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Japan Times
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Japan Times
Parental grief and spiritual terror collide in ‘Dollhouse'
If I had gone into the mystery film 'Dollhouse' cold, seeing director Shinobu Yaguchi's name in the closing credits would have made me doubt my own eyes. Yaguchi has long been Japan's leading purveyor of smartly crafted comedies with a zero-to-hero arc. Among the best is the 2001 'Waterboys,' a feel-good comedy about a boys' synchronized swimming team that inspired countless knock-offs, and the 2017 'Survival Family,' whose story of a dysfunctional family forced to fend for itself when the world's electric grid goes down was both funny and prescient. The premise of 'Dollhouse' — a creepy doll wreaks havoc on the humans around it — is a horror genre staple, one domestic example being Hideo Nakata's 2015 'Ghost Theater,' in which a malevolent doll spreads terror and confusion in a small theater troupe. But Yaguchi's take is disturbingly different, drawing on elemental parental fears and ancient strains of Japanese culture and religion. Masami Nagasawa, who also starred in Yaguchi's 2014 'Wood Job!,' plays Yoshie, the mother of the cute 5-year-old Mei. She and her nice-guy husband Tadahiko (Koji Seto) dote on the girl, but when Yoshie goes shopping for snacks while Mei and her friends play hide-and-seek in the house, she returns to every parent's nightmare. Her discovery of her daughter's body in a startling reveal is impossible to unsee. A year later, a still-traumatized Yoshie buys an old doll because it resembles Mei. That night, Tadahiko is surprised to see the doll sitting at the dinner table and Yoshie talking to it as if it were alive. He plays along, more so after a therapist tells him Yoshie's 'adoption' of the doll may speed her recovery. Then Yoshie gives birth to a baby girl. Flash forward five years: The girl, Mai, takes an interest in the now forgotten — and very conscious — doll and they are soon fast friends. But the doll, jealous of the attention the couple lavishes on Mai, is out for payback. In shifting from the psychodrama of a mother maddened by grief and guilt to out-and-out horror as the couple struggles to rid themselves of the doll from hell, the film risks losing its bearings and descending into self-parody. But Yaguchi keeps the story anchored in a semblance of real-world logic, while ratcheting up the supernatural scares and solving the puzzle of the doll's origin. The doll doesn't walk and talk like the menacing eponymous character of the American 2022 shocker 'M3gan,' who had the excuse of being an AI-powered robot. But it does evade Yoshie's frantic attempts to discard it, like trash that keeps implacably returning because it wasn't properly sorted. The couple finally calls on assistance, starting with a temple priest who declares that the doll is cursed and progressing to a doll expert (a grim-visaged Tetsushi Tanaka) who comes up with a bizarre plan for getting it out of their lives. By this point, merely tossing it won't work. From a Western perspective, the lengths to which the characters go to calm the doll's vengeful spirit may seem excessive or absurd. But in Japan, where the ritual disposal of dolls is a long-established practice, they make karmic sense. And though 'Dollhouse' concludes with twist after twist, to the point of exhaustion if not absurdity, its ending feels welcome and right. Whether or not that means the doll is gone for good, I'll leave for you to guess.
Asahi Shimbun
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Asahi Shimbun
China's BYD seeks Japanese talent to enter minicar market
The personnel recruiting site of BYD (From the BYD website) Two Japanese subsidiaries of Chinese auto giant BYD are seeking local professionals who will steer them on the road to success in the Japanese market. The recruiting campaign for experts on sub-660cc minivehicles and trucks was launched on May 19, as BYD is looking to plug an electric minicar in Japan as early as next year. Since the 660cc standard for minivehicles is exclusive to Japan, BYD intends to hire experienced personnel in the country to further ramp up development and production capabilities. BYD has a pair of subsidiaries in Japan: BYD Auto Japan Inc., a passenger car department, and BYD Japan Co., a commercial vehicle division. Its affiliated passenger car company is expected to release an EV in the sub-660cc category in the second half of 2026. The commercial automobile enterprise is likewise working to market an electrified truck model in 2026 at the earliest. The two local branches of BYD on May 19 opened a dedicated recruiting website for personnel. COMMERCIAL STARRING POPULAR ACTRESS Mercedes-Benz topped the list of imported passenger car sales by foreign automakers in Japan in fiscal 2024 with 53,000 units, followed by BMW with 37,000, according to the Japan Automobile Importers Association. BYD accounted for just 2,000 units or so, as the Chinese maker only began expanding its sales network to Japan in earnest only a few years ago. However, BYD has been doubling down on increasing its presence in the Japanese market over recent years. BYD acquired a factory of Ogihara Corp., a mold manufacturer headquartered in Japan's Gunma Prefecture, in 2010 as part of its endeavor to beef up technological abilities. The Chinese automaker has additionally aired a TV commercial featuring the famed Japanese actress Masami Nagasawa under the catchphrase 'Arikamo, BYD!' (Maybe nice for you is BYD!). BYD has set a goal of scaling up its supply network as well, offering a total of 100 sales outlets by the end of this year. Sub-660cc minicars totaled 35 percent of all automobile sales across Japan in fiscal 2024. However, non-Japanese automakers had long been hesitant about competing at full tilt in the lucrative market, because the categorization is specific solely to Japan. Consequently, foreign auto manufacturers had not made moves to develop minivehicles exclusively for the Japanese market. An electric minicar to be released by BYD next year will be the corporation's first model intended particularly for a designated country. The envisioned EV is expected to be compatible with Japan's unique CHAdeMO recharging system. Aside from this, BYD is planning to start selling a plug-in gas-electric hybrid vehicle in Japan within this year. PHVs are widely thought to serve as a 'bridge' between gasoline-powered cars and EVs, encouraging Japanese makers to pour resources into developing this type of transitional model. BYD has already emerged as a dominant player in the Japanese commercial vehicle market. Representatives from the company claimed that it holds nearly 80 percent of the electric bus market share, as EV coaches become increasingly common, leaving its Japanese counterparts struggling to keep up. BYD's next plan is to replicate the same success in the electric minivehicle market as well. MAY BENEFIT JAPANESE AUTOMAKERS With the latest development in mind, Toshihiro Suzuki, president of Suzuki Motor Corp., the leader in the overall domestic minicar business, rolled out the red carpet for BYD's goal. 'It is great news for us,' Suzuki said during a news conference on Suzuki Motor's financial results on May 12. He insisted that BYD's entry to Japan may bring positive momentum to the minicar market. 'BYD is an immensely judicious enterprise,' Suzuki said. 'The fact that such a company is entering our market with EV models focused on minivehicles indicates that compact cars are a good match for EVs.' Referring to BYD's decision, Suzuki believes that the Chinese corporation 'seems to consider compact cars much more suited for electrification than large, heavy vehicles.' Suzuki Motor will put on sale its commercial EV model developed jointly with Toyota Motor Corp. and Daihatsu Motor Co. by the end of fiscal 2025 as the first step. Suzuki Motor is similarly currently involved in the development of an electric passenger minivehicle. 'We will be drawing up a range of strategies while engaging in healthy competition" with the new rival from China, Suzuki said. 'We still have a lot to learn from it in terms of price competitiveness, whereas we will make exhaustive efforts to protect our minicar market at the same time.' (This article was written by Daisuke Matsuoka and Kaname Ohira.)
