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August 30, 2025
 

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JAPANESE FILM

Many schools in Japan show "Grave of the Fireflies" as educational material to tell the emotionally grueling story of a boy who has no means to prevent his sister from starving to death.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Aug 28, 2025
Can anime carry the memories of World War II?
The medium could serve as a doorway to exploring the complexities behind the war and the horrors associated with it.
A middle school student (Chiyuri Nishiguchi) tries to keep her family afloat following the sudden death of her mother in Yoshihiko Taniguchi’s “Happy Life.”
CULTURE / Film
Aug 22, 2025
‘Happy Life’ brings dignity to family’s struggle with grief and poverty
Yoshihiko Taniguchi’s film balances realism and compassion in its depiction of a family adrift after a sudden death.
Artistically talented 14-year-old Sosuke (Konosuke Harada) finds himself pulled into deeper currents in his coastal town in “Seaside Serendipity.”
CULTURE / Film
Aug 22, 2025
‘Seaside Serendipity’: A pastel-soaked reverie on youthful creativity
Satoko Yokohama’s film blends watercolor whimsy, bohemian houseguests and a school newspaper scoop gone too far into a youth-skewed summer tale.
A Japanese soldier (Eiji Funakoshi) with tuberculosis struggles to survive in the Filipino countryside during World War II in “Fires on the Plain.”
CULTURE / Film
Aug 20, 2025
‘Fires on the Plain’: Haunting imagery in restored 1959 war film stands the test of time
Now restored in 4K, Kon Ichikawa’s film is a far from simple survival story that stares into humanity’s darkest corners.
A scene from "Kokuho"
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Aug 19, 2025
'Kokuho' rakes in over ¥10 billion at the box office
"Kokuho" is now the third-highest-grossing Japanese live-action movie ever after the 2003 film "Bayside Shakedown 2" and the 1983 movie "Antarctica."
Sho Miyake receives the Pardo d'Oro, or Golden Leopard, prize at the award ceremony of the 78th Locarno Film Festival held in Locarno, southern Switzerland, on Saturday.
CULTURE / Film
Aug 17, 2025
Sho Miyake's 'Tabi to Hibi' wins top prize at Locarno Film Festival
This is the first Japanese movie to receive the award since 2007, when "Ai no Yokan" ("The Rebirth"), directed by Masahito Kobayashi, was given the prize.
Modeled on a real-life World World II figure, Yutaka Takenouchi plays the captain of a “lucky” Imperial Japanese Navy destroyer in “Yukikaze.”
CULTURE / Film
Aug 14, 2025
‘Yukikaze’ turns fabled warship into floating snoozefest
The story of a “lucky” Imperial Japanese Navy destroyer that survived World War II is given a lightly fictionalized treatment in Toshihisa Yamada's first feature.
“ChaO” is a romantic comedy centered on a mild-mannered human and a mermaid princess. A spin on Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid,” the animated film takes place in a near-future Shanghai.
CULTURE / Film
Aug 8, 2025
Futuristic mermaid tale ‘ChaO’ makes a splash
Yasuhiro Aoki’s feature film debut reimagines “The Little Mermaid” in vibrant detail.
Sony’s music unit has grown to be a reliable pillar of the group, bringing in a steady flow of revenue as opposed to the company’s more prominent consumer electronics, PlayStation and image sensors.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 7, 2025
Sony lifts outlook on entertainment demand despite tariff threat
The company now expects its operating profit for the year ending March to reach a total of ¥1.33 trillion, compared with a previous forecast of ¥1.28 trillion.
Three teenage student nurses (from left: Karin Ono, Asuka Kawatoko and Hinako Kikuchi) face the aftermath of the atomic bombing of their hometown in “Nagasaki: In the Shadow of the Flash.”
CULTURE / Film
Aug 7, 2025
‘Nagasaki: In the Shadow of the Flash’ honors young nurses thrust into hellish nightmare
Searing and based on true accounts, Jumpei Matsumoto’s drama follows teenage girls turned wartime caregivers as they navigate the unthinkable.
In “Stigmatized Properties: Possession,” Yahiro Kuwata (Shota Watanabe, left) is a steel worker from Fukuoka who moves to Tokyo to become a TV personality and ends up renting a haunted apartment.
CULTURE / Film
Jul 31, 2025
'Stigmatized Properties: Possession': Layered lead faces ghosts and show business
In the sequel to his 2020 haunted apartments horror, Hideo Nakata creates goose-pimply moments of terror with common paranormal phenomena.
A pair of Japanese soldiers (Shinichi Tsutsumi, left, and Yuki Yamada, right) stay up a tree rather than standing down after the end of World War II in “Army on the Tree.”
CULTURE / Film
Jul 31, 2025
'Army on the Tree': World War II film leans into absurdist theater
Among the films that commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II this year, Kazuhiro Taira’s film adapted from a play stands out for its lack of iffy politics.
“Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle” is the first installment in a trilogy that's set to wrap the anime adaptation of Koyoharu Gotoke's manga about sword-wielding heroes fighting man-eating demons.
CULTURE / Film
Jul 25, 2025
‘Demon Slayer’ movie slashes its own box office records
“Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle” kicks off a new trilogy that is set to bring the anime adaptation of Koyoharu Gotoke's manga to a close.
Asuna Yanagi (right, with Misa Tsugawa) plays a high-school student who gets hooked on classic cinema in “Rainy Blue,” a coming-of-age tale that she also wrote, edited and directed.
CULTURE / Film
Jul 24, 2025
‘Rainy Blue’: Behind-the-scenes drama tarnishes an intriguing debut
Made while she was still a teen, Asuna Yanagi’s coming-of-age tale blurs the lines between life, fiction and cinephile obsession.
Before multiplexes entered the Japanese theatrical market in the early 1990s, moviegoers frequented “roadside theaters” — cinemas located in central urban areas near train lines. The Marunouchi Toei, which will close July 27, is the last of such theaters in Tokyo.
CULTURE / Film
Jul 24, 2025
Marunouchi Toei closes as Japan’s cinema landscape evolves
As audiences gravitate toward the luxury, tech and varied lineups of multiplexes, Tokyo’s last "roadside theater" closes after 65 years, marking the end of an era in moviegoing.
Two university students (Sara Minami, left, and Fumika Baba) with grim family lives find camaraderie and warmth in each other in “Love Doesn't Matter to Me.”
CULTURE / Film
Jul 17, 2025
‘Love Doesn't Matter to Me’: Romance takes a backseat to female friendship
In Aya Igashi’s unconventional coming-of-age drama, not all people deserve forgiveness and not all women need love to thrive.
A call girl (Kaho Seto) traumatized by the death of her young daughter becomes entangled with a strange client in “New Religion.”
CULTURE / Film
Jul 17, 2025
‘New Religion’: Chic debut is low on shivers
Keishi Kondo’s horror film dives deep into dream logic and dread, but its emotional detachment leaves a chill that’s more cold than scary.
Residential buildings in Cairo. The Japan Foundation will begin distributing Japanese movies online for free in all 54 countries in Africa on Tuesday, with many users in north African countries such as Egypt.
JAPAN
Jul 13, 2025
Japan Foundation to distribute Japanese movies in Africa
The move comes ahead of the ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development, or TICAD 9, to be held in the city of Yokohama Aug. 20-22.
A high school senior (Taisuke Niihara, center), his girlfriend (Yuki Araho, left) and their alcoholic teacher (Yuka Kouri, right) find themselves in a lopsided love triangle in Toshiya Kominami’s “Young & Fine.”
CULTURE / Film
Jul 11, 2025
‘Young & Fine’: Teenage horndog tale balances heart and hormones
The oddball sensibility of Toshiya Kominami’s coming-of-age film, paired with Yuka Kouri’s winning performance, elevates a questionable setup into something surprisingly human.
Ubu (Saki Miyashita) is a bounty hunter who takes down cyborg criminals in "Virgin Punk: Clockwork Girl."
CULTURE / Film
Jul 4, 2025
‘Virgin Punk: Clockwork Girl’: Beautiful, brutal and bringing back ’90s anime energy
The first chapter of Yasuomi Umetsu's new "Virgin Punk" project delivers old-school action and animation in a cyberpunk future.
Most Japanese teens struggling with school find end of summer ‘painful’
Some 93.1% of Japanese teenagers who struggle with school life said they felt like they “wanted to disappear from the world" at the end of summer vacation ahead of the start of a new term, according to a recent survey released by Yokohama-based nonprofit Daisan Kazoku.
Philippine bid to acquire used Japanese warships gains steam
Tokyo is looking to transfer Abukuma-class vessels to the Philippines as part of broader efforts to boost the defense capabilities of like-minded neighbors amid growing Chinese military assertiveness in the region.
Mitsubishi’s wind-power retreat a blow to Japan's alternative-energy goals
Wind turbines in the town of Happo in Akita prefecture. Wind power is a key part of Japan's alternative energy drive.
Can anime carry the memories of World War II?
Many schools in Japan show "Grave of the Fireflies" as educational material to tell the emotionally grueling story of a boy who has no means to prevent his sister from starving to death.
Akazawa's trip to Washington for tariff talks abruptly canceled
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's chief tariff negotiator, had been set to fly to Washington on Thursday.
Mitsubishi’s wind-power retreat a blow to Japan's alternative-energy goals
Wind turbines in the town of Happo in Akita prefecture. Wind power is a key part of Japan's alternative energy drive.
Virtual singer Kaf's music becomes magic in 'Kamitsubaki City Under Construction'
Virtual singer Kaf got her start in 2018 by posting songs and covers to YouTube. Now, after having performed live shows at major venues including Tokyo’s Nippon Budokan, she is turning to voice acting and starring in the new anime series “Kamitsubaki City Under Construction.”
Can anime carry the memories of World War II?
Many schools in Japan show "Grave of the Fireflies" as educational material to tell the emotionally grueling story of a boy who has no means to prevent his sister from starving to death.
In pictures: Koenji Awa Odori 2025
Japan Times
Koshien’s dark summer forces reckoning for high school baseball
Koryo High School players greet their cheering section after beating Hokkaido’s Asahikawa Shiho in the first round of Summer Koshien on Aug. 7. The school withdrew three days later as a bullying scandal enveloped the team.

Podcast

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

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past
By Alex K.T. Martin

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