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April 01, 2026
 

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CULTURE

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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
‘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.
CULTURE / Film
‘Chimney Town: Frozen in Time’: A visually rich sequel with a thematic wobble
The "Poupelle of Chimney Town" team is back with a more expansive sequel that trades industrial gloom for Ghibli-esque beauty.
CULTURE / Film
‘Street Kingdom’ makes a cinematic return to the raw days of Tokyo punk
Tomorowo Taguchi lived the early Tokyo Rockers scene — now he channels it into his music biopic capturing the spirit of a movement that burned bright and fast.
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’
By Mark Schilling
Kabukicho may be packed with tourists today, but Ren Akiba's film shows how the streets can still be unforgiving for runaway teens.
Enamored with Western-style painting, Fujiko’s (voiced by Ami Toma) dream of becoming an artist leads her to Paris in “Samurai Ballerina: L’etoile de Paris en fleur.”
CULTURE / Film
Mar 19, 2026
‘Samurai Ballerina’ pirouettes through Belle Epoque Paris with uneven grace
By Matt Schley
Known for franchise hits and sci-fi anime, Goro Taniguchi takes a very different turn, sending two young artists from Japan to chase their dreams in early 20th-century Paris.
Directed by Michael Arias at Studio 4°C, “Tekkonkinkreet” will be screened in Japanese cinemas for two weeks to celebrate its 20th anniversary.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 13, 2026
Anime revival screenings are having a moment
By Matt Schley
With anime fans flocking to theaters to revisit classics like “Tekkonkinkreet,” “Jin-roh” and “Macross Plus,” nostalgia is proving good business.
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
By Mark Schilling
Few Haruki Murakami screen adaptations capture the author’s melancholy as beautifully as Jun Ichikawa’s 2004 “Tony Takitani.”
Former hit man Daiya (Daisuke Sakuma, center) comes out of retirement to join an all-assassin dance group in Eiji Uchida’s “The Specials.”
CULTURE / Film
Mar 12, 2026
‘The Specials’: Dancing assassins stumble in clumsy caper
By James Hadfield
With gunfights, dance routines and nostalgic pop hits, Eiji Uchida’s film has a fun concept but struggles to make it work.
Koto Kawaguchi, a Deaflympics medalist who works in auto parts logistics in Aichi Prefecture, recently made his acting debut in the Hollywood film “Marty Supreme.”
CULTURE / Film / Longform
Mar 12, 2026
The unlikely Hollywood story of Deaflympics champion Koto Kawaguchi
By Mai Yoshikawa
The table tennis medalist discusses his unlikely turn in the Oscar-nominated 'Marty Supreme' and returning to life in Aichi Prefecture.
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
By Mark Schilling
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.

Former mayor of Ito indicted after allegedly falsifying academic record
Maki Takubo, former mayor of Ito in Shizuoka Prefecture, was indicted without arrest on Monday by public prosecutors on suspicion of violations including contravening the local autonomy law through alleged academic fraud.
ADHD medication in short supply in Japan as demand soars
Concerta, an ADHD drug marketed by Janssen Pharmaceutical, is in short supply in Japan as demand has climbed recently.
JMA warns of potential tremors throughout the week after magnitude 5.0 quake
A magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck Tochigi and Ibaraki prefectures on Wednesday morning.
Japan’s 'counterstrike capability' takes shape with missile deployments
Kumamoto Gov. Takashi Kimura (left) and city of Kumamoto Mayor Kazufumi Onishi (second from left) speak to reporters after viewing upgraded Type-12 surface-to-ship missile systems (seen in the background), which have a range of about 1,000 kilometers, at the Ground Self-Defense Force’s Camp Kengun in the city of Kumamoto on March 17.
Yemen's Houthis enter Iran war with attacks on Israel, as U.S. Marines arrive in region
Young Houthi supporters hold weapons during a rally in solidarity with Tehran and Beirut, amid the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa on Friday.
Japan’s 'counterstrike capability' takes shape with missile deployments
Kumamoto Gov. Takashi Kimura (left) and city of Kumamoto Mayor Kazufumi Onishi (second from left) speak to reporters after viewing upgraded Type-12 surface-to-ship missile systems (seen in the background), which have a range of about 1,000 kilometers, at the Ground Self-Defense Force’s Camp Kengun in the city of Kumamoto on March 17.
ADHD medication in short supply in Japan as demand soars
Concerta, an ADHD drug marketed by Janssen Pharmaceutical, is in short supply in Japan as demand has climbed recently.
What happens when Japan curates its aesthetic for the world?
The Sui Collection, a Cabinet Office-backed showcase of traditional Japanese artisanship, is visually stunning, but what is lost in translation when the state is a partner in cultural communication?
With the end of 3G, Japan's beloved flip phones go dark
Japan was the first country in the world to adopt 3G, but this month, it cuts off access to the obsolete wireless network for good.
Japan to tighten requirements for naturalization starting April 1
Justice Minister Hiroshi Hiraguchi speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Friday.

Podcast

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

Longform

Amy Yee poses for a photo in Lalibela, Ethiopia. An award-winning journalist and former foreign correspondent for the Financial Times, Yee shifted her focus to the issue of Tibetans in exile for her book, “Far From the Rooftop of the World: Travels Among Tibetan Refugees on Four Continents.”
The voices of Tibet, far from home
By Michael Judge

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