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Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 15, 2017

'Kong: Skull Island': King Kong swats away the story line

From the bizarrely "localized" titles to the media events featuring random TV personalities who aren't even in the film, Japanese distributors use some peculiar strategies to promote Hollywood movies to an increasingly indifferent public.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 28, 2016

'Rogue One': On the Dark Side of reanimation

How much do you want a new "Star Wars"? When J.J. Abrams' "The Force Awakens" opened to enormous fanfare last December, it felt like watching a beloved rock band making its comeback tour after a long hiatus. Sure, the original members couldn't quite muster the same energy and half of them seemed to have...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 30, 2016

'Tale of Tales': Do we need fables for adults?

The current ideological system that governs our lives — call it late capitalism, the spectacle, or just Babylon — is most devious in its ability to take any and all resistance, any deviance from the hamster wheel of consumerism, and repackage it as just another product, whether that's Che Guevara...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 12, 2016

Kiyoshi Kurosawa's cinematic apparitions

Directors who become known as horror specialists often end up making little else, whether by choice or not. Labeled a "horrormeister" for such supremely creepy films as "Cure" (1997) and "Pulse" (Kairo, 2001), Kiyoshi Kurosawa is one director who has successfully expanded beyond the genre with his dark...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 7, 2016

'Karate Kill': Kick back to a good old action film

Back in the 1990s, a British trade magazine sent me to Los Angeles every November to report on the American Film Market — then mostly an emporium of cheapo genre films, held at Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel. It was the heyday of the straight-to-video actioner and the doors of many sales suites were...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 31, 2016

'Gods of Egypt': What an ungodly mess

In the latest issue of Kinema Junpo, Japan's most venerable film magazine, you can read a lengthy tribute to Gaga, the dogged independent movie distributor that's marking its 30th anniversary this year. The occasion is certainly worth commemorating: This is the company that released "Seven," "Talk to...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 17, 2016

'Song of the Sea': Seals, fairies and ancient folk songs

When Isao Takahata's "The Tale of Princess Kaguya" lost out to "Big Hero 6" in the competition for Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards last year, it was a reminder of how thoroughly 3-D computer animation has eclipsed more traditional techniques. In the 15 years since the award was introduced,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 3, 2016

'Shin Godzilla': The metaphorical monster returns

Watching "Shin Godzilla," Toho's reboot of its signature monster series, I couldn't help feeling sorry for the non-Japanese fans forced to read a blizzard of subtitles for this extremely talky and densely populated film, with a break every 10 minutes or so for Godzilla rampages — the real reason they...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 30, 2016

Retreat from the heat to the cinema this summer

The summer blockbuster is dead — or at least, it has ceased to exist as a distinct entity. Four decades after "Jaws" set the template for mass-market Hollywood spectacle, the so-called event movie has expanded its turf so dramatically that July and August, once the most fiercely contested box-office...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 15, 2016

'Creepy': It doesn't get much eerier than this

The title of "Creepy," the new shocker by horror maestro Kiyoshi Kurosawa, sounds like an in-jokey self-parody. It's like titling a new Adam Sandler comedy "Goofy" (or if you're not feeling charitable, "Crappy"). But "Creepy," which premiered at this year's Berlin Film Festival, is also the title of...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Jun 1, 2016

The EU is on firm ground when it comes to film

The European Union might be teetering on the brink of collapse politically, but culturally it's still presenting a united front. EU Film Days, a showcase of movies from Portugal to Lithuania, Finland to Greece, is entering its sixth year in Japan, with daily screenings throughout the rainy season at...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 27, 2016

'Terraformars': Miike's life on Mars has its bugs

Now that voyages to Mars seem likely in the next generation or so, films about the red planet are moving beyond the "John Carter" (2012) space-opera stage. But for every reality-based "The Martian," there is still a "Terraformars," Takashi Miike's latest extreme entertainment.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 27, 2016

'Captain America': Civil War: Marvel shows Superman how it's done

Have we reached peak superhero yet? After spending the winter months watching "Jessica Jones" and "Daredevil" on Netflix, viewers can now subject themselves to a barrage of comic-book spectacle at their local multiplex. Following last month's clattering, messy "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" comes...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 20, 2016

Lubezki achieves the extraordinary long shot

At this year's Oscars, while everyone was fuming about the academy's lack of diversity, few bothered to notice an incredible achievement: Mexican cameraman Emmanuel Lubezki, also known by his nickname "Chivo," became the first person ever to win three Oscars in a row for Best Cinematography. (And one...
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Dec 30, 2015

Views from Nagoya: What did you make of 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens'?

Cinemagoers offer their opinions after a showing of the much-anticipated seventh installment in the 'Star Wars' saga.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 29, 2015

Laurent Grasso alludes to a future in our past

A funny thing happened on the way to "Le Forum." Outside Ochanomizu Station, a small group of neo-Nazis had set up shop and were playing the Japanese national anthem. One of them was wearing a modified SS uniform and proudly let me take his picture. I noticed that his jack boots and Sam Browne belt were...
CULTURE / Film
Dec 16, 2015

Kiki Sugino: 'I'm always looking for myself'

Kiki Sugino has a one-of-a-kind resume in the domestic movie business. Many are the young "multi-talents" who act, sing and model, but most are recruited, molded and marketed by an agency. From the start, this 31-year-old actor, director and producer took a more independent route toward multi-dom.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Nov 14, 2015

But is it art? Anime in the 'post-cinematic' age

The past 15 years have seen a boom in academic studies of anime, ranging from thematic and cultural analysis such as Susan J. Napier's "Anime from Akira to Howl's Moving Castle" to formal theory based on technical processes and the nature of two-dimensional images such as Thomas Lamarre's "The Anime...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 11, 2015

Hungarian director Kornel Mundruczo's 'White God' lacks teeth

Man and his best friend are having some serious relationship issues in "White God." Hungarian director Kornel Mundruczo's tale of a teenage girl and her beloved hound is the stuff of canine nightmares, set in a present-day Budapest that feels more like a dog dystopia.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 10, 2015

A photo finish between ukiyo-e and the camera

The idea for the smart, complex and challenging exhibition "From Ukiyo-e to Photography" at the Edo-Tokyo Museum started from the discovery of two images. One is a photograph of the Meiji-Era (1867-1912) Minister of Home Affairs Toshimichi Okubo, taken in Paris in 1878. The second is a color ukiyo-e...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 7, 2015

'Bakuman' depicts a life-or-death quest for manga success

High school kids dream big dreams, and in Japan one of the biggest is to be a successful manga artist. The financial rewards for a hit manga published in a national magazine and sold in paperback editions are substantial. And the accompanying recognition and power — with adoring fans pleading for autographs...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 6, 2015

New theme park, old problems, but 'Jurassic World' is still wild

Time hasn't been kind to Steven Spielberg's "Jurassic Park," the 1993 blockbuster that paved the way for every CGI-driven popcorn flick of the past two decades. But it isn't the movie's visual effects that betray its age: it's the setting. The film's titular theme park may have spent millions on cloning...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 5, 2015

Tom cruises through 'Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation'

Tom Cruise is 53. I repeat: Tom Cruise is 53. In seven years he will officially be eligible for retirement and a cushy 401(k) plan. That will probably be what's going on in the minds of most people who watch "Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation," the latest but not last installment in the "Mission:...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 17, 2015

'Mad Max: Fury Road' is so good at spectacular violence that it injures itself

If you want a vision of the future, at least from George Miller's perspective, picture a boot stamping on a human face for about two hours. Those in search of a bludgeoning good time will find it in his new scorched-earth action extravaganza, "Mad Max: Fury Road" — it's hard to remember the last time...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 22, 2015

Surviving the night of the long tentacular knives in 'Parasyte: Part 2'

When we left Shinichi (Shota Sometani) and his inseparable parasite companion Migi at the end of Takashi Yamazaki's 2014 sci-fi/horror hit "Kiseiju" ("Parasyte: Part 1"), the space-alien organisms who had found human hosts in the city of Higashi Fukuyama were not only slaughtering humans for food —...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 29, 2015

Exodus: 'Verisimilitude alone doesn't make a story more engaging'

You could read the Book of Exodus in less time than it takes to watch Ridley Scott's provocatively pointless big-screen version, and it would probably be more entertaining. Even at 2½ hours, this biblical blockbuster feels rushed, as if the story has been shorn of all its connective tissue. Sweeping...
CULTURE / Film
Jan 1, 2015

What if 'The Interview' had been made in Japan?

It couldn't happen here — that was my first takeaway from the massive cyberattack on Sony Pictures Entertainment prompted by the Seth Rogen and James Franco comedy "The Interview." In the film, the two heroes journey to North Korea ostensibly to interview its real-life leader, Kim Jong Un, but in fact,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 1, 2015

Son of God: 'There is little to no poetic license taken here'

Just in time to be too late for Christmas is "Son of God," Hollywood's latest attempt to reboot the Jesus franchise. Director Christopher Spencer tries to give a more family-friendly version of the life of Jesus than the torture-porn brutality of Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ."
CULTURE / Film
Dec 24, 2014

The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (Japan title: TinTin Noboken: Unicorn go no Himitsu)

Director: Steven Spielberg Language: English
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 26, 2014

Documentaries at the margins of modern life

There is no film festival in Japan quite like the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival (YIDFF).
Why are rice prices still high in Japan?
Amid shortages, the price of a 5-kilogram bag of rice during the week of April 14 was ¥4,220.
Police arrest man after body of ex-girlfriend found under his home
Hideyuki Shirai (center) at Tokyo's Haneda Airport on Saturday
Dollar’s decline is fueling dislocations across Asian currencies
A worker counts U.S. dollar banknotes at a currency exchange office in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 2022.
Worker shortage forcing home care providers to turn away clients, survey finds
A survey by a labor union of home care business operators and care managers found that nearly 90% of facility managers had turned down service requests at least once during the past year, citing insufficient staffing.
Tariff talks with U.S. seen influencing Japan's Upper House election
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to reporters about Japan-U.S. tariff negotiations at his official residence on Saturday.
Why are rice prices still high in Japan?
Amid shortages, the price of a 5-kilogram bag of rice during the week of April 14 was ¥4,220.
Plug and Play wants to help Japanese startups go global
Phillip Vincent (right), Japan CEO of Plug and Play, and Ma Jingqian, head of ventures, at Plug and Play's Tokyo office, last month
Kotomi Li: 'I refuse to choose death'
Since 2017, Kotomi Li has won some of Japan’s top literary awards and built a formidable career in the face of persistent online harassment. “Authors are tenacious creatures to begin with,” she says.
Want to see the future at the Osaka Expo? Get in line.
“‘Future of life,’ by Ishiguro,” the World Expo pavilion by roboticist Hiroshi Ishiguro, displays humanlike androids.

Podcast

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

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan
By Hanako Lowry

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