Archive for July, 2010

Ken Watanabe to Direct “Go For Broke” Movie?

A check of Japanese actor Ken Watanabe’s imdb page this morning has revealed that it is rumored he will be the director of a new film about the 442nd Infantry Regiment, a unit of mostly Japanese-Americans that fought in Europe during World War II:

The independent project is one that would seem to suit the actor: It’s called 442nd, and it’s about the true story of an American-Japanese military unit assembled during World War II and sent on virtual suicide missions in the European theater. For their efforts against the Nazis, that unit go on to become the most decorated unit in American military history.

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The project is currently being assembled by producer Bill Gerber (Gran Torino) and Roar, the management and production company that represents Watanabe and the two Hemsworth brothers. We’ll see where this goes, and bring you more information as it becomes available.

“Go For Broke,” a 1951 film about the regiment that uses its official motto as its title, is probably the most well-known movie about the unit. It is now in the public domain, so anyone can watch the entire movie for free via YouTube:

Those who are interested in this topic also might want to check out the new documentary “442,” which was directed by Junichi Suzuki.

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Baseball Chimpanzee

Genius chimpanzee Pan-kun plays some baseball with Ken Shimura (from Saturday night’s episode of “Shimura Zoo”):

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Lucky Star Town Plagued by Otaku Gets Its Own Movie

The anime Lucky Star, with it’s catchy opening credits set in the town of Washinomiya, has had quite an effect on the area. Otaku fans of the show have been making pilgrimages to Washinomiya Shrine and other local spots to see and recreate the scenes from the anime for themselves.

Now there is a movie about the effects on the town. According to the official web page, the whole thing got kicked off at the urging of Keiichi Kitagawa, a producer behind the popular dorama Nobuta wo Produce. An parodical film was made with local residents (viewable here) which became pretty popular and the challenge was laid down to produce an actual film.

Here’s the plot to the film: When the pretty boy main character returns to his hometown of Washinomiya, looking for ideas to make a film, he finds home has become an anime nerd mecca and is a bit confused. Still, he gathers his college friends to plan out his movie whilst being nagged by his old lady friend who is now a shrine maiden. All this goes down at the last minute and they have to put together a presentation that the town elders will will approve of.
Here’s the preview:

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Contributor Bio: Claytonian blogs and vlogs about Japan, language, and news at The Hopeless Romantic. He is currently working on his own meta-movie within a movie based upon a parody about a town that was affected by something not real.
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International Tokyo Toy Show 2010

The International Tokyo Toy Show is being held this weekend at the Big Sight. Here are a few video clips showing some of the neat new toys that are on display:

The highlights seem to be stuff like Yummy Dough you are supposed to eat, gummy insects, a Ryo Ishikawa golf game, and a scrunchie designer.

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Giant Hornet Nest Attached to Window

ATV visits a restaurant with a window that has a splendid and terrifying view of the inside of a nest of giant hornets:

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Narita Sky Access

Narita Sky Access, a new high speed train that can travel between Nippori (in Tokyo) to Narita Airport in just 36 minutes, has gone into service. As the Yomiuri notes, the new train is considerably faster the JR’s Narita Express:

The fastest of East Japan Railway Co.’s Narita Express services, for instance, take about 50 minutes to reach the airport from central Tokyo.

To combat the rival service, JR recently introduced new, feature-laden cars to its Narita Express trains.

Competition between the two companies is intensifying as they try to attract people who would otherwise use buses or private transport to get to the airport.

Sky Access trains will travel a 51.4-kilometer route, part of which will be along the recently built Narita Rapid Railway Access Line–a change from the route taken by Keisei’s current Skyliner Airport Express trains, which run on the Keisei Line.

Keisei plans to provide a total of 54 Sky Access services to and from the airport every day.

While their new train is indeed fast, Nippori isn’t exactly a super convenient location. JR’s Narita Express has a far longer reach, allowing people to board at Omiya and Yokohama, so it will probably continue to enjoy a considerable amount of business from people who live in Saitama and Kanagawa prefectures.

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