James Hadfield @jameshadfield.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Everything was labelled (mostly just name and origin), and they give you a multimedia guide that has audio samples and extra text for some of the instruments. Now they just need to invite Haino to come and play them all. 010
James Hadfield @jameshadfield.bsky.social · 06/10/2026The Musical Instruments Museum in Brussels makes me feel bad about all the disparaging comments I’ve made about Brussels in the past. Amazing place. 160
James Hadfield @jameshadfield.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Music for (yet another) rainy day in Tokyo. This is hitting the spot right now. stroomtv.bandcamp.com/album/loving...stroomtv.bandcamp.comLoving You To Death, by Richard12 track album 010
Reposted by James HadfieldNick Kapur @nickkapur.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Japanese used bookstores are reporting a massive uptick in bulk purchases of used Japanese books by overseas buyers, seemingly without any regard to their contents. The only logical conclusion is that these books are being stripped, scanned, and discarded to train AI models. 516996
James Hadfield @jameshadfield.bsky.social · 18/09/2026Moor Mother is playing a (one-off?) show in Kyoto next month. If you're in that neck of the woods, this looks pretty goddamn essential. urbanguild.net/event/mmnp/ 030
James Hadfield @jameshadfield.bsky.social · 18/09/2026Amazing. Shinya Tsukamoto's "Mr. Nelson, Did You Kill People?" (ネルソンさん、あなたは人を殺しましたか?) has had such a limited rollout in Japan, there's now a petition to give it a nationwide release. www.change.org/p/%E3%83%8D%...change.orgあなたの声がチカラになります『ネルソンさん、あなたは人を殺しましたか?』の全国上映を求める 031
James Hadfield @jameshadfield.bsky.social · 17/09/2026James Joyce, Ulysses. Begob he was what you might call flabbergasted. This made me feel drunk, or like I do when I'm reading a book in a foreign language. Hard work, even when it's fun (which is often). 010
James Hadfield @jameshadfield.bsky.social · 17/09/2026Anatoly Marienhof, Cynics. Mordant satire about a bourgeois couple trying to ride out the Russian Revolution, told in fragments. Brave to publish something like this in 1928, though I enjoyed it less than I thought I would. 100
James Hadfield @jameshadfield.bsky.social · 16/09/2026I can guarantee you’d recognise a few of them just from how ubiquitous they were. Remember that watered-down dancehall track with an insistent marimba riff that was playing absolutely everywhere circa 2017? That was Ed Sheeran. 110
Reposted by James HadfieldEmiliano Mellino @mellino.bsky.social · 15/09/2026The UK government is making upwards of £4.9bn in profit from visa fees, citizenship fees & the immigration health surcharge. Meanwhile, people are getting into thousands of pounds of debt or going without food just to afford to these immigration fees. www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2026...thebureauinvestigates.comGovernment makes £5bn a year from immigration fees while applicants…Home Office’s fees are up to 10 times the processing cost – and rising every year 8236155
James Hadfield @jameshadfield.bsky.social · 15/09/2026If you're looking for a more effusive write-up, I highly recommend this one from the always-excellent David Ehrlich. www.indiewire.com/criticism/mo...indiewire.com‘Look Back’ Review: Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Hyper-Faithful Adaptation Draws Rich and Dazzling New Textures from Manga and AnimeTwo girls bond over their love of creating manga in a bittersweet tragedy that gains as much as it loses during the jump to live-action. 010
James Hadfield @jameshadfield.bsky.social · 15/09/2026This was late going up on the JT site, but here's my take on Hirokazu Koreeda's Look Back. www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2026...japantimes.co.jpHirokazu Koreeda’s ‘Look Back’ is gorgeous but unnecessaryThe director’s authorial signature gets somewhat muddled in this adaptation of a manga by “Chainsaw Man” creator Tatsuki Fujimoto. 110
James Hadfield @jameshadfield.bsky.social · 11/09/20267FO always seems to bring the special sauce for his EM Records releases, and this one sounds like chopped and screwed gamelan played through a Sega Saturn. emrecords.bandcamp.com/album/hirott...emrecords.bandcamp.comひろった石が割れた (Hirotta ishiga wareta), by 7FO8 track album 010
James Hadfield @jameshadfield.bsky.social · 11/09/2026Shinya Tsukamoto's "Mr. Nelson, Did You Kill People?" seems to have had a rough ride with the critics at Venice, but I found it genuinely powerful. I spoke to him about it for the JT. Cheers to @mattschley.com for the photos. www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2026...japantimes.co.jpA Japanese filmmaker’s harrowing exploration of the Vietnam WarShinya Tsukamoto’s “Mr. Nelson, Did You Kill People?” examines the lifelong impact of war on the human psyche. 173
Reposted by James HadfieldLindsay Nelson-Santos @newsfromnihon.bsky.social · 09/09/2026There are still two weeks left to donate to the National Film Archive of Japan, which had its budget cut by 40% this year by a bunch of bureaucrats who don't understand that great cinema isn't always profitable. readyfor.jp/projects/NFA...readyfor.jp使命は人類の記憶を繋ぐこと。国立映画アーカイブの活動にご支援を - クラウドファンディング READYFOR国立映画アーカイブの運営費全般(資料の収集・保存・修復・復元、上映・展示等の公開事業等)を募るクラウドファンディングです。目標金額1億円。 - クラウドファンディング READYFOR 01712
James Hadfield @jameshadfield.bsky.social · 02/09/2026Insidious, isn’t it? This article notes that tipping culture is embedded into the US-originated digital payment systems that everyone is now using. www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...theguardian.com‘It’s absolutely criminal’: US tipping culture has reached the UK – and is causing chaosService charges used to be a matter of choice, but now consumers feel obliged to pay them for even a cup of coffee. How do we navigate this minefield and who is really profiting? 130
James Hadfield @jameshadfield.bsky.social · 01/09/2026It came to mind while reading your review of Numakage Public Pool (though I don’t recall there being any cruising in Eephus). 010
James Hadfield @jameshadfield.bsky.social · 01/09/2026Primo Levi, The Drowned and the Saved. “The further events fade into the past, the more the construction of convenient truth grows and is perfected.” 110
James Hadfield @jameshadfield.bsky.social · 01/09/2026Best new/new for me in August Germany Year 90 Nine Zero (1990) The Mission (1986) Eephus (2024) Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat (2024) Children Untold (2026) 110
James Hadfield @jameshadfield.bsky.social · 28/08/2026I was given a CD-R of this album years ago and never imagined I’d buy it on LP but, seriously, how could you say no to a cover like that? Akira Sakata, truly one of the greatest. 030
Reposted by James HadfieldMatt Schley @mattschley.com · 28/08/2026Shingo Ota’s documentary “Numakage Public Pool” traces the final seven weeks of the pool’s operations, using the five stages of grief as a framing device.japantimes.co.jp‘Numakage Public Pool’ documents the demise of a third spaceShinga Ota’s “hybrid documentary” is a bittersweet lament for a community hub facing its final weeks. 011
James Hadfield @jameshadfield.bsky.social · 27/08/2026Not sure if he's a posho, but this is a crucial titbit from Aml Ameen's Wikipedia page: "At the age of 11, he performed on stage with Michael Jackson at the 1996 BRIT Awards in a performance famously invaded by Pulp's singer Jarvis Cocker." 110
James Hadfield @jameshadfield.bsky.social · 27/08/2026Does it have American actors playing some of the key (British) characters? If not, that's another strike against it. 110
James Hadfield @jameshadfield.bsky.social · 27/08/2026Oh, before I forget... Happy Tora-san Day, to those who celebrate. 010
Reposted by James HadfieldDmitry Grozoubinski @explaintrade.com · 23/08/2026New, from me. Losing a prestigious stage or affiliation is not the same thing as being censored or deplatformed, and we should stop letting terrible people pretend otherwise. dmitryopines.substack.com/p/youre-not-...dmitryopines.substack.comYou’re Not Censored, But Get Off My StageIt’s not "deplatforming" when security won’t let me rap with Kendrick. 928365
James Hadfield @jameshadfield.bsky.social · 23/08/2026The Dostoevsky comparisons are a bit of a stretch. 010
James Hadfield @jameshadfield.bsky.social · 23/08/2026Just went to see this today. I think I may have raised my expectations a little too high… 100
James Hadfield @jameshadfield.bsky.social · 19/08/2026Alice Munro, Dear Life. Munro's stories are a bit like Ozu films: I'll go into them thinking I know what I'm going to get and they still manage to floor me. Her final collection is surprisingly horny, and also the closest she came to autobiography. 120
James Hadfield @jameshadfield.bsky.social · 15/08/2026Summer Sonic has worked long and hard to cultivate exactly that kind of audience. 110
James Hadfield @jameshadfield.bsky.social · 15/08/2026It’s a peculiar film with a needling, overwrought style that often seems to be working at cross-purposes with the (oddly heartwarming) material. First Nakashima I’ve seen that could conceivably have been made by Naomi Kawase. Here’s my review: www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2026...japantimes.co.jpAn unsolved murder leads to despair and salvation in ‘The Brightest Sun’A pair of private investigators probes the murder of a colleague in Tetsuya Nakashima’s challenging but rewarding film. 050
James Hadfield @jameshadfield.bsky.social · 15/08/2026Tetsuya Nakashima's The Brightest Sun (時には懺悔を) finally arrives in Japanese cinemas later this month, over a year after it was originally supposed to be released. During that time, it's gone from having a really good poster to a really bad one. 120
James Hadfield @jameshadfield.bsky.social · 09/08/2026I picked this up on Bandcamp Friday and it’s one of the most maddening and bewitching things I’ve heard in a long while. Like the locked-groove bits of The Necks stretched to Charlemagne Palestine lengths of epic endurance. elsewheremusic.bandcamp.com/album/monoch...elsewheremusic.bandcamp.comMonochromes II, by Quentin Tolimieri12 track album 030
James Hadfield @jameshadfield.bsky.social · 04/08/2026Han Kang, We Do Not Part. I had to take this one slowly. "Human Acts" (which I'd recommend reading first) showed how trauma lingers for a lifetime; this captures how it filters through to subsequent generations. For all the horror, it's also lyrical, even hopeful. 100
James Hadfield @jameshadfield.bsky.social · 04/08/2026Claire-Louise Bennett, Pond. "English, strictly speaking, is not my first language by the way. I haven't yet discovered what my first language is so for the time being I use English words in order to say things." Joyously peculiar. 110
James Hadfield @jameshadfield.bsky.social · 04/08/2026Ian Penman, Fassbinder Thousands of Mirrors. "It may not be a coincidence that Fassbinder's films are among the most acute depictions of loneliness in modern cinema... a loneliness all the harsher and sharper for being surrounded by people; a loneliness in the bustle of the crowd..." 100
James Hadfield @jameshadfield.bsky.social · 04/08/2026Compared to what they were charging for it last year (RRP ¥1,155!), that's an absolute steal. news.livedoor.com/article/deta...news.livedoor.com“BREWDOG×フジロック”初のコラボビール「FUJI ROCK LAGER」数量限定発売 - ライブドアニュース英国No.1クラフトビールブランドのBREWDOG(ブリュードッグ)が、日本最大級の野外音楽フェス「FUJI ROCK FESTIVAL'25」と初のコラボ。5月28日より、コラボビール「FUJI ROCK LAGER(フジロック ラガー)」を数 130
James Hadfield @jameshadfield.bsky.social · 04/08/2026It’s an odd property to be shopping around. I’ll be happy to be proved wrong about the Tokyo version, but my heart sank as soon as I saw Oguri’s name attached to it. 111
James Hadfield @jameshadfield.bsky.social · 04/08/2026Harvey Keitel Nicolas Cage Shun Oguri One of these is not like the others. 100
James Hadfield @jameshadfield.bsky.social · 03/08/2026Best new/new for me in July (before I forget) Drowning by Numbers (1988) Mr. Nelson, Did You Kill People? (2026) Masayume (2026) 000
James Hadfield @jameshadfield.bsky.social · 01/08/2026Just saw the Super Kabuki version of Princess Mononoke and it’s pretty wild. Incredible stagecraft, even if it occasionally felt like watching panto. 050
James Hadfield @jameshadfield.bsky.social · 01/08/2026I wrote something about Yuya Ishii’s The Secret Battlefield (開戦前夜), which is out now. www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2026...japantimes.co.jp‘The Secret Battlefield’: An inside view of the machinery of warYuya Ishii’s historical drama about the Japanese think tank that failed to avert the Pacific War can’t shake its made-for-TV origins, but it’s a valuable cautionary tale. 020
James Hadfield @jameshadfield.bsky.social · 24/07/2026“Before he was Shylock, he was… The Moneylender.” In cinemas this Christmas, starring Jason Statham. 152
James Hadfield @jameshadfield.bsky.social · 24/07/2026And a whopping 25 years older than Bill Murray in Scrooged (though I’m sure we can all agree that the Muppet Christmas Carol is the canonical version). 120
James Hadfield @jameshadfield.bsky.social · 18/07/2026It also speculates that JR may be looking to kill off the ticket altogether, which of course would be easier to justify if far fewer people are buying it. 020
James Hadfield @jameshadfield.bsky.social · 18/07/2026This article notes that the ticket had proved popular with YouTubers and was a way of hooking in younger travellers who might otherwise opt for a cheap flight. JR revamped the ticket based on its own needs, rather than those of users, but might have ruined a good branding opportunity in the process. 130
James Hadfield @jameshadfield.bsky.social · 18/07/2026I used to love going on long, rambling train journeys with the Seishun 18 Kippu ticket, until JR gave it a disastrous revamp in 2024. Not surprised that sales have fallen by nearly two thirds. finance.yahoo.co.jp/news/detail/...finance.yahoo.co.jp「青春18きっぷ離れ」が止まらない…2年で販売数「62万→24万枚」に激減させたJRが選んだ「青春18きっぷ」の販売枚数が、2024年度の約42万枚から2025年度は約24万枚へと大きく落ち込んだことが、今年度の... 251
James Hadfield @jameshadfield.bsky.social · 17/07/2026I didn't know that he'd moved to the UK at the end of the 1990s, but that makes so much sense now! I got a real Brit cinema vibe from Fujiko (along with a lot of other things, of course). 100