JAPANESE FILMS

Kochiyama Soshun

Kochiyama Soshun, Setsuko Hara When I finished watching it, I didn’t want to see it again. It gradually descended into depressing finale, killing off every lovable character one by one. The survivor is the reckless kid who started all. No, it’s not fun. Then, after a day or two, it started to crawl back on me. That scene. The duel between Kochiyama and Kaneko. They were determined to have it. Kochiyama, a local gambler and a bookie, and Kaneko, a Yojimbo for the local gang leader, were destined to have it. But when they are on the verge of bursting …

 
JAPANESE FILMS

What are they eating ?

In “Tokyo no korasu (1931)”, the little daughter gets sick from eating “Mizumanju”. This is Mizumanju/Kuzumanju. Recipe is here. As you can see, its soothing appearance and chilled preparation are very inviting in a hot summer day. And the girl must have begged for it. In “Late Autumn (1960)”, Mamiya (Shin Saburi) takes Akiko (Setsuko Hara) and, later Ayako (Yoko Tsukasa), to lunch. They go to the place with the sign “う”. What are they eating ? This is what they are eating. This is Unagi (Japanese eel). This was one of the Ozu’s favorite Japanese cuisine. Here is the …

 
JAPANESE FILMS

Then and Now, and In Between (Part 4)

This is the conclusion of 4-part series. How to Delete the Past The war devastation made people realize that Japan had not been as modernized as they had thought. It became embarrassingly clear that Japan had had no chance of winning the war. Compared to their sorry state of material shortage, food shortage and poor industrialization, United States had everything they wanted and more (at least they thought so). Japan had a lot to catch up. Accelerate industrialization and modernization. Forget about anything old. In July 1945, most of Japanese seriously believed they should fight against incoming Americans with bamboo …