WIT Life #384: Shogun does it again
Film, Translating/Interpreting, Uncategorized, WIT Life 
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Interpreter/Translator/Writer Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken CIR, 2000-03) presents WIT Life, a periodic series about aspects of Japanese culture such as art, film, food and language. Stacy starts her day by watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese, and here she offers some interesting tidbits and trends along with her own observations.
After a deep chill here in New York last week, we’re blessed with spring-like temps as we head into March. We’re also in the thick of awards season, and on Sunday I enjoyed watching the SAG Awards (The Film Independent Spirit Awards also took place the day before, but I haven’t had a chance to catch them yet). Much like at the Emmy’s and Golden Globes, the television show Shogun dominated the categories it was nominated in. Once again, Hiroyuki Sanada and Anna Sawai won for Best Male/Female Actor, and the show itself clinched Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.
In her acceptance speech, Sawai highlighted her sadness at the fact that this was the last time she and her cast would be there as a team celebrating together. A few days before the ceremony Sawai was selected as one of TIME’s Women of the Year. In the article she discusses the weight of portraying Asian women on screen, as well as her desire to challenge herself in different genres going forward. Sawai was the first Asian woman to win the Emmy for Lead Actress in a Drama.
The Shogun crew will not be on hand at the Oscar’s this weekend, but likely to be present is Japanese journalist and filmmaker Shiori Ito. She is the first Japanese director to receive a Best Documentary Feature Film Oscar nomination for her work Black Box Diaries (which she produced along with Eric Nyari and Hanna Aqvilin, who also received the nom). Recently the film has been embroiled in a controversy regarding legal and ethical concerns about certain footage used. Ito’s former attorney Yoko Nishihiro and other lawyers have criticized the lack of consent from people featured in the doc. Nishihiro herself was not aware that phone conversations between herself and Ito had been recorded until she saw the film for the first time. In response, Ito released a statement saying she was making a modified version of the film without identifiable characteristics of said individuals. Black Box Diaries is yet to be released in Japan where it most needs to be seen, and this recent issue presents a significant roadblock to achieving this.
Another Japanese Oscar nominee is Instruments of a Beating Heart from director Ema Ryan Yamazaki (Yamazaki is married to Nyari, who also received another Oscar nod for producing this one). Via the story of outgoing first graders at a Tokyo public elementary school preparing a musical performance for the incoming class, it examines the Japanese educational system’s tenuous balance between self-sacrifice and human growth. Best of luck to both Japanese entries this Sunday!
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