Â鶹´«Ã½

Tag - horror

 
Â鶹´«Ã½
Search
 
August 12, 2026
 

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

HORROR

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.
In Dave Boyle¡¯s ¡°Never After Dark,¡± a medium (Moeka Hoshi, left) hired to exorcise a spirit from a former hotel discovers that this is no regular haunting.
CULTURE / Film
Jun 6, 2026
¡®Never After Dark¡¯ finds fresh chills in familiar J-horror territory
Written and directed by Dave Boyle, the film begins as a paranormal investigation and transforms into another type of horror story altogether.
Sara Minami plays an unhinged art student turned ghostbuster in Yuriyan Retriever¡¯s horror comedy, ¡°Mag Mag.¡±
CULTURE / Film
Feb 20, 2026
¡®Mag Mag¡¯: A wild, messy riff on Â鶹´«Ã½ vengeful ghost tradition
Yuriyan Retriever¡¯s debut feature recalls the rambunctious spirit of 1990s indie cinema, mixing J-horror tropes with meta humor and shameless gross-out comedy.
Teenage girls (from left: Anji Ikehata and the single-named Miro) at a boarding school are drawn closer together after the death of a popular student (Nico Aoto) in ¡°White Flowers and Fruits.¡±
CULTURE / Film
Dec 25, 2025
¡®White Flowers and Fruits¡¯: Inside the fragile, haunting world of female adolescence
Strong performances from newcomer actors anchor Yukari Sakamoto¡¯s J-horror centered on tight-knit teenagers at a Protestant all-girls boarding school.
Series composer Akira Yamaoka and writer Ryukishi07 were integral figures in helping one of Japan's greatest horror gaming franchises land a Japanese setting.
LIFE / Digital
Oct 17, 2025
How Â鶹´«Ã½ greatest psychological horror game came home
Since 1999, the Silent Hill franchise of psychological horror games has always leaned into American settings. But with the new Silent Hill f, the series comes to Japan.
A call girl (Kaho Seto) traumatized by the death of her young daughter becomes entangled with a strange client in ¡°New Religion.¡±
CULTURE / Film
Jul 17, 2025
¡®New Religion¡¯: Chic debut is low on shivers
Keishi Kondo¡¯s horror film dives deep into dream logic and dread, but its emotional detachment leaves a chill that¡¯s more cold than scary.
An actor portrays a "pocong," a ghost widely known in Indonesia, at a horror entertainment venue at a mall in Jakarta. The pocong is just one of the monsters that features in massively popular Indonesian horror movies.
CULTURE / Film
Apr 15, 2025
Indonesia¡¯s horror movie industry rises from the grave
Five of the top 10 films from 2024 were categorized as horror movies, a statistic that underscores just how popular the genre is.
Strange things are afoot in Ryota Kondo¡¯s ¡°Missing Child Videotape¡± as Keita (Rairu Sugita) investigates the 13-year-old disappearance of his younger brother.
CULTURE / Film
Jan 23, 2025
¡®Missing Child Videotape¡¯: Subtle chiller may leave J-horror fans underwhelmed
Ryota Kondo¡¯s eerie ghost story debut goes for ambient dread rather than jump scares.
Japanese film director Kiyoshi Kurosawa gestures as he poses for photos during a press conference at the 29th Busan International Film Festival.
CULTURE / Film
Oct 5, 2024
Â鶹´«Ã½ ¡®master of horror¡¯ Kiyoshi Kurosawa highlights ¡®B-movie¡¯ appeal
The director, who received the Busan International Film Festival¡¯s Filmmaker of the Year Award on Wednesday, said he¡¯d like to see more artists explore genre cinema.
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.
A substitute teacher (Nagisa Shibuya, center front) at a junior high school finds herself caught up in strange goings-on with violent outcomes in ¡°Who¡¯s That Girl?¡±
CULTURE / Film
Jul 26, 2024
¡®Who¡¯s That Girl?¡¯: Junior high school antics just got scarier
J-horror master Takashi Shimizu¡¯s latest offers familiar genre elements with a practiced hand and fresh twists.
Horror artist Junji Ito adds just a dash of comedy to his work, though he aims for it to be understated. ¡°If it¡¯s truly a horror story, the humor must be restrained and more veiled,¡± he says.
CULTURE / Art
Jun 29, 2024
Fear still matters to Junji Ito
Currently on view at Tokyo¡¯s Setagaya Literary Museum is an extensive collection of the horror master¡¯s work, the first large-scale exhibition of it¡¯s kind in Japan.
A bloody demonic outbreak strikes Japan in ¡°Visitors: Complete Edition.¡±
CULTURE / Film
Feb 22, 2024
¡®Visitors¡¯ revels in all its gory glory with deadpan humor
Kenichi Ugana¡¯s extended version of his brilliant splatter short is endearingly shaggy ¡ª and messy.
Two lovers on the run (Misa Wada, left, and Takahiro Fukuya) wrestle with poverty and a monstrous mutant appendage in Taichiro Natsume¡¯s ¡°The Beast Hand.¡±
CULTURE / Film
Jan 25, 2024
¡®The Beast Hand¡¯: Splatter movie has more soul than guts
Misa Wada proves a standout in Taichiro Natsume¡¯s surprisingly soulful low-budget horror flick.
A nursing student (Kotone Furukawa, right) is terrified by the bizarre goings-on in her hometown in ¡°Best Wishes to All.¡±
CULTURE / Film
Jan 18, 2024
¡®Best Wishes to All¡¯: Home is where the horror is
Yuta Shimotsu¡¯s first feature about a small town gone mad delivers shocking frights but its message fails to surprise.
After losing her eyesight in a car accident, a woman goes to the home of an eye doctor and his son to receive a miracle device to restore her sight in ¡°My Mother¡¯s Eyes.¡±
CULTURE / Film
Nov 23, 2023
¡®My Mother¡¯s Eyes¡¯: Psychodrama pushes to mad extremes
Takeshi Kushida¡¯s atmospheric horror film about toxic parent-child relationships unfolds in a fantasy world that strains credulity.
The classic Japanese ghost story often features a vengeful female ghost.
PODCAST / deep dive
Oct 12, 2023
[Rebroadcast] Â鶹´«Ã½ got ghosts
This week we discuss a few horror movies before ¡°Uncanny Japan¡± podcast host Thersa Matsuura tells a classic Japanese ghost story.
A TV director (Kanna Hashimoto, left) is haunted by the dead wife of an old office crush (Daiki Shigeoka) in ¡°The Forbidden Play.¡±
CULTURE / Film
Sep 21, 2023
¡®The Forbidden Play¡¯: J-horror mishmash offers satisfying scares
Horror legend Hideo Nakata¡¯s latest flick is a halfway return to form, in part due to actor First Summer Uika¡¯s chilling turn as a vengeful wraith.
A couple with a young daughter move into their dream house but soon realize there is something sinister afoot in ¡°Home Sweet Home.¡±
CULTURE / Film
Sep 2, 2023
¡®Home Sweet Home¡¯: Horror house is light on frights
While the main cast delivers strong performances, Takumi Saitoh¡¯s film about a dream home with spooky secrets offers chills rather than true terror.
A deceased schoolgirl lures members of pop group Generations into her world with a killer earworm in ¡°Sana.¡±
CULTURE / Film
Aug 10, 2023
¡®Sana¡¯: Boy band horror flick is largely fan service
Takashi Shimizu¡¯s film about a deadly ditty infecting members of J-pop group Generations offers generic scares with real-life concert footage.
¡®Total whiplash¡¯: Foreign residents react to Â鶹´«Ã½ changing permanent residency rules
The entrance to the Tokyo Immigration Bureau in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in March. For some foreign residents of Japan, tightening measures for permanent residency have become one factor in a broader calculation over whether remaining in the country makes financial sense over the long term.
Yasukuni Shrine introduces ban on military attire and cosplay
People gather in front of thousands of lanterns on display at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on July 15 during the Mitama Matsuri, one of the capital's largest summer o-Bon festivals.
Gut bacteria may be behind many of Â鶹´«Ã½ colorectal cancer cases
A Japanese research team found that a toxin produced by certain E. coli strains, colibactin, caused genetic mutations in nearly half of colorectal cancer cases studied
Many Indonesians named after Japanese anime characters
Some people in Indonesia are named Doraemon, the name of a lead character of the blockbuster anime series with the same title.
Strong wind and heavy rain forecast as tropical storm approaches Japan
Tropical Storm Chan-hom is expected to make landfall in northern Kanto between late Tuesday and early Wednesday.
Where do foreign residents in Japan want to die?
The Yokohama Foreign General Cemetery is one of the few cemeteries in Japan that allows burials, albeit with conditions for the deceased, including foreign nationality and permanent residency in Kanagawa Prefecture.
¡®Total whiplash¡¯: Foreign residents react to Â鶹´«Ã½ changing permanent residency rules
The entrance to the Tokyo Immigration Bureau in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in March. For some foreign residents of Japan, tightening measures for permanent residency have become one factor in a broader calculation over whether remaining in the country makes financial sense over the long term.
As Â鶹´«Ã½ concrete jungles sizzle, urban forestry offers an all-natural fix
People and birds find relief from the sun in Tokyo's Nakano Ward earlier this month. While experts agree that urban greening is crucial to mitigating the impact of climate change, trees are becoming even more scarce in Japanese cities.
Â鶹´«Ã½ brewers experiment with a secret ingredient: music
At Smoke Craft, a craft beer brewery in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, music isn't just a background to the brewing process ¡ª it's an ingredient.
As countries ban social media for children, Japan mulls a different approach
Data from NTT Docomo¡¯s Mobile Society Research Institute released in June found that 55% of respondents across all age groups said they fiddled with their phones when they had nothing to do, even when another person was in front of them.

Podcast

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

Longform

Disaster relief workers Taichi Kato (left) and Seiji Yoshimura enter the collapsed living quarters at Kyuganji temple in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture.
What Kumamoto revealed about Â鶹´«Ã½ earthquake readiness
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER