movie event struck a noticeably different tone after relocating from Roppongi Hills to its new home in one of the more scenic areas of central Tokyo.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 3, 2022
‘The Zen Diary’: Simple life lessons to feed the soul
Yuji Nakae's foodie drama, adapted from a 1978 book by the late Tsutomu Mizukami, plays out like a feature-length episode of “Chef's Table.”
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 27, 2022
‘Goodbye, Bad Magazines’: A sympathetic eulogy to adult entertainment
Shoichi Yokoyama's lighthearted romp offers an inside view of the collapse of Japan's pornography industry, but sidesteps some of the trickier ethical issues.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 20, 2022
‘Journey Beyond the Night’: A bad trip worth savoring
Takayuki Kayano's genre-switching drama starts slow but delivers a one-way ticket to weirdness.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 6, 2022
'Mondays: See You “This” Week!’: Zany office comedy gets stuck on repeat
Ryo Takebayashi's film about coworkers caught in a time loop is packed with knowing winks and references to the highs and lows of corporate culture.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 22, 2022
‘I Am Makimoto’: Sadawo Abe isn't what this ‘Still Life’ remake needed
Sadawo Abe plays a lonely, eccentric bureaucrat assigned with tracking down the relatives of those who have died alone in Nobuo Mizuta's remake of a British drama by Uberto Pasolini.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 15, 2022
‘Drifting Home’ gets marooned in a sea of allegory
Hiroyasu Ishida's magical realist tale about learning to let go of the past is poignant — until it loses its moorings.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 8, 2022
‘Love Life’ tells a meandering story about grief
Koji Fukada's drama about a married couple hit by tragedy is a little too oblique for its own good.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 1, 2022
'A Hundred Flowers': A sumptuous drama of forgiving and forgetting
Genki Kawamura's debut feature about a strained mother-son relationship is a richly cinematic experience.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 25, 2022
Eiji Uchida loses the rhythm with ‘Offbeat Cops’
Director Eiji Uchida's musical police procedural, starring Hiroshi Abe as a detective who is relegated to play the drums in the force's band, is corny and predictable pro-cop propaganda.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 25, 2022
‘Bullet Train’ proves that Hollywood hasn’t lost its knack for topsy-turvy visions of Japan
David Leitch's hyper-violent comedy may be the least authentic screen depiction of the country since “Austin Powers,” but it's hardly the first Western movie to take such liberties.
Biden calls ally Japan ‘xenophobic’ along with rivals China and Russia
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks in Syracuse, New York, on April 25.
Yen swings stir talk that Japan is in the FX market once again
An electronic screen in Tokyo displays the yen exchange rate against the U.S. dollar and the graph showing its recent swings, on Thursday.
Harajuku strives to reclaim its former glory — and surpass it
Laforet Harajuku, which celebrated its 45th anniversary last year, has been a witness to the district's evolution over the years.
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.
Japan's May 1 intervention may have cost ¥3.66 trillion, BOJ data suggests
An electronic screen displays a graph showing Japanese yen exchange rates surging against the dollar amid signs of intervention by authorities, in Tokyo on Thursday.
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

Rows of irises resemble a rice field at the Peter Walker-designed Toyota Municipal Museum of Art.
The 'outsiders' creating some of Japan's greenest spaces
By Stephen Mansfield

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Vol. 35: Travel in time — and stay there
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