Recently I had the great pleasure of seeing Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s latest film Evil Does Not Exist. It confirmed my feeling that Hamaguchi is one of the greatest directors working today. I, like many others, was introduced to his films with Drive my Car (2021), which premiered at Cannes to much acclaim and went on to win the Academy Award for international film, that portrayed Japan's pandemic experience.

Stone Bridge Press is pleased to announce Off the Beaten Tracks in Japan: A Journey by Train from Hokkaido to Kyushu by John Dougill has been named a winner in the 26th annual Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards. Foreword Reviews, a book review journal focusing on independently published books, announced the winners of its INDIES Book of the Year Awards today.