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Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 3, 2014

Girls in the Psychic Club: Idols attempt ESP in odd sci-fi mockumentary

Nobuhiro Yamashita has never been one to do the obvious, which in his case would have meant churning out more charmingly offbeat teen comedies like his 2005 breakout "Linda Linda Linda." Instead Yamashita stretched himself with films like "Matsugane Ransha Jiken (The Matsugane Potshot Affair)" from 2006,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 12, 2014

'Sweet Poolside'

Puberty is a time of physical changes that range from the wondrous to the excruciating, but once accomplished are soon forgotten. The beard that greets you in the mirror, which once seemed miraculous and strange, is now just one more morning chore.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 14, 2007

'Little DJ'

What is the hottest genre right now in Japanese film? J-Horror is pretty much dead, though horror as a genre is about as likely to die as Dracula. Anime is still mostly for kiddies and otaku (obsessives), with the massive exception of Studio Ghibli offerings. Blurring the line between animation and live...
CULTURE / Film
Jan 9, 2001

A peep inside the otaku cocoon

Writing about Japanese films in English, I am usually flying below the radar of the local industry -- I can skewer a director's latest triumph on this page and meet him laterat a party secure in the knowledge that he has not the foggiest idea of what I've said about his movie. Once in a while, though,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 8, 2020

'One Cut of the Dead' director Shinichiro Ueda brings teleworking to Japan's film industry

Shinichiro Ueda reunites the cast of his hit comedy 'One Cut of the Dead' for an innovative teleworking sequel
Japan Times
CULTURE / CULTURE SMASH
Dec 23, 2018

Hayao Miyazaki: The never-ending story

In September 2013, animator Hayao Miyazaki said: 'Through the years I have frequently talked about retiring, so many of you are perhaps wondering if this time I am really sincere. I am.' But was he?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / David Bowie in Japan
Jan 14, 2016

Like some cat from Japan: A tribute to David Bowie

The late David Bowie's appreciation of Japan and its culture was strong. Following his recent death, The Japan Times asked five people who share that connection with the country, and who witnessed the decade-spanning trajectory of this starman, to recall what his sound and vision meant to them.
Japan Times
JAPAN / GENERATIONAL CHANGE
Oct 4, 2015

Chance chat in Gaza alters a life

Kenji Sekine might have ended up as a wine importer at a supermarket chain in Tokyo had it not been for a chance encounter with a Palestinian boy during a trip to the Middle East in early 1999.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 18, 2011

Japan's film industry faces quake fallout

The Japanese entertainment industry is reacting to the massive disaster caused by the March 11 earthquake much the way it reacts to any major national tragedy — by observing jishuku (self-restraint).
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 4, 2008

'Curse of the Golden Flower'

Having established himself in the 1990s as one of China's leading directors, Zhang Yimou spent the past decade making two types of film: small, contemporary and supremely sentimental ones such as "The Road Home" and "Happy Times," or big, lavish, action-packed period-epics like "Hero" and "House of Flying...
Features
Dec 25, 2005

Haruki Kadokawa: Spirits of the Yamato

Haruki Kadokawa is the closest Japanese equivalent to fabled Hollywood moguls like Sam Goldwyn or Howard Hughes in their glory days as master promoters and unrepentant egotists.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 7, 2004

Korean love story heats up Japan

As a milestone in Japan's ongoing love affair with Korean entertainment, which has been deepening over the past few years, "The Hotel Venus" is a big one.
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Mar 13, 2012

Chanel's little black jacket

Since 1983, Karl Lagerfeld has steered Parisian brand Chanel as the world's reigning barometer of chic. Now he's about to bring a little bit of that haute charm to Tokyo with a series of events beginning on March 21.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / STYLE WISE
Aug 13, 2009

Variations on Dynamite Cabarets, Tiger, togas, Yohji Yamamoto and Comme des Garcons

Aki and Kuzu get smart Cabaret Aki and Jackal Kuzu are known as the designers of scandalously flagrant men's brand Gut's Dynamite Cabarets, but with the launch of their impressive new line, JhonAG, their alter-egos may soon fade as the two are set to be reverently known as just Aki and Kuzu.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 13, 2021

‘The Night Beyond the Tricornered Window’: Stylish scares with a side of romance

Director Yukihiro Morigaki's horror-mystery film based on a u2018boys' love' manga focuses more on confronting inner demons rather than battling ghouls.
Japan Times
WORLD / EU Special 2018
May 16, 2018

Fostering shared globalization goals

Once again, I am honored to be able to address the distinguished readers of The Japan Times on the occasion of Europe Day. May 9, 1950, was a historic day for Europe, when then-French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman set out a vision that has for more than six decades released the continent from the constant...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 4, 2017

As it approaches 50, Iwanami Hall remains vital to cinema lovers

The Tokyo neighborhood of Jinbocho is a favorite of mine. Mostly known for bookshops, it is a bastion of quaintness amid a metropolis that can be downright oppressive at times.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 15, 2017

'One Week Friends': Groundhog day in the 'friend zone'

Someday soon someone is going to come up with an algorithm for commercial seishun eiga (youth films). Plug in the variables — teenaged love in its more innocuous variations being first and foremost — and pop out a script for another hit.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 20, 2016

'The Walk' brings an infamous tightrope walker to life, in terrifying detail

If you could go back to one particular moment in history, what would it be? Someone (most likely the devil) must have asked Robert Zemeckis that question several times during his career and, in a way, many of his films could be described as different answers. In fact, the films Zemeckis is most well...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 1, 2010

'El Topo'

A lot of times you'll see movies that a look a lot like all too many other movies you've seen before. Odd-couple buddy cops, one last heist, boy meets girl who hates him at first, the "chosen one" heroic quest, band of dysfunctional misfits who learn to pull together and triumph . . .
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 9, 2010

'Yukai Rhapsody (The Accidental Kidnapper)'

Hollywood constantly remakes and reworks its old product — "Avatar" references everything from "Dances with Wolves" to the Tarzan movies — but sometimes it falls out of love with stories, even ones once widely popular.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 9, 2009

'The Boat that Rocked'

As someone who spent his formative years involved in FM radio in its glory days — picture, if you will, a scrawnier version of the teen rock-journo in "Almost Famous" — I've always been partial to films about DJs. "Talk Radio," "Play Misty For Me," hell even "It's All Gone, Pete Tong" give me a warm...
CULTURE / Books
Jul 26, 2009

The quirky terrain of an otaku mind

"Otaku" is one of those Japanese words that has no precise equivalent in English. "Geek" translates the knowledgeability as well as the social ineptness of the stereotypical otaku, but not quite his (and, more rarely, her) intense interest in what so-called serious adults regard as trivial pursuits:...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 8, 2007

'Zodiac'

Newton's third law of motion tells us that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. This certainly applies to the physics of Hollywood releases: As the studios increasingly turn to bombastic, over-the-top SFX movies, the critics react by praising every studio release that still has...
A young boy (Keitatsu Koshiyama, center) and his skating partner (Kiara Nakanishi, left) blossom under the dedicated guidance of their coach (Sosuke Ikematsu) in “My Sunshine.”
CULTURE / Film
Sep 12, 2024

‘My Sunshine’ brings together realism and lyricism to a rare degree

Hiroshi Okuyama’s feature about teen skaters is a gentle masterwork that illustrates Japanese society’s deep conservatism with poignance and bite.
Japanese actress Anna Sawai, winner of the outstanding lead actress in a drama series award for "Shogun," and Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada, winner of the outstanding lead actor in a drama series award for the show, pose in the press room during the 76th Emmy Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Sep 16, 2024

'Shogun' becomes first non-English-language winner of best drama Emmy

Veteran leading man Hiroyuki Sanada and co-lead Anna Sawai also took home acting awards for their roles in the show.
Japanese creatives, athletes and activists saw their efforts recognized on the world stage in various ways this year. At the Oscars (left) Takashi Yamazaki and his team took a prize for “Godzilla Minus One,” while later in the year Anna Sawai and Hiroyuki Sanada (center) took Emmys for their work in “Shogun.” Shohei Ohtani (right) was arguably the biggest Japanese star of the year.
CULTURE / 2024 in Review
Dec 4, 2024

Japan's soft power soared to new heights in 2024

From Oscars and Emmys to a Nobel Peace Prize, it was a year of awards and triumphs in key cultural fields.
Shohei Ohtani's prowress on the diamond translated into an outsized influence on Japan's consumer trends this year.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 13, 2024

The year that Shohei Ohtani achieved 'yokozuna' status … in the market

To qualify as a genuine "hitto" (hit), a product or service must harness some new concept or technology in a manner that significantly impacts the marketplace.
An immature college student (Riku Hagiwara, left) is caught in the middle of a love triangle in “She Taught Me Serendipity.”
CULTURE / Film
Apr 24, 2025

‘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.
Walking along Osaka's Kanjosen brings you closer to a different side of the city that the head-in-the-clouds Expo 2025 misses.
LIFE / Travel
May 17, 2025

Fighting Osaka Expo fatigue? Walk the 21-km Loop Line for a cure.

Officially completed in 1961, the Osaka Kanjosen runs through the city’s most famous and less touristed neighborhoods alike.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji