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Asian cinema: Japanese films

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.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM
Joe Wong poses for a portrait after his Joe Wong: The Twin Tariff Show in Hong Kong. Photo: Alexander Mak

Joe Wong, Ronny Chieng and the rise of Asian voices in comedy

Asian comedians were once forced to resort to stereotypes to find a platform – but a wave of pioneering stars is changing that.

Reading Time:8 minutes
A picture of a young Teresa Teng in Bangkok from The Story of Teresa Teng by Billy. A former employee of the Chiang Mai hotel where she lived and died reveals what happened on the day she died in 1995. Photo: The Story of Teresa Teng by Billy

The day Teresa Teng died in Thailand – what the butler saw

Reading Time:12 minutes
A still from the video of Mirror’s “12”, which was released in 2021. Photo: handout

How Cantopop created Hong Kong’s own Christmas soundtrack

Reading Time:3 minutes
Lam Lau with his son Aidan at Lau Kee Boat Noodles in Hong Kong, which has been in business since 1981. Photo: Jocelyn Tam

How a vanishing Hong Kong boat culture has kept its cuisine afloat

Reading Time:7 minutes
GN Architects’ Seaside Pavilion, on Chaishan island, Zhejiang province, clinched the Temporary Architecture prize in the 2025 RIBA Asia Pacific Awards. Photo: courtesy GN Architects

Building on waves: a Chinese triumph in temporary architecture

Reading Time:4 minutes
Christmas decorations in Landmark in Central, Hong Kong, in 1988. Photo: SCMP Archives

In pictures: Hong Kong’s Christmas festivities, from the 1970s to 90s

Reading Time:1 minute
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Content from SCMP's Specialist Publications
A still from Kokuho. The three-hour epic is now Japan’s top-grossing live-action movie of all time and has been shortlisted for the 2026 Academy Awards’ international feature film category. Photo: courtesy of Toho Co
Sony

How mega-hit Kokuho could make Japanese live-action films global contenders

Kokuho, Japan’s record-breaking cinematic triumph, is helping to redefine global perceptions of Japanese live-action film for modern viewers.

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Asian cinema: Korean films

Review | Two Seasons, Two Strangers: a hypnotic ode to writing and travel

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Asian cinema

Hong Kong abruptly cancels 3 Japanese film screenings amid diplomatic row

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | Road to Vendetta: Jeffrey Ngai plays an assassin in his first lead role

A John Wick-inspired action thriller co-produced by Hong Kong and Japan, Road to Vendetta is a textbook case of style over substance.

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Jeffrey Ngai in a still from Road to Vendetta (category IIB; Cantonese, Japanese, English, Mandarin), directed by Njo Kui-ying. Sara Minami co-stars.
Asian cinema

Want to find solace in film? 10 movies that may offer catharsis and hope

Following last week’s tragic fire at a Tai Po estate in Hong Kong, we look at films in which humanity endures through the darkest of hours.

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China-Japan relations

Japanese concerts cancelled in China as diplomatic row takes cultural toll

Fans of Kokia and JO1 left disappointed as diplomatic dust-up over Sanae Takaichi’s comments ripples out into the economy.

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Asian cinema

Review | Kokuho: kabuki epic with Ryo Yoshizawa is the best Japanese film of the year

Kokuho is a lavish, bewitching story of two Japanese kabuki theatre actors, raised in the same family and competing to become the best.

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Ryo Yoshizawa in a still from Kokuho. Photo: Shuichi Yoshida/ASP
Asian cinema

Can’t get enough of Another World? 10 animated films set in the afterlife

If you liked Another World, you will love these 10 afterlife animations, with subjects from rabbits and dogs to a pianist and a corpse bride.

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Asian cinema

Review | Black Showman: Masaharu Fukuyama leads boring murder mystery adaptation

Fukuyama fails to conjure excitement as a magician-turned-sleuth alongside Kasumi Arimura in this screen version of Keigo Higashino’s novel.

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Asian cinema

12 of the best movies at the Hong Kong Asian Film Festival 2025

Highlights of the 22nd HKAFF include local film Another World, Japanese period epic Kokuho and South Korea’s The World of Love.

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A still from Another World, the opening film of the Hong Kong Asian Film Festival 2025. The festival runs from October 22 to November 9.
Asian cinema

Review | Dollhouse: haunted doll J-horror with Masami Nagasawa is great fun

Japanese director Shinobu Yaguchi mixes horror and riotous comedy in this film about a family tormented by a possessed doll.

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Masami Nagasawa in a still from Dollhouse (category IIB; Japanese), directed by Shinobu Yaguchi. Masami Nagasawa and Koji Seto co-star.
World of performing arts

Hit film Kokuho is reviving Japan’s centuries-old performing art of kabuki

The second highest-grossing domestic live-action film in Japan of all time, Kokuho has sparked renewed interest in the kabuki art form.

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Asian cinema

Review | Kowloon Generic Romance: Walled City-set Japanese fantasy makes zero sense

Riho Yoshioka, Koshi Mizukami and a Mandarin-speaking version of Hong Kong’s Kowloon Walled City star in this very odd production.

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Asian cinema

Review | Scarlet: Mamoru Hosoda’s Hamlet-inspired anime set to divide viewers

Fans of Japanese director Mamoru Hosoda’s earlier works are likely to appreciate this animated fable, but others may find it a bit of a trial.

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Scarlet (voiced by Mana Ashida) in a still from Scarlet, directed by Mamoru Hosoda. Masaki Okada co-stars as the voice of Hijiri.
China society

Opinion | China is not inciting anti-Japan hatred. It is simply remembering

The wartime invasion and attempts to distort history are one thing; modern Japan and its people are another. One can be condemned while the other is embraced.

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People visit the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders, in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, on July 2. Photo: Xinhua
China consumption

Surprising many, Nobody becomes China’s top 2D animated film at the box office

Based on an animated series, Shanghai Animation Film Studio’s newest movie has dethroned Japan’s most successful animated showings in China.

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Indonesia

Indonesians fly anime pirate flag in Independence Day protest

The flag from Japanese anime One Piece has become an unlikely symbol of defiance in Indonesia, prompting warnings of ‘criminal consequences’.

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Asian cinema

10 must-see movies and programmes at Hong Kong’s Summer IFF 2025

From It Was Just an Accident to Eddington, here are 10 highlights to catch at the Summer International Film Festival, from August 13 to 25.

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Koshi Mizukami (left) and Riho Yoshioka in a still from Kowloon Generic Romance.
Cinema

Japanese horror master Kiyoshi Kurosawa on making his first samurai film

The Wife of a Spy and Cloud director talks about deviating from the genre he’s known best for and the ‘contradiction’ in his work.

Asian cinema

Review | Dream Animals: The Movie – biscuit-inspired Japanese animation is great fun

This cute animated film could have simply been an advertisement for the snacks it’s based on, but instead delivers thoughtful family-friendly fun.

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Asian cinema

Review | Desert of Namibia: Yuumi Kawai superb in compelling Gen Z Japanese drama

Yuumi Kawai plays an explosive young woman in this film directed by Yoko Yamanaka that looks at independence and assertive femininity.

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Yuumi Kawai in a still from Desert of Namibia (category IIB, Japanese), directed by Yoko Yamanaka.
Hayao Miyazaki

5 best Studio Ghibli films, including My Neighbour Totoro, as it turns 40

Hayao Miyazaki co-founded Studio Ghibli in 1985. From Spirited Away to My Neighbour Totoro, we recall five of his most popular films.

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A screen grab from My Neighbour Totoro. Photo: Studio Ghibli
Hayao Miyazaki

What will happen to Studio Ghibli after founder Hayao Miyazaki retires?

The Boy and the Heron could be the last animation from veteran artist Hayao Miyazaki, known for his engaging hand-drawn works.

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American cinema

15 of the best female assassin movies as John Wick spin-off Ballerina lands

From Black Widow and Kill Bill to Red Sparrow, Hero and La Femme Nikita, these films showcase some of cinema’s most deadly femmes fatales.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

In this movie, Zatoichi and the One-Armed Swordsman fight a duel

Zatoichi and the One-Armed Swordsman sees a Hong Kong film character fight a Japanese one. Who won depended on which film version you saw.

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Jimmy Wang Yu in a still from Zatoichi and the One-Armed Swordsman (1971). Photo: Online
Video gaming

Exit 8’s director and star on turning the video game into a thrilling film

Genki Kawamura and Kazunari Ninomiya talk about the challenges they overcame – including completing the stressful cult hit game themselves.

Kazunari Ninomiya, a popular Japanese singer-songwriter, actor and member of J-pop group Arashi, in a still from Exit 8.
Asian cinema

Review | Love on Trial: Koji Fukada explores the dark side of J-pop

Kyoko Saito plays a J-pop star sued for having a boyfriend in a film that questions how young women are treated by a male-dominated industry.

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Asian cinema

Review | Unreachable: Japanese supernatural drama is too illogical to be good

Despite the efforts of its three stars Suzu Hirose, Hana Sugisaki and Kaya Kiyohara, this ghost drama is nothing more than exasperating.

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