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June 30, 2026
 

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Mark Schilling
Hayato Kohsaka (right) plays a violent teenager whose potential for redemption is the core inquiry in Keisuke Yoshida’s “Unchained.”
CULTURE / Film
Jun 26, 2026
‘Unchained’ presents a grim portrait of a budding psychopath
Keisuke Yoshida’s gritty drama concerns the misdeeds of a violent teenager and an ex-con’s efforts to rehabilitate him.
Budding artists Madoka (Mariko Ito, left) and Kazuma (Kai Inowaki) find themselves tangled up in a multiverse while at the movies in “You Are the Film.”
CULTURE / Film
Jun 19, 2026
‘You Are the Film’ offers a multiverse on a microbudget
Set in a real-life corner of Tokyo’s Shimokitazawa neighborhood, Makoto Ueda’s debut feature takes a refreshingly analog approach to a familiar concept.
Before Meiko Kaji’s hyperviolent action movies in the 1970s attracted a cult following, she made great efforts to learn the ropes of the entertainment industry.
CULTURE / Film
Jun 12, 2026
Meiko Kaji studied hard to smolder on screen
The star of “Lady Snowblood” and other 1970s action films looks back on the serendipities that shaped her early career — and her dogged determination to hone her craft.
Virginie Efira (left) and Tao Okamoto play two women in crisis drawn together by happenstance in Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “All of a Sudden.”
CULTURE / Film
Jun 11, 2026
‘All of a Sudden’: A tender triumph from Ryusuke Hamaguchi
The director’s award-winning film is a poignant study of the human condition built around the chemistry of its two leads, Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto.
Yuki Katayama shines as the titular character in “Fujiko,” written and directed by Taichi Kimura and loosely based on his mother’s experiences in 1970s and ’80s Japan.
CULTURE / Film
Jun 6, 2026
‘Fujiko’ is a stirring portrayal of a scrappy single mom
Yuki Katayama shines as the titular character in “Fujiko,” a film about a woman’s quest for autonomy in the 1970s and ‘80s.
“Fujiko” stars Yuki Katayama (left) as a scrappy single mother who fights for her autonomy in 1970s and ’80s Japan.
CULTURE / Film
Jun 5, 2026
‘Fujiko’ transforms a mother’s resilience into festival gold
Fresh off a major festival win and new international distribution deals, Taichi Kimura reflects on the deeply personal project that honors his mother’s perseverance.
Koshi Mizukami (right) plays a rookie police detective who teams up with a South Korean counterpart (Jung Yunho) to tackle an international crime syndicate in the Kabukicho red-light district.
CULTURE / Film
May 29, 2026
Crime and comic antics abound in ‘Tokyo Burst: The Roundup’
Set in the same universe as a hit South Korean series, “Tokyo Burst: The Roundup” mashes up a cartoonish aesthetic with gripping violence.
A killer (Jiro Sato, center) cursed with the ability to make objects held in his right hand invisible terrorizes strangers in "Nameless."
CULTURE / Film
May 28, 2026
‘Nameless’: Cursed killer goes wild in uneven thriller
Director Hideo Jojo borrows from horror classics while pitting Jiro Sato’s unhinged killer against a dogged veteran cop.
Shota Sometani plays a physician with an unsettling approach to elder care in “The A-Care: Disusebody.”
CULTURE / Film
May 15, 2026
Japan’s aging anxieties fuel the disturbing logic of ‘The A-Care: Disusebody’
Amputation as eldercare makes for an unnerving premise, but Koki Yoshida’s bleak drama is most effective in its quiet plausibility.
Tadanobu Asano delivers a career-defining performance as the unhinged Masao Kakihara in “Ichi the Killer.”
CULTURE / Film
May 11, 2026
4K restoration sharpens the madness of ‘Ichi the Killer’
Part gorefest, part dark comedy, Takashi Miike’s cult shocker remains one of the director’s most unforgettable films.
In “Kyoto Hippocrates,” Kuranosuke Sasaki plays a country doctor practicing Western medicine in the late Edo Period (1603-1868).
CULTURE / Film
May 8, 2026
‘Kyoto Hippocrates’: A genial look at medicine’s early days in Japan
Akira Ogata’s warmhearted drama mixes medical history, culture clash and gentle humor into an enlightening look at modern medicine’s beginnings.
Akio Fujimoto’s film follows two siblings (Muhammad Shofik Rias Uddin, left, and Shomira Rias Uddin) who maintain a sense of play through a perilous journey.
CULTURE / Film
Apr 27, 2026
‘Lost Land’: A Rohingya odyssey viewed with startling immediacy
Shot with nonprofessional Rohingya actors, Akio Fujimoto’s film follows two siblings through a perilous journey, where survival depends as much on strangers as on luck.
A mild-mannered trading company employee (Issei Takahashi) finds out that he is married to a complete stranger in “Rhapsody, Rhapsody.”
CULTURE / Film
Apr 17, 2026
‘Rhapsody, Rhapsody’ falters between rom-com whimsy and psychodrama
Director Go Riju sets up a mismatched pair, but the film’s tonal swings make their uneasy connection hard to fully invest in.
Decades after the death of her teenage crush, a woman (Haruka Ayase) decides to pour her unresolved feelings into a written message in “One Last Love Letter.”
CULTURE / Film
Apr 10, 2026
‘One Last Love Letter’: A wistful throwback to romance in the age of texts
Yuya Ishii’s drama leans into familiar tropes but delivers a tender reminder of the power of words left unsaid for too long.
A housewife (Rena Tanaka) turns to a life of crime and adrenaline in “How to Steal the Gold.”
CULTURE / Film
Apr 3, 2026
‘How to Steal the Gold’ spins real crime into playful heist fun
A seemingly ordinary life unravels in surprising ways in Takayuki Kayano’s character-driven crime comedy.
A high school senior (Soma Santoki, left) who was once an avid basketball player is forced to give up his passion to look after his ailing mother (Miho Kanno) in “90 Meters.”
CULTURE / Film
Mar 30, 2026
‘90 Meters’ tempers the strain of caregiving with reassuring glow
Shun Nakagawa’s semi-autobiographical drama depicts the toll of caregiving on a teenage boy, offering a compassionate portrait that smooths some of life’s rougher edges.
Kabukicho is a dangerous world for the kids who drift there looking for a place to belong in Ren Akiba’s “Tokyo Strayers.”
CULTURE / Film
Mar 19, 2026
Kabukicho’s streets turn perilous in ‘Tokyo Strayers’
Kabukicho may be packed with tourists today, but Ren Akiba’s film shows how the streets can still be unforgiving for runaway teens.
A successful illustrator (Issey Ogata) mourns his late wife (Rie Miyazawa) after her sudden passing in “Tony Takitani.”
CULTURE / Film
Mar 12, 2026
‘Tony Takitani’: Haunting Murakami adaptation rendered beautifully in new 4K restoration
Few Haruki Murakami screen adaptations capture the author’s melancholy as beautifully as Jun Ichikawa’s 2004 “Tony Takitani.”
The documentary “Johatsu: Into Thin Air” follows "night mover" companies that help their clients escape difficult situations and start new lives.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 6, 2026
‘Johatsu: Into Thin Air’: The quiet desperation of those who disappear
An estimated 80,000 people “evaporate” in Japan each year. Arata Mori and Andreas Hartmann’s haunting documentary follows the “night movers” who help their clients disappear.
The biopic “Kaneko Fumiko” focuses on poet and activist Fumiko Kaneko (played by Nahana) during the 121 days between her sentencing for an alleged bomb plot against the Japanese imperial family and her death.
CULTURE / Film
Feb 27, 2026
‘Kaneko Fumiko’: Firebrand behind bars shows unyielding resolve
Actor Nahana delivers a passionate performance as the poet and activist who lived a life against authority without regret.
Uruguay federation reportedly cancels charter flight after World Cup exit
Uruguay's Jose Maria Gimenez reacts after the team's loss against Spain at the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Friday.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
India’s gig workers pay the price for exposure to New Delhi’s hazardous air
Rohit Kushwaha waits for a customer as he delivers his last parcel of the day, in New Delhi in January. His work as a delivery driver has helped pay the family’s bills, but has had a significant impact on his health.
Chinese and Russian bombers and fighter jets stage joint patrol near Japan
A Chinese Air Force H-6 bomber is seen during a joint patrol with Russian military aircraft on Saturday.
U.S. missile moves in Japan send China clear message: A new era has arrived
Soldiers conduct the first Typhon midrange capability live-fire exercise outside of the continental United States, firing an SM-6 missile in July last year in Australia's Northern Territory during Exercise Talisman Sabre.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
A French ship with close ties to Japan combines arts and sciences on the high seas
Romain Troublé, the executive director of Tara Ocean Foundation, speaks to visitors aboard the Tara during a rare port call in Tokyo in April.
LGBTQ+ families are building lives Japanese lawmakers still struggle to see
Haru Ono founded Nijiiro Kazoku in 2010 after forming a same-sex stepfamily. She said the impetus for founding the organization was that she couldn’t find much reliable information out there for families such as hers in Japan.
In Kyushu’s far south, Senti.U sparks a culinary destination
Chef Yasuhiko Uchida was born in Saga Prefecture but has made his home in Kanoya, Kagoshima Prefecture, since 2012.
‘The colors speak for themselves’: How Japan’s chroma bible went global
“A Dictionary of Color Combinations” is meant to function as a quick-reference guide for artists, designers and anyone with a passing interest in aesthetics as a quantifiable pursuit.

Podcast

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

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
By Alex K.T. Martin

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