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September 07, 2024
 

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CULTURE

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A young woman visiting a rural backwater from Tokyo (An Ogawa) finds an unlikely playmate in Tatsunari Ota’s “There Is a Stone.”
CULTURE / Film
‘There Is a Stone’ finds beauty in the inconsequential
While very little happens, Tatsunari Ota’s slow-moving debut feature offers stirring moments of simplicity.
CULTURE / Film
'Desert of Namibia' makes its difficult protagonist hard to hate
Yoko Yamanaka's enigmatically titled drama is true to the messy complexity of human beings and their relationships in its own quirky and sharply observant way.
CULTURE / Film
Hayao Miyazaki wins prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award
The award, often called Asia's Nobel Prize, is given to people and groups who have made major contributions to the region.
Hiroshi Sunairi’s documentary “From Okinawa with Love” follows the unwavering Okinawan photographer Mao Ishikawa, who made her name documenting the relationships between Japanese bar girls and African American servicemen.
CULTURE / Film
Aug 30, 2024
‘From Okinawa with Love’: A revealing documentary about a true original
By Mark Schilling
Hiroshi Sunairi takes a fly-on-the-wall approach to explore the life of Mao Ishikawa, who photographed Okinawans and the effects of the U.S. military.
The protagonist of “The Colors Within” is Totsuko (voiced by Sayu Suzukawa), a cheerful young woman who views the world in a unique way: Everyone she sees gives off their own distinct color that represents their personality.
CULTURE / Film
Aug 30, 2024
'The Colors Within' tunes into everyday moments of love
By Matt Schley
Director Naoko Yamada's new anime film, which explores themes of acceptance and communication without words, was born from a creative relationship of complete trust.
Full-time homemaker Momoko (Noriko Eguchi, left, with Kotaro Koizumi) finds her world falling apart in Yukihiro Morigaki’s “Rude to Love.”
CULTURE / Film
Aug 29, 2024
‘Rude to Love’ gives Noriko Eguchi her tour de force moment
By James Hadfield
The perennially underused actress gives a bravura performance as a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown in Yukihiro Morigaki's drama.
A grandmother fights back when the angry ghost of a social recluse starts killing off family members in “House of Sayuri.”
CULTURE / Film
Aug 29, 2024
'House of Sayuri': J-horror fights ghosts with pitch-black humor
By Mark Schilling
Koji Shiraishi’s horror comedy matches the darkness of the deeds on display with a fiery grandma who takes on a wicked spirit with her tai chi skills.
A Tokyo man who scuttles around the city in a dirty cardboard box finds himself fighting off odd characters in Gakuryu Ishii’s “The Box Man.”
CULTURE / Film
Aug 17, 2024
'The Box Man': Absurdist Kobo Abe adaptation speaks to the present
By Mark Schilling
Director Gakuryu Ishii makes the novel’s philosophical musings and metaphorical conundrums more audience-friendly while saying something true about the modern day.
An ambitious high school student (Gordon Maeda) devotes all his waking hours to making art in “Blue Period,” Kentaro Hagiwara’s live-action adaptation of an ongoing manga series of the same title.
CULTURE / Film
Aug 15, 2024
‘Blue Period’: Gordon Maeda paints a subtle picture of internal struggle
By Matt Schley
The actor’s performance as an ambitious student pursuing his dreams of being an artist is a highlight in this live-action adaptation of an ongoing manga series.
“Ghost Cat Anzu” centers on an 11-year-old girl who travels to hell and back with a walking, talking, moped-driving, human-sized cat.
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Aug 11, 2024
Two hidden gems hint at a path to more diversity in anime
By Matt Schley
“Ghost Cat Anzu" and “A Few Moments of Cheers” stand out from blockbuster hits by finding creative partners abroad and embracing techniques old and new.

Shinjiro Koizumi promises immediate snap election if elected LDP president
Former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi declares his candidacy in the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election at a news conference in Tokyo on Friday.
Seven & I pans value of offer as it rejects Canadian takeover bid
Seven & I Holdings, operator of the 7-Eleven convenience store chain, said on Friday it has rejected Alimentation Couche-Tard's takeover bid as not being in the interest of shareholders.
Japan's Prince Hisahito turns 18
Prince Hisahito observes in July narrow leaf cattail that he had planted at the Akasaka Estate in Tokyo's Minato Ward.
Japan miffed but reaction muted after shocking twist to U.S. Steel deal
Nippon Steel's proposed acquisition of U.S. Steel is opposed by politicians across the political spectrum, including both Republican and Democratic presidential candidates — Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.
Japan’s second city can finally make Tokyo jealous
Osaka is set to open Grand Green Osaka in the city’s Umekita area. It is a sprawling redevelopment that combines a park with mixed-use skyscrapers and is part of a push to rejuvenate the merchant city.
No talking, no eating, no standing: Inside sumo's ring purification ceremony
A sumo referee performs the dohyō matsuri, or ring purification ceremony, in January 2017 at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo.
Demand for Calrose rice rises amid Japanese rice shortage
Shuzo Fukushi, who heads Rice Meister Kojimachi in Tokyo, shows a bag of Calrose mixed with domestic rice at his store on Thursday.
Pasocom Music Club returns to the pure pleasures of the dance floor
Pasocom Music Club’s “Love Flutter” marks an important moment for Japan’s electronic community as project members Aoi Shibata (left) and Masato Nishiyama step into a role other artists once held for them — scene veterans who are inspiring the next generation.
Typhoon-chaser's firsthand account of his pursuit of Shanshan
A washed-up boat on the shore of the city of Ibusuki, Kagoshima Prefecture, on Friday
First lesson of Japan’s akiya gold rush: No such thing as a free house.
An abandoned house in Urayama, Saitama Prefecture. Buying an <i>akiya</i>, which means empty house in Japanese, can be a rewarding experience that yields a unique space and a livable home, competitively priced. Or it could turn out to be a money pit.

Podcast

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

Longform

A store clerk tries to cool things down in front of their shop by spraying a hose.
Is extreme weather changing the way Japan shops?
By Alex K.T. Martin

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