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November 02, 2025
 

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CULTURE

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After its July release, “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba — Infinity Castle,” an animated feature adapted directly from a TV arc, became the highest-grossing Japanese film ever.
CULTURE / Film
Anime isn’t competing with Hollywood — it’s beating it
Once a niche passion, anime has become a global obsession. “Demon Slayer” lit the fuse. “Chainsaw Man” just proved it’s unstoppable.
CULTURE / Film
‘Flames of a Flower’: A bold interrogation of Japan’s pacifist identity
Oudai Kojima’s PTSD drama turned politically charged thriller takes aim at Japan’s postwar contradictions.
CULTURE / Film
‘Baka's Identity’ exposes an underworld of stolen names and lost souls
In Koto Nagata’s thriller, Japan’s vulnerable youth on society’s margins risk everything — even who they are.
In “Climbing for Life,” Sayuri Yoshinaga (right) portrays Junko Tabei, the first woman to summit Mount Everest, alongside Yuki Amami as the journalist who covered the expedition.
CULTURE / Film
Oct 23, 2025
‘Climbing for Life’ doesn’t break new ground, but knows its footing
By James Hadfield
Sayuri Yoshinaga brings quiet strength to the biopic about the first woman to summit Mount Everest — even when the film itself plays it safe.
Yukari (Hana Sugisaki, right) is brought out of her shell by a beautiful hostess (Kotona Minami) in “Meets the World.”
CULTURE / Film
Oct 23, 2025
‘Meets the World’: A tragicomic hunger for connection
By Mark Schilling
Between grilled meat and gay manga, Daigo Matsui’s latest is a darkly funny tale of friendship, fantasy and female loneliness.
Jessie Buckley attends the premiere of "Hamnet" at the London Film Festival on Oct. 11.
CULTURE / Film
Oct 17, 2025
Oscar-buzzy 'Hamnet' changed me, actress Jessie Buckley says
By Hanna Rantala
Chloe Zhao’s “Hamnet” reimagines Shakespeare’s family life, with Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal exploring love, loss and artistic rebirth.
A hitman (Ryuhei Matsuda, left) and a spiritual ascetic (Yosuke Kubozuka, right) go to infinity and beyond in “Transcending Dimensions.”
CULTURE / Film
Oct 16, 2025
‘Transcending Dimensions’: A wild trip to enlightenment
By James Hadfield
Toshiaki Toyoda’s latest feature is a spiritual odyssey with punk energy and cosmic chaos.
A shy transfer student (Kento Nagao, right) is befriended by a popular girl at his high school in “The Sickness Unto Love.”
CULTURE / Film
Oct 16, 2025
‘The Sickness Unto Love’: Teen romance spirals into dark cruelty
By Mark Schilling
Behind the soft glow of young love, Ryuichi Hiroki’s drama exposes the brutal games teenagers play.
Chloe Zhao’s "Hamnet"
CULTURE / Film
Oct 16, 2025
What you need to see at this year's Tokyo film festival
By James Hadfield, Mark Schilling and Matt Schley
From slow cinema and satire to moving biopics and restorations of classics, the TIFF lineup has something for every cinephile.
Masami Nagasawa plays the talented but circumscribed offspring of a famed ukiyo-e artist in “Hokusai’s Daughter.”
CULTURE / Film
Oct 9, 2025
‘Hokusai’s Daughter’ captures the ferocity of a forgotten painter
By James Hadfield
Masami Nagasawa delivers one of her most compelling performances yet in Tatsushi Omori’s historical biopic.

Takaichi and Xi reaffirm pledge in first meet to pursue ‘mutually beneficial’ ties
A screenshot from Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's X account shows Takaichi exchanging greetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping ahead of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit meeting in Gyeongju, South Korea, on Friday.　
Anime isn’t competing with Hollywood — it’s beating it
After its July release, “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba — Infinity Castle,” an animated feature adapted directly from a TV arc, became the highest-grossing Japanese film ever.
Japan to introduce joint child custody system in April 2026
Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara (center) and other ministers prior to a Cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office on Friday
Woman, 69, arrested over 1999 Nagoya housewife's murder
A police sketch released in 2020 of a woman spotted near the scene of the 1999 murder of a housewife in Nagoya's Nishi Ward
From France to Mali, a deportee's struggle far from home
Moussa Sacko, a Malian deported from France — where he had lived since he was a young child — stands on a street in Bamako, Mali, in December. Compared with his home in France, Bamako feels like a different planet, Sacko said.
Anime isn’t competing with Hollywood — it’s beating it
After its July release, “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba — Infinity Castle,” an animated feature adapted directly from a TV arc, became the highest-grossing Japanese film ever.
Oasis returns to Japan after 16 years — and fans can still sing every word
Liam Gallagher commanded the stage with effortless charisma during Oasis' Tokyo Dome set on Saturday.
At Japan Mobility Show, BYD gears up to conquer Japan's EV market
BYD Auto Japan President Atsuki Tofukuji unveils the Racco at the Japan Mobility Show in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Oasis returns to Tokyo: Rain, rapture and rock
Fans wait to get into the Oasis show at Tokyo Dome on Saturday. While lining up in the rain, some broke into impromptu versions of the British rock group's hits.
Kyushu banzuke sets the stage to cement 2025’s sumo narratives
Onosato ahead of his bout against Aonishiki at The Grand Sumo Tournament at the Royal Albert Hall in London on Oct. 18

Podcast

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

Longform

Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell
By Alex K.T. Martin

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Foreign wrestlers have a long history in sumo
Foreign wrestlers have a long history in sumo

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