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Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 20, 2019

Japan's summer festivals plan for a final party before Olympic fever hits

As Yo La Tengo once sang, "summer's what you make it," and that's especially true in Japan this year. The 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics are likely to throw a major wrench (or should that be hammer?) in the works for next summer's festival calendar, so it's worth enjoying things while the going...
Japan Times
WORLD
May 28, 2019

Blood and thunder at sea: British veteran remembers D-Day, 75 years on

Seventy-five years ago, a young British sailor stood on the bridge of a warship, its gun barrels pointing out to the coast of France, and watched the devastation being rained down on a country he wanted to liberate.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
May 19, 2019

I walked the line: Getting reacquainted with Tokyo on the Yamathon

Riding the full length of Tokyo's central Yamanote railway line takes about an hour, but walking it has its own rewards.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 16, 2019

Despite being only 10 years old, actor Kokoro Terada is taking on tough topics

A heart-warming tale about an elderly woman's struggles with dementia as seen from the perspective of her young grandson, "Grandma is Okay" ("Baba wa, Daijobu") is the latest movie by Yokohama-born filmmaker Jacky Woo.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 24, 2019

'Lust in a Karaoke Box': Celebrating the joys of student life

When I taught at colleges here in the 1980s, I marveled at my students' freedom, including freedom from study. They could spend most of their waking hours at part-time jobs or club activities and still, somehow, graduate.
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Apr 6, 2019

'Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths' review: Pulling no punches when it comes to the realities of war

In 'Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths,' manga artist and veteran Shigeru Mizuki brings the Pacific front of World War II to life with unflinching realism and a grotesque and sardonic humor.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 21, 2019

A new lease of life for Macoto Tezka's cult classic 'The Legend of the Stardust Brothers'

Like so many authors of cult movies, Macoto Tezka didn't set out to make a commercial bomb. His debut feature, "The Legend of the Stardust Brothers" ("Hoshikuzu Kyodai no Densetsu"), was widely lambasted upon its release in 1985, but over the years it has steadily acquired a reputation as a delightful...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 20, 2019

'Shinjuku Tiger': A story of one man and his mask

Spend enough time on the streets of Shinjuku, and you'll eventually spot a flamboyantly dressed figure in a tiger mask carrying fake flowers, stuffed animals and a boombox. This is Shinjuku Tiger, the subject of a documentary of the same name out this week.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 6, 2019

'Running Again': Solving problems with a good run

Running scenes have been a staple since the start of the movies, but in the silent days the fleet-footed hero was usually trying to outrun the police. Now, competitive running in its various forms, from the ekiden relay to the marathon, has become a subset of the feel-good sports film in Japan, with...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 6, 2019

'Siblings of the Cape': Uncomfortable, yet compelling

There are films that take you places you rather wish they wouldn't. Within the first 10 minutes of "Siblings of the Cape," I was ready to stop watching, but something about Shinzo Katayama's scruffy, transgressive debut kept me hooked.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Mar 6, 2019

Hello Kitty headed for Hollywood after years of talks on film rights

One of Japan's most beloved cat cartoon characters is headed for Hollywood.
Mar 5, 2019

Cinema Meta

cinema-meta
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 26, 2019

Delving deep into the Kanto jazz bar scene

The tourist boom in Japan shows no sign of ending, with the number of visitors only set to increase in the lead up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Whether for bulk shopping, temple visiting or sushi-counter hopping, Tokyo and surrounding neighborhoods have endless adventures just waiting to be discovered....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Feb 23, 2019

'Tokyo Ueno Station' shows the dark side of the postwar boom

In her new novel, 'Tokyo Ueno Station,' writer Yu Miri connects Japan's modern past with the homeless in Ueno Park, giving faces and voices to the dispossessed.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 24, 2019

The Japanese family, seen through Iranian eyes

Iranian director Ida Panahandeh's fourth feature, "The Nikaidos' Fall," took her way beyond her comfort zone. She didn't speak Japanese nor had she ever visited the country, and yet there she was with a Japanese crew and cast, filming a story about the Japanese family dynamic in the ancient city of Tenri...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Jan 21, 2019

Producer Andrew Vajna of 'Rambo' and 'Evita' fame dies in Budapest at 74

Andrew G. Vajna, the Hungarian movie producer behind "Rambo," "Evita" and other international hits, died in his Budapest home on Sunday following a long illness, the Hungarian National Film Fund said.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 16, 2019

'The Nikaidos' Fall': What's in a name? Everything.

The weight of tradition threatens to crush a once-great family in "The Nikaidos' Fall," a contemporary drama about people with an unhealthy fixation on the past. Iranian director Ida Panahandeh's film starts in a cemetery and never really leaves the realm of the dead. Its characters are so haunted by...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 9, 2019

'His Lost Name': A lack of more than just a name

Cinema abounds with tales of imposters and con artists, but some of the most interesting stories are the ones where people get wise to a deception and decide to go along with it anyway. In "His Lost Name," a young drifter arrives in a rural backwater under a fake identity, only to get sucked into a relationship...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 2, 2019

'Astral Abnormal Suzuki-san': YouTube comedy series makes it to the big screen

What is the future of films in Japan? Bigger spectacles backed by media conglomerates? Maybe at the top end of the industry. At the lower end, though, indie filmmakers have to find other ways to draw audiences and finance films. Crowdfunding helps some get made, while ceaseless and creative PR on social...
Dec 28, 2018

Cinema Kabuki: Nodaban Nezumikozo / Movix Kyoto / 2018-12-29 to 2019-01-04

until Jan. 3 9:50 / Jan. 4 9:20
Dec 28, 2018

The Grinch (dubbed) / Aeon Cinema Minatomirai / 2018-12-29 to 2019-01-04

Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Dec 13, 2018

Mitsuki Kimura and her film award without the film

Year-end awards season is in full swing, which means a lot of looking back on the past 12 months. Part of the fun of best-of lists and 2018-in-a-minute thinkpieces is arguing about placement and positioning: Did X really deserve to get so much love? Was Y not actually bloated and overrated?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 27, 2018

'Killing': A modern take on a samurai staple

Screening in competition at this year's Venice Film Festival, "Killing" is veteran provocateur Shinya Tsukamoto's first venture into the samurai genre. Made, like most of Tsukamoto's films, on a tiny budget and tight schedule, it does not attempt the scale of classics like "Seven Samurai" (1954) or "Yojimbo"...
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / JAPAN TIMES GONE BY
Nov 3, 2018

Japan Times 1918: Tokyo celebrates the Allies' victory in World War I

Today the citizens of the capital of Japan rejoice with the Allies, of whom Japan has been so important a member, and celebrate the triumph of their common cause.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 30, 2018

The ghosts that have been haunting cinema-goers in Japan for over a century

Twenty years ago, people packed theaters to watch a couple of Japanese teenagers view a strange videotape and soon after receive an ominous phone call with a cryptic message: "Seven days."
JAPAN / History / Defining the Heisei Era
Oct 27, 2018

Defining the Heisei Era: When anime and manga went global

The Heisei Era commenced after two gods fell in rapid succession. The first, Emperor Hirohito, was no longer officially a god, having repudiated his quasi-divine status under the terms of Japan's surrender in World War II, but he remained god-like in stature. His January death in 1989 at age 87 signaled...
Japan Times
MULTIMEDIA
Oct 27, 2018

The faces of the Tokyo International Film Festival 2018: Competition

The 31st Tokyo International Film Festival, which opened on Thursday, is screening a variety of cinema from all over the world at various venues in Tokyo. The festival runs until Nov. 3, when the jury will announce the winning films from the competition.
Japan Times
MULTIMEDIA
Oct 27, 2018

The faces of the Tokyo International Film Festival 2018: Special screenings

The 31st Tokyo International Film Festival, which opened on Thursday, is screening a variety of cinema from all over the world at various venues in Tokyo. The festival runs until Nov. 3, when the jury will announce the winning films from the competition.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Oct 22, 2018

London film fest resurrects comedic universality of Laurel and Hardy

Laurel and Hardy, perhaps the greatest comedy double act in cinema history, returned to London on Sunday, twiddling their bowler hats to a delighted West End crowd as they arrived for the world premiere of the biopic "Stan & Ollie.

Longform

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