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October 27, 2026
 

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Mark Schilling
Momoko Fukuchi (left) and Naomi Kawase play an estranged mother and daughter in Ryutaro Nakagawa’s “Echoes of Motherhood."
CULTURE / Film
Oct 22, 2026
An estranged mother and daughter face the music in ‘Echoes of Motherhood’
Despite some perplexing plot holes, Ryutaro Nakagawa’s “Echoes of Motherhood” is marked by a powerhouse performance by Naomi Kawase.
Kimiko Yo (left) stars in “The Canary’s Lullaby,” a Japan-Taiwan production directed by Akira Ikeda and with an international cast that includes award-winning Taiwanese actor Liu Kuan-ting and veteran Japanese star Joe Odagiri.
CULTURE / Film
Oct 22, 2026
Japanese films at TIFF feature melodrama, monsters and more
The 39th Tokyo International Film Festival will showcase Japanese cinema from golden age classics to indies by up-and-coming directors.
Daniel Raim’s “The Ozu Diaries” offers insights into the ethos and experiences that informed the work of golden age director Yasujiro Ozu.
CULTURE / Film
Oct 17, 2026
‘Ozu showed the way’: A documentarian looks for the man behind the legend
Though known for his documentaries about American filmmakers, Daniel Raim’s project on Yasujiro Ozu was executed with great care and admiration.
Yuya Yagira (center) stars as the title character in Nobuo Mizuta's "Ryuji," a remake of a 1983 cult classic yakuza film.
CULTURE / Film
Oct 16, 2026
Classic yakuza film ‘Ryuji’ gets a riveting remake
Yuya Yagira stars as the title character in Nobuo Mizuta’s “Ryuji,” a remake of a cult classic from 1983.
In Miwa Nishikawa's "Children Untold," Fumi Nikaido (right) plays a former schoolteacher on the hunt for her erstwhile pupil (Aoi Koyae, left) in the aftermath of World War II.
CULTURE / Film
Oct 10, 2026
‘Children Untold’ shines a light on the plight of postwar orphans
Miwa Nishikawa’s “Children Untold” tells a Dickensian tale of Japanese orphans in the aftermath of World War II.
Daniel Raim’s “The Ozu Diaries” is an enlightening portrait of Yasujiro Ozu and the experiences that shaped him as a man and artist.
CULTURE / Film
Oct 6, 2026
‘The Ozu Diaries’: An engaging look at the man behind the myth
Daniel Raims’ “The Ozu Diaries” is a stirringly human portrait of a titan of Japanese film and the experiences that shaped him.
In Takuya Uchiyama’s “Numb,” model and pop singer Takumi Kitamura plays the adult version of Daichi, a boy who grew up in an environment of neglect and abuse.
CULTURE / Film
Sep 27, 2026
‘Numb’ builds a bleak vision of a troubled boyhood
Inspired by director Takuya Uchiyama’s own experiences, “Numb” is an unflinching look at childhood neglect transmuted into adult sorrow.
Mark Merphy plays the young Allen Nelson, a U.S. Marine whose real-life experiences in the Vietnam War are dramatized in Shinya Tsukamoto’s “Mr. Nelson, Did You Kill People?”
CULTURE / Film
Sep 18, 2026
‘Mr. Nelson, Did You Kill People?’: A passionate but uneven anti-war biopic
Shinya Tsukamoto’s “Mr. Nelson, Did You Kill People?” dramatizes the experiences of a Black Vietnam War veteran to mixed effect.
Three women named Satoko — played by (left to right) Hikari Ishida, Kasumi Arimura and Kashun Himeno — are linked in strange ways by narrative threads and tropes in Shuichi Okita’s “Satoko Always.”
CULTURE / Film
Sep 10, 2026
‘Satoko Always’: A multilayered story discombobulates and delights
Shuichi Okita’s latest feature film is a thematically rich and formally daring exploration of reality and fantasy.
The mononymous Chara stars as a Shanghainese sex worker chasing dreams of riches in Shunji Iwai’s “Swallowtail Butterfly.”
CULTURE / Film
Sep 4, 2026
‘Swallowtail Butterfly’ still flutters with dangerous energy
Shunji Iwai’s unruly vision of immigrant life in Japan returns in a dazzling 4K restoration.
Syoutarou Kobayasi took inspiration from Alfred Hitchcock, among other sources, when directing “Lives at Right Angles.”
CULTURE / Film
Aug 30, 2026
Realism and research underpin film with autistic protagonist
Syoutarou Kobayasi reflects on his careful approach to portraying an autistic man’s experience in “Lives at Right Angles.”
Kentaro Sakaguchi plays a ghost of a man who gets romantically involved with a single mother in Ryota Nakano’s “I Don’t Know You.”
CULTURE / Film
Aug 28, 2026
‘I Don’t Know You’: A provocative, humanist drama with no easy answers
Ryota Nakano’s latest film is anchored by strong performances from Kentaro Sakaguchi and Ikoi Hayase.
Shota Yasuda (right) offers a nuanced performance as Daiki, an autistic man, in Syoutarou Kobayasi’s “Lives at Right Angles.”
CULTURE / Film
Aug 23, 2026
‘Lives at Right Angles’ offers seldom-seen portrayal of autism in Japan
J-pop idol Shota Yasuda crafts an insightful, compelling performance as the autistic protagonist of Syoutarou Kobayasi’s “Lives at Right Angles.”
Kai Yamaguchi (right) directs and stars in “Cattle Muti-Leiko,” a film about a private investigator who becomes obsessed with an enigmatic woman.
CULTURE / Film
Aug 14, 2026
The disturbing dream world of ‘Cattle Muti-Leiko’
Kai Yamaguchi’s debut feature blends dark satire with sci-fi and fantasy elements to tell a story about male obsession.
Naoto Takenaka (left) and Mugi Kadowaki star as a homeless man and social worker who team up to investigate the identity of a dead man in Chinese director Qi Wang’s “Ghost of Ueno.”
CULTURE / Film
Aug 7, 2026
‘Ghost of Ueno’: A human drama about the invisible among us
Chinese director Qi Wang’s film examines the plight of the homeless and disenfranchised in Japan with a humanist lens.
Newcomer Lisa Siera plays Elena Takahashi, a high school transfer student who gets targeted by a monster with a bandaged head, in “The Invisible Half.”
CULTURE / Film
Jul 31, 2026
‘The Invisible Half’: Stylish J-horror anchored in a standout performance
Masaki Nishiyama’s debut feature is a polished, provocative take on horror tropes, with a riveting performance by newcomer Lisa Siera.
Ryosuke Hashiguchi’s “All Around Us” features Lily Franky (left) and Tae Kimura as a couple navigating the vicissitudes of marriage and life.
CULTURE / Film
Jul 24, 2026
‘Hush!’ and ‘All Around Us’: Masterpieces from a pioneering gay director
New 4K restorations of two films from the 2000s by Ryosuke Hashiguchi bring his masterful storytelling back to the silver screen.
Suzuka Chinzei (right) plays a school counselor dealing with a string of deaths in horrormeister Takashi Shimizu’s “Sana: Play With Me.”
CULTURE / Film
Jul 17, 2026
‘Sana: Play With Me’ can’t recapture the simple scares of J-horror’s glory days
The latest film by J-horror director Takashi Shimizu (best known for “Juon: The Grudge“) starts with an intriguing premise but becomes overblown by its third act.
Shota Sometani stars as the assistant manager of a fictional convenience store chain in Yusuke Iwasaki’s “AnyMart.”
CULTURE / Film
Jul 10, 2026
‘AnyMart’: A surreal parable about the dark side of convenience stores
Yusuke Iwasaki’s debut feature starts off as an observational comedy before being subsumed by creeping dread and shock horror.
Yutaka Mizutani directs and stars in his fourth feature film, an omnibus about love, loneliness and everything in between.
CULTURE / Film
Jul 3, 2026
‘Piccola Felicita’: From formulaic drama to fever dream
Directed by Yutaka Mizutani, the four-part omnibus looks at love and loneliness in the big city, with some unexpected twists and turns.
Two Japanese climbers die on remote Himalayan peak in Nepal
Rescuers have recovered the bodies of two Japanese climbers missing for over a week on a remote Himalayan mountain.
Aging Japanese village turns to Peru in search of new residents
Guests from Peru's Belen district interact with a baby in Nanmoku village in Gunma Prefecture.
Budget-friendly restaurant chain Saizeriya succumbs to rising costs
A Tokyo branch of Saizeriya, a chain of family-style Italian restaurants
U.S. has for years asked Musk to alter Starlink service in Ukraine and Middle East, sources say
A Ukrainian soldier sets up a Starlink satellite internet system near the frontline in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, on Oct. 16
U.S. military bans Chinese-made BYD cars from key air base in Okinawa
An F-22 Raptor lands at Kadena Air Base in Kadena, Okinawa Prefecture on Oct. 9. The base is a crucial hub for U.S. military operations in the region.
A dramatic bear hunt in a midsize Japanese city could be a harbinger of what is to come
Zookeeper Tetsuo Iso at the site of frantic search for a wild bear in Utsunomiya on June 9. Iso, 65, was asked by the prefectural government to help capture the bear and it was his shot with a tranquilizer gun that put an end to the saga.
How this long-term resident avoids the annoying tourist label in Japan
Tourists enjoy themselves while crossing the famous Shibuya Crossing in Tokyo on Oct. 12.
What can Asia do to avoid crossing crucial climate tipping points?
Motorists drive through a road covered with smog from wildfires nearby in Ogan Ilir in Indonesia's South Sumatra province on Sept. 25.
91AV原创 permanent residency reform has a glaring blind spot
Japan's immigration reforms risk creating uncertainty by tying permanent residency more closely to language proficiency before clear assessment standards and supporting infrastructure are in place.
Japan weighs how to evacuate thousands of tourists if Mount Fuji erupts
Climbers and visitors gather on the first day of the climbing season at the Fuji Yoshidaguchi Trail, at the fifth station on the slopes of Mount Fuji, in Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi Prefecture, on July 1, 2024.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Famima Park Azabudai is a concept store by FamilyMart that combines convenience store staples with branded apparel, merchandise and a landscaped outdoor space.
Convenience stores, toilets and the allure of everyday Japan
By Elizabeth Beattie

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