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Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 2, 2023

'The Night Before Upheaval' navigates the murky waters of overseas film festivals

Japanese indie director Mutsuki Kameyama explores the ins and outs of the overseas festival circuit in their new documentary.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 5, 2023

Meiko Kaji conjures the underworld of 1970s Japan

The 'Urami Bushi' singer harks back to a film era of vengeful women, smoke-wreathed bars and gambling dens on the reissue of “Hajiki Uta,” one of her solo albums from the 1970s.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 10, 2023

The Oscars are upon us. What films are you rooting for?

Discussing what makes a great movie is fun conversation fodder. What kind of movie do you think is worthy of an Academy Award?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 5, 2022

Tokyo International Film Festival sees welcome uptick in crowds

The 35th edition of the major movie event struck a noticeably different tone after relocating from Roppongi Hills to its new home in one of the more scenic areas of central Tokyo.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 3, 2022

‘Your Lovely Smile’: A sincere tribute to indie cinemas

In Kah Wai Lim's drama about a struggling director who wanders around Japan pitching his films to independent theaters, Hirobumi Watanabe plays a version of himself with heart and humor.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 18, 2022

Eiko Ishibashi’s score sets the scene in Oscar-contender ‘Drive My Car’

The composer and musician's body of work spans from abstract art pop to experimental electronics, with her love for cinema serving as a major source of inspiration.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 4, 2022

The end of ‘Fight Club’ was cut in China. The pattern goes back decades.

The 1999 cult classic starring Brad Pitt and Edward Norton is not the only foreign film to be altered for audiences in mainland China.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 7, 2022

Peter Bogdanovich, director whose career was a Hollywood drama, dies at 82

Bogdanovich hit the ground running in the '70s with films such as 'The Last Picture Show' but within the decade, he had become one of Hollywood's most ostracized filmmakers.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 18, 2021

Lim Kah Wai creates an intricate mosaic of Osakans in ‘Come and Go’

Director Lim Kah Wai's final installment of his Osaka trilogy is a compelling ensemble drama that reflects the diversity of nationalities and lifestyles that coexist in the city.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Nov 13, 2021

TIFF and Tokyo Filmex shakeup gets conversations going

The 34th edition of Tokyo's annual film event marked the debut of a newly appointed programming director, an emphasis on female perspectives and the resurrection of the TIFF Times.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 14, 2021

China’s censorship widens to Hong Kong’s vaunted film industry, with global implications

The new guidelines, which apply to both domestically produced and foreign films, come as a sharp slap to the artistic spirit of Hong Kong.
JAPAN / Explainer
Mar 23, 2021

Communications ministry scandal puts focus on Japan's Broadcast Act

A decision to strip a unit of Tohokushinsha of its license came after a number of senior officials connected to the ministry were punished for violating the ethics code.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 21, 2020

Think you streamed everything? Dig deeper on Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime

Cinemas have cautiously started to reopen in parts of Japan, but many of us are still having to sit tight and do all our movie-viewing at home. If, by now, you’re feeling like you’ve reached the bottom of the streaming barrel, fret not: There are still choice morsels of domestic and overseas offerings...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 5, 2019

'My Girlfriend is a Serial Killer': A rom-com slasher for killing time

In this adapation of the lurid manga series 'Peephole,' Yosuke Sugino plays a suicidal shut-in who falls for his murderous neighbor.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 17, 2019

Peaks, troughs and international awards: Japanese films in the Heisei Era

The Heisei Era began in January 1989 and I started writing reviews of Japanese films for The Japan Times in July that year. In 1990, I became Japan correspondent for a British movie trade magazine, a job description that, with a change of publication, I have held ever since.
CULTURE / Film / Heisei Icons,Heisei Icons
Mar 1, 2019

Takeshi Kitano: From manzai comic to giant of Japanese film

Many Japanese filmmakers try to promote their films and talents abroad but stumble more than they succeed: Either Cannes rejects their latest masterpiece or Hollywood turns down their J-horror script.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Nov 8, 2018

The Japanese films that made a splash at TIFF

Every year people from the film industry — buyers, programmers and critics — descend on the Tokyo International Film Festival to see what this country has to offer, and every year they usually find at least one gem among the selections in the Japanese Cinema Splash section for indie films.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 18, 2018

Soundtracking the thrill of the climb in Jennifer Peedom's 'Mountain'

With "Mountain," director Jennifer Peedom has done for the mountaineering film what Marks & Spencer's did for food advertisements years ago: taken the concept and beautified it to such an extent that it provokes a visceral response. Salivating over the movie's visual perfection is the only appropriate...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 31, 2018

Short Shorts festival entries give Japan a starring role

From "You Only Live Twice" (1967) to "Black Rain" (1989) and "Lost in Translation" (2003), directors who choose Japan as a filming location are often well-rewarded with beautiful backdrops. The local flavor that works its way into a movie can sometimes be as important as the characters or plot.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 20, 2017

Working in the film industry as a non-Japanese has its own challenges

Japan is home to one of the most lucrative movie industries in the world, and also one of the most prolific: 1,149 films received a theatrical release during 2016, over 600 of which were domestic productions. It can be hard to stand out in such a crowded marketplace and the challenges are often compounded...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Dec 2, 2017

Yasunari Kawabata's surrealist window on the world

Opening with one of the most famous lines in Japanese literature — "Emerging from the long border tunnel, they entered snow country," shifting us at speed from the darkness of the tunnel into the bright light of the snow — Yasunari Kawabata's novel "Snow Country" tells of a city-dwelling, worldly...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 24, 2017

The Tokyo International Film Festival can be a time of true cinematic discovery (if you know where to look)

Film festivals have multiplied like bamboo shoots in Japan over the past two decades, from Okinawa in the south to Sapporo in the north. But the country's biggest is still the Tokyo International Film Festival, whose 30th edition takes place from Oct. 25 to Nov. 3 at venues centering on Roppongi Hills....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 7, 2017

Hiroshi Sugimoto: The illusion of architecture

The renowned artist made a name for himself by capturing time in a photograph. Now he attempts to do the same with an art complex in Odawara ...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Sep 23, 2017

'Devils in Daylight' and 'The Maids': The literary sleuthing of Junichiro Tanizaki

Question: Is it really the case that for a large part of the 20th century Japan enjoyed a golden age of literature? Or is this just misty-eyed nostalgia?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 18, 2017

Japan's filmmakers expand their idea of overseas opportunity

The Japanese film industry has long been insular, making films by and for Japanese with little input from, or concern for, the outside world.
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Mar 10, 2017

Fukada's filmmaking a breath of fresh air

Koji Fukada's black comedy "Hospitalite" ("Kantai") won best film in the Tokyo International Film Festival's Japanese Eyes section in 2010 and since then he has become accustomed to stepping up on stages to receive prizes for his work.
CULTURE / Film
Jan 11, 2017

'The Neon Demon': Demonically arty — in a good way

With "The Neon Demon," director Nicolas Winding Refn seems to have come to the end of a trilogy that began with "Drive" (2011) and continued through "Only God Forgives" (2013). The idea seems to be to take genre-flick styles — car action, revenge and horror — and unravel them to the point where they...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 3, 2017

The special effect of Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Apichatpong Weerasethakul pokes a little fun at Thailand's superstitions.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 14, 2016

Is Southeast Asia now Japan's competition?

Japan is an Asian entertainment powerhouse, is it not? This October's Japan Contents Showcase, which was held in Tokyo's Odaiba and Shibuya areas, included markets for film and TV (TIFFCOM), animation (TIAF) and music (TIMM), with 356 Japanese companies selling to 1,539 registered buyers, most from Asia....

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