'Demon Slayer' tops ¥10 bil at Japan box office in record 8 days
The latest film, "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba 'Infinity Castle -- Part 1: Akaza Returns'" sold more than 9.10 million tickets and earned 12.87 billion yen in box office revenue in the 10 days since its release on July 18, Aniplex Inc. said.
The film had already set a record by earning 5.52 billion yen in its first three days, eclipsing the 4.62 billion yen recorded by the previous Demon Slayer film released in 2020.
The manga, serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump from 2016 to 2020, tells the story of Tanjiro Kamado, an adolescent boy who battles human-eating demons while searching for a cure for his sister, who has turned into one.
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35 minutes ago
- Kyodo News
Japanese pro basketball team generates buzz with online manga
TOKYO - A free online comic documenting the ups and downs of a Japanese professional basketball team's 2024-25 season has proven a hit, topping 200,000 views within two days of its June 7 release. B-League first-division outfit the Kawasaki Brave Thunders have actively promoted themselves on YouTube and other social media networks, but they recently made their first foray into comics in a bid to stand out among professional sports teams. "It's so Kawasaki -- being able to do things other clubs haven't done," said Ryusei Shinoyama, the Brave Thunders' 37-year-old point guard, who has spent his entire career with the B-League club. Manga artist Nao Sasaki, a big fan of the Brave Thunders, created the 68-page comic book, seen on their official website, after watching all 60 games of their 2024-25 campaign. The Brave Thunders, based in Kawasaki near Tokyo, finished last in the eight-team Central Conference. "I got to see the team make progress one step at a time," Sasaki said. "They may not have had stellar results, but I wanted readers to get the impression that there were dramas surrounding this club. "It was really worth drawing what was going on behind the scenes." The B-League has developed a fervent fan base across the country. Former NBA swingman Yuta Watanabe finished his first season in Japan with the Chiba Jets, while former U.S. college basketball standout Keisei Tominaga has signed a contract with Levanga Hokkaido for the 2025-26 season. The comic book depicts moments from the season that Shinoyama did not even know about. "Only manga can preserve things that cannot be captured on film," he said. "The author created something really great."
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A Beginner's Guide To Watching Takeshi Kitano Films
There are two legendary Takeshis in the world: Beat and Kitano. Beat Takeshi is known primarily in Japan as a goofball variety show entertainer, while Takeshi Kitano is hailed all over Europe and the US as one of Japan's greatest auteur directors, screenwriters and actors. His works transcend genres and cultural barriers. Technically, there's a third Takeshi, this one mainly known to Western audiences as the psychopathic teacher from Battle Royale , but the point is that these are all the same person. For this article, we've prepared a guide to his filmography, in the hope of helping you discover one of the most fascinating Japanese filmmakers alive. List of Contents: Starting at the Beginning Different Genres, Familiar Beats More Than a Violent Clown Related Posts Kitano (left) with Kiyoshi Kaneko (right) as Two Beat Starting at the Beginning Takeshi Kitano first made a name for himself as an actor in the 1983 film Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence . However, his directorial debut was the 1989 Dirty Harry- inspired thriller Violent Cop. That being said, he only co-wrote it, working primarily off the work of Hisashi Nozawa. His first writer-director work was Boiling Point , a yakuza-and-baseball movie — two genres that basically don't interact on screen — released in 1990, which continues to confuse audiences but is crucial to understanding its creator. So, you should start at Boiling Point , right? No. You need go back even further, all the way to the early 1970s, when Kitano formed a manzai act with Kiyoshi Kaneko called Two Beat. That was the origin of the name Beat Takeshi by which most Japanese audiences know him. Manzai is a comedy routine performed on stage by two people, usually referred to using Western terminology as 'the straight man' and 'the funny man.' Beat Takeshi was the duo's funny man ( boke ) but he wasn't anything like, say, Lou Costello of Abbott and Costello. His manzai persona was a disturbing psychopath who joked about abusing the elderly. His deadpan, mean-spirited punchlines came out of nowhere amid a rapid-fire delivery. If you familiarize yourself with his manzai career beforehand, you'll start to notice traces of it in the vast majority of his movies. Kitano in Violent Cop (1989) Different Genres, Familiar Beats The writer-director's work can be broadly divided into three categories: gangster, poetic and experimental films, with maybe a fourth, smaller category labeled miscellaneous hiding between them because it feels wrong to pigeonhole a man like Takeshi Kitano. That being said, there does seem to be a common thread running through a lot of these vastly different movies. Their structure, how they are edited, the framing and writing, can all be seen through the prism of manzai. Violent Cop, for instance, features a series of juxtapositions of calming and explosively violent scenes. One moment, a man is eating a meal with a smile on his face when suddenly he's attacked and viciously beaten. It's a world of black-and-white where Kitano keeps providing manzai-like contrasting set-ups and violent, out-of-nowhere punchlines. His comedy roots are even more evident in Boiling Point through the movie's visual minimalism (manzai, after all, is just two guys talking on stage) and the startling dissimilarity — not unlike between the straight man and funny man — of the world of baseball and yakuza. These motifs were perfected in Kitano's 1993 masterpiece Sonatine , a subversion of the yakuza genre that's full of conflicting themes, such as gangsters having a nice day at the beach before it suddenly turns dark and uncomfortably nihilistic, but with a deadpan facade reminiscent of manzai. And if you start with his early criminal 'trilogy' ( Violent Cop, Boiling Point and Sonatine ) to see how he came to masterfully incorporate the building-blocks of Japanese comedy in many of his movies, you may as well complete the journey and watch his other gangster movies like Brother (2000) and his three Outrage films. Kitano in Boiling Point (1990) More Than a Violent Clown Another part of Kitano's manzai-esque approach to filmmaking is to introduce something funny in the least likely of places. He's been experimenting with transplanting his brand of dark humor onto the big screen for years, probably starting with the raunchy and totally bizarre sex comedy Getting Any? (1995). Kitano also loves making himself the object of ridicule, as seen most prominently in his experimental, self-parodying, surreal autobiographies: Takeshis' (2005), Glory to the Filmmaker! (2007) and Achilles and the Tortoise (2008). Those are all a great way to expand one's definition of comedy or, at least, learn what it means to a professional who's been in the business for half a century. One of the most important things that Kitano has learned over the past 50 years, though, is when to turn it off and get serious. Movies like A Scene at the Sea (1991), Kids Return (1996), Kikujiro (1999) and Dolls (2002) are all what you might describe as tender. They deal with everything from a yearning for human connection to a lyrical and heartfelt exploration of the complex feelings stemming from lost love. Some may have some humor in them, but it's always balanced with melancholy and sentimentality. These Poetic movies are also infused with a lot of self-reflection — even more than the actual autobiographies — especially Kids Return, which was filmed right after Kitano recovered from a scooter accident that almost killed him and left him partially paralyzed. Kids Return deals with two high school dropouts finding their own way in the world. One becomes a gangster, the other a boxer. It all seems to reflect Kitano's life. When he was young, all the kids in his neighborhood wanted to be one of two people: an athlete or a yakuza. It's fascinating to watch the movie and feel Kitano bare his soul in front of us. He may make jokes in Kids Return, but the humor never takes away from the heartfelt subject matter. He is a man who carries his comedy past with him wherever he goes, but knows exactly when to sprinkle it gently or leave it out completely when working on a project. Discover Tokyo, Every Week Get the city's best stories, under-the-radar spots and exclusive invites delivered straight to your inbox. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy . Related Posts A Beginner's Guide To Watching Akira Kurosawa Films Grave of the Fireflies: The First Ghibli Movie To Stream in Japan Is Also Its Angriest Japanese Horror Game Exit 8's Movie Adaptation Becomes Cannes Film Festival Hit
7 hours ago
Timeline for July 2025
Roadside land prices, which are used for calculating inheritance and gift taxes, rise 2.7% on average, increasing for the fourth consecutive year. One of the factors is the rise in demand for housing and hotels for international visitors in urban areas and resorts. 3 An earthquake of level 6 lower on the seismic intensity scale is recorded on Akusekijima in the Tokara Islands, Kagoshima Prefecture. More than 1,000 tremors with a seismic intensity of 1 or more are recorded from June 21 to July 3. On July 4, voluntary evacuations from the islands begin. The Night of Baba Yaga , translated from Ōtani Akira's Baba Yaga no yoru by Sam Bett, wins Britain's CWA International Dagger for translated crime fiction, becoming the first Japanese book to receive the award. 6 Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako arrive in Mongolia for a visit lasting until July 13. During their stay, they attend the opening ceremony of the Naadam traditional sports festival. Emperor Naruhito, Empress Masako, and Mongolian President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh on their way to watch the horse race event at the Naadam sports festival on July 12, 2025. (© Jiji) 9 The Ground Self-Defense Force begins relocation of its Osprey transport aircraft to Saga Prefecture as part of moves to strengthen defense of Japan's Nansei islands, including Okinawa. 10 The National Police Agency announces tightened rules for converting driving licenses issued abroad into Japanese documents. The test drivers must pass to receive a Japanese license will be made more difficult, with 50 questions rather than the current 10, with a requirement to answer 90% correctly. 11 Japan and China begin negotiations on the resumption of exports of Japanese beef to China, which were suspended in 2001 due to an outbreak of BSE. 12 The Air SDF Blue Impulse team performs an acrobatic display over the Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai venue on July 12 and 13. There have been more than 10 million visitors to the Expo since it opened in April. Spectators watch Blue Impulse aircraft perform in the skies over the Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai venue on July 12, 2025. (© Jiji) 14 Tsuruho Yōsuke of the Liberal Democratic Party resigns as chair of the House of Councillors Budget Committee after a comment during a campaign speech on July 8 that it was 'lucky' that there had been an earthquake in the Noto Peninsula. 15 Nissan announces that it will end vehicle production at its Oppama plant in Yokosuka, Kanagawa, at the end of fiscal 2027 and at the Shōnan plant of its subsidiary Nissan Shatai in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa, at the end of fiscal 2026. 16 A Japanese employee of Astellas Pharma, who was detained by Chinese authorities on suspicion of espionage, is sentenced to three years and six months in prison. It is announced that there are no winners for either the Akutagawa Prize or Naoki Prize. This is the sixth time for this situation to occur and the first for 27 years. Canadian convenience store giant Alimentation Couche-Tard announces the withdrawal of its takeover offer for Seven & I Holdings. 18 The Kanazawa branch of Nagoya High Court acquits Maekawa Shōji in a retrial concerning the murder of a junior high school girl in Fukui in 1986, stating that the witness testimony was not reliable. Previously, Maekawa was convicted and he was serving a prison sentence. Maekawa Shōji smiles at a press conference following the retrial in which he was found not guilty. (© Jiji) 20 The ruling coalition of the LDP and Kōmeitō wins just 47 seats in the House of Councillors election, falling short of the 50 it needs to maintain a majority. The coalition is now a minority in both lower and upper houses. Smaller parties the Democratic Party for the People and Sanseitō make notable gains. 21 Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru states his intention to continue as LDP president and prime minister, citing the need to take responsibility as the leader of the largest party to prevent political paralysis. He reiterates his intention at a meeting of LDP lawmakers on July 28, despite calls for him to step down. 22 Kansai Electric Power announces that it will restart geological surveys with the aim of building a next-generation reactor at its Mihama Nuclear Power Station in Fukui Prefecture. Tariff negotiations between Japan and the United States end in agreement. From August 1, the United States will impose 15% tariffs on Japanese imports (down from the previous announcement of 25%). Additional tariffs on automobiles and parts, which had been 25% from April, are halved; in combination with the base duty of 2.5%, they now amount to 15%. Japan promises to make a huge investment of ¥550 billion in the United States and to open up its automobile and rice markets. US President Donald Trump posts on social media about the tariff agreement with Japan. (© Jiji) 25 The Junglia Okinawa theme park opens in the north of Okinawa's main island. It stretches across 60 hectares, with extensive natural forest and 22 attractions. A dinosaur attraction at Junglia Okinawa. Photograph taken on July 22, 2025 (© Jiji) 29 Tokyo Electric Power Company announces that full-scale removal of melted nuclear fuel debris from the no. 3 reactor at its Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station will not begin until fiscal 2037 at the earliest. This may delay the completion of the plant's 2051 target for decommissioning, set together by the government and TEPCO. 30 Following an 8.7-magnitude earthquake off Kamchatka, Russia, the Japan Meteorological Agency issues tsunami warnings for the Pacific coast from Hokkaidō to the Kii Peninsula, as well as the Izu and Ogasawara Islands. The tsunamis are initially forecast to reach heights of up to 3 meters; a 1.3-meter tsunami is observed in Kuji, Iwate. There are major transport disruptions, including long suspensions of service on coastal train lines. The JMA announces that the temperature in Tanba, Hyōgo, reached 41.2° Celsius, setting a new record for the highest ever temperature measured in Japan. (Translated from Japanese. Banner photo: From left, Sanseitō leader Kamiya Sōhei, the LDP's Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru, and Democratic Party for the People leader Tamaki Yūichirō. © Jiji.)
