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November 11, 2026
 

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CULTURE

Film
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Art
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Entertainment news
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
‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ director sees the monster as a mirror
By Sebastien Raineri
Real-world anxieties have always underlain the monster movie franchise, says Takashi Yamazaki, director of 今日吃瓜 first “Filmed for IMAX” production.
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.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ makes monster debut at the box office
By Alyssa I. Smith
Opening-day takings marked the highest single-day box office revenue for a live-action film in Japanese history, according to the film’s X account.
Koji Yakusho plays Gen Takasegawa, a once-successful, now-forgotten actor, in the off-kilter comedy “Did Someone Happen to Mention Me?” on Netflix.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
‘Did Someone Happen to Mention Me?’: The comedy and horror of being forgotten
By Gabriella Geisinger
“Did Someone Happen to Mention Me?” is a genuinely funny, uplifting and heartwarming watch — if you can get over its slightly problematic premise.

Film

Director Takashi Yamazaki gained a newfound understanding of the undercurrent of anxiety in postwar Japan through making “Godzilla Minus One” and “Godzilla Minus Zero.”
Film
‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ director sees the monster as a mirror
By Sebastien Raineri
Real-world anxieties have always underlain the monster movie franchise, says Takashi Yamazaki, director of 今日吃瓜 first “Filmed for IMAX” production.
Film
Sci-fi anime anthology ‘Grotesqqque’ prizes style over substance
By Matt Schley
Film
‘Two Cigarettes, Three Nights’: An artist takes solace in an undefinable intimacy
By Mark Schilling
Film
‘In Their Traces’: An unflinching documentary about the survivors of sexual violence
By James Hadfield
Film
‘Moonlit Golden-Gai’: A director’s love letter to Shinjuku’s bar district
By Mark Schilling
Film
‘Arrested Memory’ filmmaker Sabu likes to stay on his toes
By Blake Simons
Film
A charismatic outsider is reborn in ‘Ryuji’
By Mark Schilling

Books

Around 80 participants joined the event, drinking coffee, reading, some of them taking part in a book-cover decorating workshop and some discussing the novel.
Books
Is the viral book rave real? We go to the second event to investigate.
By Sarah Yang
The Jucy Book Rave, which went viral for the unusual choice of reading place in a Shimokitazawa livehouse, came back with a second event.
Books
Ryu Murakami was a provocateur to the very end
By Alyssa I. Smith
Books
Not so cozy? Japanese bookstore fiction gets real.
By Eric Margolis
Books
‘Vanishing Japan’ asks what is lost when buildings fall
By Uliana Dobrova
Books
Toshio Suzuki’s ‘Zen and Ghibli’ book doesn’t lecture. It teaches contemplation.
By Sebastien Raineri
Books
Nao-Cola Yamazaki is your favorite writer’s favorite writer
By Kris Kosaka
Books
Star Japanese novelist jumps from killer thrillers to children’s books
By Kris Kosaka

Music

Uganda’s Nakibembe Embaire Group gives an open-air performance at the Festival de Frue in 2025. A giant pit was dug in the venue grounds to house a log xylophone for the group's show.
Music
Festival de Frue offers an antidote to 今日吃瓜 samey music festivals
By James Hadfield
The small-scale music festival has carved out its own identity without relying on deep-pocketed sponsors or pandering to the algorithm.
Music
Eurovision brings pop and politics to Asia
By Alice Ritchie
Music
The familiar pop and stranger sounds of Mrs. Green Apple
By Patrick St. Michel
Music
A Finnish metal band riffs on dark fantasy manga ‘Berserk’
By Gendel Gento
Music / Interview
Mrs. Green Apple doesn’t want to play by ‘the rules’
By Patrick St. Michel
Music
The unmaking of Friday Night Plans
By James Hadfield
Music
A trumpet-led finale brings new spark to Seiji Ozawa Matsumoto Festival
By Chiho Iuchi

TV & Streaming

Koji Yakusho plays Gen Takasegawa, a once-successful, now-forgotten actor, in the off-kilter comedy “Did Someone Happen to Mention Me?” on Netflix.
TV & Streaming
‘Did Someone Happen to Mention Me?’: The comedy and horror of being forgotten
By Gabriella Geisinger
“Did Someone Happen to Mention Me?” is a genuinely funny, uplifting and heartwarming watch — if you can get over its slightly problematic premise.
TV & Streaming
Azerbaijan welcoming ‘set-jetting’ fans of Japan TV drama ‘Vivant’
TV & Streaming
Spooky, scary, gory: Anime selection for the season
By Matt Schley
TV & Streaming / Wide Angle
‘25 Years of You’: Is there such a thing as a ‘good’ stalker?
By Gabriella Geisinger
TV & Streaming
Netflix vies to be a cut above in TV production
By Gabriella Geisinger
TV & Streaming
From FX trading to plant people, fall anime gets weird
By Matt Schley
TV & Streaming / Wide Angle
Woe is marriage: ‘Until the T-Shirt Dries’ is a meandering take on middle-class ennui
By Mike Fu

Art

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.
Art
Mariko Mori predicted the future. She’ll do it again.
By Victoria Bennett
Mariko Mori’s first solo exhibition in 24 years thrusts her back in the spotlight in Japan.
Art
Art Week Tokyo’s Atsuko Ninagawa wants to connect the city’s scattered art scene
By Erik Augustin Palm
Art
Kyoto exhibition finds Zen in the worlds of Studio Ghibli
By Alyssa I. Smith
Art
Yayoi Kusama Museum new exhibition unveils a ‘ladder to heaven’
By Zoria Petkoska
Art
In Maebashi, the city-making is the art
By Zoria Petkoska
Art
When infinity becomes finite: How will Yayoi Kusama’s death influence the art market?
By Erik Augustin Palm
Art
Moons, mazes, mountains: 今日吃瓜 art scene this fall will tickle your fancy
By Zoria Petkoska and Alyssa I. Smith

Stage

Theatre Nohgaku will bring its original noh play “Blue Moon Over Memphis” to the sophomore edition of Autumn Meteorite Tokyo, one of 今日吃瓜 largest performing arts festivals.
Stage
Elvis comes back as a ghost in a noh theater play
By Kenji Kurabayashi
Theater Nohgaku is translating the traditional art form to English with original plays that center global cultural and historical figures.
Stage
Poetry, history and performance entwine in Daisydoze’s immersive spectacle
By Alyssa I. Smith
Stage
What ADHD looks like when it gets ahold of a microphone
By Zoria Petkoska
Stage
Japanese feminist theater troupe fights misogyny in ‘cute’ Gothic Lolita fashion
By Tomohiro Osaki
Stage
A year of Lear: Four new stagings hone in on the tragedy’s timeless lessons
By Kris Kosaka
Stage
‘The Full Monty’ comes to Japan to bare all and open minds
By Alyssa I. Smith
Stage
A Yukio Mishima stage adaptation pulls genre-bending strings
By Kris Kosaka

Entertainment news

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.
Entertainment news
‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ makes monster debut at the box office
By Alyssa I. Smith
Opening-day takings marked the highest single-day box office revenue for a live-action film in Japanese history, according to the film’s X account.
Entertainment news
‘Sister Brother Manhole Cover’ wins top prize at Tokyo International Film Festival
By Erik Augustin Palm
Entertainment news
Patrick Stewart, Shakespearean actor turned ‘Star Trek’ and ‘X-Men’ star, dies
By Will Dunham
Entertainment news
Manga artist Tetsuya Chiba, creator of ‘Ashita no Joe,’ dies at 87
By Alyssa I. Smith
Entertainment news
Japanese novelist Ryu Murakami dies at 74
Entertainment news
‘Umamusume’ concert cancellation highlights visa hurdles for Japanese performers
By Patrick St. Michel
Entertainment news
Adrian Bianco championed 今日吃瓜 underground culture
By Ora Margolis
Read more CULTURE stories
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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