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May 16, 2025
 

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JAPANESE FILM

Along with running a commissary located outside a prison, Shinji Kaneko (Ryuhei Maruyama) carries out requests on behalf of detainees and their families in “Kaneko’s Commissary.”
CULTURE / Film
May 15, 2025
‘Kaneko's Commissary’ explores prison culture from the outside in
First-time director Go Furukawa’s heartfelt film stands out from the genre crowd for its informed examination of how the prison complex operates.
Though the protagonist of “Jinsei” (voiced by rapper Ace Cool) is an emotional blank slate, his journey throughout the film takes wild turns.
CULTURE / Film
May 15, 2025
‘Jinsei’: Ryuya Suzuki’s solo animation is a singular debut
The 30-year-old wrote, directed, animated, edited and soundtracked in isolation — creating one of the most striking films of 2025 so far.
A deceased family patriarch and his grandson (Ginjiro Nishimoto, left) switch bodies in “My Edison.”
CULTURE / Film
May 9, 2025
‘My Edison’: Family-made sci-fi comedy is a real charmer
Gaku Kawasaki’s feel-good indie flick with a touch of “Freaky Friday” is a heartfelt reminder that it’s never too late to live out your dreams.
After not seeing each other for eight years, Kana (Yuuka Nakao, left) reluctantly agrees to look after her ailing grandmother (Naoko Ken) and eventually finds ways to have fun and bond with her in “Wash Away.”
CULTURE / Film
May 9, 2025
‘Wash Away’ brightens dementia drama with sudsy spin
Ikunosuke Okazaki’s comic yet tender film about a young woman looking after her ailing grandmother offers a positive look at caregiving for the ailing elderly.
An aspiring manga artist (Mei Nagano, center) is mentored by a gruff art teacher (Yo Oizumi, left) in “Blank Canvas: My So-Called Artist's Journey.”
CULTURE
May 1, 2025
‘Blank Canvas’: 'Tough love' of the past isn't so funny anymore
Based on an autobiographical comic about the road to becoming a manga artist, the film missteps by excusing violence with sentimental nostalgia.
An immature college student (Riku Hagiwara, left) is caught in the middle of a love triangle in “She Taught Me Serendipity.”
CULTURE / Film
Apr 24, 2025
‘She Taught Me Serendipity’: A quiet reminder not to take people for granted
While Akiko Ohku’s latest seems like a rom-com on its surface, the ensemble piece delves deeper into the importance of appreciating loved ones while you can.
A reincarnated Chinese strategist (Osamu Mukai) finds himself in modern-day Japan and helps an up-and-coming pop singer win a music competition in “Ya Boy Kongming! The Movie.”
CULTURE / Film
Apr 17, 2025
‘Ya Boy Kongming! The Movie’: J-pop spectacle goes heavy on performances
Shuhei Shibue's film about the improbable musical career of a Chinese strategist reincarnated in modern-day Japan delivers J-pop high notes and history deep cuts.
When a bomber holds a high-speed train to ransom, it’s left to conductor Kazuya Takaichi (Tsuyoshi Kusanagi) and his colleagues to save the day in “Bullet Train Explosion.”
CULTURE / Film
Apr 17, 2025
'Bullet Train Explosion’: High-speed disaster movie doesn’t get the pulse racing
Netflix’s most lavish Japanese movie to date whizzes by without doing much damage to the image of the high-speed rail it’s promoting.
Ryoko Hirosue was being detained at the Hamamatsu West Police Station in the city of Hamamatsu in Shizuoka Prefecture.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 16, 2025
Actor Ryoko Hirosue released from custody after alleged kicking incident
The 44-year-old actor was arrested for allegedly kicking and scratching a medical staff member while in a “panicked state” following a car accident.
Bickering siblings Sota (Masaaki Nakano, left) and Akira (Hirota Otsuka) attempt to dispose of their father’s body in “The Brothers Kitaura.”
CULTURE / Film
Apr 10, 2025
‘The Brothers Kitaura’: A sordid tale of filial impropriety
Masaki Tsujino’s dark comedy of errors unpacks family dysfunction and middle-class mediocrity.
Akari Takaishi gets laughs playing a woman who is possessed by the ghost of a middle-aged hitman who bears a grudge in “Ghost Killer.”
CULTURE / Film
Apr 10, 2025
‘Ghost Killer’: Spirited action and sharp humor make for deadly fun combo
“Baby Assassins” collaborators Yugo Sakamoto and Kensuke Sonomura team up again for an action-packed comedy with Akari Takaishi.
Ryoko Hirosue
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 8, 2025
Actor Ryoko Hirosue arrested for allegedly injuring medical staffer
Hirosue was in a “panicked state” and injured the medical staff member, her agency said in a statement.
A trio of former schoolmates (from left: Hana Sugisaki, Kaya Kiyohara and Suzu Hirose) share a mysterious bond in “Unreachable.”
CULTURE / Film
Apr 3, 2025
‘Unreachable’: An attractive but half-baked fantasy
The combined talents of Suzu Hirose, Hana Sugisaki and Kaya Kiyohara can’t save this flimsy fantasy drama.
Mitsuko Kusabue plays the feisty proprietor of a ramshackle drinking establishment in “Let’s Meet at Angie’s Bar.”
CULTURE / Film
Mar 31, 2025
‘Let’s Meet at Angie’s Bar’: A granny like none other
Acting veteran Mitsuko Kusabue brings wisdom and wit to Yurugu Matsumoto’s lighter-than-air comedy.
Tadanobu Asano plays real-life photographer Masahisa Fukase in “Ravens,” which follows the artist’s life from his professional beginnings to the accident that ended his career.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 27, 2025
‘Ravens’: Tadanobu Asano plays troubled photographer with scapegrace charm
Mark Gill’s visually lush film subverts the realism of Masahisa Fukase’s life story by introducing a human-sized raven as an imagined antagonist.
Sixteen-year-old Jun’s (Katsuya Kobayashi) life spirals downward after his refusal to stand and sing the national anthem is misconstrued as a political statement in “Boy.”
CULTURE / Film
Mar 27, 2025
‘Boy’: An ambitious portrait of alienated youth
Director Yuji Dan brings a decades-old project to a close with his portrayal of a young man coming of age amid turmoil in the late 1990s.
A college student (Mizuki Yamashita, right) falls hopelessly in love with a stoic yet kindhearted high school student (Ryuto Sakuma) in “My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999.”
CULTURE / Film
Mar 21, 2025
‘My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999’ shows that even stoic gamers can fall in love
Yuka Yasukawa’s sweet rom-com with feather-light comedy offers more than a pastel-hued romantic fantasy.
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.
Singer and actor Ayumi Ishida was well known for her hit song "Blue Light Yokohama."
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Mar 18, 2025
Japanese singer and actor Ayumi Ishida dies at 76
"Blue Light Yokohama," released in 1968, sold over 1 million copies.
Success of Chinese-made fighter jets against India raises alarm in Asia
Chinese J-10 fighter jets from the People's Liberation Army Air Force August 1st Aerobatics Team perform during a media demonstration at the Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base, Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, in November 2015.
Japan to recognize Taiwan as place of origin in family registration system
Masataka Yuhara, secretary-general of the Friends of Lee Teng Hui Association in Japan, which has been calling for "Taiwan" to be permitted as a place of origin in family registers.
Japanese retailers turn to California rice for cheaper alternative
U.S. Ambassador to Japan George Glass eats California rice at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo on Tuesday along with Mitsuko Tsuchiya, vice president of retailer Aeon.
Japanese automakers looking at a ¥1 trillion hit from Trump tariffs 
Cars on display at Nissan's headquarters in Yokohama on Tuesday. The automaker posted a massive annual net loss and confirmed that it plans to cut thousands of jobs worldwide.
Two crew feared dead after ASDF training jet crashes in Aichi
Self-Defense Forces personnel collect apparent parts of an Air Self-Defense Force T-4 training jet from a reservoir in Inuyama, Aichi Prefeture, on Thursday. The jet crashed shortly after takeoff a day earlier.
Sumo title contenders already emerging in early stages of Tokyo meet
Onosato (left) battles Abi on Day 3 of the Summer Basho in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Harmfully hot days for pregnant women in Japan nearly doubled over past five years
New research by a U.S. climate scientists’ group reveals that extreme heat has increased the risks of preterm births and other pregnancy complications in Japan, nearly doubling the number of days that are harmfully hot for pregnant women over the past five years.
Japanese automakers looking at a ¥1 trillion hit from Trump tariffs 
Cars on display at Nissan's headquarters in Yokohama on Tuesday. The automaker posted a massive annual net loss and confirmed that it plans to cut thousands of jobs worldwide.
Tokyo Stock Exchange wants stocks to be affordable for the average investor
The Tokyo Stock Exchange building in Nihonbashi. The exchange wants companies to lower the entry cost of investing in their shares.
Consumption tax set to dominate Upper House election debate
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba enters his office in Tokyo on Tuesday.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
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Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?
By Tomoko Otake

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