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April 25, 2025
 

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FESTIVALS

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba enters the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 18, 2025
Ishiba not to visit Yasukuni Shrine during spring festival
No sitting prime minister has paid a visit to the shrine since December 2013, when Shinzo Abe did so.
American rapper Post Malone performs at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 13.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Apr 17, 2025
Music, revolution and Y2K: Coachella 2025 takeaways
Highlights from the California music festival included an appearance from U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and an increase in leather pants.
Lisa gestures to the camera at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Apr 17, 2025
Two members of K-pop group Blackpink go solo at Coachella festival
Lisa and Jennie showcased their unique hip-hop styles at the outdoor music concert on its first weekend.
The film to beat for the Niigata International Animation Film Festival’s top prize seems to be Kiyotaka Oshiyama’s “Look Back,” one of the two Japanese features in competition.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 20, 2025
Indie films vie for views at Niigata animation festival
From Satoshi Kon tributes to indie gems, this year's Niigata International Animation Film Festival continues its dedication to feature-length animation.
Globally, women are severely underrepresented among leading roles in cinema, with female directors accounting for just over 10% of the industry in Japan. Achieving gender equality on-set would have far-reaching consequences for the whole of society.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 7, 2025
Without women behind the camera, equality stays out of the frame
Cinema isn't only about what stories are told, but who tells them. Overcoming severe underrepresentation, women are reshaping the film industry and cultural narratives.
Festival organizers Smash revealed that local legend Tatsuro Yamashita is set to play Fuji Rock for the first time ever.
CULTURE / Music
Feb 21, 2025
Fuji Rock’s biggest lineup surprise? The debut of Tatsuro Yamashita.
The summer music festival also promises Vampire Weekend, Vulfpeck and Fred Again.. among the 60 acts named for its 2025 edition.
Tokyo Koon stands at the forefront of tackling the so-called 2025 issue, also known as the “Magnetic Tape Alert.”
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Feb 17, 2025
The race to save 20th-century history
Analog recordings are at risk of disappearing as old tech breaks down and spare parts run out.
A set of miniature "hina" dolls from the late Edo Period (1603-1868), collected by hina furnishings researcher Yumiko Kawauchi
CULTURE
Feb 10, 2025
Miniatures bring hidden worlds to life at Tokyo cultural site
A set of dolls from the late Edo Period is among the items on display on the premises of Hotel Gajoen Tokyo.
Hindu pilgrims take a dip along the banks of Sangam, ahead of the <i>maha</i> Kumbh Mela festival in the city of Prayagraj on Sunday. Beside India's holy rivers, a makeshift city is being built for a Hindu religious festival expected to be so vast it will be seen from space.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Dec 26, 2024
India readies for 400 million pilgrims at mammoth festival
The Kumbh Mela, a millennia-old festival, is held once every 12 years at the site where the holy Ganges, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers meet.
Film festivals around the world are giving space to AI-generated cinematic experiences, with Venice and Cannes among the heavy hitters with sections dedicated to "immersive" works, including those made using virtual and augmented reality.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 23, 2024
Asia’s film industry should balance AI with human creativity
AI is revolutionizing cinema. Japan and Asia as a whole are well-positioned to harness technology to empower storytelling while retaining film's essentially human nature.
Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Evil Does Not Exist,” released in Japanese theaters in April, sharply dramatizes the clash between rural and urban values. The film won five awards at the 2023 Venice Film Festival, including the second-place Silver Lion prize.
CULTURE / Film / 2024 in Review
Dec 20, 2024
A year of Oscar wins and a quiet push for diversity
International collaborations and indie risk-takers steered the film industry in a fresh direction in 2024.
Tokyo's Odaiba waterfront area will host a major international art festival called Tokyo Odaiba Triennale 2025 from October to December next year.
JAPAN
Nov 28, 2024
Triennale aims to energize Tokyo's Odaiba area with art
The event will bring together works by famed Japanese avant-garde artist Yayoi Kusama and other artists from Japan and abroad.
Chung Suet-ying poses with the Best Leading Actress award for "The Way We Talk" at the 61st Golden Horse Awards in Taipei on Nov. 23.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Nov 26, 2024
Chinese films about COVID-19 and gay romance win big at Taiwan awards
The Golden Horse awards are the Chinese-speaking world's version of the Oscars.
Daihachi Yoshida receives the Tokyo Grand Prix award for his film, “Teki Cometh,” at the closing ceremony of the Tokyo International Film Festival on Nov. 6.
CULTURE / Film
Nov 8, 2024
Festival glory for a dark Japanese comedy
With sold-out screenings, international stars and an increase in guests, this year's Tokyo International Film Festival revived its rep as a global cinematic gathering.
An AI robot is cast into a wild environment and forced to adapt to her surroundings in “The Wild Robot.”
CULTURE / Film
Nov 8, 2024
TIFF’s animation entries rediscovered the art of the fable at this year's festival
This year’s animated lineup championed nature, connection and simplicity through stories that revel in the beauty of coexistence.
Students from Agatsuma’s butoh workshop, also part of Sumi-Yume, will be joining her and professional butoh dancer Tomoshi Shioya for this weekend’s shows.
CULTURE / Stage
Nov 8, 2024
Butoh dances to the sounds of Hokusai’s hometown
Performances of the avant-garde dance form are part of a program dedicated to the revered artist and celebrating the local community in Sumida Ward.
A cruel twist of fate upends the life of Jin Ai-hsia (Sylvia Chang) in "Daughter's Daughter," director Huang Xi's meditation on maternal grief.
CULTURE / Film
Nov 6, 2024
Chinese ghosts and grief compete at Tokyo International Film Festival
A slate of evocative features at Tokyo's major film event showcased established and upcoming directors from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
A woman walks past a poster with an image of Japanese actress Rinko Kikuchi for the 2024 Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF), which is currently underway through Nov. 6.
CULTURE
Nov 2, 2024
Spend Culture Day weekend in Ginza with TIFF and Yuko Mohri
The Tokyo International Film Festival is great chance to see noteworthy films, while the Artizon Museum presents playful art installations by Yuko Mohri.
The Kurama Fire Festival is one of Japan's most visceral 'matsuri' (festivals), but growing throngs of spectators could bring changes in the future.
LIFE / Travel
Nov 2, 2024
At Japan’s hottest festival, crowds threaten to smother the flames
Despite the growing throngs of attendees, it’s the smaller details of the Kurama Fire Festival that add up to more than the sum of its parts.
Andrijana Cvetkovikj is the senior programmer for the Women’s Empowerment section at this year’s Tokyo International Film Festival. The former ambassador also works to promote young filmmakers in Japan’s film industry.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Oct 24, 2024
Andrijana Cvetkovikj: ‘We have to create more opportunities for women to be playing on equal ground’
The former Macedonian ambassador to Japan is also playing a part in promoting younger film directors in the country's movie industry.
Japan must correct Trump’s false data for trade talks, says Kono
Former Foreign Minister Taro Kono
Japan wants to 'separate' tariff and security issues. That may be tough.
Japan’s chief tariff negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, poses with a "Make America Great Again" cap at the White House in Washington on April 16.
Social media helps fuel growing 'sex tourism' in Japan
People walk down a street in the red-light entertainment area of Kabukicho in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo on March 31.
Japan set to fine cyclists on the spot for rule violations from 2026
Under new rules, those who use smartphones while riding a bicycle would be subject to the maximum fine of ¥12,000.
Naked man’s rampage in Saitama linked to one fatality and 10 injured
Police believe Daisuke Nishimura may have been involved in roughly 20 incidents in the 90 minutes leading up to his arrest, including a fatal hit-and-run and multiple assaults.
Amid uncertain tariffs, is now the time to buy a new iPhone?
An Apple store in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward in September. Prices for the newest iPhone models start at around ¥100,000 ($700) in Japan.
Built in a flash, Osaka Expo pavilions wrestle with sustainability
Kengo Kuma & Associates oversaw the construction of the Malaysia pavilion, which is encased in interwoven rows of bamboo that appear to ripple.
Japan weighs using U.S. rice imports as tariff negotiation tool with Trump
A restaurant owner pours California-grown Calrose rice into a rice cooker at his restaurant in Tokyo
Is Japan’s parliament ready to welcome more youth to its ranks?
Lower House lawmaker Kai Odake in his Tokyo office on Wednesday
Crow meat, goat tartare: Mauvaise Herbe raises its game
Crow meat, shaped into a ball and attached to a foot of the bird, is one of the peculiar offerings of game at Mauvaise Herbe.

Podcast

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

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.
By Tomoko Otake

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Fujitsu crafts sustainable innovation for itself, society
Fujitsu crafts sustainable innovation for itself, society

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