The newsletter and podcast are online: This month I wrote about a word that was rattling around in my head earlier this year. 当日 (tōjitsu, the day it happened/will happen). I started by looking for some usage examples in Aozora … Continue reading →
Nov 25, 2025 • Subscribe
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The Sunday Runoff (決戦は日曜日, Yuichiro Sakashita, 2021)
A naive woman asked to stand for political office in her father’s place finds herself conflicted by the depth of corruption she discovers in Yuichiro Sakashita’s political satire.
One Wonderful Sunday (素晴らしき日曜日, Akira Kurosawa, 1947)
A young couple attempt to have a nice day out in Tokyo for only 35 yen but eventually discover something much more valuable in Akira Kurosawa’s surprisingly upbeat…
Tomorrow There Will Be Fine Weather (明日は日本晴れ, Hiroshi Shimizu, 1948)
A bus breaking down on a mountain pass signals a roadblock on the way to a new Japan in Hiroshi Shimizu’s lighthearted yet melancholy drama.
日本コンテンツと海外プラットフォーム
最近の作成AIコンテンツや物語性を含まない居心地の良いコンテンツ作りを見ていて憂慮するすることは色々ある。 ネットでただで享受できるコンテンツが爆発的に増えただけならいざ知らず、それらを配布するプラットフォームが一点集中し、興行的成功の落差が激しくなっている。これに加えて作成AIを用いることで一見精度の高そうに見える創作物を大量の生み出され、いわばダンピングが行われてしまい、人の手で創る創作…
Willful Murder (日本の熱い日々 謀殺・下山事件, Kei Kumai, 1981)
A dogged reporter comes to the conclusion an industrialist was murdered but cannot say by whom in Kei Kumai’s searing exploration of the occupation and the economic miracle.
日光 Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture. {Day 2/2}
The morning of my second day in Nikko, I acted very out of character.
日光 Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture. {Day 1/2}
Despite the rest of the week feeling like it had dragged on forever, I woke up at around 5 a.m. on September 19th, altogether way too early for…
Comic Update: 金曜日の天使
Original Post Was surprised that so many people liked the last comic. Well sorry guys! I’M GONNA RUN THIS SHIT INTO THE GROUND. (Don’t worry, there’s only one…
Japan Stories それぞれの日本
A beautifully written patchwork of stories of contemporary Japan each of which focuses on and mainly revolves around one person with associated minor characters who, though obviously less…
Worlds Apart (違国日記, Natsuki Seta, 2024)
A young woman discovers a different side to life after moving in with her eccentric aunt following the death of her parents in Natsuki’s Seta’s delicate yet huge…
Episode #51 – Big Man Japan (大日本人)
Author Patrick Moody makes his JOF debut to discuss Hitoshi Matsumoto’s kaiju mockumentary film, Big Man Japan.
Douolingo Doesn't Know How to Say 日光 #learnjapanese
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The Vancouver Asahi (バンクーバーの朝日, Yuya Ishii, 2014)
Second generation Japanese-Canadians stake their hopes on baseball in Yuya Ishii’s historical drama.
My Anniversaries (オレの記念日, Kim Sungwoong, 2022)
Documentarian Kim Sungwoong follows the relentlessly cheerful Shoji Sakurai who spent 29 years behind bars for a crime he didn’t commit.
Kino Hina absolutely LOSES it😱#木野日菜
Is her throat okay? cuz she surely is a pretty popular seiyuu choice at playing young (screamy) kids...
The Hunter’s Diary (猟人日記, Ko Nakahira, 1964)
A serial philanderer’s life is upended when his conquests start turning up dead in Ko Nakashira’s twisted noir.
Murakami in the Asahi Shimbun – 日記から – 1982
Year 1: Boobs, The Wind, Baseball, Lederhosen, Eels, Monkeys, and Doves Year 2: Hotel Lobby Oysters, Condoms, Spinning Around and Around, 街・町, The Town and Its Uncertain Wall, A Short Piece on the Elephant that Crushes Heineken Cans Year…
In Broad Daylight (白日之下, Lawrence Kan, 2023)
A jaded reporter rediscovers a sense of purpose while exposing abuse and neglect in privately run care homes in Lawrence Kan’s hard-hitting drama
Day Off (本日公休, Fu Tien-Yu, 2023)
The wholesome small-town values of an ageing hairdresser place her increasingly at odds with her cynical consumerist kids in Fu Tien-Yu’s poignant tale of changing times.
Ready O/R Knot (不日成婚, Anselm Chan, 2021)
A woman who wants to get married and her boyfriend who doesn’t end up engaged in an escalating battle of the sexes in Chan’s snarky marital farce
Yoko Hikasa the "legendary Old Hag" 🫶 #日笠陽子
If you've seen the thumbnail of everyone's favorite waifu Mio Akiyama from K-On, you've come to the right place. She also played Emilie from 'Genshin Impact', Rias Gremory…
My Sunshine (ぼくのお日さま, Hiroshi Okuyama, 2024)
A young man with his head in the clouds discovers a new means of expression through figure skating in Hiroshi Okuyama’s delicate drama.
Rub Out the Past (日本暗黒街, Masaharu Segawa, 1966)
A restaurateur’s attempts to shake off his violent past are frustrated by the nature of his transgressions in Masaharu Segawa’s noirish drama.
Time Still Turns the Pages (年少日記, Nick Cheuk, 2023)
A discarded suicide not confronts a dejected teacher with his own unresolved traumatic past in Nick Cheuk’s poignant drama.
Episode #54 – Night and Fog in Japan (日本の夜と霧)
In the final episode of the season, Kota of the Against Japanism podcast brings his extensive knowledge of Japanese politics and the Japanese left-wing to bear in this…
The Blossom and the Sword (日本侠花伝, Tai Kato, 1973)
A young woman defies the expectations of a patriarchal society in resisting the rising militarism of the Taisho society in Tai Kato’s historical epic.
Chigasaki Story (3泊4日、5時の鐘, Takuya Misawa, 2014)
Desire and desperation bubble to the surface at a small hotel making preparations for a wedding in Takuya Misawa’s Chigasaki Story (3泊4日、5時の鐘, 3-paku 4-ka, 5-ji no kane). Though…
A Good Man, A Good Day (好人好日, Minoru Shibuya, 1961)
The daughter of an eccentric maths professor faces an uphill battle to marry the son of a 200-year-old ink store in Minoru Shibuya’s warmhearted comedy.
Totsugu hi made / 嫁ぐ日まで (‘Until Your Wedding Day’, 1940)
Obscure Japanese Film #231 Setsuko Hara Yoshiko (Setsuko Hara) lives with her widowed father (Ko Mihashi) and younger sister Asako (Akira Kurosawa’s future wife, Yoko Yaguchi, in her film debut). She’s being courted…
![Featured image for The 12 Day Tale of the Monster that Died in 8 (8日で死んだ怪獣の12日の物語, Shunji Iwai, 2020) [Fantasia 2021]](https://cdn.aniblogtracker.com/live/20210813/1628815394.19276.44923.jpg)
The 12 Day Tale of the Monster that Died in 8 (8日で死んだ怪獣の12日の物語, Shunji Iwai, 2020) [Fantasia 2021]
Takumi Saito plays a version of himself raising “capsule kaiju” as means of combatting Covid helplessness in Iwai’s whimsical pandemic drama
Japan Organized Crime Boss (日本暴力団 組長, Kinji Fukasaku, 1969)
A recently released yakuza emerges into a changed Japan in Kinji Fukasaku’s proto-jitsuroku gangster picture.
The Sunny Side of the Street (白日青春, Lau Kok-rui, 2022)
An embittered taxi driver is forced to reflect on his prejudices and relationships after getting into a vendetta with a refugee in Lau Kok-rui’s melancholy drama.
MADE IN JAPAN 日本製造 メイド・イン・ジャパン (2019) Dir: Yusaku Matsumoto
A brutal murder leads one delinquent to milk news sites for money in this critique of how the media works. SAKKA will make Yusaku Matsumoto’s MADE IN JAPAN…
Seven Days in Heaven (父後七日, Essay Liu & Wang Yu-Lin, 2010)
A young woman embarks “the most ridiculous journey” of her life after returning home for a series of involved burial rites in Essay Liu and Wang Yu-Lin ’s…
Jeans Blues: No Future (ジーンズブルース 明日なき無頼派, Sadao Nakajima, 1974)
Nihilistic lovers on the run make a break for the sea only to find their pathway blocked in Sadao Nakajima’s anarchic love tragedy.
Nissin RAOH Shirunashi Tantanmen (日清ラ王 汁なし担々麺) Review
The last instant ramen yakisoba I reviewed was the Maruchan Seimen Cup Yakisoba . I'm reviewing the Nissin RAOH Shiranushi Tantanmen noodle ...
Seven Days War (ぼくらの七日間戦争, Hiroshi Sugawara, 1988)
Oppressed teens rebel against the constraints of the Bubble-era society in Hiroshi Sugawara’s anarchic Kadokawa teen movie.
Drifting Flowers, Flowing Days (この日々が凪いだら, Yutaka Tsunemachi, 2023)
Two young people experience a crisis of youth after discovering their apartment block is to be torn down in Yutaka Tsunemachi’s indie drama.
Koudou Ryou no Seizana Hibi, Volume 2 (黄道寮の星座な日々)
In Volume 1, a young woman is sent to the Zodiac Dormitory by her sister with the admonition to “Take care of Alice.” And so, in Koudou Ryou…
– Inu to dorei no 100-nichi sensou – (-犬と奴隷の100日戦争-)
I am on a Galette kick! I am desperately trying to clean up after a long, emotionally and physically exhausting winter and that means even metaphorical piles of…
![Featured image for Sojourn to Shangri-la 是日访古 Director: Lin Yihan [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2024]](https://cdn.aniblogtracker.com/live/20240329/1711737970.81727.120344.jpg)
Sojourn to Shangri-la 是日访古 Director: Lin Yihan [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2024]
In “Sojourn to Shangri-la” 是日访古, director Lin Yihan uses the tragicomic event of a failed fashion shoot to slip into an exploration of the transcendent and mythological and…
Koudou Ryou no Seizana Hibi, Volume 1 (黄道寮の星座な日々)
One again, this review comes with a story. I was standing in Animate in Shibuya and saw a book I had been meaning to read for a while,…
Darkness in the Light (日本の黒い夏ー冤罪, Kei Kumai, 2001)
Idealistic teen reporters have some questions to ask of mass media and the police in Kei Kumai’s true life drama.
Kyou, Koshiba Aoi ni Aetara, Volume 2 (今日、小柴葵に会えたら)
In Volume 1, we met Sahoko, who had some kind of feelings about her classmate Aoi. In Kyou, Koshiba Aoi ni Aetara, Volume 2 (今日、小柴葵に会えたら) the story gets…
From Today, It’s My Turn!! (今日から俺は!! 劇場版, Yuichi Fukuda, 2020)
Yuichi Fukuda takes the high school fighting delinquent manga to the parodic max in this sequel to the 2018 TV drama
Yuri Manga: Kyou, Koshiba Aoi ni Aetara (今日、小柴葵に会えたら)
Never let it be said that I am immune to cheap marketing ploys. Well…I am *mostly* immune to them, having worked in advertising and possessing a health dose…
Kyou, Koshiba Aoi ni Aetara, Volume 2 (今日、小柴葵に会えたら)
In Volume 1, we met Sahoko, who had some kind of feelings about her classmate Aoi. In Kyou, Koshiba Aoi ni Aetara, Volume 2 (今日、小柴葵に会えたら) the story gets…
"Can I Say 日本に行く。お土産いる？ Without けど?" #learnjapanese
Learn Japanese with Me - https://bit.ly/4drmyU2
Kyou mo Hitotsu Yane no Shita, Volume 1 (今日もひとつ屋根の下)
Starting in 2020, Yuri manga artist Inui Ayu began an autobiographical comic essay column in the pages of Monthly Comic Yuri Hime. For almost two years, she had…