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October 31, 2025
 

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JAPANESE FILM

Toho's acquisition of GKIDS is a fresh push by Toho to strengthen its resources in animation.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 16, 2024
Toho buys Ghibli animation distributor GKIDS to further overseas growth
The acquisition comes amid a surge in global popularity for Japanese entertainment and fits with Toho's multiyear growth strategy.
Japanese film director Kiyoshi Kurosawa gestures as he poses for photos during a press conference at the 29th Busan International Film Festival.
CULTURE / Film
Oct 5, 2024
Japan's 'master of horror' Kiyoshi Kurosawa highlights 'B-movie' appeal
The director, who received the Busan International Film Festival's Filmmaker of the Year Award on Wednesday, said he'd like to see more artists explore genre cinema.
A scene from "Whale Restaurant," a documentary film about whale food culture in Japan
JAPAN / Society
Sep 30, 2024
Documentary on whale food culture in Japan showing in U.S.
Director Keiko Yagi said she found it difficult to find theaters that would agree to show the film.
Marina Tsukada got the idea for her anthology “Mitsuki, Sekai” from her acquaintance with the two young lead actors, whom she first met at a video workshop she conducted in Nagano Prefecture.
CULTURE / Film
Sep 20, 2024
Marina Tsukada lets local lives shape her work
The director’s latest, “Mitsuki, Sekai,” is part of an ongoing project that traces the lives of Nagano Prefecture-based children for a decade until they reach adulthood.
Hayao Miyazaki at an award ceremony in Los Angeles in November 2014
CULTURE / Film
Aug 31, 2024
Hayao Miyazaki wins prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award
The award, often called Asia's Nobel Prize, is given to people and groups who have made major contributions to the region.
Hiroshi Sunairi’s documentary “From Okinawa with Love” follows the unwavering Okinawan photographer Mao Ishikawa, who made her name documenting the relationships between Japanese bar girls and African American servicemen.
CULTURE / Film
Aug 30, 2024
‘From Okinawa with Love’: A revealing documentary about a true original
Hiroshi Sunairi takes a fly-on-the-wall approach to explore the life of Mao Ishikawa, who photographed Okinawans and the effects of the U.S. military.
Noriko Ohara, best known for providing the voice of Nobita Nobi in the popular anime series "Doraemon," died on July 12 at 88.
JAPAN
Jul 24, 2024
Doraemon's Nobita voice actress dies at 88
Noriko Ohara served as the voice actor for Nobita, the lazy but optimistic boy looked after by robotic earless cat Doraemon, for 26 years from 1979.
Illustrious historical figures swoop in to save Japan amid the COVID-19 pandemic in “What If Shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa Was to Become the Prime Minister.”
CULTURE / Film
Jul 18, 2024
‘What If Shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa Was to Become the Prime Minister’: A historical dream team underperforms
Esteemed figures from Japan’s past are digitally reincarnated to lead the country through a time of crisis in Hideki Takeuchi’s flat-footed comedy.
Mizuho Securities is starting a fund to create opportunities for third-party investment into Japan's animation film sector that has created globally popular works such as "Demon Slayer."
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 17, 2024
Mizuho fund to invest in Japan’s popular but cash-needing anime scene
For investors, Mizuho's fund will be an opportunity to park their money in a sector famous for works like "Demon Slayer."
Takashi Yamazaki’s “Godzilla Minus One,” which won an Academy Award for best visual effects, was made for a reported $15 million — a small fraction of the budgets used by its Hollywood competitors.
CULTURE / Film
Jul 6, 2024
Japanese cinema is having a stand-out year. Here are some films to watch.
The success of "Godzilla Minus One" gave Japan's film industry a confidence boost, but we haven't been short on must-see hits in 2024.
American sprinter Noah Lyles poses with a "Yu-Gi-Oh!" card after winning at the U.S. Olympic track-and-field finals on Sunday. The image went viral, once again showing the popularity of Japanese cultural exports like manga.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 28, 2024
Blackstone sees billions in manga. You should too.
Investment firm Blackstone's move to buy manga platform Mecha Comics, betting on the strength of Japan's soft power, looks further ahead than other players have.
Film director Hirokazu Kore-eda (left) and actor Lily Franky arrive for a photocall to promote the Official Selection feature film "Shoplifters" at the San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain in September 2018.
CULTURE / Film
Jun 21, 2024
Japanese film startup aims to change industry working conditions
K2 Pictures is seeking to raise the money from domestic and foreign investors.
"Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window," received an award at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France on Saturday.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Jun 16, 2024
'Totto-Chan' anime wins award at prestigious Annecy film festival
"Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window," directed by Japan's Shinnosuke Yakuwa, won at one of the largest animation film festivals in the world.
Tomoyo (Mei Nagano)'s life is suddenly turned upside down when she learns about the suicide of a childhood friend, in Yuki Tanada’s “My Broken Mariko."
CULTURE / Film
Jun 15, 2024
Japanese Film Festival Online gives old and new titles a second life overseas
The festival will unfold in two sessions: the first from June 5 to 19 with 23 films, and the second from June 19 to July 3 with 25 films and two TV drama series.
The documentary short “Now and Then" traces how the Beatles honored John Lennon after his death by crafting a tune he wrote into the “last Beatles song.”
CULTURE / Film
May 30, 2024
Eight standout films to catch at this year's Short Shorts Film Festival
The event will screen roughly 270 films that range from dramas about current social issues to animations that push the limits of the imagination.
Takashi Miike (front left) is among the big-name directors slated to work with K2 Pictures, a new film production startup that aims to disrupt the Japanese film industry.
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
May 25, 2024
Can K2's goal of creating a better film industry in Japan win over skeptics?
While established auteurs such as Takashi Miike, Miwa Nishikawa and Hirokazu Kore-eda are slated to work with the startup, it still faces an uphill struggle.
Renegade director Koji Wakamatsu (Arata Iura, right) heads to Nagoya in the early 1980s to open his own cinema in “Hijacked Youth Dare to Stop Us 2.”
CULTURE / Film
Apr 4, 2024
‘Hijacked Youth Dare to Stop Us 2’ captures origins of indie theater boom
Junji Inoue’s semi-autobiographical film is a love letter to independent cinemas — and their fans.
Directed and co-written by Sunao Katabuchi, animated film “In This Corner of the World” depicts the beauty of nature and the horrors of war with equal potency.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 27, 2024
Films that give the Japanese perspective of the atomic bomb
Movies about the nation's darkest days — in genres such as dramas, fantasies and anime — offer another side to Christopher Nolan's 'Oppenheimer' story.
“Blue Imagine” centers on a young actor (Mayu Yamaguchi) who finds support at a communal living space after she is sexually assaulted by a well-known director while participating in his actors’ workshop.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 23, 2024
'Blue Imagine' gives voice to victims of sexual abuse in the film industry
Urara Matsubayashi's debut feature finds the beauty in women coming together in solidarity to publicly speak out against abusers.
Takashi Yamazaki’s “Godzilla Minus One,” which won an Academy Award for best visual effects earlier this week, was made for a reported $15 million — a small fraction of the budgets used by its Hollywood competitors.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 14, 2024
'Godzilla Minus One' fought the odds and won big at the Oscars
Once mocked, the long-running monster franchise took on Hollywood's behemoths — and won.
Takaichi buys time and builds trust with ‘near-perfect’ Trump summit
U.S. President Donald Trump walks with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi aboard the USS George Washington aircraft carrier during a visit to the U.S. Navy's Yokosuka base in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Tuesday.
Trump trims fentanyl-linked China tariffs after 'amazing' Xi meeting
U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping greet each other as they arrive for talks at the Gimhae Air Base, next to the Gimhae International Airport in Busan, South Korea, on Thursday.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell
Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Kyushu banzuke sets the stage to cement 2025’s sumo narratives
Onosato ahead of his bout against Aonishiki at The Grand Sumo Tournament at the Royal Albert Hall in London on Oct. 18
Takaichi pushed back on U.S. request to ban Russian gas imports, sources say
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi reportedly turned down a request from the U.S. to cease imports of liquefied natural gas from Russia.
At Japan Mobility Show, BYD gears up to conquer Japan's EV market
BYD Auto Japan President Atsuki Tofukuji unveils the Racco at the Japan Mobility Show in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Oasis returns to Tokyo: Rain, rapture and rock
Fans wait to get into the Oasis show at Tokyo Dome on Saturday. While lining up in the rain, some broke into impromptu versions of the British rock group's hits.
Kyushu banzuke sets the stage to cement 2025’s sumo narratives
Onosato ahead of his bout against Aonishiki at The Grand Sumo Tournament at the Royal Albert Hall in London on Oct. 18
Tokyo Film Festival opens with global stars and a spotlight on Asian storytelling
Director Junji Sakamoto (left) walked the Tokyo International Film Festival red carpet with Sayuri Yoshinaga (center) and Non (right), who both play mountaineer Junko Tabei, the first woman to summit Mount Everest, in the biopic "Climbing for Life."
Spanish artist and Japanese writer duos diversify the manga talent pool in Japan
"Menheim” is a dark fantasy manga with a story that centers on a girl’s quest to find a cure for her ill brother.

Podcast

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

Longform

Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell
By Alex K.T. Martin

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Foreign wrestlers have a long history in sumo

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