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April 25, 2025
 

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CULTURE

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An immature college student (Riku Hagiwara, left) is caught in the middle of a love triangle in “She Taught Me Serendipity.”
CULTURE / Film
‘She Taught Me Serendipity’: A quiet reminder not to take people for granted
While Akiko Ohku’s latest seems like a rom-com on its surface, the ensemble piece delves deeper into the importance of appreciating loved ones while you can.
CULTURE / Film
‘Ya Boy Kongming! The Movie’: J-pop spectacle goes heavy on performances
Shuhei Shibue's film about the improbable musical career of a Chinese strategist reincarnated in modern-day Japan delivers J-pop high notes and history deep cuts.
CULTURE / Film
'Bullet Train Explosion’: High-speed disaster movie doesn’t get the pulse racing
Netflix’s most lavish Japanese movie to date whizzes by without doing much damage to the image of the high-speed rail it’s promoting.
An actor portrays a "pocong," a ghost widely known in Indonesia, at a horror entertainment venue at a mall in Jakarta. The pocong is just one of the monsters that features in massively popular Indonesian horror movies.
CULTURE / Film
Apr 15, 2025
Indonesia's horror movie industry rises from the grave
By Baptiste Anse
Five of the top 10 films from 2024 were categorized as horror movies, a statistic that underscores just how popular the genre is.
Bickering siblings Sota (Masaaki Nakano, left) and Akira (Hirota Otsuka) attempt to dispose of their father’s body in “The Brothers Kitaura.”
CULTURE / Film
Apr 10, 2025
‘The Brothers Kitaura’: A sordid tale of filial impropriety
By James Hadfield
Masaki Tsujino’s dark comedy of errors unpacks family dysfunction and middle-class mediocrity.
Akari Takaishi gets laughs playing a woman who is possessed by the ghost of a middle-aged hitman who bears a grudge in “Ghost Killer.”
CULTURE / Film
Apr 10, 2025
‘Ghost Killer’: Spirited action and sharp humor make for deadly fun combo
By Mark Schilling
“Baby Assassins” collaborators Yugo Sakamoto and Kensuke Sonomura team up again for an action-packed comedy with Akari Takaishi.
A trio of former schoolmates (from left: Hana Sugisaki, Kaya Kiyohara and Suzu Hirose) share a mysterious bond in “Unreachable.”
CULTURE / Film
Apr 3, 2025
‘Unreachable’: An attractive but half-baked fantasy
By James Hadfield
The combined talents of Suzu Hirose, Hana Sugisaki and Kaya Kiyohara can’t save this flimsy fantasy drama.
Goro Miyazaki joined Studio Ghibli in 1998 and directed films including 2006's "Tales from Earthsea" and 2011's "From Up on Poppy Hill."
CULTURE / Film
Apr 2, 2025
AI may be coming for anime, but Hayao Miyazaki is irreplaceable, son says
By Natsuko Fukue
Goro Miyazaki says that though nothing can replicate the depth of his father's work, new technology brings "great potential for unexpected talent to emerge."
Mitsuko Kusabue plays the feisty proprietor of a ramshackle drinking establishment in “Let’s Meet at Angie’s Bar.”
CULTURE / Film
Mar 31, 2025
‘Let’s Meet at Angie’s Bar’: A granny like none other
By Mark Schilling
Acting veteran Mitsuko Kusabue brings wisdom and wit to Yurugu Matsumoto’s lighter-than-air comedy.
A figurine of the character Link from the Nintendo video game series The Legend of Zelda is displayed inside the Nintendo Tokyo store in the Japanese capital in November 2019.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 29, 2025
Nintendo announces Legend of Zelda film for 2027
Nintendo made the announcement on "Nintendo Today!", a new app for fans that was launched on Thursday.

Japan must correct Trump’s false data for trade talks, says Kono
Former Foreign Minister Taro Kono
Japan wants to 'separate' tariff and security issues. That may be tough.
Japan’s chief tariff negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, poses with a "Make America Great Again" cap at the White House in Washington on April 16.
Social media helps fuel growing 'sex tourism' in Japan
People walk down a street in the red-light entertainment area of Kabukicho in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo on March 31.
Japan set to fine cyclists on the spot for rule violations from 2026
Under new rules, those who use smartphones while riding a bicycle would be subject to the maximum fine of ¥12,000.
Naked man’s rampage in Saitama linked to one fatality and 10 injured
Police believe Daisuke Nishimura may have been involved in roughly 20 incidents in the 90 minutes leading up to his arrest, including a fatal hit-and-run and multiple assaults.
Japan weighs using U.S. rice imports as tariff negotiation tool with Trump
A restaurant owner pours California-grown Calrose rice into a rice cooker at his restaurant in Tokyo
Is Japan’s parliament ready to welcome more youth to its ranks?
Lower House lawmaker Kai Odake in his Tokyo office on Wednesday
Crow meat, goat tartare: Mauvaise Herbe raises its game
Crow meat, shaped into a ball and attached to a foot of the bird, is one of the peculiar offerings of game at Mauvaise Herbe.
Cases of epidural use in labor rise in Japan alongside concerns
Of the 721,000 childbirths reported in 2024 in Japan, 13.8% involved the use of an epidural, according to the Japan Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
Nothing sells like Shohei Ohtani, MLB’s marketing megastar
People walk past an advertisement featuring Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani outside Tokyo Dome on March 18.

Podcast

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

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.
By Tomoko Otake

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027
Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027

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