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October 27, 2026
 

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James Hadfield
Go Morita plays an aging manga artist who’s put his creative ambitions on permanent hold in Shoichi Morimoto and Takuma Sato’s “The Potentials.”
CULTURE / Film
Oct 23, 2026
‘The Potentials’ unpacks the dilemmas of a manga assistant in middle age
Shoichi Morimoto and Takuma Sato’s “The Potentials” is an engaging tale about art, life and everything that gets in the way.
After building a cult following as a director of straight-to-video movies, Takashi Miike achieved international recognition with “Audition” and “Ichi the Killer.”
CULTURE / Film
Oct 23, 2026
Takashi Miike pushes the envelope with ‘Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo’
Veteran director Takashi Miike reflects on his first major international coproduction and the existential questions that drive his work.
In Keisuke Yoshida’s “Mentor,” childhood friends Ryunosuke (Hayato Isomura, left) and Takumi (Seiya Suezawa) reckon with the consequences of a deadly fire they caused 15 years earlier after a chance reunion with one of the victims.
CULTURE / Film
Oct 16, 2026
‘Mentor’: A mordant exploration of guilt and absolution
Keisuke Yoshida’s “Mentor” is a discomfiting tale about the repercussions of a deadly fire in the lives of three men.
A rookie stage actor (Koshi Mizukami, right, with Haru Kuroki) cast as a true-life murder victim starts to lose track of who he really is in Yuri Takei’s “F(r)iction.”
CULTURE / Film
Oct 4, 2026
‘F(r)iction’: A play within a film gets meta and messy
Though not without its flaws, Yuri Takei’s film about life imitating art imitating life has an unpredictable energy that yields striking moments.
Riho Yoshioka (left) and the single-named Nao play victims of domestic abuse who find themselves on opposite sides of the law in Ryuhei Yoshino’s “Shadow Work.”
CULTURE / Film
Sep 27, 2026
‘Shadow Work’ plumbs the depths of domestic violence — and vengeance
Ryuhei Yoshino’s “Shadow Work” is a morally fraught revenge thriller about victims of domestic abuse who dare to fight back.
The oneiric songs on Friday Night Plans’ latest album, “Blue Hour” — released by Spanish label Modern Obscure Music — work mostly with a palette of heavily effected vocals and acoustic guitar.
CULTURE / Music
Sep 25, 2026
The unmaking of Friday Night Plans
Once a rising star of sleek R&B, Friday Night Plans has spent the past few years dismantling the pop persona she built.
Shizuka Ishibashi (right) plays a 30-something woman who takes a sojourn in the countryside to model for her erstwhile sister-in-law (Takako Matsu, left) in Koji Fukada’s “Nagi Notes.”
CULTURE / Film
Sep 18, 2026
‘Nagi Notes’: An intimate portrayal of rural rhythms and realities
The latest film by Koji Fukada reveals an understated charm through languid conversations and art-making.
School students Ayumu Fujino (Natsuki Deguchi, left) and Kyomoto (Aju Makita) form a close artistic partnership in Hirokazu Koreeda’s “Look Back,” adapted from the manga by Tatsuki Fujimoto.
CULTURE / Film
Sep 14, 2026
Hirokazu Koreeda’s ‘Look Back’ is gorgeous but unnecessary
The director’s authorial signature gets somewhat muddled in this adaptation of a manga by “Chainsaw Man” creator Tatsuki Fujimoto.
“Mr. Nelson, Did You Kill People?” is the latest film directed by Shinya Tsukamoto. It carries a strong anti-war message.
CULTURE / Film
Sep 10, 2026
A Japanese filmmaker’s harrowing exploration of the Vietnam War
Shinya Tsukamoto’s “Mr. Nelson, Did You Kill People?” examines the lifelong impact of war on the human psyche.
Filmmaker and dancer Nao Yoshigai contemplates matters of the spirit and the flesh in her debut feature, “Masayume.”
CULTURE / Film
Aug 23, 2026
‘Masayume’ finds Zen in the messiness of being human
Nao Yoshigai’s experimental documentary blends meditation, autobiography and bodily humor into an unconventional meditation on healing and acceptance.
Hikari Mitsushima (left) and Hidetoshi Nishijima play a pair of private investigators looking into the murder of a former colleague in Tetsuya Nakashima’s “The Brightest Sun.”
CULTURE / Film
Aug 14, 2026
An unsolved murder leads to despair and salvation in ‘The Brightest Sun’
A pair of private investigators probes the murder of a colleague in Tetsuya Nakashima’s challenging but rewarding film.
Seven years after traveling back in time and falling in love with a kamikaze pilot, Yuri (Haruka Fukuhara, left) contemplates a new beginning in Takehiko Shinjo’s “Till We Meet Again on the Starry Hill.”
CULTURE / Film
Aug 8, 2026
‘Till We Meet Again on the Starry Hill’: Time-travel kamikaze romance gets a pointless sequel
Takehiko Shinjo’s follow-up to a 2023 hit film is even more muddled than its predecessor.
Sosuke Ikematsu (center) stars in Yuya Ishii’s “The Secret Battlefield,” a historical drama about the Japanese research institute that correctly predicted the country’s defeat in the Pacific War.
CULTURE / Film
Aug 1, 2026
‘The Secret Battlefield’: An inside view of the machinery of war
Yuya Ishii’s historical drama about the Japanese think tank that failed to avert the Pacific War can’t shake its made-for-TV origins, but it’s a valuable cautionary tale.
The members of Maya Ongaku — (from left) Tsutomu Sonoda, Shoei Ikeda and Ryota Takano — grew up on the Shonan Coast south of Tokyo and have been friends since their school days.
CULTURE / Music
Jul 18, 2026
Maya Ongaku’s DIY dream is getting bigger
Ahead of its second album release and a show at Fuji Rock, the psychedelic rock trio from the Shonan Coast is looking back and paying it forward.
So-hee (played by the single-named Hanna), a 14-year-old ethnic Korean living in Tokyo, learns some valuable life lessons in Son Myong A’s “Trophy.”
CULTURE / Film
Jul 17, 2026
Zainichi drama ‘Trophy’ is a sweet, if slight, coming-of-age tale
Son Myong A’s debut feature centers on a Tokyo teen grappling with her Korean heritage, both at home and in the classroom.
After an office temp worker is found dead in suspicious circumstances, Eiko Watarai (the single-named Nao, right) sets out in search of answers in Junichi Kanai’s “Why Wait, Just Die.”
CULTURE / Film
Jul 10, 2026
‘Why Wait, Just Die’: A dead-eyed investigator takes on an unsolved murder
The single-named Nao offers a steamroller of a performance in Junichi Kanai’s film, which unfolds as an unconventional murder mystery with stylized flourishes.
Veteran improvisers Kazuo Imai and Atsuhiro Ito brought some unruly energy to NU Festival, a three-day multimedia event held at the Takanawa Gateway City complex. ?
CULTURE / Music
Jul 4, 2026
NU Festival tests Takanawa Gateway City complex’s culture cred
JR East has been positioning the sprawling new Takanawa Gateway City as a cultural hub since before it even opened. The music, art and tech NU Festival put that claim to the test.
Tujiko Noriko’s album “PON” is dedicated to Ponpon, her late cat, and includes field recordings of her family life in France.
CULTURE / Music
Jul 3, 2026
Tujiko Noriko’s new album is a feline tour de force
On tour in Japan this month, the France-based artist talks about channeling her “crazy cat woman” energy into musical creation and finding harmony in dissonance.
The actor known as Uta stars as the eponymous antagonist in Netflix’s “Human Vapor” limited series, adapted from a classic 1960 sci-fi film.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Jul 3, 2026
‘Human Vapor’ brings blockbuster energy to the small screen
Striking visuals and solid performances make the Netflix limited-series adaptation of a classic 1960 sci-fi movie well worth a watch.
A trio of women in need of cash (from left: Sara Minami, Kasumi Arimura and Haru Kuroki) starts smuggling gold from Singapore in Chihiro Amano’s “Magical Secret Tour.”
CULTURE / Film
Jun 26, 2026
An implausible but engaging crime drama unfolds in ‘Magical Secret Tour’
In Chihiro Amano’s “Magical Secret Tour,” a trio of Japanese women becomes embroiled in a scheme to smuggle gold from Singapore.
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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