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Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 5, 2023

‘Angry Son’: A sensitive portrayal of modern youth

Kazuki Horike gives a standout performance as a gay biracial teen in Kasho Iizuka's flawed but heartfelt coming-of-age tale.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
Jan 3, 2023

Casinos in Macao deal themselves a tough hand with nongaming investment pledges

Casinos have committed to investing a total of $15 billion in the coming decade, 90% of which must be spent on nongaming.
CULTURE / Books / 2022 in Review
Dec 31, 2022

Japanese stories captivated overseas audiences in 2022

This year marked increased recognition for female Japanese authors, while Japan-based stories provided the inspiration for Hollywood adaptations such as 'Bullet Train' and 'Tokyo Vice.'
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / 2022 in Review
Dec 22, 2022

Anime continued its dominance in 2022

Anime proved to be bankable content in chaotic times, with 'One Piece' and 'Dragon Ball' scoring big at the box office, while major streaming services expanded their anime offerings.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 20, 2022

'It all fell on me': Russian mothers alone as draft exiles dads

The chaotic and hurried exodus of tens of thousands of military-age men has torn apart families and piled pressure on mothers.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / 2022 in Review
Dec 16, 2022

Marginalized voices in film spoke louder in 2022

While Ryusuke Hamaguchi's 'Drive My Car' and Chie Hayakawa's 'Plan 75' received wide acclaim at home and abroad, the Japanese film industry took stock of a sobering reality.
Japan Times
PODCAST / deep dive
Dec 16, 2022

Is it too late to save the Japanese giant salamander?

Environmental journalist Mara Budgen comes on the show to talk about the Japanese giant salamander, which is well-protected within Japan through various laws but is still at risk of becoming an endangered species.
Japan Times
WORLD
Nov 25, 2022

Russian lawmakers approve bill banning LGBTQ 'propaganda'

Activists say the legislation ramps up the crackdown on 'non-traditional' relationships in Russia, affecting everything from books and films to social media posts.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 25, 2022

Kah Wai Lim's ode to Japanese mini-theaters gets meta

The director's new film, 'Your Lovely Smile,' is a love letter to indie cinema that doubles as a plea for help to keep struggling theaters open.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / EVENTS AND INFORMATION
Nov 18, 2022

Anime translation project to stream videos in Ukrainian

The Japan Visualmedia Translation Academy is a school in Tokyo that offers courses on becoming a translator of visual media, mainly between Japanese and English. But for its upcoming streaming event, the academy’s adding a third language to its repertoire: Ukrainian.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 17, 2022

‘Remember to Breathe’: Tensions simmer in mother-daughter drama

Mao Inoue gives a subtle but poignant performance as the long-suffering adult child of an aging single mother in Masakazu Sugita's muted sophomore feature.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / JAPAN TIMES GONE BY
Nov 7, 2022

Japan Times 1997: 15 Japanese wives arrive on visit from North Korea

Twenty-five years ago, the Japanese media became fascinated by the women who left Japan for North Korea with their husbands 40 years prior.
BUSINESS / Longform
Oct 31, 2022

Can Japan’s pandemic-hit amusement parks return with a bang?

Does the opening of Ghibli Park in Aichi Prefecture reflect a turnaround in fortunes for theme park operators in Japan?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 20, 2022

‘Journey Beyond the Night’: A bad trip worth savoring

Takayuki Kayano's genre-switching drama starts slow but delivers a one-way ticket to weirdness.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 20, 2022

‘The Ring’ at 20: Millennial horror that’s still infecting movies today

The film that kicked off the West's J-horror fascination was made in the shadow of 9/11. Its influence can be seen in “Smile,” “It Follows” and more.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Oct 2, 2022

For Constance Wu, there’s more to the story

The actor reveals her isolation, racism in her career and how she's moving on in her memoir, “Making a Scene.”
The Hollywood sign is framed by palm trees as Donald Trump unveils a 100% tariff on films made outside of the U.S., in Los Angeles, California, on Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 6, 2025

Trump tariff order on movies leaves film industry flummoxed

Tariffs on movies might prove more difficult to implement than even the highly integrated North American automobile industry.
Though the protagonist of “Jinsei” (voiced by rapper Ace Cool) is an emotional blank slate, his journey throughout the film takes wild turns.
CULTURE / Film
May 15, 2025

‘Jinsei’: Ryuya Suzuki’s solo animation is a singular debut

The 30-year-old wrote, directed, animated, edited and soundtracked in isolation — creating one of the most striking films of 2025 so far.
Laurent Patouillet, the CEO and president of Agnes b. Japan, says the focus of its business is to remain independent, and evolve and adapt.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 18, 2025

Agnes b. Japan CEO hopes to evolve the brand with focus on sustainability

Laurent Patouillet, who has headed the brand's Japanese operations since 2018, believes there is more that it can do to be environmentally sustainable.
“Marion” provides a glimpse into the lives of bull dodgers, who perform a nonlethal version of bullfighting.
CULTURE / Film
May 23, 2025

Six short films that capture our world in mere minutes

The Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia proves that less time doesn't have to mean a lack of substance.
Mixue, a Chinese bubble tea chain, has become the world’s largest food and beverage chain, with tens of thousands of stores all over Asia. The company is just one example of the increasing reach and popularity of Chinese cultural exports across the globe.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 23, 2025

How China’s soft power is rewriting Asian culture

Chinese cultural exports are becoming increasingly popular across the world and especially Asia. Do they promote cross-border understanding or are they tools for propaganda?
American actor and Cannes jury member Jeremy Strong has been turning heads on the red carpet at this year's film festival in southern France.
LIFE / Style & Design
May 25, 2025

Jeremy Strong brings male power-dressing to Cannes

A member of the film festival's jury, the "Succession" star believes at a moment when truth is under assault, film matters more than ever.
Artists offer their own interpretations of Japan's most famous monster at "Godzilla The Art Exhibition."
CULTURE / Art
May 31, 2025

'Godzilla The Art Exhibition' reimagines film icon as monstrous muse for modern art

The Mori Arts Center Gallery exhibition takes Japan's most famous monster beyond the world of filmmaking and asks nine artists to interpret the beast from their own point of view.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer meets U.S. President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the Oval Office on Feb. 27. U.S. conservatives may be unlikely defenders of free speech but their criticism of censorship in the U.K. and Europe raises real concerns about vague hate laws and curbs on liberty in the name of harmony. 
COMMENTARY
Jun 2, 2025

European kindness is threatening the foundations of free speech

Right-wing U.S. critics of U.K. and European censorship have a point.
Harvey Weinstein, accused of three sex crimes, appears for his retrial at the State Supreme Court in Manhattan on May 9.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jun 5, 2025

'No means no,' prosecutor tells jurors as Harvey Weinstein trial wraps

The cinema magnate's retrial follows the overturning of his 2020 convictions on rape and sexual assault charges by an appeals court.
Lee Sang-il’s “Kokuho,” which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival this year, follows the life of an "onnagata," a male kabuki actor who plays female roles, from his childhood as the son of a yakuza boss in 1960s Nagasaki to his official designation as a living national treasure.
CULTURE / Film
Jun 6, 2025

'Kokuho' illuminates the high price of becoming a national treasure

Director Lee Sang-il turns a long-held vision into reality with his sumptuously shot film that reveals the dedication, sacrifice — and loneliness — behind kabuki greatness.
Kenji Yanobe’s spacesuited cats are the main characters of “Ship’s Cat Island,” the inaugural exhibition at Hyper Museum Hanno in Saitama Prefecture.
CULTURE / Art
Jun 7, 2025

What can Kenji Yanobe’s cosmic cats teach us about humanity?

The spacesuited felines will be familiar to those who have visited the Nakanoshima Museum of Art in Osaka or Tokyo’s Ginza Six shopping complex last year.
Politics find a way into the bedroom as a stay-at-home wife (Ami Chong, left) clandestinely tends to a series of johns (including Kenji Iwaya, right) in “A Unique Country in Asia.”
CULTURE / Film
Jun 12, 2025

‘A Unique Country in Asia’: Sex and politics make for strange bedfellows

With sex work and small talk, Kenji Yamauchi’s politically sharp film paints a complex portrait of modern Japan.
Tokyo Rainbow Pride is wrapping up for the year, but a slew of events in cities all over the country, from Hokkaido to Kyushu, lies in store in the second half of 2025.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Jun 12, 2025

The persistence of Pride: LGBTQ+ events in Tokyo and beyond

Pride isn’t just a one-off weekend — a slate of activities and programs in support of the queer community continues in full force, from Hokkaido to Kyushu.
Akira Otani's genre-bending novel "The Night of Baba Yaga" takes place in Japan’s 1970s yakuza underworld and centers on the daughter of a mob boss and a ruthless martial arts fighter who serves as her bodyguard.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Jul 4, 2025

Queer-coded yakuza story wins prestigious U.K. crime writing award

With “The Night of Baba Yaga,” Akira Otani is the first Japanese writer to win the Crime Writers’ Association Dagger Award for crime fiction in translation.

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan