Justin’s Japan: Japan Society Serves Up Summer Film Festival
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By JQ magazine editor Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02) for Shukan NY Seikatsu. Visit his Examiner.com Japanese culture page here for related stories.
Summer’s here, and that means a new season of JAPAN CUTS: The New York Festival of Contemporary Japanese Cinema, running at Japan Society from July 11-21.
Now in its seventh year, JAPAN CUTS offers 25 titles, all of which are a mix of New York, U.S. and International premieres. Highlights include the smash-hit samurai blockbuster Rurouni Kenshin, the multi-Japan Academy Prize-winning The Kirishima Thing, and the latest horror film from Takashi Miike, Lesson of the Evil.
“In contrast with the past few years, the selection of titles for JAPAN CUTS is much leaner, and more focused on art house productions and film oddities, though there is still a number of ‘mainstream’ crowd-pleasers in the lineup,” says Japan Society’s chief film programmer Samuel Jamier. “Rather than a ‘best-of’ list, this year’s crop brings a block of dark matter, and provides an unblinking look at the dark side of Japan.”
Co-presented with the New York Asian Film Festival (which itself is now in its 12th year), JAPAN CUTS has attracted over 30,000 filmgoers and presented over 150 feature films—many never before seen in the U.S.—as well as a number of panels, post-screening parties, and exclusive Q&As with filmmakers and actors. Past guests have included Koji Yakusho, Masami Nagasawa, and Sora Aoi.
For a complete listing of films and appearances, visit www.japansociety.org/japan-cuts-2013.
WIT Life #241: The Ravine of Goodbye
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WIT Life is a periodic series written by professional Writer/Interpreter/Translator Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken CIR, 2000-03). She starts her day by watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese, and here she shares some of the interesting tidbits and trends along with her own observations.
Last night’s Japan Cuts feature film was Tatsushi Omori’s The Ravine of Goodbye, which just received the Special Jury Prize at the Moscow International Film Festival. This movie is based on the book by Shuichi Yoshida (who also wrote the chilling Villain, later made into a 2010 movie), and depicts the life of a couple whose next door neighbor’s young son was found murdered. As the police begin their investigation and reporters start gathering facts for their stories, it becomes revealed that the husband was involved in a gruesome gang rape when he was a college student. As more information is found, the deeper layers are peeled back to reveal the truth of the incident’s aftermath.
There were several scenes that were left a bit vague and I had some unanswered questions while watching, though I have a hunch they could be cleared up by reading the original source material. I thought the movie was really engaging in the first half, but later on as the truth was being uncovered things seemed to slow down almost uncomfortably. I found Omori’s work reminiscent of the recent Sundance miniseries “Top of the Lake,” both theme and pacing wise. Although much of Ravine was disturbing, it is without a doubt a polarizing film that will lead to much discussion, as I heard many disparate reactions from viewers exiting the theater. And for that alone, perhaps it is worth seeing.
WIT Life #240: Japan Cuts 2013: Week 2
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WIT Life is a periodic series written by professional Writer/Interpreter/Translator Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken CIR, 2000-03). She starts her day by watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese, and here she shares some of the interesting tidbits and trends along with her own observations.
The amazing lineup at Japan Society’s Japan Cuts 2013 continues, and last night I had the chance to catch two films with the themes of loneliness and love. The first movie was I Have to Buy New Shoes, which is set in Paris and features a three-day romance between the main characters Aoi and Sen. The film’s title comes from their initial encounter, in which Aoi tripping over Sen’s passport causes the heel to come off her shoe and his passport to be ripped. She is a longtime resident of France, and he is visiting for the first time with his sister (who has abandoned him to find her boyfriend who is living there). Reminiscent of Celine and Jesse from Richard Linklater’s Before trilogy, Aoi and Sen fall into an easy rhythm as they find themselves spending all their moments together.
But with Sen’s departure three days away, there is a deadline to their relationship. Over this short period of time, they become close enough to confide in each other about Read More
WIT Life is a periodic series written by professional Writer/Interpreter/Translator Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken CIR, 2000-03). She starts her day by watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese, and here she shares some of the interesting tidbits and trends along with her own observations.
Director Toshiaki Toyoda (center) with Japan Society Senior Film Program Officer Samuel Jamier (left).
Japan’s Society fabulous film festival Japan Cuts is back and better than ever! The 2013 lineup includes 24 films, some new and some older, all depicting Japanese society in the way that only Japanese cinema can. This year’s festival kicked off last Thursday night with the movie I’M FLASH from Japan Cuts favorite Toshiaki Toyoda. This director has attended previous festivals (2010’s Hanging Garden, 2012’s Monster’s Ball), and he was on hand this year as well to receive an award from Japan Society Senior Film Program Officer, Samuel Jamier (who announced this will be his last year with the festival. His unique, witty introductions to each film will be missed).
Toyoda’s film stars Tatsuya Fujiwara, who appeared in the film Parade featured at Japan Cuts 2010, as the leader Rui of a religious sect called “Life is Beautiful.” Rui has inherited the family business but is becoming disenchanted with it, and his bad behavior leads to a wild night with grave consequences. The film takes place in Okinawa, and the presence of the sea is so prominent that it is almost an additional character. Aside from Rui, we get to know Read More
Justin’s Japan: Nippon in New York — JAPAN CUTS, Lincoln Center and Aerosmith Rock the Rising Sun
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Live Your Dream: The Taylor Anderson Story premieres at Japan Society in New York July 16 as part of their annual JAPAN CUTS summer film festival. (© 2012 Global Film Network. All rights reserved.)
By JQ magazine editor Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02) for Examiner.com. Visit his Japanese culture page here for related stories.
After you’ve seen the outdoor fireworks, enjoy some summer events in the cool indoors, whether it’s catching one of 20 films in Japan Society‘s annual festival or firing up the newest home video release from Aerosmith that documents the band’s triumphant return to Japan following the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami.
This month’s highlights include:
July 11-21
Japan Society, 333 East 47th Street
$12 general/$9 Japan Society members, seniors and students. I’M FLASH! prices $15 general/$12 Japan Society members
Now in its seventh season, with 10 days of screenings and over 20 titles, JAPAN CUTS 2013 presents the roughest, sharpest, and smoothest of today’s cutting-edge Japanese film scene, encompassing bigger-than-life blockbusters, high-concept art house titles, moving and provoking documentaries, delirious rom-coms, refined melodramas and a handful of UFOs—unidentified film objects. Dovetailing with the New York Asian Film Festival, this year’s highlights include the smash-hit samurai blockbuster Rurouni Kenshin; Eiki Takahashi’s absorbing glimpse into the glitzy world of Japanese pop music, DOCUMENTARY OF AKB48: Show Must Go On; the winner of the 36th Japan Academy Prize for Best Picture and Best Director, The Kirishima Thing; plus the new film from the wildly prolific auteur Takashi Miike, the psycho killer-teacher horror film Lesson of the Evil, a return to the director’s signature gonzo schlockmeister approach.
July 18-20
Lincoln Center Festival presents Matsukaze
Gerald W. Lynch Theater, 524 West 59th Street
$35-$75
Harmonious sounds and haunting songs converge in this exquisite production of Matsukaze (Japanese for “wind in the pines”). Inspired by a popular 15th-century play crafted in part by Noh master Zeami, the opera features a spare, ethereal score by Toshio Hosokawa, one of Japan’s most prominent living composers of contemporary classical music. Matsukaze tells the story of two sisters, two lingering spirits, who wander the porous boundary of the living and the dead in hopes of being freed from a former mortal lover. John Kennedy conducts the Talea Ensemble and a cast of soloists and chorus in this arresting, dreamlike performance set in the shadowy place where the wall between the ephemeral and the corporeal disappears. Sung in German with English supertitles.
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JQ Magazine: Film Review – JAPAN CUTS 2013 at Japan Society
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Dreams for Sale premieres July 13 at Japan Society in New York as part of their annual JAPAN CUTS film festival. (© 2012 Dreams for Sale Film Partners)
By Lyle Sylvander (Yokohama-shi, 2001-02) for JQ magazine. Lyle is entering a master’s program at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University (MIA 2013) and has been writing for the JET Alumni Association since 2004. He is also the goalkeeper for FC Japan, a New York City-based soccer team.
Now in its seventh season, the JAPAN CUTS 2013 film festival runs from July 11-21 at Japan Society in New York and features less mainstream and more art house fare than in festivals past. JQ was able to screen three films from this year’s festival: Dreams for Sale (Yume Uru Futari), Helter Skelter (Heruta Sukeruta) and A Story of Yonosuke (Yokomichi Yonosuke).
Dreams for Sale, the most affecting of the three, tells the story of a young couple, Kanya (Sadao Abe) and Satoko (Takako Matsu), who find themselves in dire straits when their restaurant burns down to the ground. They soon realize, however, that the situation allows them to seek sympathy and romance money out of lonely singles that they encounter. This morality tale is directed in a naturalistic style by Miwa Nishiwaka. Within the director’s moving frame, the two main protagonists are allowed to express themselves both fully and in nuance as they work in tandem to bilk yen out of the unsuspecting victims.
What makes the film work so well is Nishikawa’s matter-of-fact stylistic depiction; she simply allows events to unfold naturally as the camera unobtrusively records them. At first, Kanya and Satoko’s cynical schemes have a darkly comic undertone, but gradually we, as the audience, begin to see the subtle changes that the couple undergoes as they begin to first doubt the morality of what they are doing and then doubt the strength of their own marriage and relationship. As in many great tragedies, this inner turmoil spills out into the external world as their actions have unpredictable repercussions beyond their control and affect unintended innocent victims.
Justin’s Japan: Nippon in New York — Hot Films, Magic Gardens and Cool Jazz
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Catch the 2013 New York Japan CineFest at Asia Society June 7-8. (Courtesy of Mar Creation, Inc.)
By JQ magazine editor Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02) for Examiner.com. Visit his Japanese culture page here for related stories.
After an unusually chilly spring, it’s finally starting to feel like summer. Enjoy some seasonal events this month that celebrate both the sunny and the dark side of life and nature.
June 8
Asia Society, 725 Park Avenue
$7 members, $9 students/seniors, $11 nonmembers
Returning for its second annual event at Asia Society and co-presented with Mar Creation, Inc, The New York Japan CineFest (NYJCF) will screen more than a dozen independent films in two days, kicking off Friday (June 7) with eight short films by U.S. based filmmakers with a reception to follow sponsored by Sapporo Beer. “New York Japan CineFest is the first independent Japan-themed film festival in New York,” says Hiroshi Kono, owner of Mar Creation. “It’ll soon be a trend that non-Japanese film directors make films with Japanese cast in Japanese language just like sushi and ramen became the world nations’ daily meals.”
Culture Project, 45 Bleecker Street
$30 (use promo code TNCHTT25 for $25 tickets while supplies last)
Following a sold-out run produced by the Epic Theatre Ensemble in November, writer Jeanne Sakata and director Lisa Rothe’s one-man show returns to close out 10th annual soloNOVA Arts Festival. 2013 Drama Desk nominee Joel de la Fuente stars in the real-life story of first-generation Japanese American Gordon Hirabayashi, who posthumously received a Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, in May 2012. During World War II in Seattle, University of Washington student Hirabayashi agonizes over U.S. government orders to forcibly remove and imprison all people of Japanese ancestry on the West Coast.
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WIT Life #233: Live Your Dream
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WIT Life is a periodic series written by professional Writer/Interpreter/Translator Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken CIR, 2000-03). She starts her day by watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese, and here she shares some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations.
Handmade bookmark distributed in Taylor’s memory
Last month I had the opportunity to interpret for Mr. Hakubun Shimomura, the current Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT or 文部科学省) during his time in Washington, DC. His schedule included a variety of official visits and meetings, including to a charter school and with various U.S. government agencies, but to me the most personally significant part of working with him was when he addressed the local JETAA chapter (In addition to MEXT, JET is carried out by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC or 総務省), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA or 外務省) and the Council of Local Authorities for International Relations (CLAIR or 自治体国際化協会).
Minister Shimomura provided opening remarks at a reception before the screening of a documentary called Live Your Dream, which tells the story of JET Taylor Anderson who lost her life in the tsunami two years ago. Also featured in this film is the other JET who passed away during this natural disaster, Montgomery (Monty) Dickson. Family members of both Read More
Justin’s Japan: Studio Ghibli’s Latest Comes to New York
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By JQ magazine editor Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02) for Shukan NY Seikatsu. Visit his Examiner.com Japanese culture page here for related stories.
Released in conjunction with the New York International Children’s Film Festival March 15, From Up on Poppy Hill, the newest work from Studio Ghibli, is now playing at four locations in New York City.
Founded in 1985, the name Studio Ghibli (pronounced ji-blee) is based on the Arabic name for the sirocco, or Mediterranean wind, the idea being the studio would represent a new wind blowing through the industry. Today it is recognized as Japan’s most celebrated animation film studio thanks to the works of its co-founder Hayao Miyazaki, whose own Spirited Away is the highest-grossing film in Japanese history and the Academy Award winner for Best Animated Feature in 2003. (A recent poll conducted in Japan revealed the nation’s favorite Ghibli film to be 1988’s My Neighbor Totoro, claiming 24.3 percent of the vote.)
Co-written by Miyazaki and directed by his son Goro, From Up on Poppy Hill is a period piece that takes place in Yokohama 50 years ago, focusing on an innocent romance that blossoms between Umi and Shun, two high school kids caught up in the changing times. Produced in North America by GKIDS, the English-language edition features the voice talents of stars like Gillian Anderson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ron Howard, and many more.
For showtimes and tickets for From Up on Poppy Hill, visit www.gkids.tv/poppyhill.
JQ Magazine: Film Review – ‘Live Your Dream: The Taylor Anderson Story’
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“Laced with emotional reflections, vivid photos and jovial home movies, the film walks the viewer through Taylor’s 24 years on earth and untimely end caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami of 2011.” (Global Film Network Inc.)
By Renay Loper (Iwate-ken, 2006-07) for JQ magazine. Renay is a freelance writer and associate program officer at the Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership. Visit her blog at Atlas in Her Hand.
Directed by renowned filmmaker and founder of Global Film Network Regge Life, Live Your Dream: The Taylor Anderson Story is Life’s first documentary about a loss.
Best known for his features like Doubles (about Japan and America’s intercultural children), After America…After Japan (about the migration of Americans to Japan and Japanese to America) and Struggle and Success: The African American Experience in Japan, Life opens the window for the viewer to glimpse the life of Taylor Anderson (Miyagi-ken, 2008-11) through personal accounts from her loved ones. Laced with emotional reflections, vivid photos and jovial home movies, the film walks the viewer through Taylor’s 24 years on earth and untimely end caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami of 2011. In light of the tragedy, the film sends a message of hope, optimism and encouragement for all to follow their hearts.
The film is divided into chapters, beginning with the first, “She Took Her Time.” Jean Anderson, Taylor’s mother, reveals how in everything Taylor did, she did it at her own pace, including her birth: she was 11 days late. According to her father, Andy Anderson, Taylor grew up inquisitive, interested and easygoing, never letting anyone influence her decisions. Julia Anderson-Kerr and Jeffrey Anderson (Taylor’s sister and brother, respectively) shared what it was like to grow up with such a peaceful and patient sibling.
From as early as they could remember, Taylor was into reading, exploring and having fun. Growing up near Richmond, VA, she was first introduced to Japanese at Millwood Elementary School. Her teacher exposed her to the language, artifacts and clothing of Japan at an early age, and from that point on she was hooked. Unfortunately, when she moved on to St. Catherine’s High School, Japanese was not an option, so she continued to study on her own.
It wasn’t until her college years at Randolph-Macon College in nearby Ashland that Taylor had the opportunity to visit Japan. She traveled to Tokyo for a January course designed to expose students to the history of the city. Later that summer, Taylor taught at a Japanese language academy, where she was adored by all. It was because of Taylor’s contagious zeal for Japan that her childhood friends and classmates became interested in the country and culture as well. She exposed them to anime, manga and the films of Hayao Miyazaki, inspiring some of them to travel to Japan and explore it for themselves.
Tohoku Tomo: JET alum returning to Japan to document ongoing JET alum and international relief efforts in Tohoku
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Wesley Julian (Miyagi-ken, 2008-10) is heading to Japan with a small film crew to make a video that will share the story of JET alums and others who have made and continue to make a difference in Tohoku, Japan.
The project is called Tohoku Tomo and just launched a Kickstarter campaign. For more information and to donate, go to:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1283108911/tohoku-tomo
In the video below, Wesley, who spoke at his students’ graduation on 3/11 just before the earthquake struck, explains the project and its significance. He currently works for the Japanese Consulate in Chicago, though the Tohoku Tomo project is something he is doing independently of his work.
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Justin’s Japan: Nippon in New York – From ‘Edo Pop’ to ‘Poppy Hill’
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“From Up on Poppy Hill,” the latest film from Studio Ghibli, premieres in New York March 16. (©2011 Chizuru Takahashi/Tetsuro Sayama/GNDHDDT)
By JQ magazine editor Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02) for Examiner.com. Visit his Japanese culture page here for related stories.
Tucked between Oscar and cherry blossom season, March offers an unmissable array of concerts, performances and film premieres, along with a special gathering to mark the two-year anniversary of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami.
This month’s highlights include:
Sunday, March 3, 6:45 p.m.
Exploring the Road of Shamisen – Koto Workshop and Concert
Still Mind Zendo, 37 West 17th Street
$15 advance, $18 at the door
For reservations, email contact[at]marcreation.com or call 917-400-9362
In the latest workshop of the Spring Traditional Japanese Musical Instrument Series, shamisen specialist Yoko Reikano Kimura will demonstrate the vast 400 years of shamisen repertoire and explore the infinite possibilities of the instrument. Shamisen was brought to Japan through the Silk Road and since then it was popularized among samurai to ordinary citizens. But in today’s cosmopolitan age, new shamisen music continues to thrive.
March 6-9
The Bach Variations: Bach and Mendelssohn
Avery Fisher Hall, 10 Lincoln Center Plaza
$41-$123
In its first-ever Bach Festival, a kaleidoscopic three-week celebration of the depth and breadth the man the New York Times named the greatest composer of all time, Kobe-born conductor and harpsichordist Masaaki Suzuki leads five vocalists along with his own Bach Colleguim Japan and Yale Schola Cantorum with his own unique approach, combining his perspective with the virtuosity of the New York Philharmonic. On the program are Bach’s “Motet No. 1: Singet dem Herrn” and “Magnificat,” along with Mendelssohn’s :Magnificat in D Major” and “Christus.”
March 9-June 9
Edo Pop: The Graphic Impact of Japanese Prints
Japan Society, 333 East 47th Street
$12 general admission, $10 students and seniors, Japan Society members and children under 16 free
Edo Pop playfully juxtaposes classic ukiyo-e prints from such masters as Katsushika Hokusai and Utagawa Hiroshige with contemporary works inspired by these artists and their works. Delve into alluring worlds created by the power of Edo period and contemporary popular culture in which change is the only constant. Organized by the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, with the contemporary art selections curated for the New York presentation by Miwako Tezuka, Ph.D., Director, Japan Society Gallery.
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WIT Life #221: MoMA’s Avant-Garde Tokyo
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WIT Life is a periodic series written by professional Writer/Interpreter/Translator Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken CIR, 2000-03). She starts her day by watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese, and here she shares some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations.
Last month MoMA introduced an exhibition called Tokyo 1955-1970: A New Avant-Garde, which looks at the creations that emerged from this tumultuous period. It features around 200 works of various media, such as paintings from Yayoi Kusama and photographs from Daido Moriyama, as well as pieces from lesser known artists. They all offer social commentary and many are confrontational, some via explicitly sexual themes such as Tetsumi Kudo’s “Philosophy of Impotence” installation, which occupies a large section of the exhibit.
Another interesting work is Hiroshi Nakamura’s “Circular Train A,” which features uniformed schoolgirls as cyclops, further fetishizing this symbol of sexuality in Japanese society. In this painting and others, the influence on modern manga and anime is undeniable. Fun fact is that Yomiuri Shimbun had served as the sponsor of a Tokyo exhibition of post-war artwork, but withdrew the following year as the content had become too controversial. The exhibition will run through February 25 and various lectures and gallery talks are offered, so make sure to check it out.
In conjunction with this exhibition, a film series called Art Theater Guild and Japanese Underground Cinema: 1960-1986 is taking place. On Friday night I had the honor of Read More
NHK TV feature on “Live Your Dream: The Taylor Anderson Story”
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NHK TV (English edition) recently aired a feature story on the premier screening of “Live Your Dream: The Taylor Anderson Story,” a documentary produced by filmmaker Regge Life.
Here’s the link to the video: http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/movie/feature201211270915.html
WIT Life #220: Wonderful Single Life/Going My Home
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WIT Life is a periodic series written by professional Writer/Interpreter/Translator Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken CIR, 2000-03). She starts her day by watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese, and here she shares some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations.
As I shared in my last post, one of the best parts of being here in Japan is the chance to catch up on dramas when the work day is done. When I’m at home I try to keep up to date on them via the Internet, but it’s just not the same as watching them in prime time. Two of my current favorites are tonight’s ｢ゴーイング・マイ・ホーム」 (Going My Home) and Thursday night’s 「結婚しない」 (Wonderful Single Life; literally Won’t Get Married).
I greatly enjoy the latter as the main character is a 35-year old woman whose single status is a source of both stress and liberation. The supporting roles feature her female contemporaries as well as younger and older friends, all in various work and personal situations. It is an interesting commentary on the lives of women in modern Japanese society, and I am eager to see Read More
