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February 19, 2025
 

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Matt Schley
CULTURE / Film / Heisei Icons,Heisei Icons
Apr 19, 2019
Hayao Miyazaki: Universally acclaimed weaver of unforgettable anime worlds
Animators and live-action filmmakers around the world acknowledge his influence. His talents have even been described by fans as “godlike.”
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 20, 2019
'Shinjuku Tiger': A story of one man and his mask
Spend enough time on the streets of Shinjuku, and you'll eventually spot a flamboyantly dressed figure in a tiger mask carrying fake flowers, stuffed animals and a boombox. This is Shinjuku Tiger, the subject of a documentary of the same name out this week.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Feb 21, 2019
Fans: Don't worry about a live-action 'Your Name.' remake; 'Alita' shows it can be done
It was the groan heard 'round the internet. Back in September 2017, J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot Productions announced it had picked up the live-action rights to 2016 anime megahit "Your Name." Reaction from anime fans online was not exactly positive.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 6, 2019
'City Hunter The Movie: Shinjuku Private Eyes': Dated gags in modern-day Tokyo
It's back. "City Hunter," the Tsukasa Hojo-penned manga about a crime-solving "sweeper" for hire named Ryo Saeba (Akira Kamiya) was pretty much an anime institution in the 1980s, adapted into a string of anime series and films starting in 1987. It even spawned a live-action version in Hong Kong starring...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 30, 2019
'School-Live!': Zombie flick lands dead on arrival
A manga series whose time in the public consciousness peaked years ago? Check. A cast of idol singers whose acting chops are questionable at best? Check. A script in dire need of a rewrite? Check. You guessed it: It's time for another manga-to-live-action adaptation.
Japan Times
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / Wide Angle
Jan 24, 2019
Anime Feminist: Tackling anime's gender bias
Over the past few years, there has been more mainstream recognition of the idea that discourse is better served when it is expanded outside the sole realm of heterosexual, white, cisgender men. That's true of major forums, and no less true when it comes to niche media, including the world of anime fandom....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 23, 2019
'The Relative Worlds': A rough ride across two universes
The concept of parallel universes is a fascinating one. What if there was another you out there, making the big bucks, fighting in a war or writing bad poetry? And what would happen if you and your alternate self were ever to meet up?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Jan 10, 2019
As the heavyweights return, will 2019 be a smash year for anime?
When looking forward to the coming year in anime, it may be helpful to jump in the time machine and hop back to 2016. That's the year Japan was hit with a flood of smash original anime films, including the sleeper hit "In This Corner of the World" and Makoto Shinkai's "Your Name." By the time 2016 was...
Japan Times
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Dec 13, 2018
Anime in 2018 saw serious cash but no surprise hits
What do a 24-year-old child detective, a group of seriously laid-back campers and anthropomorphic blood cells have in common? 2018, that's what.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Sep 20, 2018
Kyoto gears up for a film festival — rain or shine
It may be a spring chicken compared to its film festival siblings in Tokyo, Yamagata and elsewhere, but the Kyoto International Film and Art Festival has reached an important milestone: its fifth anniversary.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 19, 2018
'In Pursuit of Silence': A documentary looks at what it'll take to finally get some peace and quiet
The 1964 tune "The Sound of Silence" by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel is a bona fide classic, but it never really identifies just what this "sound of silence" is. That task instead falls to "In Pursuit of Silence," the documentary about this surprisingly hard-to-pin-down aural quality and why it's worth...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 5, 2018
'I Want to Eat Your Pancreas': An eye-catching title doesn't make up for over-the-top sentimentality
The most interesting thing about "I Want to Eat Your Pancreas" is its title.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 22, 2018
'Ponoc Short Films Theatre, Vol. 1: Modest Heroes': An anime studio's modest break with norms
"Modest Heroes" studio Ponoc was founded by producer Yoshiaki Nishimura, formerly of Ghibli, just as that legendary anime studio decided to cool its jets back in 2014. Ponoc's debut feature, last year's "Mary and the Witch's Flower," established it as a kind of Ghibli 2, a place where Ghibli alums could...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 15, 2018
'Penguin Highway': What goes up must come down ... in penguin form
There's something about the playful, magical realist novels of Tomihiko Morimi that seems to lend itself to animated adaptations. Those adaptations include TV series like "The Tatami Galaxy" ("Yojohan Shinwa Taikei") and "The Eccentric Family" ("Uchoten Kazoku"), plus last year's film "The Night is Short,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 1, 2018
'Flavors of Youth': A China-focused anthology falls flat
So-called anthology films, made up of multiple shorts based around the same theme, are a staple of the anime industry and are generally created to a) give young directors a chance, b) show off what studios are capable of, or c) keep a director or studio in the public consciousness between full-length...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 25, 2018
'Mirai': Mamoru Hosoda's latest anime is for the young at heart
Though anime director Mamoru Hosoda rarely diverges from his pet theme of family, the scale of his movies rises and falls like the tide. "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" (2006) was an intimate tale of high school life, "Summer Wars" (2009) dealt with the fate of the entire planet, "Wolf Children" (2012)...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 16, 2018
'Akira': Looking back at the future
On the 30th anniversary of the release of the animated version of 'Akira' in Japan, we examine the enduring legacy of Katsuhiro Otomo's sci-fi classic.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jul 15, 2018
The enduring appeal of 'Akira,' the manga
Katsuhiro Otomo's cyberpunk masterpiece, 'Akira,' has gone through multiple English-language incarnations throughout the years, but reader demand has never wavered.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 14, 2018
The pain and the passion that fueled the creation of 'Akira'
When I tell Kuni Tomita the anime classic "Akira" turns 30 years old this month, she shakes her head and laughs.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Jul 14, 2018
My deep dive into 'Akira' only scratched the surface of its legacy
A few months ago, I proposed to the editors at The Japan Times that we do a piece paying tribute to the classic cyberpunk anime film "Akira," which turns 30 years old on July 16. They were enthusiastic and the pitch ballooned (not unlike Tetsuo in the film's final scene) from a single article to an "Akira"-themed...
Japan's Iwaya vows to push ahead with sanctions against Russia
Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya meets with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and counterparts from other countries at the State Department in Washington on Jan. 21.
Japan’s English-language education doesn’t pass the test
One-third of elementary school students in Japan do not like learning English, according to a 2021 poll, an 8% rise since 2013. The pressure of taking proficiency tests is eroding children's engagement with studying English and its benefits.
Naturalized Japanese can soon list Taiwan as original nationality
Naturalized Japanese citizens from Taiwan will be able to list Taiwan as their place of origin in their family register instead of China from May.
Singapore says Asia now views U.S. as a ‘landlord seeking rent’
According to a prepared text of Singaporean Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen's remarks posted on a government website over the weekend, the image of the U.S. "has changed from liberator to great disruptor to a landlord seeking rent."
Delta plane flips upside down in Toronto crash, injuring 18
A Delta Air Lines plane sits upside down at Toronto Pearson Airport in Toronto, Ontario, on Monday.
Japan’s English-language education doesn’t pass the test
One-third of elementary school students in Japan do not like learning English, according to a 2021 poll, an 8% rise since 2013. The pressure of taking proficiency tests is eroding children's engagement with studying English and its benefits.
Black History Month in 2025: The boundaries between 'us' and 'them'
Kendrick Lamar performs at the halftime show of Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans, Louisiana.
French carrier group chief draws lessons from first Pacific deployment in 60 years
Rear Adm. Jacques Mallard (right), commander of the Charles De Gaulle aircraft carrier strike group, speaks during a ceremony aboard the carrier at a naval base in Toulon, France, last September.
Sky not the only limit for JAL and ANA’s climate goals
All Nippon Airways aircraft at Haneda Airport in Tokyo in August 2024. ANA has staked a lot on greener kinds of jet fuel, with 70% of the emissions reductions under its net-zero emissions plan coming from them.
The different faces of ‘Asura’ through the generations
Netflix series “Asura,” directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda, is a remake of a classic TV drama (known as “Like Asura” in English), created by Kuniko Mukoda and broadcast by NHK between 1979 and 1980.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Tokyo Koon stands at the forefront of tackling the so-called 2025 issue, also known as the “Magnetic Tape Alert.”
The race to save 20th-century history
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Challenging spirit and teamwork keep ANA flying high
Challenging spirit and teamwork keep ANA flying high

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