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August 11, 2026
 

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JAPANESE 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.
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.
A "Chiikawa The Movie" poster is seen at Toho Cinemas in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 7, 2026
Speaking Japanese at the movies with ¡®Chiikawa¡¯
Explore the vocabulary behind horror, spoilers, happy endings and the surprising reactions to this summer¡¯s biggest anime.
Takeshi Shibata (middle) directs Masahiro Motoki on the set of ¡°The Man Who Carries the Voice of August.¡± Shibata says he hopes the film can help viewers around the world understand hibakusha and ¡°the threat of nuclear weapons.¡±
CULTURE / Film
Aug 6, 2026
¡®The Man Who Carries the Voice of August¡¯ explores the fragile legacy of the hibakusha
A journalist¡¯s effort to record hibakusha testimonies raises questions about memory, truth and survival.
Chiikawa products are displayed at a store in Harajuku, Tokyo, last August.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 4, 2026
In Japan, Odysseus is scared of tiny, cute Chiikawa
Chiikawa is a phenomenon in Japan, with its character appearing on various products, and partnering with the brand is an instant way to increase revenue
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.
¡°Chiikawa the Movie: The Secret of Mermaid Mermaid Island¡± is shaping up to be one of the summer¡¯s biggest hits while surprising some viewers with its dark thematic undercurrents.
CULTURE / Film
Jul 31, 2026
¡®Chiikawa¡¯ was always darker than it looked
Cute characters, folk horror and lingering trauma: ¡°Chiikawa¡± makes an unexpectedly haunting leap to the big screen.
Newcomer Risa Sierra 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 Risa Sierra.
Suzu Hirose received the Cut Above Award for Outstanding Achievement in Film from New York¡¯s Japan Society this month.
CULTURE / Film
Jul 30, 2026
Suzu Hirose is ready to ¡®step into the unknown¡¯
The 28-year-old actor looks back on her formative experiences with some of the most acclaimed contemporary Japanese directors.
Kei Suzuki¡¯s feature-length debut is about Makoto Natsume, a high school boy who gets embroiled in both a time-travel plot and summer romance.
CULTURE / Film
Jul 26, 2026
Time-travel anime ¡®You, Fireworks, and Our Promise¡¯ is serviceable but lacks spark
Kei Suzuki¡¯s feature-length debut, adapted from a popular light novel, is a competent but ultimately uninspired take on an all-too-familiar premise.
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.
The goal of restoration is not to artificially upscale but to return the film to the condition it was in ¡°the very first day it appeared in the world,¡± says Nobushige Toshima, president and sales division manager of Toho Archive.
CULTURE
Jul 24, 2026
Inside Toho Archive¡¯s mission to save Â鶹´«Ã½ cinematic memory
Formed in 2023 as the direct successor to a film processing lab, Toho Archive is at the forefront of preserving Â鶹´«Ã½ cinematic heritage.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Takashi Nishihara, the director of "Now and Then," in Tokyo on Wednesday. The director has spent 10 years traversing politically charged terrain while exploring youth-driven grassroots political movements that scrutinize the status quo.
COMMUNITY / Issues
Jul 5, 2026
Filmmaker explores history of discrimination against foreign nationals in Japan
Takashi Nishihara¡¯s latest work, ¡°Now and Then,¡± bridges a historical atrocity with the present-day treatment of asylum-seekers.
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.
After premiering in July 1966, the original ¡°Ultraman¡± series gained a peak viewership of nearly half of all TV-owning households in Japan.
CULTURE / Film
Jul 2, 2026
The heroism and humanity of ¡®Ultraman¡¯: Documentary looks back on 60 years
The iconic sci-fi franchise is the focus of a documentary, co-helmed by Hirokazu Kore-eda, that examines its cultural impact on generations of Japanese and international viewers.
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.
America¡¯s cyberforces grapple with cluster of deaths by suicide
The U.S. Cyber Command building (center) stands on the National Security Agency campus at Fort Meade, Maryland.
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.
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.
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.
¡®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.
¡®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.
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.
J. League enters new era as league kicks off first fall-spring campaign
Players from each J. League club pose during a kickoff event on Monday ahead of the start of the 2026-27 campaign.
Speaking Japanese at the movies with ¡®Chiikawa¡¯
A "Chiikawa The Movie" poster is seen at Toho Cinemas in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo.

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

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