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April 27, 2024
 

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Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 25, 2005

Creators, not hacks

OUTLAW MASTERS OF JAPANESE FILM by Chris Desjardins. London, New York: I.B. Tauris, 2005, 262 pp., $19.95 (paper). IRON MAN: The Cinema of Shinya Tsukamoto, by Tom Mes. FAB Press, 2005. 237 pp., $24.95 (paper) Foreign critics used to worship at the altars of Akira Kurosawa, Yasujiro Ozu and Kenji Mizoguchi -- Olympian auteurs who stood aloof from the directorial masses churning out product on studio conveyor belts.
CULTURE / Film
May 12, 2004

Jeonju film fest spotlights indies

The fifth Jeonju International Film Festival, held April 23-May 2, was again distinguished by an innovative and eclectic array of contemporary cinema. Held in the Korean provincial capital of Jeonju (Cheonju), it continues to offer opportunities for viewing a variety of international films not seen elsewhere.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Sep 14, 2003

Uncovering lost worlds of Japanese film

RECALLING THE TREASURES OF JAPANESE CINEMA: Japanese Film History Studies, edited by Friends of Silent Film Association, supervised by Matsuda Film Productions, preface by Tadao Sato. Tokyo: Urban Connections, 2003, 200 pp., with photos, 1,800 yen (cloth). With movies so ubiquitous it is easy to forget how fragile they are -- particularly Japanese movies. Even in a world where two-thirds of all silent cinema is lost (and perhaps a quarter of all sound films as well), the destruction of the Japanese cinema is extraordinary. Except for a few titles, there is nothing extant from the period of 1897 to 1917 and only somewhat more from 1918 to 1945. The 1923 earthquake, the 1945 fire-bombing of the major cities, the postwar Allied Occupation torching of banned films, and the later indifference of the industry itself have meant the destruction of 90 percent of all Japanese films made before 1945.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 13, 2001

Our dreams are made of this

Film critics often have a not-so-secret desire to get behind the camera themselves. Francois Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard and Peter Bogdanovich are among those who made the leap successfully, though Bogdanovich returned to writing after his directing career faltered in the mid-'70s. Even thumbs-up critic Roger Ebert once ventured a screenplay, for "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls." Wrote friend Mike Royko after a screening: "Every young man is entitled to one big mistake."
JAPAN
Dec 12, 2000

United Cinemas expands with complex in Kanto

A new cinema complex operated by two Hollywood giants, Paramount and Universal, opened last week in Iruma, Saitama Prefecture, introducing Sony Dynamic Digital Sound and other cutting-edge sound technology.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Mar 2, 1999

Where Japan draws the line

EROS IN HELL: Sex, Blood and Madness in Japanese Cinema. Texts by Jack Hunter, Rosemary Hawley Jarman, Johannes Schonherr, Romain Slocombe. London: Creation Books, 1998, 228 pp., b/w photos, profusely illustrated, 14.95 British pounds. In 1966, Jack Hunter says, when the notorious publication "Death Scenes," photographs of murder/suicide victims, was imported into Japan, "customs officials were reportedly outraged -- because a few of the mangled, rotting corpses were naked."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 4, 2022

'Moonlight Shadow' director Edmund Yeo praises the Japanese work ethic and the dedication of producers

Though filmmaking is not a particularly popular career path in Malaysia, Edmund Yeo still managed to follow his dream of being a director.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 11, 2022

Oscars nod launches director Ryusuke Hamaguchi into the global spotlight

Ryusuke Hamaguchi landed four major Oscar nominations this week, a phenomenal achievement for a filmmaker who is still really just hitting his stride.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 25, 2021

Director Kentaro brings an auteur’s touch to a soulful road movie

The 'Under the Turquoise Sky' director mixes realism, fantasy and comedy in his visually stirring feature debut about a Japanese man who goes on a journey of self-discovery in Mongolia.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 24, 2019

Ang Lee: The filmmaker decades ahead of his time

Filmmaker Ang Lee has dedicated himself to filming in high-resolution and 3D, techniques that most cinemas are not yet equipped to handle
Japan Times
CULTURE
Oct 20, 2018

Japonismes 2018 seeks to break down cultural stereotypes

A stupendous full autumn moon, bright orange and fat, flashes intermittently between the nondescript high-rise flats and offices on the drive to Charles de Gaulle Airport. It's an apt and beautiful reminder of one of the events that we, a group of Tokyo-based editors and writers, were invited to see earlier in the week at Japonismes 2018: Souls in Resonance. It was a theater production of "Tsukimi Zato" ("Moon-viewing Blind Man"), starring veteran kyogen performer Mansaku Nomura, wherein a townie from upper Kyoto out for a stroll in the countryside bumps into a gentle old blind man. The two characters merrily share sake and poems together but, after parting, the slightly drunk younger man doubles back and deliberately bumps into the blind man as a practical joke and roughly pushes him over. The punchline of the play is that the blind man, as he makes his way home, wonders sadly how there can be such different people in the world, not realizing that it was the same person.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 18, 2018

Your guide to our Japanese film picks at this year's Tokyo International Film Festival

The Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) offers fans a rare chance to see dozens of new and classic Japanese films with English subtitles on the big screen. Among my own picks for the event's 31st edition:
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN?
Apr 8, 2017

Shinsuke Fujimoto makes his mark in the Korean film industry

Shinsuke Fujimoto is a rarity in the booming South Korean film industry. Despite having no connections in the local movie scene, the Ishikawa Prefecture native flew to Seoul straight after graduating college and has managed to make a living working on various film sets for over a decade.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Mar 1, 2017

Binge on the best of the Italian neorealists

Even a casual film buff knows that "Bicycle Thieves," the 1948 black-and-white film by Vittorio De Sica, is regarded as one of The Great Films of All Time. It's the best-known film by far of Italian cinema's postwar neorealist movement, but those who wish to delve deeper into that rich vein can binge this month at Yebisu Garden Cinema, with its Cinema Neo Classico Italia showcase.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 20, 2017

'Your Name.' to be released with English subtitles

Makoto Shinkai's animated film "Your Name." continues to win over audiences in Asia, and now has its sights set on dominating North America, too.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 9, 2016

Japanese films dive deep at TIFF, but surface without major awards

The Japanese films at this year's Tokyo International Film Festival were a varied lot, from the multiplex fare in the Special Screenings and Japan Now sections to the indies in the Japanese Cinema Splash, Competition and Asian Future sections.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 28, 2016

Admiring the tarnished silver screen

Old chewing gum, cheap carpet sticky from spilled drinks, sagging seats pitted with cigarette burns: Satoshi Chuma's photographs of old cinemas on show at the National Film Center are fantastically evocative of the decline and fall of celluloid.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 23, 2015

Top 10 films of 2015: Like finding a needle in a haystack

Finding alternatives in 2015 to big-budget blockbusters and beard-stroking festival films wasn't easyIt has been a lean year. All too often, it felt like you had seen the movies of 2015 before — each new release seemed to be the shadow of a shadow of an original idea. You could see it popcorn flicks such as "Fifty Shades of Gray" or "Ant-Man" as well as Oscar-bait biopics such as "The Imitation Game" and "The Theory of Everything," never mind glacial "slow cinema" such as "Winter Sleep." Cinema is not dead, but it has lost its mojo, split between the extremes of gazillion-dollar superhero fireball porn or beard-stroking festival films while ceding the cultural middle-ground to television and online video.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 7, 2015

Asia's most important film festival reasserts its independence

Celebrating its 20th year, the 2015 edition of the Busan International Film Festival, held in South Korea's southern port city from Oct. 1 to 10, has a lot to brag about, as it has definitely become the most important film festival in Asia in terms of the quality of its programming, the size and reach of its market activities and the variety of its educational events.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 8, 2014

iNumber Number: 'Reeks of blood, mud and sweat'

"iNumber Number" is the final film in the World Extreme Cinema (WEC) event at the Human Trust Cinema Shibuya, in Tokyo, and suffice to say, it takes the "hit me on a gut level" statement to a new dimension. WEC was designed to showcase raw talent from the world's indie scene — prepare to be shocked. "iNumber Number" (also released as "Avenged") is a South African production, and the whole thing reeks of blood, mud and sweat.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 2, 2014

Babylon still trembles at Jamaica's cult classic

Flashback: It's midnight at the Orson Welles Cinema, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1980. Perry Henzell's breakthrough Jamaican film "The Harder They Come" has been playing here every weekend for nearly a decade now, but tonight it's still a full house. As the lights go down, the audience sparks up, and within a good 10 minutes the room is stewing in a haze of pungent ganja smoke and fine reggae music.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 31, 2013

Bollywood bigwigs hope Japan fans are in it for keeps

In the 1990s, one of the most popular foreign movie stars in Japan was an Indian actor named Rajinikanth, who appeared in films made for India's Tamil-speaking southern region.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 28, 2012

Food-themed festival serves up tasty films to chew on

Cinephile foodies, rejoice: The Tokyo Gohan Film Festival kicks off Oct. 6 and runs through Oct. 21. Now in its third year — and with a spinoff event in Osaka held Oct. 6-14 — it's a showcase of films all related to food. Not just one, lonesome movie such as "Dinner Rush" (though that's included in the program, hooray!), but a collection of 15 works from Japan and abroad in which food appears as a character, a pivotal prop, or a proud centerpiece. There will also be live music and, of course, plenty to eat.
EDITORIALS
Sep 5, 2012

Cinemas going digital

Japan's cinema world is now undergoing its greatest transformation since the introduction of "talkie" and color films. It has been learned recently that 10 major cinema complex firms, which cover some 70 percent of the roughly 3,300 movie screens in Japan, are expected to complete the introduction of digital projection equipment by the summer of 2013 at the latest. Digitization of movie production, distribution and showing is inevitable. But people in the movie world should consider what problems digitization may have.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 13, 2012

'The Lady' / 'Betty Blue'

In cinema, as in music, micro-trends come and go: Will anyone remember "mumblecore" a decade from now? Yet the '80s French movement known as le cinema du look, based on three brash young French directors, has aged remarkably well. Jean-Jacques Beineix ("Diva"), Luc Besson ("Subway"), and Leos Carax ("Mauvais Sang") were praised and crucified for exactly the same thing: their bold embrace of visual style.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jun 3, 2012

Hush ye not! Here's a heckle of an idea to get rich — and save the world

You gotta hand it to the Americans. By god, they invented or at least morphed into profitability just about everything that's on my desk as I write this: my landline telephone; my iPad, which is open to my Facebook page; a DVD of the director's cut of "Edward Scissorhands"; even the plastic-lidded cup filled with a liquid that vaguely resembles coffee.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 16, 2011

'Cut'

A director who makes a film that loudly complains about the sad state of current cinema is setting himself up as a critics' punching bag ("You, sir, are part of the problem ..."). Also, if he inserts his list of 100 all-time best films into his climax he is asking for some impolite comments about his taste.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 29, 2010

Playing it for laughs the understated way

It is 3 p.m. in a quiet, residential neighborhood in Tokyo. A lady in a red dress stands by the side of a narrow street in front of a house, her hair held back and her face shielded from the sun by a woman holding a parasol.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Oct 8, 2010

Brazil film fest to tour Japan

Brazil has been on a roll lately. The world's fifth largest country has been awarded the FIFA World Cup for 2014 and South America's first Olympics in 2016. Brazilians can't help but feel jubilant as the world's gaze turns south.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 16, 2010

Sexual empowerment with a large dose of Grey matter

Sasha Grey is not the sort of movie star you normally see discussed in these pages. With a resume that includes "Oral Supremacy" and "Sex Toy Teens," Grey has risen to become one of the top porn stars in the United States, appearing in more than 180 films in a three-year period starting when she was just 18. Yet she was always exceptional: content to rely on her own natural looks (without the implants considered de rigeur in the industry), adamant that her work was a form of performance art, and constantly undermining stereotypes. (How many porn stars can digress on the merits of Jean-Luc Godard vs. Agnes Varda?)
New JAL chief concerned about yen’s ‘excessive’ weakness
Mitsuko Tottori became Japan Airlines’ first female CEO on April 1, having risen through the ranks as a flight attendant and heading the flight attendant and customer experience divisions.
Town to block view of Mount Fuji in response to overtourism
The town government of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to set up a 2.5-meter-high screen to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji looming behind a convenience store.
Yen inches closer to intervention point as BOJ meeting starts
The rate of the yen against the U.S. dollar is displayed in the trading room at foreign exchange brokerage Gaitame.com in Tokyo on Thursday.
Princess Aiko makes debut at imperial garden party
Princess Aiko attends an imperial garden party in Tokyo on Tuesday.
'So hot you can't breathe': Extreme heat hits the Philippines
A pedestrian cools himself with a folding hand fan as he waits for a ride along a road in Manila on Wednesday, as extreme heat hit the Philippines.
Tokyo's Koto Ward by-election a race unlike any other
Natsumi Sakai, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan’s candidate and one of four female candidates running in the by-election, touts her experience as a cancer survivor and midwife as having prepared her to tackle issues that women currently face.
Town to block view of Mount Fuji in response to overtourism
The town government of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to set up a 2.5-meter-high screen to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji looming behind a convenience store.
Top U.S. and China diplomats talk tough amid warnings of new ‘downward spiral’
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on Friday
Kyotographie's strong 12th edition shines light into the margins
Yassine Alaoui Ismaili, who goes by Yoriyas, turned to photography, shooting motion while in motion himself, after an injury forced him to give up his career as a professional breakdancer.
For amateur sumo, a fresh start offers hope against time-wasting and gamesmanship
Wrestlers prepare for the start of a bout at the 2023 Sumo World Championships in Tokyo. Starting this month, placing one hand on the clay first is no longer allowed.

Podcast

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.
[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Longform

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores
By Alex K.T. Martin

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