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Worlds Apart (違国日記, Natsuki Seta, 2024)
A young woman discovers a different side to life after moving in with her eccentric aunt following the death of her parents in Natsuki’s Seta’s delicate yet huge…
My Anniversaries (オレの記念日, Kim Sungwoong, 2022)
Documentarian Kim Sungwoong follows the relentlessly cheerful Shoji Sakurai who spent 29 years behind bars for a crime he didn’t commit.
The Hunter’s Diary (猟人日記, Ko Nakahira, 1964)
A serial philanderer’s life is upended when his conquests start turning up dead in Ko Nakashira’s twisted noir.
Murakami in the Asahi Shimbun – 日記から – 1982
Year 1: Boobs, The Wind, Baseball, Lederhosen, Eels, Monkeys, and Doves Year 2: Hotel Lobby Oysters, Condoms, Spinning Around and Around, 街・町, The Town and Its Uncertain Wall, A Short Piece on the Elephant that Crushes Heineken Cans Year…
Time Still Turns the Pages (年少日記, Nick Cheuk, 2023)
A discarded suicide not confronts a dejected teacher with his own unresolved traumatic past in Nick Cheuk’s poignant drama.
当日
The newsletter and podcast are online: This month I wrote about a word that was rattling around in my head earlier this year. 当日 (tōjitsu, the day it…
The Sunday Runoff (決戦は日曜日, Yuichiro Sakashita, 2021)
A naive woman asked to stand for political office in her father’s place finds herself conflicted by the depth of corruption she discovers in Yuichiro Sakashita’s political satire.
A Wanderer’s Notebook (放浪記, Mikio Naruse, 1962)
A determined young woman seeks a way out of poverty in Mikio Naruse’s biopic of author Fumiko Hayashi.
One Wonderful Sunday (素晴らしき日曜日, Akira Kurosawa, 1947)
A young couple attempt to have a nice day out in Tokyo for only 35 yen but eventually discover something much more valuable in Akira Kurosawa’s surprisingly upbeat…
Tomorrow There Will Be Fine Weather (明日は日本晴れ, Hiroshi Shimizu, 1948)
A bus breaking down on a mountain pass signals a roadblock on the way to a new Japan in Hiroshi Shimizu’s lighthearted yet melancholy drama.
日本コンテンツと海外プラットフォーム
最近の作成AIコンテンツや物語性を含まない居心地の良いコンテンツ作りを見ていて憂慮するすることは色々ある。 ネットでただで享受できるコンテンツが爆発的に増えただけならいざ知らず、それらを配布するプラットフォームが一点集中し、興行的成功の落差が激しくなっている。これに加えて作成AIを用いることで一見精度の高そうに見える創作物を大量の生み出され、いわばダンピングが行われてしまい、人の手で創る創作…
Episode 50, "ワンピースポッドキャスト５０回記念華麗なショー"
On the fiftieth episode of the One Piece Podcast we bring you everything you can ever ask for. A recap of the convention, a manga recap, an anime…
Brave: Gunjo Senki (ブレイブ -群青戦記-, Katsuyuki Motohiro, 2021)
A history buff and archery enthusiast finds himself in his element when his school is thrown back to the Sengoku era in Katsuyuki Motohiro’s timeslip drama.
Episode 50, "ワンピースポッドキャスト５０回記念華麗なショー"
On the fiftieth episode of the One Piece Podcast we bring you everything you can ever ask for. A recap of the convention, a manga recap, an anime…
Episode 50, "ワンピースポッドキャスト５０回記念華麗なショー"
On the fiftieth episode of the One Piece Podcast we bring you everything you can ever ask for. A recap of the convention, a manga recap, an anime…
Willful Murder (日本の熱い日々 謀殺・下山事件, Kei Kumai, 1981)
A dogged reporter comes to the conclusion an industrialist was murdered but cannot say by whom in Kei Kumai’s searing exploration of the occupation and the economic miracle.
日光 Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture. {Day 2/2}
The morning of my second day in Nikko, I acted very out of character.
日光 Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture. {Day 1/2}
Despite the rest of the week feeling like it had dragged on forever, I woke up at around 5 a.m. on September 19th, altogether way too early for…
Comic Update: 金曜日の天使
Original Post Was surprised that so many people liked the last comic. Well sorry guys! I’M GONNA RUN THIS SHIT INTO THE GROUND. (Don’t worry, there’s only one…
Haunted Samurai (土忍記 風の天狗, Keiichi Ozawa, 1970)
An exiled spy is confronted by the cruel inequalities of the feudal era in Keiichi Ozawa’s ninja drama.
Record of a Woman Doctor (女医の記録, Hiroshi Shimizu, 1941)
A doctor gains a new perspective on life after being sent to a remote rural village in Hiroshi Shimizu’s gentle social drama.
The Heart of Hiroshima (愛と死の記録, Koreyoshi Kurahara, 1966)
Sayuri Yoshinaga was the top female star at Nikkatsu in the mid-1960s. Together with her regular co-star Mitsuo Hamada, she starred in a series of hit youth romances…
Japan Stories それぞれの日本
A beautifully written patchwork of stories of contemporary Japan each of which focuses on and mainly revolves around one person with associated minor characters who, though obviously less…
Episode #51 – Big Man Japan (大日本人)
Author Patrick Moody makes his JOF debut to discuss Hitoshi Matsumoto’s kaiju mockumentary film, Big Man Japan.
Douolingo Doesn't Know How to Say 日光 #learnjapanese
Learn Japanese with Me - https://bit.ly/4drmyU2
I Live in Fear (生きものの記録, Akira Kurosawa, 1955)
An elderly man’s nuclear paranoia threatens to tear his family apart in Kurosawa’s post-war social drama.
The Vancouver Asahi (バンクーバーの朝日, Yuya Ishii, 2014)
Second generation Japanese-Canadians stake their hopes on baseball in Yuya Ishii’s historical drama.
Kino Hina absolutely LOSES it😱#木野日菜
Is her throat okay? cuz she surely is a pretty popular seiyuu choice at playing young (screamy) kids...
In Broad Daylight (白日之下, Lawrence Kan, 2023)
A jaded reporter rediscovers a sense of purpose while exposing abuse and neglect in privately run care homes in Lawrence Kan’s hard-hitting drama
Day Off (本日公休, Fu Tien-Yu, 2023)
The wholesome small-town values of an ageing hairdresser place her increasingly at odds with her cynical consumerist kids in Fu Tien-Yu’s poignant tale of changing times.
Ready O/R Knot (不日成婚, Anselm Chan, 2021)
A woman who wants to get married and her boyfriend who doesn’t end up engaged in an escalating battle of the sexes in Chan’s snarky marital farce
My Sunshine (ぼくのお日さま, Hiroshi Okuyama, 2024)
A young man with his head in the clouds discovers a new means of expression through figure skating in Hiroshi Okuyama’s delicate drama.
Rub Out the Past (日本暗黒街, Masaharu Segawa, 1966)
A restaurateur’s attempts to shake off his violent past are frustrated by the nature of his transgressions in Masaharu Segawa’s noirish drama.
Episode #54 – Night and Fog in Japan (日本の夜と霧)
In the final episode of the season, Kota of the Against Japanism podcast brings his extensive knowledge of Japanese politics and the Japanese left-wing to bear in this…
The Blossom and the Sword (日本侠花伝, Tai Kato, 1973)
A young woman defies the expectations of a patriarchal society in resisting the rising militarism of the Taisho society in Tai Kato’s historical epic.
Chigasaki Story (3泊4日、5時の鐘, Takuya Misawa, 2014)
Desire and desperation bubble to the surface at a small hotel making preparations for a wedding in Takuya Misawa’s Chigasaki Story (3泊4日、5時の鐘, 3-paku 4-ka, 5-ji no kane). Though…
A Good Man, A Good Day (好人好日, Minoru Shibuya, 1961)
The daughter of an eccentric maths professor faces an uphill battle to marry the son of a 200-year-old ink store in Minoru Shibuya’s warmhearted comedy.
Totsugu hi made / 嫁ぐ日まで (‘Until Your Wedding Day’, 1940)
Obscure Japanese Film #231 Setsuko Hara Yoshiko (Setsuko Hara) lives with her widowed father (Ko Mihashi) and younger sister Asako (Akira Kurosawa’s future wife, Yoko Yaguchi, in her film debut). She’s being courted…
Hit Me Anyone One More Time (記憶にございません！, Koki Mitani, 2019)
Japan’s “all time worst” prime minister undergoes a change of heart after getting hit on the head with a rock in Koki Mitani’s lowkey political satire
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The 12 Day Tale of the Monster that Died in 8 (8日で死んだ怪獣の12日の物語, Shunji Iwai, 2020) [Fantasia 2021]
Takumi Saito plays a version of himself raising “capsule kaiju” as means of combatting Covid helplessness in Iwai’s whimsical pandemic drama
Japan Organized Crime Boss (日本暴力団 組長, Kinji Fukasaku, 1969)
A recently released yakuza emerges into a changed Japan in Kinji Fukasaku’s proto-jitsuroku gangster picture.
The Sunny Side of the Street (白日青春, Lau Kok-rui, 2022)
An embittered taxi driver is forced to reflect on his prejudices and relationships after getting into a vendetta with a refugee in Lau Kok-rui’s melancholy drama.
MADE IN JAPAN 日本製造 メイド・イン・ジャパン (2019) Dir: Yusaku Matsumoto
A brutal murder leads one delinquent to milk news sites for money in this critique of how the media works. SAKKA will make Yusaku Matsumoto’s MADE IN JAPAN…
Seven Days in Heaven (父後七日, Essay Liu & Wang Yu-Lin, 2010)
A young woman embarks “the most ridiculous journey” of her life after returning home for a series of involved burial rites in Essay Liu and Wang Yu-Lin ’s…
Girls Love of the Dead, Kioku no Kakera, Volume 2 (ガールズラブ・オブ・ザ・デッド〈記憶のかけら〉)
In Girls Love of the Dead, Shi ga Futari wo Waka..tanai? we met Mitsuki, a young woman mourning the death of the girl she loves. In her attempt…
Jeans Blues: No Future (ジーンズブルース 明日なき無頼派, Sadao Nakajima, 1974)
Nihilistic lovers on the run make a break for the sea only to find their pathway blocked in Sadao Nakajima’s anarchic love tragedy.
Nissin RAOH Shirunashi Tantanmen (日清ラ王 汁なし担々麺) Review
The last instant ramen yakisoba I reviewed was the Maruchan Seimen Cup Yakisoba . I'm reviewing the Nissin RAOH Shiranushi Tantanmen noodle ...
Seven Days War (ぼくらの七日間戦争, Hiroshi Sugawara, 1988)
Oppressed teens rebel against the constraints of the Bubble-era society in Hiroshi Sugawara’s anarchic Kadokawa teen movie.
The Scoop! (新米記者トロッ子 私がやらねば誰がやる！, Keiichi Kobayashi, 2024)
A young woman learns a few life lessons about the importance of press freedom after enrolling in the literature club to meet her idol in Keiichi Kobayashi’s teen…
YU-GEKI~side story of “Love’s Twisting Path”~ (遊撃 -「多十郎殉愛記」外伝-,Tatsuya Matsubara, 2021)
Tatsuya Matsubara’s wide raging documentary explores the career of legendary director Sadao Nakajima as he steps back into the director’s chair after 20 years away on Love’s Twist…