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April 29, 2024
 

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WIDE ANGLE

Japan Times
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / Wide Angle
May 16, 2019
'Terrace House' returns to Tokyo
Netflix is ramping up its production of original Japanese content, including anime and live-action dramas, to please both domestic and overseas subscribers. But arguably its most important export is "Terrace House," the reality show that films three men and three women living together under one roof as they go on dates, attend concerts and eat konnyaku jelly.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
May 2, 2019
TikTok sets its sights on the music industry
Short-form video app TikTok isn't content being the center of online youth culture in Japan. Now, it's eyeing the music industry.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Apr 25, 2019
Okinawa rolls out the red carpet for its annual film festival
The Okinawa International Movie Festival has never been just about movies — or even Okinawa. Held from April 18 to 22, the 11th edition was a showcase for the talents of sponsor Yoshimoto Kogyo — an Osaka-based agency that supplies Japanese TV with many of its comedians and emcees.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Apr 18, 2019
Japan to be given a lesson in idol pop with 'Produce 101 Japan'
Last week, Japanese talent agency Yoshimoto Kogyo and South Korea's CJ E&M announced a new talent competition TV show for Japan, set to debut later this year. And it's not just another program to fill up the back end of 2019, but will be a test case to see if the traditional power structures of male idol music in Japan can be shaken.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Apr 11, 2019
Kizuna Ai, Kaguya Luna and YouTube sensations: virtual stars, but the same old shtick
Virtual YouTubers ended up being one of 2018's biggest cultural surprises.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Mar 7, 2019
Seeking out Japanese movies at a film festival in Bangalore
Going to Bangalore, a city of more than 10 million people in India's south, to spend five days watching movies is not the sort of thing I usually do. Which is exactly why I agreed to serve on a jury for the Network for Promotion of Asia Pacific Cinema (NETPAC) at the 11th Bengaluru International Film Festival (Feb. 21-28). Focusing on Japanese films as a reviewer, reporter and programmer has its advantages, but cinematic diversity isn't one of them. Bangalore was a chance to step out of my bubble.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Feb 21, 2019
Fans: Don't worry about a live-action 'Your Name.' remake; 'Alita' shows it can be done
It was the groan heard 'round the internet. Back in September 2017, J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot Productions announced it had picked up the live-action rights to 2016 anime megahit "Your Name." Reaction from anime fans online was not exactly positive.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Feb 14, 2019
Could 'Shoplifters' or 'Mirai' pick up an Oscar? The chances are slim but real
The 2019 Oscar race is entering its final stretch, with prognosticators already unveiling their lists of winners. This year two Japanese films are up for Academy Awards — Hirokazu Kore-eda's "Shoplifters" (best foreign language film) and Mamoru Hosoda's "Mirai" (best animated feature film).
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Jan 31, 2019
'Bohemian Rhapsody': Queen film won't bite the dust just yet
The Queen biopic "Bohemian Rhapsody" is still doing big business in Japan, long after its November release. The movie recently crossed the ¥10 billion mark here, and its impact stretches well beyond box-office stats. Songs from the British band have taken up residence on streaming charts, while affection for the film has been prominent on TV variety and chat shows.
Japan Times
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / Wide Angle
Jan 24, 2019
Anime Feminist: Tackling anime's gender bias
Over the past few years, there has been more mainstream recognition of the idea that discourse is better served when it is expanded outside the sole realm of heterosexual, white, cisgender men. That's true of major forums, and no less true when it comes to niche media, including the world of anime fandom.
Japan Times
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / Wide Angle
Jan 17, 2019
Marie Kondo's new TV series cleans up
Marie Kondo is the type of person you wouldn't initially expect lots of people to go crazy over. In the cleaning consultant and best-selling author's new Netflix show, "Tidying Up with Marie Kondo," she simply lays out the basics of her "KonMari" method of organizing homes — guided by the idea of finding items that "spark joy" in the owner — while also teaching the best way to fold socks and neckties.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Jan 10, 2019
As the heavyweights return, will 2019 be a smash year for anime?
When looking forward to the coming year in anime, it may be helpful to jump in the time machine and hop back to 2016. That's the year Japan was hit with a flood of smash original anime films, including the sleeper hit "In This Corner of the World" and Makoto Shinkai's "Your Name." By the time 2016 was over, the latter had become the highest-grossing Japanese film of all time worldwide.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Dec 13, 2018
Mitsuki Kimura and her film award without the film
Year-end awards season is in full swing, which means a lot of looking back on the past 12 months. Part of the fun of best-of lists and 2018-in-a-minute thinkpieces is arguing about placement and positioning: Did X really deserve to get so much love? Was Y not actually bloated and overrated?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Nov 8, 2018
The Japanese films that made a splash at TIFF
Every year people from the film industry — buyers, programmers and critics — descend on the Tokyo International Film Festival to see what this country has to offer, and every year they usually find at least one gem among the selections in the Japanese Cinema Splash section for indie films.
Japan Times
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / Wide Angle
Oct 18, 2018
Twitter speaks: That joke isn't funny anymore
An Aug. 16 episode of Tokyo MX's variety show "Hirukyun!" found comedian Ken Horiuchi (better known as Horiken) joining the hosts in the studio. Over the course of his stay, he launched the other TV talent and stage hands into a wall of cardboard boxes, before throwing some at people too (including staff who presumably had nothing to do with the bit). Later, Horiuchi picked up Minami Tanaka and Ahn Mika to perform "cleaning," which involved swinging them by the legs so that their hair worked like a broom or a mop.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Oct 4, 2018
Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia's mini party is worth a little look
Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia, which selects a qualifying short film for the Academy Awards every year, will present its Autumn Screening from Oct. 5 to 12 at two locations in Tokyo.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Oct 3, 2018
'Dare to Stop Us': Japanese cinema's bad boy as seen by one of the women who worked with him
In the 1960s Koji Wakamatsu was Japanese cinema's enfant terrible: A real-life outlaw — he once joined a yakuza gang and served time in prison — he made pioneering "pink" (softcore porn) films such as "The Embryo Hunts in Secret" (1966) and "Go, Go, Second Time Virgin" (1969), whose extreme sex and violence, filmed with raw energy and wild invention, gave censors and industry guardians conniption fits.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Sep 27, 2018
Japanese film has its own 'Crazy Rich Asians' if you know where to look
"Crazy Rich Asians" made headlines this summer for being the first Hollywood film in a quarter of a century to feature a main cast entirely comprised of actors of Asian heritage. The movie hits Japanese cinemas this weekend, but audiences here are obviously used to all-Asian casts.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Sep 20, 2018
Kyoto gears up for a film festival — rain or shine
It may be a spring chicken compared to its film festival siblings in Tokyo, Yamagata and elsewhere, but the Kyoto International Film and Art Festival has reached an important milestone: its fifth anniversary.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Jul 14, 2018
My deep dive into 'Akira' only scratched the surface of its legacy
A few months ago, I proposed to the editors at The Japan Times that we do a piece paying tribute to the classic cyberpunk anime film "Akira," which turns 30 years old on July 16. They were enthusiastic and the pitch ballooned (not unlike Tetsuo in the film's final scene) from a single article to an "Akira"-themed weekend to an entire Akira Week (or rather, #AkiraWeek).
Number of homeless in Japan hits record low
Homeless people sleep on the street in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward in August 2021.
In Japan, regional revitalization fails to halt population decline
Sakiyama elementary school in Tamba, Hyogo Prefecture, in March .Over the past decade, the government has directed efforts toward policies designed to give young people incentives to base themselves in rural areas.
Town to block view of Mount Fuji in response to overtourism
The town government of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to set up a 2.5-meter-high screen to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji looming behind a convenience store.
Ukraine is far from doomed
When comparing Ukraine’s military situation in 2024 to Europe’s in 1941, Russia’s defeat seems entirely possible.
When will Japan intervene to support the yen?
Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki has reiterated the government's readiness to take an appropriate action as the yen continues to slide against the U.S. dollar.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
Theaster Gates’ ambitious ‘Afro-Mingei’ brings Black Chicago to Tokyo
Theaster Gates' “A Heavenly Chord” lines up church pews before seven speakers and a Hammond B3 organ, a type of electric organ prevalent in Black American churches.
Casa del Cibo: A thriving jewel born from Tohoku’s harsh past
When chef Ryohei Ikemi moved to Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, and opened Casa del Cibo in 2011, it was the first proper Italian restaurant in the city.
Town to block view of Mount Fuji in response to overtourism
The town government of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to set up a 2.5-meter-high screen to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji looming behind a convenience store.
Kyotographie's strong 12th edition shines light into the margins
Yassine Alaoui Ismaili, who goes by Yoriyas, turned to photography, shooting motion while in motion himself, after an injury forced him to give up his career as a professional breakdancer.

Podcast

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.
[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Longform

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores
By Alex K.T. Martin

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