Top Stories
Every edition of Wochi Kochi covers a special topic, leading with the edition’s Top Story. The top stories focus on interviews with leaders in their respective fields and talks with people heading international projects, presenting the views and thinking of these outstanding individuals who are cultivating friendship and ties between Japan and the world through culture.
2024.10.25
My Life in Japan, Living and Working in Japanese (1)
Transcending Different Languages and Cultures to Deliver Real, Unfiltered Emotions
Amandine talks about the charm of Japan and the future of international exchanges
Interview with Amandine and Gentoku of ...
2024.5.24
The 50th Japan Foundation Awards
―Culture Transcending Borders― <2>
A Commemorative Talk session by Miyagi Satoshi and Miyagishima Haruka (Part1)
［Special Feature 080］Mr. Miyagi Satoshi, the General Artistic Director of The Shizuoka Performing Arts Center (SPAC), is an internationally acclaimed stage director who produces festive spaces on the stage through his unique fusing of physical movement, words, and music. This article presents the content of Mr. Miyagi's lecture on "Theater that Transcends National Boundaries."
2024.5.24
The 50th Japan Foundation Awards
―Culture Transcending Borders― <3>
A Commemorative Talk session by Miyagi Satoshi and Miyagishima Haruka (Part2)
［Special Feature 080］Mr. MiyagiI Satoshi, the General Artistic Director of The Shizuoka Performing Arts Center (SPAC), is an internationally acclaimed stage director who produces festive spaces on the stage through his unique fusing of physical movement, words, and music. This article presents the content of Mr. Miyagi's lecture on "Theater that Transcends National Boundaries."
2023.12. 7
Movie Theaters around the World <1>
Manga Artist Amashima Denki's Trip to India
Suzume in India
［Special Feature 079］In April 2023, director Shinkai Makoto's latest movie,Suzume,was released in India. Along with the release, he visited India with Amashima Denki, who is turning Suzume into a manga. Ms. Amashima drew a travelogue manga about their interactions with a number of fans and the enthusiastic atmosphere in the Indian theaters through the local premiere screenings, autograph sessions, and workshops they attended.Please enjoy her comic, along with director Shinkai's message about his trip to India.
2023.6.16
The 49th Japan Foundation Awards
―Building Bridges Across Differences― <2>
A Commemorative Talk Session by Robert Lepage and Takahagi Hiroshi
【Special Feature 078】Born in Quebec, Canada, Robert Lepage is a versatile performing artist, who also plays a role such as a director, an actor, a playwright and a film director. His unique productions that actively incorporate the latest technologies have received a high evaluation from all over the world, and he has worked in many genres other than theater, including operas, concerts, films and the circuses. Lepage also has a long history of interactions with the Japanese theater world. He continues for a long time to be a constant source of new surprises to Japanese artists and Japanese performing arts. Lepage says that he himself is also deeply influenced by Japanese traditional performing arts and his previous visit to Hiroshima. In this dialogue between Lepage and Hiroshi Takahagi, director of Setagaya Public Theatre supported by Setagaya Arts Foundation, both of whom have had a long friendship with each other for as long as 30 years, Lepage talked about his encounter with Japanese culture, an influence he had from Japanese culture, and also about his ideas about theater as a form of expression.
2023.4.24
The 49th Japan Foundation Awards
―Building Bridges Across Differences― <3>
Korean Japanese Association - Award Commemorative Lecture
April 24, 2023 【Special Feature 078】 Sp...
2022.12.27
Living Together with Japanese Language <1>
Interview with Lead Actor Fonchi and the Production Team of "ひきだすにほんご Activate Your Japanese!"
What Activates Our Communications (Part 1)
[Special Feature 077] The Japan Foundation (JF) and NHK Educational Corporation co-produced "ひきだすにほんご Activate Your Japanese!" which has been broadcast and distributed online since February 2022. The main drama segment of the program, "スアン日本へ行く！/Xuan Tackles Japan!" is a language learning program in which the main character, Xuan, who has come to Japan from Vietnam, improves her communication skills by learning strategies*1 for effective communication through her interactions with the people that she meets in her daily life and work. The story depicts Xuan and the people around her learning and growing together, and is peppered with tips for both people studying Japanese and native speakers to live together using Japanese as a communication tool. We interviewed actor Ms. Fonchi, who played the role of Xuan, Ms. Mizutani Yoko, producer of the program, and Ms. Kikuoka Yuka, Senior Lecturer at the Japan Foundation Japanese-Language Institute, Urawa, who supervised the production, about their thoughts on the program and stories from behind the scenes during production.
2022.12.27
Living Together with Japanese Language <2>
Interview with Lead Actor Fonchi and the Production Team of "ひきだすにほんご Activate Your Japanese!"
What Activates Our Communications (Part 2)
[Special Feature 077] The Japan Foundation (JF) and NHK Educational Corporation co-produced "ひきだすにほんご Activate Your Japanese!" which has been broadcast and distributed online since February 2022. The main drama segment of the program, "スアン日本へ行く！/Xuan Tackles Japan!" is a language learning program in which the main character, Xuan, who has come to Japan from Vietnam, improves her communication skills by learning strategies*1 for effective communication through her interactions with the people that she meets in her daily life and work. The story depicts Xuan and the people around her learning and growing together, and is peppered with tips for both people studying Japanese and native speakers to live together using Japanese as a communication tool. We interviewed actor Ms. Fonchi, who played the role of Xuan, Ms. Mizutani Yoko, producer of the program, and Ms. Kikuoka Yuka, Senior Lecturer at the Japan Foundation Japanese-Language Institute, Urawa, who supervised the production, about their thoughts on the program and stories from behind the scenes during production.
2022.8.12
Inner Diversity <1>
An Interview with Manga Artist and TV Personality Hoshino René
Everyone is a Minority in Some Way
[Special Feature 076] For our special feature on Inner Diversity, we speak with Hoshino René, a man who was born in Cameroon but has lived in Japan since he was three years old. Mr. Hoshino is a manga artist who draws upon his own experiences to create humorous stories depicting the cultural differences between Africa and Japan, as well as people's preconceived ideas and misunderstandings regarding different cultures. In this interview, we discuss why Mr. Hoshino does not like to use the word "diversity" in his work, and what he believes is necessary for mutual understanding between people from differing cultural backgrounds.
2022.3.31
The 48th Japan Foundation Awards―Linking the World through Culture amid the COVID-19 Pandemic<2>
Interview with Koreeda Hirokazu, film director
"What It Means to Make Films That Transcend National Borders"
[Special Feature 075] This special feature, "The 48th Japan Foundation Awards―Linking the World through Culture amid the COVID-19 Pandemic", shares interviews and statements from our Japan Foundation Award winners, including three individuals and one organization, regarding their thoughts on their activities. For this first installment, we spoke with director Koreeda Hirokazu about his thoughts on international co-productions and social consciousness in film expression. Following the French co-production La Vérité (The Truth), he is now in South Korea working on a South Korean production titled Broker.