Kaido published “Madonna Verde” in 2008 as a sequel to “Gene Waltz,” continuing the story around the controversial issue of surrogate pregnancy in Japan. Kuninaka plays the doctor Rie Sonezaki,… [More]

A young Afro-American man has died, leaving behind a book of poems and a mysterious word. The story develops on a grand scale that spans the distance between different parts… [More]

Takeshi Kitano plays a version of himself in which he's a struggling director cycling through a number of different genres in an effort to complete his latest project. [More]

Dvorak's Symphony No. 9, "From the New World" wafts through a hospice recreation room. Sitting at the grand piano is a young girl, Chiori, with a prodigious ability to play… [More]

Temporary teacher Takenouchi Shinobu arrives as a Oji Elementary School in Osaka at the start of the new school term. When Shinobu makes her first roll call as the form… [More]