Tag - ozu

 
 

OZU

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
May 5, 2025
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan
How one artist is using history, culture and community spirit to revive a fading samurai legacy — and possibly reshape rural Japan’s future.
Rapidus' new semiconductor plant under construction in Chitose, Hokkaido, in July
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 18, 2024
New high-profile chip plants driving up nearby land prices across Japan
Expectations for growth in demand for semiconductors has boosted demand for commercial and industrial plots, and housing.
Tokyo International Film Festival celebrated the 120th anniversary of Yasujiro Ozu’s birth with screenings of the director’s films, including 1953’s “Tokyo Story.” The festival also held a symposium featuring three world-class filmmakers discussing Ozu’s contributions: Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Jia Zhangke and Kelly Reichardt.
CULTURE / Film
Nov 9, 2023
Kelly Reichardt: 'Yasujiro Ozu truly tries to achieve stillness'
The indie director discusses Ozu's cinematic impact on the 120th anniversary of his birth at the Tokyo International Film Festival.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / CHILD'S PLAY
Feb 18, 2018
Washi workshop: Good on paper, better firsthand
"Mummy, where does paper come from?" This was a question recently asked by my young daughter that was easier to answer than her usual string of whats and whys ("Do insects cry?" and "Why were we born?" among them).
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Aug 24, 2016
Revisit the Showa Era at Jinbocho Theater
Jinbocho is one of the last remaining districts in Tokyo that retains a neighborhood feel. Dedicated to books, it has a large cluster of second-hand bookshops and is dotted with ancient coffee shops, including Saboru and Milonga. It's also known for showing wildly difficult movies at venues such as Iwanami...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 11, 2013
'Iconography of Yasujiro Ozu'
Yasujiro Ozu (1903-1963) is one of Japan's most influential filmmakers, internationally renowned for his realistic and sensitive portrayals of relationships and family drama in Japan.
CULTURE / Film
Dec 7, 2013
Re-examining Yasujiro Ozu on film
Yasujiro Ozu once had a reputation for making films only other Japanese could understand.
CULTURE / Film
Dec 7, 2013
Tracing the unhurried history of iconic director Yasujiro Ozu
Dec. 12, 1903: Yasujiro Ozu is born in Tokyo's Fukagawa district, the second of five siblings. His father is a prosperous fertilizer wholesaler from Matsusaka, Mie Prefecture. Ozu lives in Matsusaka with his brothers and sisters from 1913 to 1924.
CULTURE / Film
Dec 7, 2013
The Japan Times review of 'Ukigusa (Floating Weeds),' Nov. 26, 1959
'Ukigusa" is the latest film of Yasujiro Ozu, the director whom most Japanese consider "the most Japanese director."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 28, 2013
Yamashita and Maeda reunite for slacker dramedy
Nobuhiro Yamashita has used a variety of sources for his films since his 1999 feature debut "Donten Seikatasu (Hazy Life)," including his own experiences as a struggling indie director. But the inspiration for his latest, "Moratorium Tamako (Tamako in Moratorium)," is out of the ordinary by any standard:...
LIFE
Feb 24, 2013
The champion of Ozu's masterwork "Tokyo Story"
Nowadays, the name of the Japanese film director Yasujiro Ozu (1903-1963) is known throughout the world. But it wasn't always like this — and it might never have been, without the efforts of Donald Richie.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 15, 2013
'Sado Tenpesuto'
Beginning with 2001's "Ichiban Utsukushi Natsu (Firefly Dreams)," a Yasujiro Ozu-esque drama about a friendship that develops between a rebellious teenage girl and an elderly former actress in the countryside, John Williams has been directing films in Japan with Japanese talent that do not proclaim...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Dec 25, 2012
Benshi Midori Sawato
Midori Sawato is a benshi, a unique kind of performer who provides live narration to silent films at the movie theater. The benshi brings the characters in films alive using different voices and vocal expressions. They sit to the side of the screen, watching the movie with the audience and using their...

Longform

Construction equipment sits idle in a park near Shiba Toshogu shrine in Tokyo's Minato Ward. While Japan has a history of treating its trees with reverence, green coverage is said to be lacking in most of the major cities.
Do Japan's trees no longer occupy the sacred space they used to?