Gauche the Cellist [Google video, 63 minutes] is based on a story [Japanese; English translation #1, #2] by Kenji Miyazawa, one of the most-loved poet/storytellers in Japan (Miyazaki and Takahata love his works, and have been influenced by him). The movie was made as an independent project by a Japanese animation studio, OH Production (wiki), and took 6 years to complete. It is rather difficult to make a Kenji story into a movie because there are many Japanese just waiting to rip you apart if you screw up, but Gauche has been highly acclaimed, and is considered one of the best Miyazawa movies (IMDb). The story is about a cellist, Gauche, who becomes a better cellist by interacting with animals who visit his home every night. *
posted by filthy light thief
on Oct 8, 2011 -
8 comments
The
benshi of Japan were live narrators of silent films.
"To many 'silent' cinema fans in Japan,
benshi were a major attraction. It was usually the film that drew people to the theater, but it was often the
benshi which determined which theater a person would attend.
Benshi were huge cultural stars of the time, with
benshi earning as much, if not more, than many actors."
[more inside]
posted by Paragon
on Feb 27, 2011 -
17 comments
"The Japanese Tradition" was a series of nine short, parody "How To" videos that gently mocked the formality of Japanese culture, from comedy duo
Rahmens (
ラーメンズ) and Japan Culture Lab. They're
available on DVD, but nearly all of them can be seen on YouTube, including
Sushi and
Ocha (tea).
[more inside]
posted by zarq
on Aug 25, 2010 -
54 comments
Phase — Mother Earth, a piece created by Mono-ha artist Nobuo Sekine in 1968, has been
re-created:
Consisting of a hole dug into the ground, 2.7 metres deep and 2.2 metres in diameter, with the excavated earth compacted into a cylinder of exactly the same dimensions, Phase — Mother Earth was instrumental in the early development of work by the Mono-ha artist group, and has been considered a landmark work in Japanese postwar art history.
More about Mono-ha inside.
[more inside]
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing
on Dec 3, 2008 -
8 comments
Gizmine - "the world's largest Japanese gadgets and lifestyle design shop." Viewable by color, theme, price, popularity, or brand.
posted by Manhasset
on Nov 26, 2008 -
11 comments
"There's something very shabby about a noble grave... Political power and the power of wealth result in splendid graves. Really impressive graves, you know. Such creatures never had any imagination while they lived, and quite naturally their graves don't leave any room for imagination either. But noble people live only on the imaginations of themselves and others, and so they leave graves like this one which inevitably stir one's imagination. And this I find even more wretched. Such people, you see, are obliged even after they are dead to continue begging people to use their power of imagination." -
Yukio Mishima via Kashiwagi in
The Temple of the Golden Pavilion. On this, the anniversary of Mishima's transformation into a headless god, a collection of video links.
[more inside]
posted by eccnineten
on Nov 25, 2008 -
11 comments
In a series of sixteen advertisements screened in Japan, Tommy Lee Jones plays extraterrestrial 'Alien Jones', who has taken the form of a man to check on the world of humans, all the while drinking a Japanese brand of coffee named
BOSS. I have no idea how Tommy Lee Jones got talked into doing these advertisements, or why. And after watching them for yourself (
1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
8,
9,
10,
11,
12,
13,
14,
15,
16), you probably won't either.
posted by Effigy2000
on Nov 23, 2008 -
85 comments
The Japanese Trailer to Kokoro Scan. Japanese game trailers always seem pretty interesting and fun. And, well, most often more-or-less nonsensical. This is for the new game
Kokoro Scan, which, um, looks like it might be a dating sim of some sort? Maybe? The animation and segues are pretty interesting, and, though it's 6 minutes -- awfully long for a trailer, particularly one sans any gameplay (I think) -- it's interesting/off-the-wall enough to be engaging. What do cartoon nipples, pixellated white things and bananas have in common?
(via)
posted by Rev. Syung Myung Me
on Aug 3, 2007 -
13 comments
The
true story of Yamamoto Otokichi (or John Matthew Ottoson, a transliteration of "Oto-san"): a Japanese seaman who in 1832 got caught in a storm off the coast of Japan and ended up floating all the way across the Pacific, becoming the first Japanese (documented, at least) in North America. And that's only the introduction to his story. To get back to Japan he traveled around the world, setting many firsts for a Japanese native, and played a part as the inspiration for
Commodore Matthew Perry and his
"Black Ships." Although barely a
footnote in history, in 2005 half of his ashes were
brought back to Japan to rest in home soil.
posted by switchsonic
on Jul 4, 2007 -
20 comments
Comedy duo,
Ramenz (ラーメンズ), aka Kobayashi Kentaro and Katagiri Jin, also known as the Japanese versions of
Mac and PC, have recently done a number of shorts collectively called "The Japanese Tradition." Apparently, these tongue-in-cheek pseudo-instructional vids about famous aspects of Japanese culture (
Tea,
Chopsticks,
Sushi,
Origami,
Apology,
Onigiri, and
Relationships) have been fooling a lot of non-natives into thinking they are actual guides. (YouTube, each approx 4-6 min).
posted by ikahime
on Mar 29, 2007 -
35 comments
Geiko of Kyoto is a stunning photo gallery of Kyotos's Geisha - both the mature Geiko and the apprentice Maiko. Melissa Chasse annotates many photos with fascinating details and offers an account of her tea party with
Mamechika, a lovely Maiko. For more, this
lovely Geisha site offers a brief history from the era of the floating world, more photos, Ukiyo-e art, and links. Also see y2karls' prior definitive post on
ukiyo-e.
posted by madamjujujive
on Sep 23, 2006 -
17 comments
Katatsumuri (Escargone) (mirror
here, in case you don't want to sit through a commercial), a Super Mario-ish Flash game from Japan, except instead of an Italian plumber, you are a snail. With a mustache. From the fine folks at
SKT.
Left click to jump, left click and hold to climb walls, reach the end-of-level ring before the time runs out. Watch the animation before each level to see what new obstacles and enemies are in store.
posted by Gator
on Jul 22, 2006 -
8 comments
Gimmie Gimmie Octopus is apparently a Japanese children's television show from the 1960s.
Yes, it's YouTube, but at least there's no lip synching.
posted by klausness
on Jun 18, 2006 -
13 comments
Kintaro Walks Japan A Google Video featuring an American who walks from Kyushu to Hokkaido in the hopes of learning about Japanese Culture and finding his father's birthplace.
(Running time ~ 1hr)
posted by matkline
on Jan 9, 2006 -
15 comments
Tokyo Times is an insightful, well-written blog dedicated to Japanese culture, books, current affairs, news, sex, random images and observations of life, as seen through the eyes of an English expat living in Tokyo.
posted by darkstar
on Jun 18, 2005 -
13 comments
