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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
The Tower of Heavenly Success with the Tan River in the background, in Majianglong, Taishan. Photo: Graeme Kennedy

The Chinese city where waffles, watchtowers and world history meet

Guangdong’s ‘hometown of overseas Chinese’ is where architecture and cuisine created by returning émigrés reveal how culture flows both ways.

Reading Time:8 minutes
Chinese writer Hu Anyan pictured in People’s Park, Chengdu, China. Photo: Eric Mast

He thought his life was a failure. Then he wrote it down.

Reading Time:5 minutes
Living area of the flat in Tsim Sha Tsui designed by GAAN. Photo: Eugene Chan

This Hong Kong home sleeps six – and still feels serene

Reading Time:3 minutes
Baking Social’s Christmas Cookie Social event featured treats in all shapes and sizes. Photo: Leo Thom

How did cookies kickstart a community social movement for one lost Hongkonger?

Reading Time:3 minutes
The humphead wrasse, also known as Napoleon wrasse, one of the world’s most endangered coral reef fish. Photo: Alamy

US$600 endangered coral reef fish on menu at Hong Kong hotels

Reading Time:9 minutes
A girl spins a “wheel of fortune” outside the Che Kung Temple, in Sha Tin, on the third day of the Lunar New Year in 1986. Photo: SCMP Archives

In pictures: Hong Kong’s Lunar New Year obsession with good fortune

Reading Time:1 minute
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Content from SCMP's Specialist Publications
Pokemon fans take part in the Pokemon Go City Safari event in Hong Kong in December 2024, a two-day event that saw players able to “catch” the virtual creatures at the city’s landmarks. Photo: Dickson Lee
Pokemon

How Pokemon took over the world as the beloved franchise turns 30

On Pokemon Day 2026, we look at the history of the global multimedia phenomenon and how it captured the hearts of children and adults alike.

Asian cinema

Review | A New Dawn: climate crisis meets fireworks in confusing Japanese anime

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Tourism

Ponyo exhibition invites visitors into Hayao ⁠Miyazaki’s ocean world

Asian cinema

What is it like to win the lottery? These 10 Asian movies have the answers

Winning the lottery can change your life forever, for good or bad. These 10 films from across Asia explore luck, wealth and greed.

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Bill Tung and Lydia Sum (first and second from right) play the heads of a materialistic Hong Kong family in the Lunar New Year comedy It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad World (1987). Photo: D & B Films Co
Asian cinema

Review | Tokyo Taxi: Takuya Kimura and Chieko Baisho lead moving Yoji Yamada drama

Tokyo Taxi is an utterly captivating ride that sees an elderly woman bond with her taxi driver while reminiscing about her eventful life.

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Asian cinema

Review | All You Need Is Kill: Japanese novel behind Edge of Tomorrow gets animated

A young recruit is stuck in a time loop amid an alien invasion in All You Need Is Kill, an animated sci-fi thriller based on a light novel.

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Asian cinema

Loved Back to the Past? 10 Asian time travel gems you may also enjoy

After the success of Louis Koo’s Back to the Past, here are 10 other Asian time-travelling movies that are well worth checking out.

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Louis Koo in a still from Back to the Past. In celebration of the film’s success, here are 10 more of the best examples of big-screen time-travel escapism from across Asia.
Asian cinema

The 12 best Asian films of 2025: Ne Zha 2, Kokuho and more

Our pick of the best Asian films of the past year includes a record-breaking animation and a movie that is nothing short of breathtaking.

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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

Starring Shim Eun-kyung and Yuumi Kawai, Japanese drama Two Seasons, Two Strangers is both fascinating and beautiful.

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Yuumi Kawai in a still from Two Seasons, Two Strangers
Asian cinema

Hong Kong abruptly cancels 3 Japanese film screenings amid diplomatic row

The Leisure and Cultural Services Department has dropped Kamome Diner, Tampopo and An from its upcoming film programme.

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A still from Tampopo (1985). The film is among three Japanese films that have had their screenings in the Leisure and Cultural Services Department’s “Food for Thought - A Cinematic Feast” programme cancelled amid a diplomatic spat between Beijing and Tokyo. Photo: SCMP
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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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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Japanese culture, from pop music to anime, has a big fan base in China. Photo: AFP
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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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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Koshi Mizukami (left) and Riho Yoshioka in a still from Kowloon Generic Romance (category: IIA, Japanese, Mandarin), directed by Chihiro Ikeda.
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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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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A man in Indonesia holds a One Piece flag with an active volcano in the background. Photo: Facebook
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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