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'Your Name' director Shinkai's new film to hit theaters next week

Jul 12, 2019 (Japan Today) - The highly-anticipated new film by Makoto Shinkai, director of the 2016 smash-hit animation "Kimi no Na wa" (your name), is set to open in theaters across Japan on July 19.

"Tenki no Ko" (Weathering With You) follows the story of a high school boy who moves from his home on a remote island to Tokyo, where he meets a girl with a mysterious ability to stop the rain and clear the sky simply by praying.

"I want to make it an entertainment masterpiece that is undeniably interesting and one where nobody will lose out," the 46-year-old creator said at a press event last week.

Similar to Shinkai's previous works, the film promises to be a wholesome boy-meets-girl tale mixed with supernatural elements on a grand scale, and will once again feature songs by popular Japanese rock band Radwimps, who also provided the soundtrack for "your name."

Major Japanese film company Toho Co. is set to release "Weathering With You" on 448 screens in 359 theaters across the country.

Theaters in Tokyo's Shinjuku and Osaka's Umeda will premiere the film from midnight July 18. Toho will also simultaneously screen the movie at 9 a.m. on the opening day at all 359 theaters.

Shinkai debuted with a short self-produced animation in 2002, but his first blockbuster success came when Toho signed up to produce "your name.," with the number of theaters showing the film jumping more than 10-fold as compared to his previous works.

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Typhoon No. 15 (Chan-hom) began causing significant disruption to Japan's Obon holiday travel on August 11, with ANA canceling 58 flights serving Haneda and Narita airports, JAL canceling four flights, and JR East suspending some services on the Joban Line as the storm approached eastern Japan.

Typhoon No. 15 (Chan-hom) was closing in on the Kanto region on the evening of August 11 and is expected to soon make landfall in or around Ibaraki Prefecture before crossing Honshu from east to west, an unusual path that could bring heavy rain, powerful winds and high waves across a wide stretch of Japan through August 12.

Japan's H3 Rocket No. 9 successfully placed the Michibiki No. 7 navigation satellite into its planned orbit after lifting off from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture at 4:23 a.m. on August 11, marking the country's second consecutive successful H3 launch.

The Tokaido Shinkansen operated its first overnight service ahead of the Obon holiday period, offering travelers a 15,000 yen trip from the Tokyo area to Kyoto and Shin-Osaka while allowing them to save on hotel costs and arrive earlier than the first regular morning trains.

Typhoon No. 15 is expected to approach and likely make landfall somewhere in the Kanto region on August 11, bringing strong winds and heavy rain that could disrupt conventional rail services, expressways and flights while also affecting a wider area extending into Tohoku.

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