The trailer for “The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom,” a short documentary about the aftermath of the March 11th disaster:

Survivors in the areas hardest hit by Japan’s recent tsunami find the courage to revive and rebuild as cherry blossom season begins.

A stunning visual poem about the ephemeral nature of life and the healing power of Japan’s most beloved flower.

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CNN’s InAmerica blog has an article that discusses the fact that upcoming American remakes of Japanese films are going to cast white American actors to play characters that were originally Japanese:

Tom Cruise is rumored to be in talks to play the lead role in the Warner Bros. adaptation of Japanese novel “All You Need is Kill,” replacing a Japanese main character. Warner Bros., which is owned by the same parent company as CNN, is also in the pre-production stages of making a live-action version of “Akira,” a graphic novel that was made into a landmark 1988 animated feature film in Japan. All of the actors rumored to be in consideration for the upcoming film’s main characters are white Americans, although casting calls invited actors of “any race” to audition.

That’s troubling to both the series’ devoted fans and advocates of diversity in casting.

Similar things happen in the Japanese film industry, as some of you may remember from a recent post about Hiroshi Abe playing an Roman in the “Thermae Romae” movie. And “Sideways” was remade with a Japanese cast.

For those who have missed it, here is Harry Partridge‘s hilarious take on the issue of American remakes:

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Here’s the trailer for Last Message, a short movie that was recently filmed in the tsunami-hit areas of Tohoku:

A wealthy, independent Japanese woman is in search of her grandfather who is lost in the tsunami chaos. Throughout her journey, she discovers herself and the importance of life.

By capturing real scenes of the devastation, it conveys the message of how valuable our lives really are.

For updates on the film, including information about upcoming screenings, please visit its Facebook group.

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Almost nobody in Japan celebrates Easter, but the movie is still being marketed under a new title that emphasizes its association with Easter. In place of its original title, the movie is called “Easter Rabbit’s Candy Factory” in Japanese (イースターラビットのキャンディ工場).

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Domestically produced war films or television series have always been controversial, the reason being that the enemy is always portrayed as having low intelligence, dying immediately upon shot. Whereas our military are all incomparably heroic, almost invincible and ever victorious.

Look at these pictures below, they’ll definitely dumbfound/stun you.

[...]
AK-47! In the 30’s and 40’s did China already have such a divine weapon??!

The Japanese Army [of WW2] equipped with the extremely advanced weapon, the AK! Note the red circle!

View the rest of the silly pictures and translations of Chinese netizens’ comments here.

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Actor James Franco is being considered for the role of Kaneda in the American live-action adaptation of the classic Japanese anime film “Akira”:

Filmmakers Albert and Allen Hughes (The Book of Eli) are collaborating with Iron Man/Cowboys & Aliens co-screenwriters Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby on the live-action version of Akira, which shifts the setting from futuristic Tokyo to Manhattan. According to Just Jared, Franco would star as the leader of a biker gang (a character named Shotaro Kaneda in the original manga/anime), whose comrade is kidnapped by the government and subjugated to scientific experiments that cause him to develop dangerous psychic powers.

While Franco is arguably a more convincing choice to play the head of an anarchistic gang than Zac Efron, the 32-year-old actor seems a bit much on the mature side to star as an adolescent rebel. The Hughes Brothers movie might feature a significantly re-worked version of the Kaneda character, so that he’s more of a fully grown, Mad Max breed of ruffian than a futuristic James Dean type – if so, Franco being cast makes more sense.

Unofficial fan trailer for this movie:

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If you’ve been watching a lot of Japanese TV lately, you’ve probably noticed that there are many commercials for a new war movie, Taiheiyō no kiseki –fokksu to yobareta otoko ( 太平洋の奇跡−フォックスと呼ばれた男−, or, Miracle of the Pacific: The Man Called Fox). It’s based on the story of Sakae Oba, a Japanese officer who refused to surrender when American forces captured Saipan in 1944:

On 7 July, Captain Ōba and his men participated in the largest banzai charge of the war in the Pacific. After 15 hours of intense and unrelenting hand to hand combat, almost 4,300 Japanese soldiers were dead. Allied forces declared the island secured on 9 July 1944. By 30 September 1944, the Japanese Army made an official presumption of death for all personnel of unknown status and they were declared killed in action. That included Captain Ōba, and he was awarded a “posthumous” promotion to Major.

In reality, Captain Ōba survived the battle and took command of 46 other soldiers. Ōba then led over 200 Japanese civilians deeper into the jungles to evade capture. He and his men organized the civilians and placed them in mountain caves and hidden jungle villages. When the soldiers were not assisting the civilians with survival tasks, Captain Ōba and his men continued their battle against the garrison of U.S. Marines. Ōba used Mount Tapochau as their primary base; at 473 meters (1,552 ft), the peak offered an unobstructed 360-degree view of the island. From their base camp on the western slope of the mountain, Ōba and his men occasionally conducted guerilla-style raids on American positions. Due to the speed and stealth of these operations, and the frustrated attempts to find him, the Marines on Saipan eventually referred to Ōba as “The Fox”.

Captain Ōba and his men held out on the island for 512 days, or about 16 months. On 27 November 1945, former Major General Umahachi Amō, commander of the 9th Independent Mixed Brigade during the Battle of Saipan, was able to draw out some of the Japanese in hiding by singing the anthem of the Japanese infantry branch. Amō was then able present documents from the defunct Imperial General Headquarters to Captain Ōba ordering him and his men to surrender themselves to the Americans. On 1 December 1945, three months after the official surrender of Japan, the Japanese soldiers gathered once more on Mt. Tapochau and sang a song of departure to the spirits of the war dead. Ōba then led his people out of the jungle and they presented themselves to the Marines of the 18th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Company. With great formality and commensurate dignity, Captain Ōba surrendered his sword to Lieutenant Colonel Howard G. Kurgis, and his men surrendered their arms and colors. They were the last organized resistance of Japanese forces on Saipan.

The movie seems to place emphasis on how Oba saved the lives of civilians by helping them hide in the jungles. Considering the fact that many other Japanese civilians died in the battle and thousands committed suicide rather than face capture, Oba’s actions probably did save some from such a fate.

Here’s a couple trailers for the film (which demonstrate how the f-word is perfectly okay in Japanese movie previews):

From the trailers, we can see that Oba gets major hero treatment in the movie. In addition to saving babies and convincing his fellow Japanese keep living, he also seems to earn the respect of his American foes.

There are also a few seconds of footage that show Toshiaki Karasawa’s character:

Karasawa plays an ex-Yakuza who fights alongside Oba. He shaved his head and bulked-up for the role, making him look very different from his typical appearance.

According to the Saipan Tribune, the film is expected to help the island’s tourism industry:

The movie has also sparked interest from tour agency Kinki Nippon Tourist (KNT), which is developing a special tour package to Saipan, with Japanese tourists expected to visit the major sites shown in the movie. KNT’s tour also offers a 300 Yen Discount coupon to view the movie.

“Despite our limited resources, we agree this tour program is a worthwhile promotion and are allocating a portion of the Japan office’s baseline budget to support its development,” said Bateman.

The film hits theaters across Japan on February 11th. I haven’t seen any information about an international release date, but its IMDB page shows that the film has been given the English title of “Oba: The Last Samurai” (based on a book of the same title).

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This morning, I came across the trailer of an interesting-looking documentary about Japanese women who moved to New York to achieve career and life goals that they didn’t believe were possible within Japan:

“I love my mother, but I just don’t want to be like her.” Why would successful women from the world’s second largest economic power choose to start their lives in New York City? This documentary film explores how several Japanese women struggle to reconcile their traditional upbringing and their desire to create unique lives. To understand these struggles, the director, Kyoko Gasha, shows the deep, powerful influences of Japanese culture on her own life. Kyoko has uncovered stories of other Japanese women in New York City, weaving parallel tales of guilt, sacrifice and joy. This is a story of cultures clashing on a personal level.

A schedule of screenings can be found on the film’s official website.

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We found this reel among my grandfather’s things after he died. Buzz Wagner was born and raised in Kariuzawa, Japan. He lived there in the 20′s and 30′s and came back to the states just before the War. His father was a missionary and a film nut. We’ve got some great footage from his life that I am currently assembling into a documentary. This animation must have been something my great grandfather picked up along the way.

However, we don’t have a clue what this is from or who created it. If anyone has any information about this film, please get in contact with me. Thanks!!

Subtitles graciously provided by Jon Nilsen

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Fast Retailing-owned casual wear chain operator Uniqlo is selling a new batch of T-shirts commemorating the film adaptation of the 1987 literary work, according to a company news release. The cotton tee design depicts various scenes from the novel, a story set in the 1960s about a sensitive university student’s tribulations of love and loss. There are nine pictures printed on the front as well as the title. The shirts, which went on sale earlier this week, are available for 1,500 yen ($18) at the select Uniqlo outlets in Japan and online. The film opens in Japan Dec. 11.

The retail chain is also throwing in an extra goody to Murakami devotees: a discount off the admission ticket to go watch the film. Adult theatergoers receive a 300 yen markdown and students and children tickets are 200 yen off.

The trailer, if you haven’t heard about the film yet:

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This feature documentary is an experiential journey into the mystical practices of Japanese mountain asceticism. In Shugendô (The Way of Acquiring Power), practitioners perform ritual actions from shamanism, “Shintô,” Daoism, and Tantric Buddhism. They seek experiential truth of the teachings during arduous climbs in sacred mountains. Through the peace and beauty of the natural world, practitioners purify the six roots of perception, revitalize their energy and reconnect with their truest nature – all while grasping the fundamental interconnectedness with nature and all sentient beings.

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Samurai movies once made Japanese cinema famous worldwide.

In the 1950s, films such as the Seven Samurai by Akiro Kurosawa were extremely popular both in Japan and abroad.

But waning interest is now leaving many of Japan’s silver screen swordsmen out of work.

They probably have a point about the decline of samurai action movies, but it is a pretty huge stretch to claim that Japan’s samurai heritage is “dying out” because choreographed sword-fighting scenes aren’t as popular as they used to be.

Al Jazeera fails to inform viewers about the huge “history boom” taking place in Japan right now, which can be observed in high ratings for N-H-K’s historical TV dramas, sales of samurai-related video games, and increased tourism to castles and other samurai-related attractions.

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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.

[...]

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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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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Just a little update on the progress of Hollywood’s live-action remake of the classic Japanese anime movie AKIRA:

A live-action “Akira” film is on the way courtesy of director Albert Hughes (“From Hell,” “The Book of Eli”) and newly hired screenwriter Albert Torres. According to producer Andrew Lazar, the first film will cover the first three of Katsuhiro Otomo’s “Akira” manga volumes, with a hopeful sequel set to cover the next three volumes.

It seems that both the writer in the director don’t particularly have a lot of great films under their belts. It’s probably best not to expect much from this movie.

Heck, it might even be as bad as this:

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The clip shows some footage of right wing sound trucks protesting in front of a theater in Yokohama that will be screening the documentary. The narrator notes that the protest groups “claim to be” political organizations (「政治結社」を名乗る団体).

Unplugged Inc. said the film would be shown at six movie theatres from July 3 in major Japanese cities including Tokyo, with 16 other cinemas following suit.

It will be the first commercial screenings of the film at Japanese movie theatres, though the distributor has already carried out a one-time show at promotion events and an online screening.

“We will consider measures to deal with expected protests and try to avoid putting strain on the theatres,” Unplugged representative Takeshi Kato said.

The Yomiuri, Japan’s biggest newspaper, ran an editorial denouncing the right wing protesters. The Mainichi, the Asahi, and other papers have taken similar stances. The new theaters that have decided to screen the film in Tokyo may be doing so out of a desire to promote freedom of expression, but I’m guessing that the large amount of Japanese media coverage about the film has also convinced some of them that a lot of people will want to buy tickets to the film after reading about the controversy in newspapers.

The New York Times, which had described the situation surrounding the Japanese release of “The Cove” as a “stark example as well of how public debate on topics deemed delicate here can be easily muffled by a small minority,” has now run a much smaller article noting the new development.

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“The Cove” has been having a hard time getting screened in Japan. The Society to Seek the Restoration of Sovereignty (who have been mentioned on this blog in the past for their protests against the Yamanote Halloween train and North Korean schools in Japan) has promised to hold loud protests outside of any theater that screens it, prompting a couple theaters in Tokyo to drop the film from their scheduled line up. Japanese journalists, including some right wingers, have criticized the protesters and voiced support for the idea of the movie being allowed to screen. However, the Society to Seek the Restoration of Sovereignty won’t back off from its mission to stop the film. Movie theaters, which care primarily care about profitability, aren’t willing to take the heat from protests that could drive away potential customers.

The situation is an interesting one. The Society to Seek the Restoration of Sovereignty has been carrying out loud protests against various businesses and organizations for years now without being hauled away by the police, so their activities are apparently a legal form of free expression. If their protests, or the threat of holding such a protest, convinces a theater to drop a planned screening of a film, are we to interpret this as a vile act of censorship (as many in the Western media have)? We might find their views to be crazy and extreme, but one could argue that these right-wingers also have a right to non-violent protest against businesses that are trying to make money selling tickets to a film they believe to be anti-Japanese. One could even argue that their activism could be compared to Japan Probe’s past campaign against the Family Mart’s sale of an anti-foreign magazine. Is this an example of freedom of expression being crushed through the “censorship” of a film, or an example freedom of expression succeeding in the form of grassroots activists forcing a business to stop profiting from the screening of a biased and unfair documentary?

The latest attempt by film’s distributor to introduce Japanese viewers to the film will be harder for the right-wingers to protest. It will be held in a location where customers cannot be scared off by street protests and it will free:

An Internet service company will show “The Cove” online free of charge Friday and invite public comment, after theaters canceled screenings due to rightist opposition to the film’s depiction of a dolphin hunt.

Niwango Inc., which shows streaming video on the Internet, said Thursday it is inviting people to write opinions via Twitter and e-mail for an open exchange of views on the Oscar-winning documentary that shows the annual hunt in Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture.

The information page about the screening can be found here (in Japanese).

The viewing will apparently be limited to 2,000 users, and assuming that right-wing netizens don’t snatch up every place, it should produce some interesting online reactions to the film.

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And in case you missed it, here’s the teaser for the movie:

But please wait before spending money on a movie ticket – reviews by Ken Y-N at What Japan Thinks and a reader of MutantFrog warn that the film is pretty crappy. Apparently it is a cheaply produced filmed full of bad acting and painfully obvious product placement. It also seems to be set in a fantasy world where no Japanese person ever uses the word “gaijin.”

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Babies is a documentary film by Thomas Balmes, depicting the early lives of four infants growing up in Mongolia, Namibia, San Francisco and Tokyo, respectively. The film is scheduled to be released in the United States by Focus Features on April 16, 2010.

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[hat tip to Jean Snow]

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Got some free time today? Why not watch Wings of Defeat, which will be viewable today (December 22nd) on NewDay dot com:

Wings of Defeat brings viewers behind the scenes of World War II’s Pacific theater to reveal the truth about the Kamikaze—the “suicide bombers” of their day. Interviews with surviving kamikaze, rare battle footage and Japanese propaganda reveal a side of WWII never before shown on film. American vets from the greatest generation tell harrowing tales of how they survived attacks. Wings of Defeat shatters the myth of the fanatical kamikaze to reveal a generation of men forced to pay for an empire’s pride with their lives.

Just go to this page and click the watch button under “FREE title of the day” in the bottom right corner.

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Jaden Smith’s character moves to Beijing with his mother, where he encounters a bully situation similar to Macchio’s in his new locale. Smith’s character will be named Dre instead of Daniel, and take lessons from Chinese martial arts master Mr. Han, played by Jackie Chan.

Whereas Daniel Larusso and his mother only faced a regional move across the United States in the the first film, the producers say the script will integrate language barriers and an international collision of world views into the bully-victim-turned-martial-artist tale.

View the rest of the stills here.

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“Young Victoria” director Jean-Marc Vallee has found his next project: “Lost Girls and Love Hotels.”

Kate Bosworth is attached to star and is also producing with Relativity Media.

Nadia Conners wrote the screenplay, which adapts Catherine Hanrahan’s 2006 novel.

Here’s a Publishers’ Weekly description of the book featured on its Amazon page:

Margaret, a 20-something Canadian, has fled to Tokyo to escape her past and now instructs aspiring stewardesses in “cabin-crew and airline interview English.” By night, she numbs herself with drink and dangerous sex. Her story, as readers learn in alternating chapters, features an imploding family and a dangerously schizophrenic brother. Though Margaret is less than convincing as a narrator, her surreal Tokyo encounters propel the book: a barkeep who communicates with lines from Beatles songs, speakers in public bathrooms that broadcast flushing sounds, a rent-a-dog park, a Western slacker who gigs as a fake wedding minister. And, of course, the automated love hotels that Margaret frequents with a Japanese gangster. The plot lurches forward—Margaret becomes fixated on a missing Western girl, gets fired and hooks up with a man whose name she never learns before her roommate flees. There’s redemption to be gained, but the fractured narrative feels like a string of bizarre moments.

Yakuza gangsters, wacky toilets, gaijin wedding ministers, and renting pets? Sounds like it’s got all the exotic and strange stuff that a Western audience would like and expect to see in a story about Japan. Maybe they can also throw in some robots and sex dolls?

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- This is more strategic warfare. Again, since the alien tech is not unbeatable or far beyond our own, and since Berg wants to reflect the game, the battle won’t be about our Navy fighting an unstoppable opponent but rather about two evenly matched groups out-thinking one another through strategy.

Berg: Some take more shots to sink and kill than do others. Just like our ships. But they’re killable.

- Someone will say ‘You sank my battleship!’ in the movie. In fact, Berg is adamant that it has to be there. He also said there will be other nods to the game.

Berg: Hells yeah!

- The hero fleet will be cut off from the rest of the world in some way. There will be a five ship fleet taking on The Regents, and for whatever reason, they cannot communicate with the rest of the Navy and so must handle the threat on their own.

- The hero fleet will have an international component. One of the ships will be Japanese. Will this Japanese ship be part of the WWII component? Unclear.

- There will be close quarters fighting. In the Navy they call it a ‘knife fight,’ when two ships are close enough to fire small caliber weapons at one another (keep in mind that in the Navy a small caliber weapon is a huge machine gun. That’s small when compared to the mammoth 5 inch rounds the destroyer’s main gun fires).

- Berg wants to make Battleship as realistic a look at naval battle as possible, considering the bad guys are aliens. Berg opted not to have any Earthly foe because he thought the plot gymanstics required to explain why the US Navy is at war with any of the comparable navies would be too much.

Berg: The idea of finding a credible context for that eluded me. The idea of a film where America goes to war against China, or a movie where America goes to war against England or Australia or Japan, one of the countries that has a credible navy, felt like it would borderline on some kind of jingoistic American military exercise I couldn’t get my head around. I like the idea of something bigger, larger than life and the challenge it presented.

Perhaps he can draw some inspiration from anime and have the Japanese revive the Yamato to battle against evil aliens.

[hat tip to Ryuganji]

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Fumiko’s Confession is an adorable and exciting short film. What is really remarkable about it is that it was animated by just one person, who is bound to be very successful in the future. You can see more from the creator here.

[via yonasu]

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[hat tip to Jason Gray]

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Trailer of KINGYO (2009), written and directed by Edmund Yeo. Produced by Maiko Itagaki. Starring Luchino Rujisaki, Takao Kawaguchi and Kudo Amane. Inspired by a Yasunari Kawabata short story.

SYNOPSIS
Based on a Yasunari Kawabata short story. A university professor (Takao Kawaguchi) decides to go for a tour in Akihabara, guided by a young woman (Luchino Fujisaki) dressed up like a French maid. As they both walk through the streets of modern Tokyo, the man and the young woman gradually speak of a past they both share, and ultimately a painful love triangle that continues to haunt them.

Selected for competition at the 66th Venice Film Festival.

More information can be found at the film’s official homepage. Regular updates about screenings of the film can be found on Edmund Yeo’s blog.

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The trailer for Tengu, a new movie by Swiss filmmaker Roger Walch:

David (Ted Taylor) comes to Japan for one week to study traditional legends. He is supposed to meet Professor Ozawa, a leading expert in the field. But when he arrives, he gets picked up by Ozawa’s two female assistants, Sanae (Mimori Sento) and Manami (Sakiko Ikegami). They bring him to a traditional guest-house and accompany him during his stay. A strange man in the bath house (Kan Mikami) tells David about the local Tengu legend. Tengu are a class of well known monster-spirits with a long nose and a red face who live in the Japanese forests and mountains. David is immediately fascinated. But the more he finds out about the Tengu, the more he is drawn into his own past-life.

Walch informs us that the film will be screening next Thursday (July 23rd) at Cinema Skhole in Nagoya at 19:00.

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１９４５，Aug 15: some Japanese soldiers who survived didn’t return to their home country.
These are notes from them after 60 years from the end of the war.
More soldiers died from sickness than being killed in the battle by being shot.
He is a poor guy, the Japanese army left him alone.
There were hellish battle fields in Asia.
There were dead bodies after dead bodies along the road: they were Japanese soldiers. Their heads being cut off.
190,000 Japanese soldiers were killed in Burma in the Pacific War.
I suffer. My heart suffers.
Why didn’t they return?
I could but I didn’t.
I decided to marry him after the war. I had to.
What is life? What is family? And what is War?
I always think of my life, and it is impossible for us to live in Japan and it is hard to live in Burma
Another story of the post-war—”FLOWERS & TROOPS”
We want to leave this message NOW.

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Gere’s new movie, Hachi, will be introducing the famous true story of Hachiko to an international audience. It will hit theaters in Japan on August 8th.

Here’s the Japanese teaser/trailer for the movie:

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[via JapanSoc/FilmDrunk]

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In case you’re wondering, here’s how it’s being advertised on Japanese TV:

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There’s lots to hate about the shlocky Tokyo Gore Police. The editing and length for example. But there was a certain charm to it–I for one dug the neo-feudal Japanese police outfits. So if you want a movie that seems to be almost the same, right down to the similar plots, more neo-feudal outfits, wrist cutting teenager fun, music, and a few of the actors and their associated head gear… uh am I missing any? Oh yeah: and gore, then Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girl may be for you.

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