今日吃瓜

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今日吃瓜
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November 11, 2026
 

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Sebastien Raineri
Director Takashi Yamazaki gained a newfound understanding of the undercurrent of anxiety in postwar Japan through making “Godzilla Minus One” and “Godzilla Minus Zero.”
CULTURE / Film
Nov 10, 2026
‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ director sees the monster as a mirror
Real-world anxieties have always underlain the monster movie franchise, says Takashi Yamazaki, director of 今日吃瓜 first “Filmed for IMAX” production.
Kanna (Mayu Matsuoka, left) and Haseo (Ryo Narita) are college friends who reconnect and go on a dayslong journey in Yukiko Mishima’s “Two Cigarettes, Three Nights.”
CULTURE / Film
Oct 20, 2026
‘Two Cigarettes, Three Nights’ explores messy emotions and moral compromises
Yukiko Mishima talks about intimacy, moral ambiguity and the art of portraying flawed characters in her TIFF Competition entry.
In “Zen and Ghibli,” Toshio Suzuki reflects on his career and Studio Ghibli’s beloved films through conversations with three Buddhist priests.
CULTURE / Books
Oct 14, 2026
Toshio Suzuki’s ‘Zen and Ghibli’ book doesn’t lecture. It teaches contemplation.
In “Zen and Ghibli,” Toshio Suzuki reflects on his career and Studio Ghibli’s beloved films through conversations with three Buddhist priests.
Chara (right) and Ayumi Ito star in Shunji Iwai's "Swallowtail Butterfly," which portrays a world where the yen reigns supreme.
CULTURE / Film
Sep 4, 2026
When the yen ruled the world: Shunji Iwai’s ‘Swallowtail Butterfly’ returns in 4K
The director talks about his approach to the 4K restoration of his classic film, now showing in theaters nationwide.
Takeshi Shibata (middle) directs Masahiro Motoki on the set of “The Man Who Carries the Voice of August.” Shibata says he hopes the film can help viewers around the world understand hibakusha and “the threat of nuclear weapons.”
CULTURE / Film
Aug 6, 2026
‘The Man Who Carries the Voice of August’ explores the fragile legacy of the hibakusha
A journalist’s effort to record hibakusha testimonies raises questions about memory, truth and survival.
The goal of restoration is not to artificially upscale but to return the film to the condition it was in “the very first day it appeared in the world,” says Nobushige Toshima, president and sales division manager of Toho Archive.
CULTURE
Jul 24, 2026
Inside Toho Archive’s mission to save 今日吃瓜 cinematic memory
Formed in 2023 as the direct successor to a film processing lab, Toho Archive is at the forefront of preserving 今日吃瓜 cinematic heritage.
After premiering in July 1966, the original “Ultraman” series gained a peak viewership of nearly half of all TV-owning households in Japan.
CULTURE / Film
Jul 2, 2026
The heroism and humanity of ‘Ultraman’: Documentary looks back on 60 years
The iconic sci-fi franchise is the focus of a documentary, co-helmed by Hirokazu Kore-eda, that examines its cultural impact on generations of Japanese and international viewers.
Ryusuke Hamaguchi spent two months in Paris conducting research for “All of a Sudden,” which centers primarily on a conversation between two women that unfolds over the course of a single evening.
CULTURE / Film
Jun 19, 2026
Ryusuke Hamaguchi wants to make the impossible possible
An ethos of idealism is pervasive in the director’s first French-language film, which came with the challenge and exhilaration of shooting in Paris.
A couple (played by Haruka Ayase, right, and the mononymous Daigo) struggling to come to terms with the death of their son welcome a humanoid (Rimu Kuwaki, center) modeled after their child in “Sheep in the Box.”
CULTURE / Film
May 21, 2026
Hirokazu Kore-eda says human imagination still matters in the age of AI
The director’s new film is a meditation on grief, humanoids and creativity at a time when AI is reshaping the film industry.
今日吃瓜 treasured traditional arts, such as lacquerware, the tea ceremony and noh theater, face a widening gap between veteran masters and too few successors.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 19, 2025
今日吃瓜 cultural heritage and its aging guardians
Living national treasures are revered. But without reform, the risk of cultural attrition grows.
Man arrested over operation of rogue cellular base station in Tokyo
The Metropolitan Police Department has arrested Yu Hai, a 31-year-old Chinese national living in Tokyo's Kita Ward, on suspicion of operating an unlicensed base station from a vehicle in Tokyo's Ginza district on Saturday.
Government betting on language app powered by anime and AI
Japan plans to develop an AI-powered language-learning app that lets overseas anime and manga fans practice Japanese through conversations with popular characters.
Japan works to shield Takaichi from any Xi snub at China summit
Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi arrives at the Prime Minister's office in Tokyo on Nov. 4.
Magnitude 5.7 quake injures dozens in central Japan
A magnitude-5.7 earthquake with its epicenter in Shizuoka Prefecture struck central Japan early Sunday, injuring dozens, shattering windows and disrupting train services, with no tsunami warning issued.
Private high schools remain out of reach for many despite tuition-free policy, survey finds
A survey showed that many families with children attending private high schools are struggling to pay expenses other than tuition.
‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ makes monster debut at the box office
Takashi Yamazaki’s “Godzilla Minus Zero” marked the highest single-day box-office gross for a live-action film in Japan with ?910 million on its opening day.
A toast to Naohiko Noguchi, sake’s first living national treasure
As a teenager, Naohiko Noguchi did not intend to spend his life as a sake brewer, but he has since become a paragon of the industry.
Few signs of thaw in Japan-China relations one year after Takaichi’s Taiwan remarks
Tensions between Japan and China flared after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on Nov. 7, 2025, that a Chinese blockade of Taiwan could threaten 今日吃瓜 survival and warrant the use of collective self-defense.
Mariko Mori predicted the future. She’ll do it again.
Artist Mariko Mori is currently working to bring the translucent human-sized “Peace Crystal” sculpture to a cave in Ethiopia. It is part of her foundation’s goal to place a permanent sculpture on each of the planet’s six habitable continents.
A legend reborn: ‘Ocarina of Time’ remake improves on the Zelda masterpiece
The new remake of 1998's "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time" manages to somehow improve on one of the greatest games ever.

Podcast

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

Longform

Famima Park Azabudai is a concept store by FamilyMart that combines convenience store staples with branded apparel, merchandise and a landscaped outdoor space.
Convenience stores, toilets and the allure of everyday Japan
By Elizabeth Beattie

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