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December 08, 2024
 

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Mark Schilling
¡°A Big Home¡± offers a sincere portrait of the vulnerable youth who live in more than 600 group homes across Japan.
CULTURE / Film
Dec 5, 2024
Vulnerable youth look for sense of belonging in ¡®A Big Home¡¯
Ryo Takebayashi¡¯s documentary profiles the residents of a group home, but shies away from making emphatic statements about the circumstances that brought them there.
Hiroshi Kurosaki¡¯s Netflix series ¡°Beyond Goodbye¡± centers on a woman (Kasumi Arimura, left) who discovers her dead lover¡¯s heart saved the life of a quiet pianist (Kentaro Sakaguchi).
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Nov 29, 2024
Hiroshi Kurosaki looks beyond Japan for heart-wrenching drama
The director¡¯s Netflix series relies on lush visuals and truths about love and loss to appeal to an overseas audience.
Eriko Nakamura (left) and Ryo Narita play star-crossed lovers in Shinzo Katayama¡¯s hallucinatory romp through past and present, dreams and reality.
CULTURE / Film
Nov 28, 2024
The mind-bending melancholy of ¡®Lust in the Rain¡¯
Shinzo Katayama¡¯s hallucinatory film boldly explores both the absurdities of wartime violence and the erotic psyche.
A failed actor (Koji Seki, left) revisits memories of his ex-wife (Kano Ichiki) after learning about her unexpected death in ¡°Performing Kaoru's Funeral.¡±
CULTURE / Film
Nov 21, 2024
¡®Performing Kaoru's Funeral¡¯: Ambitious drama reflects on love that doesn¡¯t die
Koji Seki brings gravitas to his role as a man tasked with serving as chief mourner for his dead ex-wife in Noriko Yuasa¡¯s drama.
A socially awkward janitor (Haruka Ayase, left) hits the road to pick up a dying woman¡¯s daughter (Kana Osawa) in ¡°Route 29.¡±
CULTURE / Film
Nov 18, 2024
¡®Route 29¡¯: Misfits come together in touching road movie
Though the protagonists spend more time on their feet than in a car, Yusuke Morii¡¯s feature about two strangers hitting the road is picaresque and borderline precious.
Daihachi Yoshida receives the Tokyo Grand Prix award for his film, ¡°Teki Cometh,¡± at the closing ceremony of the Tokyo International Film Festival on Nov. 6.
CULTURE / Film
Nov 8, 2024
Festival glory for a dark Japanese comedy
With sold-out screenings, international stars and an increase in guests, this year's Tokyo International Film Festival revived its rep as a global cinematic gathering.
Sakuya Ishikawa (Sosuke Ikematsu) wakes up from a coma to find his mother gone and decides to virtually re-create her with harvested data in ¡°The Real You.¡±
CULTURE / Film
Nov 7, 2024
¡®The Real You¡¯: Provocative dystopia combines sci-fi concerns with melodrama
In Yuya Ishii¡¯s drama, a young man¡¯s existential crisis amid the rise of artificial entities feels very much of the present moment.
Eight warriors fight to end a curse placed on a samurai clan in ¡°Hakkenden: Fiction and Reality.¡±
CULTURE / Film
Oct 31, 2024
¡®Hakkenden¡¯ has fun with Edo-era pulp fiction
The film presents both a bio of Takizawa Bakin, whose writing had a large impact on Japanese pop culture, and a snazzy live-action digest of his influential novel.
Kazuhiro Soda¡¯s ¡°The Cats of Gokogu Shrine¡± follows not only the felines that live on the grounds of the title shrine in Ushimado, Okayama Prefecture, but also the local community members, many of whom are of retirement age.
CULTURE / Film
Oct 25, 2024
¡®The Cats of Gokogu Shrine¡¯: Documentary paints intimate portrait of a community in decline
While stray cats that inhabit the grounds of a local shrine take center stage, the film also celebrates the aging humans doing their best to preserve their neighborhood.
Kazuya Shiraishi's "11 Rebels," a period actioner based on a long-forgotten script by Kazuo Kasahara, will open this year's Tokyo International Film Festival.
CULTURE / Film
Oct 24, 2024
Tokyo International Film Festival boasts strong line-up of Japanese fare
An excellent chance to see films from Japan, Asia and around the world, the annual event will kick off with Kazuya Shiraishi's gritty action feature "11 Rebels."
A young woman named ¡°Chacha¡± (Marika Ito) defies the rules of Japanese society in the romantic drama ¡°Cha-Cha.¡±
CULTURE / Film
Oct 17, 2024
¡®Cha-Cha¡¯: Romantic drama doesn¡¯t take itself too seriously
Mai Sakai¡¯s twisty and quirky film features a protagonist who is about as untethered from conventional roles and rules as it is possible to be in Japanese society.
Two childhood friends (Hayato Kurihara, left, and Yukito Hidaka) living in a near-future Japan see a rise in student protests against oppressive surveillance in ¡°Happyend.¡±
CULTURE / Film
Oct 10, 2024
¡®Happyend¡¯ tests teen friendship with authoritarian dystopia
Neo Sora¡¯s ambitious coming-of-age film follows a group of friends attempting to disrupt a surveillance society with something less than life-or-death urgency.
A talented photographer (Makoto Tanaka, left) can¡¯t help outshining her tight-knit circle of art school friends in ¡°See You Tomorrow.¡±
CULTURE / Film
Oct 3, 2024
¡®See You Tomorrow¡¯: A pursuit of passion grounded in reality
Saki Michimoto's stylish and accomplished debut feature centers on a gifted photographer, her art school friends and their uncertainty about what comes next in life.
A small-time online hustler (Masaki Suda) moves to the countryside after a big score but soon finds his enemies closing in in ¡°Cloud.¡±
CULTURE / Film
Sep 26, 2024
¡®Cloud¡¯: Dangers of the internet deliver full-throttle action
Kiyoshi Kurosawa's masterful psychological thriller features the director's signature creepy vibe as well as blazing guns and falling bodies.
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.
Marina Tsukada¡¯s ¡°Mitsuki, Sekai¡± features young nonprofessional actors in the director¡¯s native Nagano Prefecture as their characters mature from childhood to adulthood.
CULTURE / Film
Sep 19, 2024
Intimate and revelatory, ¡®Mitsuki, Sekai¡¯ explores the quiet trials of girlhood
Marina Tsukada¡¯s anthology feature containing two unconnected short films lays bare the inner lives of young Japanese women in unexpected ways.
A young boy (Keitatsu Koshiyama, center) and his skating partner (Kiara Nakanishi, left) blossom under the dedicated guidance of their coach (Sosuke Ikematsu) in ¡°My Sunshine.¡±
CULTURE / Film
Sep 12, 2024
¡®My Sunshine¡¯ brings together realism and lyricism to a rare degree
Hiroshi Okuyama¡¯s feature about teen skaters is a gentle masterwork that illustrates Japanese society¡¯s deep conservatism with poignance and bite.
A cold and self-centered 21-year-old (Yuumi Kawai) drifts through life in Yoko Yamanaka's ¡°Desert of Namibia.¡±
CULTURE / Film
Sep 5, 2024
'Desert of Namibia' makes its difficult protagonist hard to hate
Yoko Yamanaka's enigmatically titled drama is true to the messy complexity of human beings and their relationships in its own quirky and sharply observant way.
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.
A grandmother fights back when the angry ghost of a social recluse starts killing off family members in ¡°House of Sayuri.¡±
CULTURE / Film
Aug 29, 2024
'House of Sayuri': J-horror fights ghosts with pitch-black humor
Koji Shiraishi¡¯s horror comedy matches the darkness of the deeds on display with a fiery grandma who takes on a wicked spirit with her tai chi skills.
Miho Nakayama, known for 'Love Letter' and a decadeslong music career, dies at 54
Miho Nakayama
A $105 trillion inheritance windfall is on the way for U.S. heirs
About $105 trillion is projected to be passed down from older generations over the next quarter century, according to research firm Cerulli Associates, an amount roughly equal to global gross domestic product in 2023.
Japan's soft power soared to new heights in 2024
Japanese creatives, athletes and activists saw their efforts recognized on the world stage in various ways this year. At the Oscars (left) Takashi Yamazaki and his team took a prize for ¡°Godzilla Minus One,¡± while later in the year Anna Sawai and Hiroyuki Sanada (center) took Emmys for their work in ¡°Shogun.¡± Shohei Ohtani (right) was arguably the biggest Japanese star of the year.
Japan's honorific language can be challenging for native speakers, too
People walk around an outlet mall in Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture. At stores across Japan, clerks use a form of polite language called "manyuaru keigo," literally, ¡°manual honorifics,¡± named for the service manuals they study it from.
Police may be able to use fake IDs to investigate yami baito
A Metropolitan Police Department flyer on high-paying illegal work advertised on social media, known as yami baito
What constitutes fatal dangerous driving in Japan?
Critics have said that drivers who were speeding well over the speed limit or those who were extremely drunk were not indicted for dangerous driving because of its vague definition.
Japan's soft power soared to new heights in 2024
Japanese creatives, athletes and activists saw their efforts recognized on the world stage in various ways this year. At the Oscars (left) Takashi Yamazaki and his team took a prize for ¡°Godzilla Minus One,¡± while later in the year Anna Sawai and Hiroyuki Sanada (center) took Emmys for their work in ¡°Shogun.¡± Shohei Ohtani (right) was arguably the biggest Japanese star of the year.
Lightning strikes twice for Shun Ikeda at All Japan Championships
Shun Ikeda holds the trophy after winning his second consecutive amateur yokozuna title on Sunday at Tokyo¡¯s Ryogoku Kokugikan.
Yoon¡¯s gambit a tempest in a teapot for financial markets
A screen displays market data at Hana Bank in Seoul on Wednesday.
U.S. Space Force launches first unit in Japan
Activated on Wednesday, U.S. Space Forces Japan ¡ª a component similar to the one established at South Korea¡¯s Osan Air Base in 2022 ¡ª will operate out of Yokota Air Base in the city of Fussa, western Tokyo, with a staff of about 10.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo¡¯s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo¡¯s ¡®stadium of desire¡¯

Longform

People in cities across Japan will pop into their local convenience store for any number of products they believe will help them with a night of drinking.
Hangover cures are everywhere in Japan ¡ª but do they work?
By Thu-Huong Ha

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