{"id":63793,"date":"2026-07-25T13:18:59","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T13:18:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/63793\/"},"modified":"2026-07-25T13:18:59","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T13:18:59","slug":"a-child-humanoid-leads-japanese-director-hirokazu-kore-edas-latest-film-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/63793\/","title":{"rendered":"A child humanoid leads Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda\u2019s latest film"},"content":{"rendered":"

By YURI KAGEYAMA<\/p>\n

TOKYO (AP) \u2014 In acclaimed Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda\u2019s latest film, a grieving couple turns to technology to recreate what they have lost.<\/p>\n

\u201cSheep in the Box,\u201d opening in U.S. theaters Friday, centers on a married couple whose son has died. To cope with their grief, they commission a humanoid made in his exact likeness.<\/p>\n

The title refers to \u201cThe Little Prince,\u201d Antoine de Saint-Exup\u00e9ry\u2019s children\u2019s book, in which a sheep is imagined as being hidden inside a box. For Kore-eda, the reference suggests that some of the most valuable things in life may be intangible, sustained by connections that cannot be seen.<\/p>\n

The film, a family drama set in the not-too-distant future, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival<\/a> this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt explores how a couple tries to rework their relationship with their child, and so it\u2019s not that different from the stories I\u2019ve explored in my past works,\u201d Kore-eda told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n

Born in Tokyo in 1962, Kore-eda started directing documentaries after graduating from Waseda University. He generally writes, directs and edits his films, an enormous undertaking in filmmaking, but it gives him near-total control.<\/p>\n

His 2013 feature \u201cLike Father, Like Son,\u201d a heartbreaking exploration of fatherhood centering on babies who get switched at birth, won the Jury Prize at Cannes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

His 2018 \u201cShoplifters,\u201d which won the Palme d\u2019Or<\/a> and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, was about a poverty-stricken family<\/a> that survives partly by shoplifting.<\/p>\n

In 2019, he directed French actors Catherine Deneuve and Juliette Binoche in \u201cThe Truth.\u201d<\/a> In the 2022 film \u201cBroker,\u201d he directed Korean actors, including Song Kang-ho, who won Best Actor at Cannes.<\/p>\n

Despite the demands of his productions, Kore-eda is known for trying to ensure that everyone enjoys working on his sets. He has also been a longtime and vocal opponent of harassment in the industry.<\/a><\/p>\n

That approach stands out in an industry known for punishing hours and low pay, particularly in Japan. Anyone found harassing another person while working on one of Kore-eda\u2019s films is immediately removed from the production.<\/p>\n

Adding to the challenge of ensuring benevolent filmmaking is that his works often have children as leading characters.<\/p>\n

\"FILE<\/p>\n

FILE \u2013 Hirokazu Kore-eda appears at the opening ceremony of the 79th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, on May 12, 2026. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt\/Invision\/AP, File)\n<\/p>\n

\"This<\/p>\n

This image released by Neon shows Rimu Kuwaki in a scene from \u201cSheep in the Box,\u201d a film by Hirokazu Kore-eda. (Neon via AP)\n<\/p>\n

\"This<\/p>\n

This image released by Neon shows promotional art for \u201cSheep in the Box,\u201d a film by Hirokazu Kore-eda. (Neon via AP)\n<\/p>\n

\"FILE<\/p>\n

FILE \u2013 Daigo Yamamoto, from left, Rimu Kuwaki, Haruka Ayase, and director Hirokazu Kore-eda appear at the premiere of the film \u201cSheep in the Box\u201d at the 79th international film festival, Cannes, southern France on May 16, 2026. (AP Photo\/John Locher, File)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 4<\/p>\n

FILE \u2013 Hirokazu Kore-eda appears at the opening ceremony of the 79th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, on May 12, 2026. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt\/Invision\/AP, File)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

In his 2004 \u201cNobody Knows,\u201d children live without adult supervision, as they scrounge for food and live without running water or electricity.<\/p>\n

That film propelled Yuya Yagira<\/a> to stardom. Yagira, still active as an actor today, won Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival, at 14.<\/p>\n

\u201cSheep in the Box\u201d also features a striking performance by child actor Rimu Kuwaki, who took on the difficult role of playing a robot in his feature-film debut.<\/p>\n

Kore-eda denied he saw children as a necessary element in his filmmaking. He merely likes the style of taking the view of a child to explore the adult world.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a heavy responsibility. We may be the first adults besides parents and teachers these children may come in contact with,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want them to go home thinking all the adults were hard-working and having fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kore-eda is surprisingly disarming for a filmmaker whose works address such serious themes. He laughs easily.<\/p>\n

When this reporter said she wanted to ask the same question she asked Japanese director Akira Kurosawa many years ago \u2014 \u201cWhat is filmmaking for you?\u201d \u2014 he didn\u2019t skip a beat asking what Kurosawa\u2019s answer was.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you take movies away from me, I am left with nothing,\u201d was Kurosawa\u2019s answer.<\/p>\n

Kore-eda jokingly pretended to give the same answer before offering his own.<\/p>\n

\u201cMovies are the only hobby I\u2019ve ever had. That became my job. Thinking about that hobby 24 hours a day became my life and my job,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am so blessed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https:\/\/www.threads.com\/@yurikageyama<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By YURI KAGEYAMA TOKYO (AP) \u2014 In acclaimed Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda\u2019s latest film, a grieving couple turns…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":63794,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[41361,18226,8,17,16946],"class_list":["post-63793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-japan","tag-child-humanoid-movie","tag-hirokazu-kore-eda","tag-japan","tag-japanese","tag-sheep-in-the-box"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63793"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63793\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}