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Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 19, 2022

Frugal is the new cool for young Chinese as economy falters

Penny pinching by China's youth is a problem for China's economic policymakers, who have long relied on increased consumption to bolster growth.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 8, 2022

‘Love Life’ tells a meandering story about grief

Koji Fukada's drama about a married couple hit by tragedy is a little too oblique for its own good.
LIFE / Style & Design
Aug 18, 2022

Hanae Mori, trailblazer of Japanese fashion design, dies at 96

The fashion pioneer, known as 'Madame Butterfly' for her signature motif, became the first Japanese person to be listed as an official haute couture designer in Paris in 1977.
Japan Times
WORLD
Aug 2, 2022

Ayman al-Zawahri: From Cairo physician to al-Qaida leader

The first time the world heard of him was when he stood in a courtroom cage after the assassination of Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat in 1981.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 29, 2022

A cinematic plea for peace in Ukraine

Slovakian filmmaker Juraj Mravec Jr. presents firsthand accounts from a war zone in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region in his 2016 documentary “Peace to You All.”
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 28, 2022

‘Yokaipedia’: Fantasy flick takes a page out of ‘Harry Potter’

Takashi Yamazaki's supernatural adventure film will cast a spell on younger viewers, but parents should find it entertaining, too.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 22, 2022

They loved volcanoes and each other

A new documentary examines the work and lives of the French volcanologists Katia and Maurice Krafft, helped mightily by their own magnificent footage.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 21, 2022

‘Dawning on Us’: Kenji Yamauchi’s pandemic drama contains some home truths

Kenji Yamauchi's drama about a family on the verge of a nervous breakdown in the wake of the pandemic hits a few snags but also offers wry observations.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jul 10, 2022

The oddities and pleasures of a bygone Japan come to life in 'Kyoto Stories'

Author Steve Alpert mines his personal experiences in his novel about the escapades of a young American student in the old capital.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 2, 2022

'Softly': Tatsuro Yamashita looks to the future with timeless optimism

Two Tatsuro Yamashitas exist in 2022. There's the patron saint of city pop and a musical symbol for all things bubble-era Japan, and then there's the 69-year-old pop tinkerer still exploring his craft on “Softly.”
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 30, 2022

‘Kami wa Mikaeri o Motomeru’: YouTuber drama leaves a nasty aftertaste

Director Keisuke Yoshida wades into morally gray territory in his film about a middle-aged man with a vendetta against an aspiring influencer.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 20, 2022

Ukraine’s highly mobile tech workforce hits the road

Until late February, Inha Kushnir worked in Odesa. Then Russia invaded and she and her husband decided that it would be safer for her and the couple's young daughter to leave.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 19, 2022

Shoppers are facing shortages of beer to popcorn this summer

A wide array of factors — from adverse weather and the pandemic to geopolitical tensions and rebounding demand — are stretching supply chains to the limit.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 16, 2022

‘Soup and Ideology’: A touching family portrait that feeds the soul

Director Yang Yonghi comes to terms with her mother's past trauma and animosity toward South Korea in the moving final chapter of her documentary trilogy on familial ties.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jun 12, 2022

Director Werner Herzog finally finds his medium

The filmmaker behind “Grizzly Man” and “Fitzcarraldo” makes a late-career foray into fiction with “The Twilight World,” a new book about a real-life Japanese intelligence officer.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 19, 2022

‘Shin Ultraman’: No deeper messages, just a lot of fun

Otaku 'dream team' duo Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi join forces once again to revive another special-effects classic that's fun and camp but lacks some punch.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 20, 2022

Kim Jong Un's Hollywood makeover highlights new propaganda push

Since taking power a decade ago, Kim has brought new looks to state television, including drone footage, computer graphics, music video-style cuts and made-for-TV moments.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 31, 2022

‘Two Outs Bases Loaded’: Bonehead comedy strikes out

Hirokazu Fujisawa's film about the misadventures of two former high school athletes turned burnouts is silly and predictable.
Japan Times
WORLD
Mar 28, 2022

In Lviv, new Russian strikes pierce sense of security in West

Until Saturday, the only target near Lviv that had been hit was an airplane repair factory near the city's airport.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 26, 2022

‘Mlabri in the Woods’ offers a rare look at former hunter-gatherers

Director Yu Kaneko's documentary about an ethnic group living in the hills of Laos and northern Thailand began with an encounter with a Japanese linguist fluent in the Mlabri language.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 25, 2022

How well do you know Japan's Oscar history?

Ryusuke Hamaguchi's “Drive My Car” is nominated in four categories at the 94th Academy Awards, but win or lose, the film joins an exclusive club for cinematic greats.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 17, 2022

‘Kappei’: The end can’t come soon enough

Even a perfectly cast Hideaki Ito can't save this limp, low-calorie comedy.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 11, 2022

‘Intimate Stranger’ is a psychological thriller for the pandemic age

Director Mayu Nakamura's background in documentary filmmaking played a part in making the feature, which explores the depths of desperation.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 10, 2022

‘Tamaran Hill’: A playful literary journey to get lost in

In Tadasuke Kotani's heartfelt adaptation of Senji Kuroi's short story, a young woman's exploration of Tokyo's hidden memories leads her down a path of self-discovery.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 17, 2022

‘The Takatsu River’: A homey hometown drama

Yoshinari Nishikori offers a relatively upbeat take on a well-worn story of a rural Japanese community in decline.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 28, 2022

Japanese films to look out for in 2022

Hollywood will see strong competition from domestic fare, including Makoto Shinkai's “Suzume no Tojimari” and Naomi Kawase's documentary on the Tokyo Olympics, at the box office this year.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 27, 2022

‘Pure Japanese’: Dean Fujioka’s passion project is a fascinating muddle

A typical genre-movie premise gets complicated in director Daishi Matsunaga's film about a stuntman living out his fantasies of old-school heroism.

Longform

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How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan