DOCUMENTARY FILMS / JAPANESE FILMS

Buzz of A Honeybee and the Island of the Holy

Iwai-shima, a small island of 7.67 square kilometers in its area and 12 kilometers in its perimeter, is a part of Kaminoseki/Kumage county of Yamaguchi prefecture. It is located in the west end of the Seto Island Sea (the sea you see in Ozu’s “Tokyo Story”), just several kilometers off the coast of the main land. The population is only little more than 500, roughly 70% of which are over seventy years old. These aging islanders are making living by line fishing and small-scale farming on steep slopes of the island. The place is often hit by typhoons, which sometimes …

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JAPANESE FILMS

An Apron as a Weapon

Many people believe that an oppressive, totalitarian government is designed by a group of devils wearing human skins. The nation is hypnotized by cunning propaganda, led to believe the blood-tainted doctrine, and subliminally conditioned to sacrifice their life for those devils. Today, we would notice these devils when we see them. A modern democratic society will not tolerate such a diabolical political process. So we believe. The problem is, some totalitarian regimes were the products of democratic process. Nazi party won 230 seats in Reichstag as a result of the 1932 federal election. In Japan, though no particular political party …

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JAPANESE FILMS

A Photograph, 1936

In 1936, Japan Film Directors Society was formed. This was a group photograph of the occasion. Front Row, from left; Teinosuke Kinugasa (1896-1982) (Wikipedia) A Page of Madness (狂った一頁[Kurutta Ichipeiji] 1926) The Gate of Hell (地獄門[Jigokumon] 1953) Yoshinobu Ikeda (1892-1973) (JMDB) Irohanihohedo (いろはにほへど 1933) Sadao Yamanaka (1909-1938) (Wikipedia) Kouchiyama Soushun (河内山宗俊1936) Humanity Paper Balloon (人情紙風船[Ninjo Kamifusen] 1937) Mansaku Itami (1900-1946) (Wikipedia) Akanishi Kakita (赤西蛎太1936) The New Earth (新しき土[Atarashiki Tuchi] 1937) Heinosuke Gosho (1902-1981) (Wikipedia) The Neighbor’s Wife and Mine (マダムと女房[Madamu to nyoubo] 1931) The Four Chimneys (煙突の見える場所[Entotsu no Mieru Basho] 1953) Minoru Murata (1894-1937) (Wikipedia) Souls on the Road (路上の霊魂[Rojo …

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