Justin’s Japan: Nippon in New York—Yayoi Kusama, Taka Kigawa, Taro Hakase, VAMPS
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Yayoi Kusama with Love Is Calling (2013) installed as part of the artist’s inaugural exhibition I Who Have Arrived in Heaven at David Zwirner Gallery, on view through Dec. 21. (Will Ragozzino)
By JQ magazine editor Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02) for Examiner.com. Visit his Japanese culture page here for related stories.
With Thanksgiving weekend (and the hopes of eating right) now just a memory, we turn to colder weather, falling snow, and the new year to come. Fortunately for Japanese culture fans, December is just as busy as the holiday season itself. Whether you’re hosting guests from out of town or looking to squeeze in an event or two in between parties, we’ve got you covered.
This month’s highlights include:
Now through Saturday, Dec. 21
Yayoi Kusama: I Who Have Arrived in Heaven
David Zwirner Gallery, 525 West 19th Street
Free
In case you missed last year’s retrospectiveat the Whitney featuring the artist’s mega-buzzed about Fireflies on the Water, this current exhibition by Yayoi Kusama features 27 new large-scale paintings and The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away, a new mirrored infinity room made especially for this exhibition and the United States debut of another infinity room, which was recently on view in Tokyo at the Mori Art Museum. Also exhibited is the artist’s video installation, entitled Manhattan Suicide Addict, that draws its title from her first semi-autobiographical novel published in 1978.
Wednesday, Dec. 4, 8:00 p.m.
Three’s Keys feat. Taka Kigawa
Klavierhaus Recital Hall, 211 West 58th Street
$15
As part of its third annual festival entitled Timbre Tantrum, Composers Concordance(“Enterprising new music organization” –New York Times) presents this all-piano production featuring Taka Kigawa (“Extraordinary pianist” –New York Times), Inna Faliks (“Signature blend of grace and raw power” –Lucid Culture) and Carlton Holmes (“Inventive” –Jazziz). Each pianist will present a 20-minute solo set of their own contemporary repertoire, including music by Shchedrin, Zhurbin, Ellington, Palkowski, Monk, and Alexander. The grand finale serves up a triple-piano suite composed by Dan Cooper, Sean Hickey, Debra Kaye, Milica Paranosic, and Gene Pritsker performed on Klavierhaus’ antique instruments, including a 19th century Pleyel.The concert will be followed by a brief reception.
Thursday, Dec. 5, 8:00 p.m.
Town Hall, 123 West 43rd Street
$49.50-$89.50
A violinist since the age of four, contemporary classical and crossover musician Taro Hakase returns to New York as part of his first-ever world tour. Entitled JAPONISM after his latest album, Hakase’s pop-infused compositions and charismatic showmanship are known to get fans dancing at his concerts. First brought to international attention following a collaboration soundtrack and a concert tour with Celine Dion in 1996, Hakase has performed before over two million people and has sold more than six million albums in Japan alone. Along with his eight piece band, Hakase brings his tour to one of New York’s most celebrated stages.
For the complete story, click here.
*****
Writer, researcher, and ex-JET Matt Leichter (Saitama-ken ’03-’05) will be presenting “College Education: Certain Debt, Uncertain Income” at the Henry George School of Social Science in New York City on Friday, December 20, at 6:30 PM. Here is the abstract:
Soaring costs for education, together with limited job opportunities and stagnant wage growth, place substantial financial and psychological burdens on students.
Noted columnist and researcher Matt Leichter reviews tuition inflation, cuts in public funding and the business of lending to students. Mr. Leichter will also propose reforms to the system of financing college education.
The school is located in Manhattan on East 30th Street between Park Avenue and Lexington Avenue.
WIT Life #256: Seattle’s Katsu Burger!
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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.
I spent the weekend here in Seattle for the purpose of running the local marathon, which I successfully completed this afternoon! Due to Seattle’s large Japanese-American population and their great influence, on previous visits I have taken advantage of cultural offerings such as the Uwajimaya shopping center (similar to our Mitsuwa), but I was excited to discover a new Japan-related restaurant this time around. I was pretty ravenous after running and craving something substantial, so on the way to the airport I found myself at Katsu Burger. It is in an area surrounded by several fast-food teriyaki joints, but not much else. However, once stepping into the shop you are greeted by a wide variety of Japanese memorabilia, as well as a map adorned with push pins indicating where customers have visited from. As you would expect of Chikyu no Arukikata bearing Japanese tourists, Japan was full from Hokkaido to Okinawa!
Katsu Burger bills itself as serving “Japanese-style burgers and beyond,” and all items Read More
Job: Study Abroad Advisor, The George Washington University (Washington, D.C.)
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Posted by Jayme Tsutsuse (Kyoto-fu, 2013-Present), organizer of Cross-Cultural Kansai. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
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Position: Study Abroad Advisor
Posted by: The George Washington University
Location: Washington, D.C.
Type: full-time
Overview:
Founded in 1821, GW is the largest institution of higher education in the District of Columbia, to include ten academic units, with a full-time equivalent enrollment of a little over 20,000 students and approximately 11,000 full-time and part-time employees (faculty and staff). The George Washington University is a community dedicated to learning, communication, respect, service and teamwork. As one of the largest private employers in the District of Columbia, the university seeks employees who support the teaching, research, and public service mission of the university.
Job: Paid Internship, The British Council (NYC)
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Posted by Jayme Tsutsuse (Kyoto-fu, 2013-Present), organizer of Cross-Cultural Kansai. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
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Position: Education Marketing Intern
Posted by: The British Council
Location: New York, NY
Salary: $10 per hour
Type: part-time
Overview:
The British Council is the UK’s international organization for educational opportunities and cultural relations. Its New York office is co-located within the British Consulate General.
The British Council is offering two four-to-six month New York spring internships to support the Education Marketing team to deliver on three British Council projects supporting UK universities, schools and colleges international marketing efforts in the USA
The interns will gain demonstrable skills and experience in:
- International education
- Event marketing and alumni relations
- Social media and digital marketing
- Market research
- Copywriting and editing
“The Great Passage” – Film Review from Australia’s 17th Japanese Film Festival
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The 17th Japanese Film Festival in Australia is now showing in Melbourne, the last major city on its national tour before wrapping up for the year. Eden Law (Fukushima JET 2010-2011, current member of JETAA NSW reviews some of the films on offer.
A Geek God
Japan’s official entry into the 2014 Oscar’s foreign film section might seem a rather strange choice, as its main overarching plot revolves around the 15-year compilation of a dictionary. Certainly, very few other countries would have made a film on such an apparently dry subject matter, but “The Great Passage” uses it as the basis to explore very Japanese concerns about hard work, teamwork, perseverance and discipline, which would have been implied by the actual translation of the Japanese title (“Assemble the Boats”, also the title of the prize-winning novel the movie is based on, by Shion Miura).
Beginning in the 1990’s, the dictionary department of a Tokyo publishing house, under the guidance of department-head Matsumoto-sensei (Go Kato), decides to embark on a grand project of collecting, documenting and eventually publishing a unique dictionary – one that would contain the contemporary lexicon of modern Japan. But due to the departure of its head editor Araki (Kaoru Kobayashi), they search urgently for a replacement, eventually finding Majime (Ryuhei Matsuda), a painfully shy, awkward (these days we would call him somewhat autistic) loner, but who is extremely exact in his mannerisms. Sensing an apt fit, Nishioka (Joe Odagiri) and Araki engineer Majime’s transfer as Araki’s replacement. And so begins a grand obsession for Majime, on several different levels.
“The Great Passage” is epic: not just in the time-frame depicted, or the nature of the dictionary work, but also in its focus. Director Yuya Ishii is not afraid to take the time to unfold the minutiae of what goes into compiling a dictionary, from fieldwork collection, cataloguing, cross-checking, multiple proofing and paper-quality scrutinising. Constantly, new words crop up, but the team patiently note and incorporate them into the ever evolving work, as technology, society and economy changes. Pretty much “all-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-how-a-dictionary-is-made-but-wouldn’t-have-cared-to-ask”. On a larger scale, the compilation of the dictionary becomes a metaphor for life. The increasing number of foreign loanwords over the course of the compilation shows the exposure of Japanese society to the outside world over time, a truly, living, breathing project as envisioned by Matsumoto-sensei. Majime’s character development also happens in parallel with the dictionary, as he interacts more with his workmates, after coming to realise that a truly worthwhile enterprise requires the help and goodwill of others. Every aspect of his existence, for good or for bad, gets taken over by his work, as his budding romance with his landlady’s granddaughter Kaguya (Aoi Miyazaki) is good-naturedly encouraged and supported by the entire department as a way to come up with an authentic definition of “love”, to troubling dreams of drowning in a sea with floating pages.
Just like the film’s theme of teamwork, everyone’s performance helps to make this absorbing film, from Matsuda’s awkward Majime, who is at first unable to express his thoughts and feelings without resorting to reciting dictionary definitions, to Miyazaki’s expressive Aoi, as well as Odagiri’s brash Nishioka. Thanks to the cast, “The Great Passage” doesn’t drag, proving that an unhurried enterprise, much like the dictionary itself, can produce an excellent work.
The Great Passage (Fune wo Amu) directed by Yûya Ishii, released April 13 2013 in Japan, starring Ryûhei Matsuda, Kumiko Asô, Chizuru Ikewaki, Haru Kuroki, Aoi Miyazaki, Kaoru Kobayashi, Hiroko Isayama and Naoki Matayoshi.
The 17th Japanese Film Festival in Australia is now showing in Melbourne, the last major city on its national tour before wrapping up for the year. Eden Law (Fukushima JET 2010-2011, current member of JETAA NSW reviews some of the films on offer.
Will the real Hitoshi please stand up, please stand up?
This is film messed with my head. Escalating from a quirky, comedy of errors with eccentric characters to a disturbing, confusing movie where you feel like the character Hitoshi himself, running around wild-eyed in panic as you try to make sense of what’s going on – not that the film gives you any concrete answers.
But let’s start with a bit of a background. Hitoshi (Kazuya Kamenashi), a failed photographer, makes a living working in an electronics department, with fellow employees who are probably a little bit insane. Then one day, a stranger’s phone falls into his hands, and on impulse, Hitoshi takes the phone and scams the owner’s mother into depositing 900,000 yen into his bank account. And then that’s when shit gets weird.
The title “It’s Me, It’s Me” comes from the fact Hitoshi starts finding copies of himself popping up, each with his face but different name, different lifestyles – even of the opposite gender. It’s almost like seeing versions of himself – Kamenashi doesn’t just wear different wigs or clothes, or act differently; his face gets superimposed on wildly different body types like that scene from Being John Malkovich. Does each copy represent a possibility or alternate reality that could have been, had circumstances being different, or a choice decided in another way? Which is the real Hitoshi? Was there ever a real Hitoshi? I really don’t know – you tell me. At first finding other “me”s is fun – it’s like finding someone who truly understands you – but the initial novelty and fun of first discovery soon gives way to darker developments, as the initial group of Hitoshis realise that not every aspect of their personality is pleasant, or even desirable. Out of place objects then begin to appear in some scenes, such as overturned drums of strange viscous pink liquid crop up and disappear, posters of a pair of eyes stuck on walls appear to watch Hitoshi and his strange adventures – Miki’s mischievous and anarchic humour teases us as they appear and disappear in the film, like visual signposts of the upcoming weirdness that is about to unleash.
But in the meantime, we are distracted by the anarchic humour and fun by the assortment of characters and dialogue. Minor characters are invested with a huge amount of personality and energy, like Hitoshi’s original mum, Masae (Midoriko Kimura) who insists on being called by her name instead of “mother” because she decided it suits her more; his co-workers like the hyperactive Minami (Eri Fuse) and overbearing dorky manager Tajime (Ryo Kase) and sexy customer Sayaka (Yuki Uchida). Kamenashi juggles a huge amount of roles, portraying different minor characters who seem to be different kind of Japanese stereotypes, definitely working hard for his money.
You might find “Ore Ore” infuriating or intriguing, but it is a wild ride, throwing up all sorts of puzzling questions and frustrating vague hints as to the possible answers.
It’s Me, It’s Me (Ore Ore) by Satoshi Miki, released May 25th 2013 in Japan. Starring Kazuya Kamenashi, Yuki Uchida, Ryo Kase, Midoriko Kimura, Keiko Takahashi, Eri Fuse, Ryu Nakatani and Kinako Kobayashi.
WIT Life #255: San Francisco’s Xanadu Gallery
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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.
My current three-week business trip finishes on the West Coast, with Thanksgiving in San Francisco and the weekend here in Seattle. When I am in the former city, one of my favorite places to visit is the Asian antique art themed Xanadu Gallery. I was first drawn to visiting this location as its architect was Frank Lloyd Wright, who I love. Interesting fact is that he used this building to practice how to incorporate curves into his designs, and five years later went on to create the Guggenheim with its distinctive spiral.
Xanada features a permanent jewelery collection upstairs as well as rotating exhibits, and I was nicely surprised to find that this time Japanese items were being showcased. As seen in the picture, the main display is of exquisitely detailed Noh robes. They have typical Japanese patterns such as Read More
Job: Web Producer at Japan Society (NYC)
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Thanks to JET alum Christy Jones of the Japan Society of NY for passing this along. Posted by blogger and podcaster Jon Dao (Toyama-ken, 2009-12). Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
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Position: Web Producer
Location: NYC
Overview:
The Web Producer is responsible for supporting web and e-communications efforts across multiple programs and departments. This person is also responsible for updating and maintaining content on the Japan Society website, creating and editing our email campaigns, and assist with various other tasks including website optimization, graphics editing, and social media updates to Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram. A key quality is attention to detail, strong project management skills, and a keen eye for proofreading web content for publishing. The position requires flexibility in working across multiple projects concurrently, with an ability to shift priorities when needed. Read More
Job: Sub-contractor ESL Tutor (Indianapolis, IN)
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Via the Indiana subchapter of JETAA Chicago. Posted by Kim ‘Kay’ Monroe (Miyazaki-shi, 1995 -97). Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
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Position: Sub-contractor ESL tutor
Posted by: The Language Training Center
Type: N/A
Location: Indianapolis, IN
Salary: N/A
Start Date: N/A
Overview:
The Language Training Center (www.languagetrainingcenter.com), based in Indianapolis, is looking for an ESL tutor for Saturday mornings and a teacher for ESL group lessons on Tuesday & Wednesday afternoons. Some Japanese language familiarity preferred.
If you are interested in these positions or have questions, please contact LTC’s Ryan Cook: rcook@languagetrainingcenter.com
http://www.languagetrainingcenter.com/about/career-opportunities.aspx
Job: Director of Education – Museum of Chinese in the Americas (NYC)
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Via Philanthropy News Digest.Posted by Kim ‘Kay’ Monroe (Miyazaki-shi, 1995 -97). Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
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Position: Director of Education
Posted by: Museum of Chinese in the Americas
Type: N/A
Location: New York, NY
Salary: N/A
Start Date: N/A
Overview:
The Director of Education is responsible for developing and managing comprehensive educational plans (both short and long term) as well as creating and maintaining educational programs that reflect the Museum of Chinese in America’s ( MOCA) mission and meets the needs of the diverse audiences we serve.
Responsibilities
- Work with Executive Director and senior staff to set the vision and goals for the department.
- Recruit, train, and supervise museum educators, interns, and volunteers.
- Develop and implement curriculum-based education programs including on-site guided tours, professional development workshops, and resources.
- Plan, develop, implement and evaluate in-school and out-of-school partnership with school teachers, school administrators, and staff at partner community organizations. Read More
JQ Magazine: Book Review – ‘Life in Japan: The First Year’
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“Edison’s artistic talent captures Japan’s essence and his autobiographical account is honest and direct. JET Alumni will be able to follow his story and find many of their own experiences and thoughts represented within his work. From his first encounter ordering a hamburger to his dissatisfaction with being a glorified babysitter, his tone and pace keeps the reader hooked.” (Big Ugly Robot Publishing)
By Lana Kitcher (Yamanashi-ken, 2010-12) for JQ magazine. Lana is the business development associate for Bridges to Japan. To read more about Lana’s adventures in Japan and New York, visit her blog at Kitcher’s Café.
Victor Edison is a young man who remembers always having some Japanese influences present throughout his life. His family hosted a Japanese exchange student during his childhood, and he was fascinated by anime and manga from a young age. After graduation he found himself working a job he didn’t really want that wasn’t really going anywhere. A friend that was working in Japan at the time encouraged him to apply to be an English teacher and all he could respond to this was, “why not?”
Published by Nagoya-based Big Ugly Robot Press, Life in Japan: The First Year is a bilingual graphic novel written and drawn by Edison about his first year working for an English language school in Mie Prefecture. With little previous knowledge of the Japanese language or customs, he travels blindly to his new home armed only with his enthusiasm and determination to succeed, his ultimate goal to one day become a full-time artist.
His first choice was to work in Tokyo, simply because that was all he knew. After his interview with “Noba,” he soon learns that he has been offered a position in Mie, and accepts.
He starts work at an English conversation school located in a semi-rural area. While the majority of the clients were adults and young adults, the teachers often had to “teach” toddler classes as well. Because the school was located in a shopping mall, many parents would drop their kids off at the English school to fit in some uninterrupted shopping time. The teachers quickly learned that the child classes were thinly disguised babysitting sessions.
The 17th Japanese Film Festival makes its final stop in Melbourne. Eden Law (Fukushima JET 2010-2011, JETAA NSW member) reviews some of the selection available.
So what have you done with your life lately?
Proving its never too late to start anything, at the age of 98, Toyo Shibata sold over 1.5 million copies of her poetry collection in Japan, later achieving international fame in Asia and Europe. Shown at Australia’s national 17th Japanese Film Festival a mere week after its release in Japan, “Don’t Lose Heart”, is the film inspired by Toyo’s life and her poetry. Its international premier in Sydney was also accompanied by both the visiting director Yoshihiro Fukagawa, and the main star who plays Toyo, Kaoru Yachigusa, a legendary name in Japanese cinema.
Up until the time Toyo received recognition of her work, she lived a typical, seemingly unremarkable life as a elderly member of Japan’s rapidly aging population: a widow who lives alone, with one surviving son, Kenichi (Tetsuya Takeda) , an unreliable, chronic gambler who is terminally unemployed and financially supported by his exasperated but ultimately loving wife, Shizuko (Ran Ito). Worried about the mental state of his mother, and feeling guilty about what a big loser he is, Kenichi writes poetry with her as away of spending more time together, which eventually brought out her literary talents.
Films which contain roles for older actors are rare, and as Yachigusa said during the Q&A after the movie’s screening in Sydney, good roles are even rarer still. Yachigusa has the challenge of developing Toyo as being more than just another grannie. At first Toyo seems pitiful – she is beset by the usual ills that advanced age brings, finding it difficult to move around pain-free without a walking stick. She seems a little bland, quiet and unremarkable. However when she begins to write, the film shifts into exploring the source of her inspiration, in flashbacks that regress further and further into time. “Don’t Lose Heart” is certainly aptly named, as Toyo, in her quiet way, reaches out to counsel those around her with the benefit of her experience. By the end, Toyo is revealed to be anything but ordinary. Being alive is a pretty difficult gig for anyone, and Toyo proves she’s just as tough a chick as any fictional superhero, and more inspiring than any easily digestible soundbite artificially manufactured by cynical corporations to move units.
Yachigusa is just extraordinary in her performance. Her Toyo is dignified and gentle, but with a hint of impish mischief that shows a quick and intelligent mind is alive and well – quite similar to Yachigusa herself in the interview. She gives Toyo vulnerability and frailty, but is able to convey the fighter and survivor beneath the exterior, and the resulting sense of compassion and understanding of human nature gained from having being through it all herself. Takeda plays Kenichi as a petulant short-tempered man-child, a bit over the top maybe (you have to wonder what the real Kenichi thought of his on-screen portrayal) but possessing of the same compassionate basic nature of his mother. And as Kenichi’s wife, Ito is also superb, displaying the patience of a saint in staying with him all through the years.
Be warned: this film moved Sydney audience to tears, rather loudly too, perhaps because Toyo seemed like the kind of grandmother everyone wishes they have (unfortunately Japan’s national grandmother passed away earlier this year at the age of 101). Fukagawa said that her poetry gained prominence because of their simplicity and lack of pretension and their inherent optimism and positivity, qualities that he tries to convey in his film. He can be rather sentimental at times, imparting an almost saintly, Buddha-like glow on Toyo by the end of the film, but there is a lot of respect for the source material in this film, and it shows, resulting in a tender, tribute to not just Toyo’s writings, but to the human condition itself.
Don’t Lose Heart (Kujikenaide) by Yoshihiro Fukagawa, released November 16 2013 in Japan. Starring Kaoru Yachigusa, Tetsuya Takeda, Ran Ito, Mizuho Suzuki and Yusuke Kamiji.
【RocketNews24】Why does the fifty yen coin have a hole? And other fun facts about Japanese coins
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Posted by Michelle Lynn Dinh (Shimane-ken, Chibu-mura, 2010–13), editor and writer for RocketNews24. The following article was written by Master Blaster, writing team for RocketNews24, a Japan-based site dedicated to bringing fun and quirky news from Asia to English speaking audiences.
A fun way to get a perspective on another country’s history and culture is by looking at the currency used. The materials and design that go into making them can say a lot about what a country holds dear.
So, why don’t we take a quick look through the modern coins used in Japan and learn a little about why they look the way they do and some other tidbits along the way such as what happens when you microwave a one-yen coin and why you shouldn’t do it.
As Australia’s 17th Japanese Film Festival is begins its last city tour in Melbourne, the capital of the southern state of Victoria, Eden Law (Fukushima-ken ALT 2010-2011, current JETAA NSW committee member) reviews some of what is on offer. Stay tune for more reviews!
Everyone’s feeling somewhat uncomfortable now.
Okay, so what would you think if I told you that Maruyama, the main character in this film, spends most of the film trying to touch tongue to his own peen? A certain expectation will be set, wouldn’t it? Like, there wouldn’t be much else to expect from the plot except whether that lollypop gets licked. So it’s pleasantly surprising to find that it’s actually less like a string of dick jokes (unlike this review), and more of an endearingly quirky film.
Our hero with a quest, Maruyama, is a hormonal 14-year-old with a rather active imagination, frequently dreaming up imagined lives for his family and residents of his apartment complex. We’re taken through his daydreams, which range from randy fantasies filled with bouncy ladies, to colourful scenarios that get sillier and funnier as he imagines various people being either wacky fruit-themed superheroes, scissor-wielding gangsters or aliens. But Maruyama decides that he needs a hobby to distract him from such childish preoccupations, one that will bring focus and maturity – like attempting to orally do one’s own dong. However, he later befriends a dorky, uncharismatic single father, Shimoi (played with surprising ability by Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, a member of the ageless Japanese boy band SMAP), who encourages him to embrace his fantasies. Real life can be more strange than any fantasy, and a bit of strangeness is nothing to be ashamed of, but celebrated.
Maruyama’s world is undeniably ridiculous and entertaining (and sometimes sticky) as the imagination of a teen could be. And despite Maruyama’s overarching ambition to boldly try what many men have tried before (and failed, and the few that do make a career out of it), a sweet, innocent quality exists, thanks to director Kankuro Kudo’s affectionate treatment of him and all the eccentric and flawed characters that populate the neighbourhood. It’s quite an accomplishment that “Maruyama” manages to build a more substantial film on such an unlikely basis, and it results in a film that’s like a funnier combination of a Wes Andersen and Michel Gondry movie. Hiraoka Takuma, being close to the age of the character Maruyama that he plays, embodies the innocence and determined Maruyama well, shining with youthful enthusiasm, embarrassment and determination as he takes his character from zero to hero. The whole ensemble cast is perfect in their various roles, obviously having a lot of fun, from Kenji Endo’s geriatric grandfather with a surprising ability, and Maki Sakai as Maruyama’s Korean drama-obsessed mother.
It’s hard for any film to sustain the initial novelty of the first half right to the end, and “Maruyama” suffers the same problem as it gets a bit flaccid towards the end. However, the film still climaxes in a satisfactory way that, while lacking in the same vigor and energy of the start, manages to tie up all the plot threads and situations. While “Maruyama’s” length is a bit too long for comfort, overall, it charms with its humor and originality – not bad for a film that started off with auto-fellatio.
Maruyama the Middle Schooler (Chuugakusei Maruyama) by Kankuro Kudo, released in Japan April 21 2013, starring Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, Hiraoka Takuma, Kenji Endo, Yang Ik-June, Maki Sakai, Toru Nakamura, Nanami Nabemoto, Yuiko Kariya
