May 19, 2013
CANNES, France--A film about baby-switching by Japan's Kore-eda Hirokazu that ponders nature versus nurture premiered at the Cannes film festival on May 18, joining an Iranian challenger as contenders for the top prize.
April 18, 2013
MIYAKO, Iwate Prefecture--Once fearful that the Cinemarine might close, moviegoers are now anxiously anticipating the next summer blockbuster playing here at the coastal area's only theater, thanks to about 6.5 million yen ($66,200) in donations that poured in from across Japan.
April 16, 2013
With relations between the two countries deteriorating, a Chinese film remake of Japanese TV drama series wasn't exactly a safe bet.
March 26, 2013
Even Godzilla is no match for a robotic cat from the future, as the "Doraemon" film series surpassed the 100 million mark at the domestic box office since the first film was released some 30 years ago, according to Doraemon distributor Toho Co.
March 25, 2013
TOKUSHIMA--A picture book about how to escape an approaching tsunami has been flying off bookshelves since it was published in October, and now "Yori Takaku, Yori Hayaku" (Higher and Faster) has been adapted into an anime film.
March 19, 2013
AOMORI--Audiences in this northern city might initially have been puzzled at a documentary that was shown here recently.
March 10, 2013
An upcoming documentary explores Japan's nuclear crisis through the eyes of an artist who exposes photographic paper to polluted soil and finds it stained with radiation.
March 04, 2013
In February 2012, documentary filmmaker Kenji Aoike released a film with first-person accounts from elementary schoolchildren in Miyagi Prefecture who survived the Great East Japan Earthquake.
February 27, 2013
The unnerving clicks of dosimeters are constant as people wearing white protective gear quickly visit the radiated no-go zones of decayed farms and empty storefronts. Evacuees huddle on blankets on gymnasium floors, waiting futilely for word of compensation and relocation.
February 16, 2013
HAGI, Yamaguchi Prefecture--The Hagi Twin-Cinema is an old-style movie theater that is feeling the rush of the modern age.
February 12, 2013
YANAI, Yamaguchi Prefecture--A documentary about a Japanese photojournalist who shed light on the plight of atomic bomb victims and the oppressed during his nearly seven-decade career, has won three accolades in cinema.
February 11, 2013
Japanese films accounted for 65.7 percent of the country's box office total last year, the first time homegrown cinema has broken the 60-percent threshold since 1969, an industry association said.
February 07, 2013
A Welsh film director has brought together Shakespeare and Noh theater for the most unlikely of cultural fusions: A futuristic rock musical set on haunting Sado Island in the Sea of Japan.
February 06, 2013
"Oshin," a much-loved television series that aired 30 years ago, is to be remade for the big screen later this year, offering nostalgia and treats for fans of the original drama and perhaps a message of hope for new viewers.
January 31, 2013
MIYAKO, Iwate Prefecture--After surviving the devastating tsunami of March 2011, Cinemarine, the only movie house in the coastal area here, is faced with yet another crisis: convert to digital or lose out on new releases.
January 29, 2013
An artisan knows that patience and diligence are the keys to mastering a trade. So when documentary filmmaker David Gelb set out to create a movie about a chef at a three-star sushi restaurant, he took no shortcuts.
January 21, 2013
In a country filled with manga and TV anime programs, Studio Ghibli Inc., the Japanese Walt Disney, stands far above the rest, with its releases virtually guaranteed to draw packed theaters and huge box offices.
January 15, 2013
Critically acclaimed director and cinematographer Daisaku Kimura, 73, will give a talk on Jan. 26 at the Komae city central community center in western Tokyo.
December 27, 2012
The captain with the trademark straw hat has returned to theaters once again. In the latest pirate animation film, “One Piece Film Z,” protagonist Monkey D. Luffy faces archenemy and ex-marine, Zetto. He is a formidable foe--his right arm is equipped with a heavy weapon that looks like it could knock out a tank.
December 04, 2012
Back in the day, hand-drawn animation was how it was done. But then computer-generated imagery took over.