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Mark Schilling

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.

“Rental Family” follows a struggling American actor (Brendan Fraser) in Tokyo who takes a job at a rental family agency.

CULTURE / Film

Feb 19, 2026

‘Rental Family’: Performance becomes perilously real in Hikari's 'love letter' to Japan

Though it leans into stereotypes, Hikari’s film finds emotional resonance in Brendan Fraser’s performance as a hired father.

A serial killer (Teruyuki Kagawa) undergoes various transformations to get closer to his victims in “Sai: Disaster.”

CULTURE / Film

Feb 12, 2026

‘Sai: Disaster’: Evil has no clear shape or meaning

Directed by Yutaro Seki and Kentaro Hirase, the chilling thriller centered on a shapeshifting killer is more interested in mood than motive.

A home in Gose, Nara Prefecture, holds special meaning for its former and current inhabitants (Kiritake Kanjuro, left, and Daichi Watanabe) in “Michiyuki.”

CULTURE / Film

Feb 5, 2026

‘Michiyuki — Voices of Time’ preserves a disappearing world in black and white

With the texture of a lost era, Hiromichi Nakao’s bittersweet film resembles a docudrama about what happens to the physical world as memories and people fade.

A couple (from left: Ayaka Onishi and Katsuya Maiguma) see their dream of starting a family derailed when he is diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson’s disease and given only six months to live in "Euthanasia Special Zone."

CULTURE / Film

Jan 29, 2026

‘Euthanasia Special Zone’: Near-future drama confronts human cost of assisted dying

Based on a novel by physician and writer Kazuhiro Nagao, the film is a straightforward social drama, though its division between right and wrong is not clear-cut.

In “Black Ox,” the spiritual awakening of a lowly villager (Lee Kang-sheng) doesn’t come from sermons but from mud, labor and an unruly animal.

CULTURE / Film

Jan 22, 2026

‘Black Ox’: A Zen riddle beautifully depicted in 10 chapters

Shot in black and white, Tetsuichiro Tsuta’s hypnotic mood piece turns Buddhist philosophy into striking cinema.

A trio of teens (from left: Mizuki Yoshida, Natsuki Deguchi and Sara Minami) looking for a way out of their rural town start an illicit business selling marijuana in "All Greens."

CULTURE / Film

Jan 15, 2026

‘All Greens’: Teenage boredom sprouts a risky coming-of-age scheme

Set in rural Ibaraki Prefecture, Takashi Koyama’s drama follows three girls who see selling marijuana as their ticket out — never mind Japan’s strict drug laws.

“The Imaginary Dog and the Lying Cat” traces one family’s secrets, lies and fragile bonds over 25 years.

CULTURE / Film

Jan 8, 2026

‘The Imaginary Dog and the Lying Cat’: Truth is elusive in meandering family drama

Director Yukihiro Morigaki stretches one family’s secrets across decades, with mixed results, in this uneven but ultimately affecting drama.

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.

Go Ayano (left) plays a 43-year-old novelist whose sexual encounters can’t erase the memory of his past lost in “The Stars and Moon Are Holes in the Sky.”

CULTURE / Film

Dec 19, 2025

‘The Stars and Moon Are Holes in the Sky’: 1960s nostalgia collides with dated vision of desire

Haruhiko Arai’s drama blurs fantasy and reality in a story of sex, memory and machismo.

A film director (Hiroki Sano, right) is led on a day of spontaneous adventures by a mysterious fan (Hana Amano) in “Good Luck.”

CULTURE / Film

Dec 11, 2025

‘Good Luck’: A gently absurd road movie about filmmaker’s anxiety

Shin Adachi turns self-doubt and awkward encounters into a warm, feather-light comedy that sneaks up on the viewer.

In 2025, “Demon Slayer” and “Kokuho” broke box-office records, while films such as “Renoir,” A Pale View of the Hills” and “Two Strangers, Two Seasons” garnered acclaim on the international film festival circuit. The year’s biggest loss was the death of Tatsuya Nakadai, an highly regarded actor who had worked with nearly all of the top directors of Japanese cinema’s postwar golden age.

CULTURE / Film / 2025 IN REVIEW

Dec 4, 2025

2025 was the year Japan’s box office returned

Anime ruled the screens once again, but a kabuki drama surprised us all.

“Black Box Diaries” documents Shiori Ito’s legal case, while also showing her thoughts and feelings through journal style videos she recorded herself.

CULTURE / Film

Dec 4, 2025

‘Black Box Diaries’ is Shiori Ito’s unflinching case for the truth

After a re-edit, Shiori Ito’s Academy Award nominated documentary is finally getting released in Japan.

In Yoshinori Sato’s slow-burn youth drama “Dawn Chorus,” Mariko Tsutsui plays a campground manager whose teenage nephew comes into her life looking for his mother but finding a kindred spirit in her.

CULTURE / Film

Nov 28, 2025

Mariko Tsutsui knows the power of quiet roles

The “Dawn Chorus” actor inhabits every character through meticulous preparation.

A middle-age woman (Ko Shibasaki, far left) connects with her estranged brother’s family after his death in “Bring Him Down to a Portable Size.”

CULTURE / Film

Nov 27, 2025

‘Bring Him Down to a Portable Size’ mourns a lovable loser

In his latest film, Ryota Nakano blends comedy and loss in a story of uneasy yet tender reconciliation between family members after the death of a goodnatured rascal.

A middle school teacher (Takanori Iwata) has trouble on his hands when his students flagrantly break school rules in “Blonde.”

CULTURE / Film

Nov 19, 2025

‘Blonde’: Conformist classrooms get a satirical makeover

Yuichiro Sakashita’s comedy takes aim at Japan’s obsession with uniformity, bureaucracy and adults who fear growing up.

An elderly woman (Chieko Baisho, right) revisits memorable spots in her life with the help of a taciturn taxi driver (Takuya Kimura, left) in “Tokyo Taxi.”

CULTURE / Film

Nov 13, 2025

‘Tokyo Taxi’: A simple fare becomes a voyage through time

With heart and humor, veteran director Yoji Yamada’s 91st film may be his most moving yet.

Tatsuya Nakadai had the look of a leading man in his youth, but his large and searching eyes suggested the pain and loneliness of an old soul.

CULTURE / Film

Nov 13, 2025

Tatsuya Nakadai: A masterful leading man and postwar icon

Tatsuya Nakadai worked with nearly every major Japanese director of the postwar era, but it was his collaborations with Akira Kurosawa that cemented his legacy.

A scriptwriter imagines an encounter between a teenage boy (Mansaku Takada, left) and a young woman (Yuumi Kawai) at a beach in “Two Seasons, Two Strangers.”

CULTURE / Film

Nov 6, 2025

‘Two Seasons, Two Strangers’ captures the subtle sadness of Yoshiharu Tsuge’s manga

Director Sho Miyake transforms two of the cult manga artist’s stories into a poetic film that’s hard to forget.

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

As Japan accelerates AI adoption, policymakers and corporations frame the technology as essential to offsetting a projected labor shortfall of 11 million workers by 2040.

Japan is betting big on AI. Few workers have used it.

By Eric Margolis

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