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Asian cinema: Japanese films

From Akira Kurosawa to Yasujiro Ozu, from Takeshi Kitano to Hirokazu Koreeda, from samurai to yakuza to the Japanese New Wave, and from anime to J-horror to pink films, this is the place to go for reviews, interviews and features about movies both classic and new from Japan.

last updated:

9 September, 2024

HIGHLIGHTS FROM

Jesse Hao Lap-hang (left) and Charis Mok Shu-wai from Zou Mat. Photo: Jocelyn Tam

The artisans behind Hong Kong’s woodworking revival

A new generation of Hong Kong joiners are riding high on a handmade carpentry renaissance, using everything from local trimmings to imported timber to elevate their craft.

Reading Time:9 minutes

Plaques that form part of the Benin Bronzes, which were taken from Africa by British troops in 1897, on display at The British Museum in London. Photo: Getty Images

Should museums return antiquities to their countries of origin? Some say no

Reading Time:11 minutes

A new crop of farmers are taking a more holistic approach to farming in Hong Kong. Photo: Jocelyn Tam

This week in PostMag: from Hong Kong farms to Vienna’s Strauss

Reading Time:2 minutes

An artist’s impression of an inflatable fountain that resembles a school of koi in Tsuen Wan Park in Hong Kong. Image: Design District Hong Kong

Artistic attractions with designs on tourism make districts worth a look

Reading Time:2 minutes

Tattoo artist Mr. Koo moved from Toronto to Hong Kong this year with a backpack – and is slowly rebuilding himself through art with a mental health focus. Photo: Jocelyn Tam

Tattoo artist Mr Koo talks mental health and finding solace in art

Reading Time:4 minutes

The 12 best Asian films of 2024, including The Last Dance

From a Thai tear-jerker to a Korean cross-dressing romcom and a hand-drawn Japanese anime, our pick of the best Asian films of the past year.

19 Dec 2024 - 7:15AMvideocam

Japan

Love Letter actress Miho Nakayama’s death ruled an accident

10 Dec 2024 - 11:50AM

Asian cinema: Japanese films

The artisans behind Hong Kong’s woodworking revival

A new generation of Hong Kong joiners are riding high on a handmade carpentry renaissance, using everything from local trimmings to imported timber to elevate their craft.

Should museums return antiquities to their countries of origin? Some say no

This week in PostMag: from Hong Kong farms to Vienna’s Strauss

Artistic attractions with designs on tourism make districts worth a look

Tattoo artist Mr Koo talks mental health and finding solace in art

The 12 best Asian films of 2024, including The Last Dance

From a Thai tear-jerker to a Korean cross-dressing romcom and a hand-drawn Japanese anime, our pick of the best Asian films of the past year.

Love Letter actress Miho Nakayama’s death ruled an accident

Review | Anime The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is an exciting prequel

Love Letter actress Miho Nakayama found dead in bathtub

Japanese actress best known for 1995’s Love Letter, who also had a stellar career as a singer, found dead at home, having cancelled a show.

Hiroyuki Sanada on how he gave Shogun a real Japanese perspective

Sanada, who has appeared in Japanese films and US blockbusters, talks about making the cultural references in TV series Shogun authentic.

Beyond Goodbye’s stars open up on Netflix’s new Japanese series

Kasumi Arimura and Kentaro Sakaguchi talk coffee, playing the piano and which of their body parts they would like to live on in someone else.

10 of the best movies at the Hong Kong Asian Film Festival 2024

This year’s programme includes a drama ripped from Hong Kong headlines, a social satire in a near-future Japan and a modern romantic drama.

New wave, old soak: how Japan’s retro sento bathhouses create community

Wim Wenders’ latest film, Perfect Days, shows its protagonist relaxing at a sento bathhouse – one that exists in real life. A look inside Denkiyu, in east Tokyo

2024 or 1984? Films from Singapore and Japan tackle surveillance

Stranger Eyes, Happyend and 2073 take a worrying look at surveillance in Singapore, Japan and a Chairperson Trump-led future, respectively.

Review | Broken Rage: Takeshi Kitano’s deliciously meta yakuza comedy

Takeshi Kitano blissfully does his own thing as an ageing hitman in short-and-sweet yakuza comedy Broken Rage.

On the Menu | Ever thought ‘I want to eat that dish’ while watching a film? Now you can

Picture this: while watching a cult Japanese food film, you get a craving for the dishes you see displayed on screen. At Savour Cinema in Hong Kong, you get served exactly that.

Review | Cloud: Kiyoshi Kurosawa thriller takes aim at online reselling

The lead character’s get-rich-quick schemes rebound on him, and when a mob turns up the guns come out. Well enough acted and with atmospheric settings, Cloud is somehow less than the sum of its parts.

5 movies or shows to watch in Hong Kong this weekend, August 31-September 1

This weekend watch Nicolas Cage as a serial killer or see a princess K-drama, a new Hong Kong gangster film, or an absurdist Greek triptych.

Review | Look Back is a nostalgic Japanese film about manga and friendship

Fujino (voiced by Yuumi Kawai) is a schoolgirl who has built a fan base for her comic strip and who becomes jealous of another girl (Mizuki Yoshida) who is also a popular artist. Then they team up.

Video | ‘For people like us’: Japan anime studio hires autistic artists

Shake Hands aims to help people with autism, who usually struggle to cope in Japan’s stressful work environment.

5 movies or shows to watch this weekend August 3-4 in Hong Kong

The weekend’s viewing highlights include recent Godzilla and Planet of the Apes films, a ‘reverse heist’ caper, and from Korea, a historical hijack story and a mystery manhunt thriller.

11 must-sees at Summer International Film Festival 2024 in Hong Kong

The original Godzilla and King Kong films, a documentary presented by fanboy Martin Scorsese about two of Britain’s greatest filmmakers, a portrait of Hayao Miyazaki – Hong Kong film fans are in for some treats.

Review | Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction Part 2 – chaotic finish

The end of humanity and an alien invasion vie for attention with the escapades of a group of young women in part two of a story that stumbles in its efforts to fully realise the potential promised in part one.

Are AI-generated films the future? Festival launches competition for them

The first competition in Korea for AI-generated films has been launched by the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, where experts debated AI’s impact on content creation and the film industry.

Review | Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction Part 1: great sci-fi soap opera

Japanese anime Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction Part 1 mixes the dramas of a group of teenagers and an alien invasion of Tokyo to great effect, leaving us eagerly awaiting Part 2.

Seven Samurai at 70: why Akira Kurosawa’s 1954 film still moves audiences

Japanese director’s 1954 epic has influenced American filmmakers from Scorsese to Coppola and is considered among the greatest movies ever made. What is it that makes the film so special?

Jojo Rabbit to Her, French-American entrepreneur Camille Glass’ top 5 films

Camille Glass, co-founder of wine bars Brut and Crushed in Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong, shares her top five films, from a Hayao Miyazaki classic to a comedy about Nazi Germany.

Review | All the Long Nights: meditative return by Small, Slow But Steady director

Sho Miyake’s understated, refreshingly cliché-free drama tracks the lives of two people with different disorders who bond and grow more empathetic towards each other.

Review | The Imaginary: Japanese animated fantasy lacks imagination

Netflix anime The Imaginary follows an imaginary friend (voiced by Kokoro Terada) trying to get back to his human companion Amanda (Rio Suzuki) in a story that is heavily inspired by the films of Studio Ghibli.

Review | Ultraman: Rising – English-language reimagining of superhero is great fun

A baseball star who returns to Japan and inherits the superman role adopts a baby monster in Ultraman fan Shannon Tindle’s playful debut feature film.

Review | 52-Hertz Whales: a tough yet immersive character drama

Hana Sugisaki and Tori Kuwana star in Izuru Narushima’s 52-Hertz Whales, a tough, immersive character drama that sees an abused woman try to save a boy from a similar fate.

Review | The Floor Plan: Japanese mystery is dread-inducing – until it isn’t

Horror film based on a viral YouTube video stars Shotaro Mamiya as a YouTuber who reports on the occult, and who investigates a mysterious house with an architect (Jiro Sato). The ending disappoints.

Review | Okiku and the World: no stinker here despite poop-filled storyline

Junji Sakamoto’s simple tale of the courtship between a manure salesman and the daughter of a disgraced samurai is a charming watch.