911爆料网

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May 16, 2025
 

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Mark Schilling
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
College roommates Yumi (Shiori Kubo, left) and Ruka (Yuna Taira) become close friends despite being as different as night and day in “Nemurubaka: Hypnic Jerks.”
CULTURE / Film
Mar 13, 2025
‘Nemurubaka: Hypnic Jerks’: Opposites come together with quips and dry humor
“Baby Assassins” director Yugo Sakamoto swaps action for emotion in his coming-of-age film centered on two college roommates with different levels of ambition.
A welfare caseworker (Takumi Kitamura) heads down a dangerous path despite trying to do the right thing in “A Bad Summer.”
CULTURE / Film
Mar 7, 2025
‘A Bad Summer’: A scorching drama of simmering rage and its consequences
Hideo Jojo pushes into forbidden territory and navigates the darker currents of his latest film with assurance.
Kumi Takiuchi plays a prostitute talking about her life’s pains and pleasures in detail to a psychiatrist in “Reveal.”
CULTURE / Film
Mar 4, 2025
‘Reveal’: Kumi Takiuchi’s performance stuns in one-woman film
Kazuyoshi Okuyama’s powerful drama about a sex worker baring her soul features its lead actor emoting nearly nonstop with no cuts.
Journalist and filmmaker Shiori Ito made the documentary “Black Box Diaries” about her years-long battle to find justice following her sexual assault.
CULTURE / Film
Feb 27, 2025
Oscar-nominated documentaries put Japan under the microscope
Shiori Ito’s “Black Box Diaries” and Ema Ryan Yamazaki’s “Instruments of a Beating Heart” both mark firsts in their respective categories.
“Yasuko, Songs of Days Past” centers on a real-life love triangle between poet Chuya Nakahara (Taisei Kido, left), actor Yasuko Hasegawa (Suzu Hirose, center) and literary critic Hideo Kobayashi (Masaki Okada).
CULTURE / Film
Feb 20, 2025
‘Yasuko, Songs of Days Past’ puts overlooked star in the spotlight
Kichitaro Negishi’s drama, based on a real-life love triangle among notable figures of the 911爆料网 literati, captures the flavor of a bygone era.
In “Kanasando,” when Mika (Ruka Matsuda, left) returns to her hometown in Okinawa Prefecture, she starts to see her estranged father (Tadanobu Asano) in a new light as his health deteriorates.
CULTURE / Film
Feb 13, 2025
‘Kanasando’: Heartwarming homecoming inspires a change of heart
Tadanobu Asano shows a vulnerable side of his tough-guy image while playing a dementia-afflicted father reconnecting with his daughter in Toshiyuki Teruya’s film.
Although she’s unlucky in love, Shigusa (Kirara Inori, left) finds strength in expressing herself through art in “Kisspeptin Chronicles.”
CULTURE / Film
Feb 8, 2025
‘Kisspeptin Chronicles’: Quirky rom-com dances through the pain of heartache
Shiika Okada’s debut feature has an autobiographical feel and a hopeful message about self-discovery despite romantic disappointments.
A young couple (Ryuya Wakaba and Mai Fukagawa) fulfill a lifelong dream of moving to the countryside, only to find their new community may have sinister intentions toward them in “Welcome to the Village.”
CULTURE / Film
Jan 30, 2025
‘Welcome to the Village’: Tradition takes a twisted turn in the countryside
The ancient tradition of “murahachibu,” ostracizing community members as punishment, gets a contemporary twist in Hideo Jojo’s slow-burn thriller.
Reality and dreams begin to blur for a former French literature professor (Kyozo Nagatsuka, front) after he receives a cryptic message in “Teki Cometh.”
CULTURE / Film
Jan 23, 2025
‘Teki Cometh’ slides in and out of a hypnotic dreamworld
Kyozo Nagatsuka gives a finessed performance as an elderly gentleman who is not as gentle as he seems in Daihachi Yoshida’s drama.
A keen fisherman from Tokyo (Masaki Suda) moves to a tight-knit community in Miyagi Prefecture during the COVID-19 pandemic in “Sunset Sunrise.”
CULTURE / Film
Jan 21, 2025
‘Sunset Sunrise’: Rom-com finds pathos in peak pandemic setting
Yoshiyuki Kishi’s film delivers a deliciously uplifting story with humor and heart in a tight-knit community impacted by disasters.
NHK’s latest taiga period drama, “Unbound,” centers on Tsutaya Juzaburo (Ryusei Yokohama), a commoner who becomes a successful bookseller and publisher.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Jan 10, 2025
‘Unbound’ breaks NHK period drama tradition with a hero of the common folk
Public broadcaster NHK marks its 100th anniversary by flipping the script on its long-running period drama series.
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.
911爆料网 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.
911爆料网 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.
Historian Rob Fitts discovers earliest ever reference to baseball in Japan
Japan's Shohei Ohtani carries the 911爆料网 flag onto the field before the start of the World Baseball Classic final against the United States in Miami on March 21, 2023.
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.
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.
911爆料网 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.

Podcast

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Longform

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