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Japan

2001-2010

Hayao Miyazaki's animated feature Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (Spirited Away) is released.   It tells the story of a young girl trapped in an abandoned amusement park that is a resort for spirits, who must find a way to escape before she forgets her name.  [MORE] [ADD] 

Hideo Nakata's slow, atmospheric horror film, Honogurai mizu no soki kara (Dark Water), is released.   Hitomi Kuroki stars as the single mum of a five-year-old girl (Rio Kanno) who moves into a rundown flat with an ominous damp patch on the ceiling.  [MORE] [ADD]

Takashi Shimizu's Ju-on (The Grudge) is released.   Based on a two-part TV movie, it tells the eerie tale of the horrific fate that befalls anyone who lives in a house in which a family was murdered.  [MORE] [ADD]   

Oshii’s Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, a sequel to the cult 1995 animé hit, is released. [MORE] [ADD]

Domestic box office revenue rises to $2.03 billion, up 3.8 percent from 2003.   Revenue from domestic movies rose to 37.5 percent while revenue from Hollywood films declined 3.1 percent. Ticket sales were up 4.8 percent to 170 million. [MORE] [ADD]

Three Extremes, a compilation of three horror tales by directors from Hong Kong (Fruit Chan), Korea (Chan-woo Park) and Japan (Takashi Miike) is released.    [MORE] [ADD]

NTT Communications Corp adds seven different smells to parts of The New World when it opens in Tokyo, to be emitted under cinema seats.   A $620 home version that can be synchronised with DVDs is also planned.  [MORE] [ADD]

Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2 opens with a record-breaking $3.46 million, beating the previous record-holder by $400,000.   The movie also beat opening day records in Korea, Hong Kong, Thailand, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines.  [MORE] [ADD]

Eran Kolirin's Bikur Ha-Tizmoret (The Band's Visit), about a group of Egyptian police stranded in Israel, wins the Tokyo Sakura Grand Prix at the 29th Tokyo Film Festival.  [MORE] [ADD]

10/1 -

Masayuki Suo’s courtroom drama I Just Didn’t Do It is awarded the best Japanese Picture of 2007 award by Kinema Jumpo, the country’s oldest film magazine. [MORE] [ADD]

29/1 -

Davis Guggenheim’s An Inconvenient Truth sets a new record for a single theatre release with an anticipated box office of 90 million yen by the end of January. [MORE] [ADD]

13/2 -

Celebrated director Kon Ichikawa dies of pneumonia at the age of 92.   His last film in a career that spanned more than 70 years, was released in 2006. [MORE] [ADD]

18/3 -

Wald9 Cinema in Tokyo’s Shinjuku district cancels the screening of Ying Li’s controversial documentary Yasukuni after ultranationalists threaten the director.   The film takes a look at the Yasukuni shrine honouring the Japanese war dead, including Class A war criminals. [MORE]

19/3 -

Around 250 pieces of original Disney animation art found lying in a caretaker’s closet at Chiba University are returned to the Walt Disney Co. in return for high-resolution copies and a donation of $1 million to be used by the university to further studies in animation art. [MORE] [ADD]

31/3 -

The four cinemas scheduled to show Li Ying’s controversial documentary film Yasukuni, about a war shrine that honours war dead including Class A war criminals, all cancel the screenings. [MORE]

15/4 -

Argo Pictures, distributors of Li Ying’s controversial documentary Yasukuni, consult lawyers after officials at the war shrine demand that footage be cut from the film. [MORE]

6/6 -

Koki Mitani’s comedy film The Magic Hour earns 506 million yen (£2.42 million) in its opening weekend.   Satoshi Tsumabuki, Toshiyuki Nishida, Eri Fukatsu and Koichi Sato star. [MORE] [ADD]

19/6 -

Sound technician Teiichi Saito is seriously injured by falling rocks while filming Tsurugidake at 8,500 feet in Toyama Prefecture. [MORE]

19/7 -

Hayao Miyazaki’s anime feature Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea is released. [MORE] [ADD]

12/8 -

The 11 films in the Pokemon cartoon series break the 50 billion Yen (£277 million) barrier at the domestic box office according to Toho, the film’s distributor, making it the country’s all-time highest-earning cartoon series. [MORE] [ADD]

11/9 -

Director Fumiki Watanabe is arrested in Tokyo for putting up nearly 100 posters advertising Tenno densetsu (The Imperial Tradition), his latest film. [MORE]

Index Holdings announces that it will sell its 71% stake in Nikkatsu, the country’s oldest studio, by the end of February 2009. [MORE]

Yojiro Takita's Departures wins 10 awards, including best picture of 2008, at the 32nd Japan Academy prize awards held at the Grand Prince Hotel New Takanawa, Tokyo. [MORE]

Toho delay the release of Ballad – Na no naki koi no uta (Ballad – Song of Love Without a Name), after its star, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, is arrested for indecent exposure. [MORE]

The country sees an unexpected surge in demand for pornographic movie downloads to mobile phones following the introduction of unlimited mobile data plans.   Hirotak Ishimori the Head of Soft on Demand tells Bloomberg that the estimated annual sales value of porn films in Japan is $1 billion. [MORE] [ADD]

Gokusen, the movie adaptation of a popular TV series, in which Yukie Nakama stars as the granddaughter of a Yakuza gangster who realizes her ambition of becoming a teacher at an all-male high school sees off Hollywood blockbusters Knowing and Monsters vs. Aliens to become the number one box office draw in its’ opening weekend. [MORE] [ADD]

The producers of Dakara oretachi wa, asa o matteita (So We Have Been Waiting for Morning) announce the release of the film will be delayed indefinitely after Tokyo prosecutors announce they plan to charge leading man Manabu Oshio with drug possession. [MORE]

Shunji Iwai’s Indie music drama Bandage, which features Jin Akanishi, the singer with boy band Kat-Tun, in his film debut, is released. [MORE] [ADD]

Producer-distributor-exhibitor Cine Qua Non (CQN) files for bankruptcy with debts of £32.86 (Y4.73b). [MORE] [ADD]

The mayor of the city of Taiji, the location for the documentary film The Cove, which chronicles the mass slaughter of dolphins for meat which is then sold as whale meat, criticises the decision to award the Best Documentary Oscar at this year’s ceremony.   ‘This film has mistakes of fact,’ he declares at a press conference. [MORE] [ADD]

Despite canceling a screening of The Cove scheduled for 26^th June at a cinema in Tokyo, Unplugged Inc, the distributor of the Oscar-winning documentary, insists it will persevere with screenings.   Right-wing protestors object to the film’s depiction of an annual dolphin hunt in the southern Japanese town of Taiji. [MORE]

Eizo Kyoto, a production company based in Kyoto, shuts down after 38 years in business, following the decision of 88-year-old chief Yoshinobu Nishioka to retire. [MORE] [ADD]