japan

Feb 10, 2023 — We head this week to Germany before and after the war and then revisit gruesome killings in Japan and France.

This patient observer of everyday life in Japan has been enormously influential among filmmakers seeking a cinema of economy and poetry.

Kazu Watanabe is a film programmer at Japan Society in New York City.

Pico Iyer is the author of fifteen books, including The Lady and the Monk, about his first year in Japan, and twinned books, Autumn Light and A Beginner’s Guide to Japan, about his thirty-first.

Audie Bock is the author of Japanese Film Directors and Mikio Naruse: A Master of the Japanese Cinema, as well as the translator of Akira Kurosawa’s memoir, Something Like an Autobiography. She has taught Japanese cinema at colleges and universities...

Dore Ashton is an author and critic. Her books include The Delicate Thread: Teshigahara’s Life in Art; Noguchi East and West; About Rothko; A Critical Study of Philip Guston; A Fable of Modern Art; and The New York School: A...

Jul 21, 2026 — At the beginning of Cruel Story of Youth (1960), the title splashes across the screen in fiery red. Each of the three Japanese words that appear offers a key to understanding director Nagisa Oshima’s breakthrough film and the energies that...

Jul 17, 2026 — This week brings conversations with Jeffrey Wright, John Woo, and the members of three cinema collectives.

Jul 10, 2026 — We’re celebrating the Harry Dean Stanton centennial, listening to Ross McElwee and Tsai Ming-liang, and revisiting the work of Bruce Conner.

Jun 17, 2026 — Channel Calendars This month on the Criterion Channel, celebrate the hundredth birthday of the great Harry Dean Stanton, delight in the twists and thrills of our Murderous Melodramas collection, or binge the surreal cult-favorite TV series The Prisoner. There’s so...