News On Japan

Director Hayakawa Chie receives Camera d'Or Special Mention at Cannes

May 29, 2022 (NHK) - Japanese director Hayakawa Chie's film PLAN 75 has received a Special Mention by the jury for the Camera d'Or, an award for debut feature films, at the Cannes Film Festival.

The movie is set in Japan in the near future, when a government program encourages people aged 75 or older to be voluntarily euthanized as a remedy to the rapidly aging society.

The main character, an elderly woman, faces a choice of life or death and ponders the meaning of life.

The film was in the "Un Certain Regard" or "a certain glance" section, which presents works with non-traditional stories.

At the festival, South Korean actor Song Kang-ho received the Best Actor Award for his role in "Broker."

The movie by Japanese director Koreeda Hirokazu depicts the journey of a group of people brought together by a "baby box," where infants who cannot be cared for can be left anonymously.

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Japan’s World Cup campaign ended in the cruelest possible fashion on June 29, as Gabriel Martinelli scored in the fifth minute of stoppage time to give Brazil a 2-1 victory over the Samurai Blue in their knockout match in Houston. Japan had led in the first half and were still level at 1-1 in the final moments, but Martinelli’s late strike sent Brazil into the Round of 16 and eliminated Japan from the tournament.

Strong earthquakes have continued to shake parts of Japan in recent weeks, with 11 temblors measuring lower 5 or above on the Japanese seismic intensity scale recorded across the country since April 2026.

A Kintetsu Railway train derailed inside Kyoto Station on the morning of June 29, forcing partial suspensions on the Kintetsu Kyoto Line for the rest of the day and causing long delays that hit commuters, students and tourists.

A section of stone wall at Hikone Castle, one of Japan’s few surviving original Edo-period castles and a National Treasure whose main keep remains intact more than 400 years after its construction, collapsed after heavy rain caused by Typhoons No. 7 and No. 8, Hikone city officials said.

Japan advanced to the knockout stage of the World Cup after a 1-1 draw with Sweden on June 25, finishing second in Group F and setting up a Round of 32 clash with Brazil in Houston.

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