Here is some info on the book:

Building on and bringing up to date the material presented in the first installment of “Directory of World Cinema: Japan”, this volume continues the exploration of the enduring classics, cult favorites, and contemporary blockbusters of Japanese cinema with new contributions from leading critics and film scholars. Among the additions to this volume are in-depth treatments of two previously unexplored genres – youth cinema and films depicting lower-class settings – considered alongside discussions of popular narrative forms, including J-Horror, samurai cinema, anime, and the Japanese New Wave. Accompanying the critical essays in this volume are more than 150 new film reviews, complemented by full-colour film stills, and significantly expanded references for further study. From the Golden Age to the film festival favourites of today, “Directory of World Cinema: Japan 2″ completes this comprehensive treatment of a consistently fascinating national cinema.

You can pre-order the volume at these locations:

Amazon.com

Amazon.co.uk

As someone who is a contributor to this volume, I can vouch and say that it will be a fantastic release and great educational resource for those interested in foreign cinema!

Here is the link to the new site: http://www.visualnippon.com/

Please check it out and subscribe, review, and comment on our page on iTunes. Please check it out and subscribe, review, and comment on our page on iTunes, as well as like our podcast Facebook page and subscribe to our podcast Twitter account if you can. We would really appreciate it.

Anyways, we will be having more listener participation in the near future, so we will be taking your comments and questions and implementing them into our future podcast episodes. We will also be having more guests in the future too. Thanks for all your continued support!

The Japan Society is showcasing some fantastic films, so if you’re in the New York area, please check them out! Here is the information below:

This winter, a new Japan Society film series tells the multifaceted story of Japan’s quest for Empire and its tragic downfall, as seen through the eyes of filmmakers from Japan and China.

In four epoch-making titles, Shadows of the Rising Sun explores the conflagration and its dreadful consequences: the feature films presented, from Kon Ichikawa’s 1959 arch-classic Fires on the Plain to Koji Wakamatsu’s recent and controversial shocker Caterpillar (which earned main actress Shinobu Terajima the 2010 Silver Bear for Best Actress at the Berlin Film Festival),  go to the confines of history and truth, beyond the bright madness of battle and heroism, into the metaphysical realm of death, evil, sacrifice and the sublime.

Schedules:

Fires on the Plain at 7:30 p.m. Friday, December 10

Caterpillar at 7:00 p.m. Saturday, December 11 (New York Premiere)

Devils on the Doorstep at 4:00 p.m. Sunday, December 12

Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence at 7:00 p.m. Sunday, December 12

Experience these four exceptional films during a one-weekend only event. More information on Shadows of the Rising Sun: Cinema and Empire can be found at the following URL:

http://www.japansociety.org/film

2010-2011 Monthly Classics trailer below:

LOVE AND ROBOTS COME TOGETHER IN FUN NEW POP ART EXHIBIT LOVE MOVEMENT OPENING IN DECEMBER AT SUPERFROG GALLERY

Custom Painted Designer Vinyl Toys From Over 50 International Artists Celebrating Love In A New Installation Are On Display Through January

San Francisco, CA, November 30, 2010 – NEW PEOPLE‘s SUPERFROG Gallery is proud to announce the opening of a brand new pop art exhibit – LOVE MOVEMENT – opening on Saturday, December 11^th. LOVE MOVEMENT is an inventive art show utilizing vinyl toys to deliver universal messages about love.

American, Japanese, Australian and European artists were given blank versions of toys designed by recently married artists, Shin Tanaka and Nao Shimojo. The finished works will be exhibited at SUPERFROG Gallery in San Francisco with an opening reception scheduled for 7:00pm on Saturday, December 11^th. Tanaka, Shimojo and over a dozen other participating artists will attend. The exhibit is free to attend and runs through January 16^th. The artists are also offering an innovative way to join the LOVE MOVEMENT from afar. Using Kickstarter, a new fundraising platform for creative ideas, Tanaka hopes to gather, and then write, lovers’ names on the gallery wall. The project runs through December 10^th. More details are available at: www.kickstarter.com/projects/jeremyriad/join-the-love-movement-art-toy-show

As part of the LOVE MOVEMENT’s Grand Opening on Saturday, also on display will be a special projection box, a Japanese beat-boxer performance, and live painting and paper toy-making demonstrations. In addition to the pieces from over 50 artists, SUPERFROG will also present several original canvases by Shin Tanaka, as well as custom paper and vinyl toys in exclusive color schemes that will be on display and also for sale. Other featured artists include: Ayumi Urayama, Bwana Spoons, Colin & Sas Christian, Devilrobots, Frank Kozik, Huck Gee, Jason Freeny, Jason Siu, Jermaine Rogers, Jon Burgerman, Kanna Inoue, Kaijin, Nathan Jurevicius, Noferin, NOOKA, Superdeux, TADO, Touma and more.

“Pop art and pop culture come together in this intriguing exhibit that we are proud to open in December at SUPERFROG,” says Seiji Horibuchi, founder of NEW PEOPLE. “The art of designer vinyl is elevated to a new level in these colorful depictions that will captivate visitors of all ages, and as friends and family gather together this holiday season, we invite them to explore the theme of love in this witty new installation.”

About the Designers and Curator
Shin Tanaka is a Tokyo-based artist with roots in the graffiti scene. In 2005, while searching for a new canvas beyond the street, he hit upon the idea of drawing on a toy. Using the experience of origami from his youth, he created toys out of paper. Shin’s paper toys are based on street culture and meant to be accessible to everyone. To date, over 500 artists and brands have joined his paper toy project, and fans around the world print, cut and assemble his designs. Shin has made paper sneakers for the NIKE Design Library in Portland and paper kimonos for The Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities in Stockholm. In 2009, he blended elements of fashion, art and hip-hop for his first vinyl figure, T-BOY. He has also designed functional art toys for Nooka and Mugo. His work is sought after by top brands including Issey Miyake, Scion, Disney and UNIQLO and has been shown in Berlin, Paris, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Osaka and Tokyo. His website is: http://shin.co.nr

Nao Shimojo majored in music at the Tokyo College of Music and briefly studied abroad in Vienna. Filled with inspiration, she returned to Japan and immediately reached out to TOUMA to create the mascots, Kurokuma (Black Bear) DANKE and Shirokuma (White Bear) SCHOEN. Nao opened the DANKESCHOEN online shop in 2008 and became incorporated in 2009. That year, she released the first DANKESCHOEN soft vinyl figures, which sold out immediately. In April of 2010, the DANKESCHOEN exhibition,”100% FREE,” debuted in Taiwan featuring the mascots customized by world-famous artists. Things only got bigger from there with huge DANKE and SCHOEN figures appearing in Misukoshi Department store and DANKESCHOEN participating in Asia’s largest toy shows, Taipei Toy Festival and the MANGA Festival. Nao continues to release high quality limited edition toys. You can always hear her original music compositions in the adorable animations on her website: http://danke-schoen.jp

Jeremy Brautman is a writer and collector known as the “Toy Maven”. His writing has been featured in a variety of media, including ToyCyte, Cool Hunting, Josh Spear, Heeb and Design Bureau. Jeremy met Shin and Nao in Tokyo on his honeymoon in 2009. He was freshly married, Shin and Nao were engaged, and Japan felt like the most welcoming place in the world. Love was everywhere, and Jeremy promised he would get the two artists a show in San Francisco. Shin and Nao are now married, and LOVE MOVEMENT is that show. Jeremy’s website is: http://www.jeremyriad.com

For more information on the LOVE MOVEMENT exhibit or the SUPERFROG Gallery, please visit: www.superfroggallery.com.

About SUPERFROG Gallery

The SUPERFROG Gallery is a spacious exhibit space located on the 3^rd floor of NEW PEOPLE. With a name inspired by a short story written by Haruki Murakami called “Super-Frog Saves Tokyo,” SUPERFROG provides a direct link to emerging artists that draw their inspiration from Japanese popular culture.  More info at: www.SUPERFROGGallery.com

About NEW PEOPLE

NEW PEOPLE offers the latest films, art, fashion and retail brands from Japan and is the creative vision of the J-Pop Center Project and VIZ Pictures, a distributor and producer of Japanese live action film. Located at 1746 Post St. in the heart of San Francisco’s Japantown, the 20,000 square foot structure features a striking 3-floor transparent glass façade that frames a fun and exotic new environment to engage the imagination into the 21^st Century. A dedicated web site is also now available at: www.NewPeopleWorld.com.

A Thoroughly Enjoyable Love Story Between Two Unlikely Characters Is Treated With Savvy And Sophistication By Director Atsushi Ogata; Film Opens At VIZ Cinema In December

San Francisco, CA, November 8, 2010 – VIZ Cinema, the nation’s only movie theatre dedicated to Japanese film, presents Cast me if you can, a charming romantic comedy written and directed by Atsushi Ogata, for a special Bay Area Limited Theatrical Release from Friday, December 10^th to Sunday, December 19^th, following its popular recent theatrical run in Japan this past October. Tickets and screening times are available at: www.vizcinema.com.

Rated #1 film by PIA magazine’s audience survey the opening day in Japan, Cast me if you can tells the story of Hiroshi, a perpetual supporting actor, always mistaken for others and living in the shadow of his famous playwright father, who longs to be a leading man. Hiroshi gets his big break when he is cast in a Woody Allen remake, but a series of misadventures and a chance encounter with his muse Aya, herself an aspiring actress, turns his world upside down. Hiroshi falls for Aya head over heels and struggles to play the lead in his own life.

Premiering at the 13^th Shanghai International Film Festival in June, Cast me if you can also screened at festivals in California, New York, Indiana, Korea and India, won prizes for Best Title Sequence and Best Original Score in Los Angeles, and has also been adapted into a novel and published in Japan by Takeshobo Co. Ltd.

Featured as “Japan’s answer to Woody Allen” in Metropolis Magazine, globetrotting comedy director Atsushi Ogata combines wit, humor, romance and family relations, in collaboration with veteran Japanese star actors Toru Masuoka, Hiromi Nagasaku, Masahiko Tsugawa, Keiko Matsuzaka, and Emoto Akira, and an international crew (seasoned co-writer Akane Shiratori, award-winning composer Jessica de Rooij, Dutch design company United 135, New York based post-production company Cineric, Inc. , producers Eric Nyari and Eriko Miyagawa), to present a romantic comedy which transcends national and cultural borders. Cast me if you can is Ogata’s feature film debut.

VIZ Cinema is the nation’s only movie theatre devoted exclusively to Japanese film and anime. The 143-seat subterranean theatre is located in the basement of the NEW PEOPLE building and features plush seating, digital as well as 35mm projection, and a THX^®-certified sound system.

About NEW PEOPLE

NEW PEOPLE offers the latest films, art, fashion and retail brands from Japan and is the creative vision of the J-Pop Center Project and VIZ Pictures, a distributor and producer of Japanese live action film. Located at 1746 Post Street, the 20,000 square foot structure features a striking 3-floor transparent glass façade that frames a fun and exotic new environment to engage the imagination into the 21^st Century. A dedicated web site is also now available at: www.NewPeopleWorld.com.

Documentary Blends Live Performances And Interviews To Offer New Insights On Unique Music Culture; VIZ Cinema Screening Event To Feature A Live Simulcast Of Performances By Saijanu, Kirihito, And Others From The Forest Limit Club In Tokyo

San Francisco, CA, November 3, 2010 – VIZ Cinema, the nation’s only movie theatre dedicated to Japanese film, takes audiences on a sonic tour through Tokyo’s vibrant and varied underground music culture in LIVE FROM TOKYO, a new documentary directed by Lewis Rapkin. After a sold out premiere at the Asia Society in New York City, LIVE FROM TOKYO’s San Francisco premiere opens at VIZ Cinema for a one-night-only showing and special event beginning at 7:15pm. Tickets, trailers and more information are available at: www.vizcinema.com.

Immediately following the screening, VIZ Cinema and goforaloop Gallery are proud to present a special simulcast of performances from the bands Kirihito, Sajjanu, Yudaya Jazz, and Onnacodomo (all featured in the film), streamed live from the Forest Limit club in Tokyo.

Tokyo’s reputation as a media-saturated hub for global information and cutting-edge innovation makes it the perfect setting for addressing a new outlook on music culture. LIVE FROM TOKYO takes the viewer through the back streets in Shinjuku, the intersections of Shibuya, narrow alleys in Koenji, and all over the city, as it highlights the innovative musicians who create this multi-faceted artistic culture. The film features interviews and live performances by DMBQ, Tenniscoats, Shugo Tokumaru, Nisennenmondai, PARA (ex-Boredoms members), Kirihito, d.v.d., and many more.

Bands and artists featured in Live From Tokyo include:

Saijunu

Sajjanu is a ripping new unit from Tokyo that performs incredibly complex through-composed compositions with few if any repetition. Combining the intensity of the Ruins with the quirkiness of the Boredoms and the compositional integrity of Zappa, Zorn and more, Sajjanu is creating a new Japanese music of infinite possibilities. In addition to releases in Japan, Sajjanu’s album Pechiku!! was released in 2009 on John Zorn’s New York-based Tzadik label.

Kirihito:
“With a reputation for furious, hypnotic live performances, and a sound that evades all attempts to pin it down with the usual genre clichés, Tokyo-based duo Kirihito have gradually carved themselves a position as legends in the underground-music scene.” – The Japan Times

Yudaya Jazz:
As a video artist, Yudaya Jazz, juxtaposes multi-media in a way most people cannot imagine. He synchronizes the images and sounds on an audio/visual platform outfitted with a set of turntables, a laptop, video camera, microphone, multiple projectors and sometimes a piano.

Onnacodomo:
“DJ Codomo, Yasuko Seki and Ruka Noguchi perform in real time using a video camera to capture their spontaneous creations. Shimmering projections are created using water, mirrors and an array of lights, while a world of fantastic images is constructed with found photos, kitchen utensils, toys, stationary, and improvised artwork. Kaleidoscopic, absurd and unreal, Onnacodomo takes you into a slightly-unhinged world that is absolutely original in its conception.”

d.v.d

This electronic art trio blends Japanese technology and artistic innovation in a band. Visual artist Ymg was a CG game developer for Namco, Itoken has provided soundtracks for popular Playstation video games and Jimanica has been a professional drummer in both Tokyo and New York City. Their interactive “live installation” blurs the borders of visual art and music, leaving audiences wondering if they are at a concert, video arcade or art exhibit.

Shugo Tokumaru

Shugo Tokumaru is a multi-instrumentalist claiming to play over 100 instruments on his most recent release and one of today’s most talked-about Japanese musicians. With three albums under his belt, Shugo made his US debut in September of 2009, touring with the Magnetic Fields and performing with members of the National and Beirut. Shugo has also been featured twice on NPR in an in-studio performance and on the World Café.

NISENNENMONDAI

This all-female rock trio from Tokyo has been making noisy, technically challenging, experimental rock for the past decade. Their efforts have not gone unnoticed, as reputable American bands such as Prefuse 73, Lightning Bolt, Battles, and No Age have all shared the stage and spoken outwardly of their admiration for Nisennenmondai.

DMBQ

Drawing heavily from Western rock and roll, garage and noise influences, DMBQ’s high-energy performances and several international tours have made them one of Tokyo’s most lauded underground acts. They have also appeared in SPIN magazine.

Tenniscoats

Tenniscoats is an avant-garde folk duo made up of Saya and Takashi Ueno. Since 2000, Tenniscoats have released albums and also collaborated with a variety of other artists, both Japanese and foreign. In 2008, Tenniscoats collaborated with US-based Indie band Deerhoof in a project called OneOne. Most recently, Tenniscoats collaborated with long-running Scottish band The Pastels on an album called Two Suns.

Tokyo Pinsalocks

Tokyo Pinsalocks is an all-female electro-pop trio who has toured the UK and US including the 2009 US Anime Fest in Boston. They curate and headline Spoon Market, an event series that features “the coolest of female artists – be they musicians, fashion designers, visual artists, or cooks.”

Other featured acts include: Kuruucrew, PARA, The Lady Spade, Makoto Oshiro, Sexy-Synthesizer, Umi No Yeah!, Samm Bennett, Shintaro Miyazaki, W. David Marx, Dr. Jennifer Matsue, Suishou no Fune, Plugdead + Yudaya Jazz, Secai, Nu Clear Classmate, Kelly Churko, Cal Lyall, Kenichi Fumoto, The Muzenji Monk, Taguchi Fumihito, Tayutau, My Pal Foot Foot, Elevation, The Lady Spade, Makoto Oshiro, Henrytennis, Mahiruno, ECD & DJ Illicit Tsuboi, Uhnellys, The Fadeaways and more…

VIZ Cinema is the nation’s only movie theatre devoted exclusively to Japanese film and anime. The 143-seat subterranean theatre is located in the basement of the NEW PEOPLE building and features plush seating, digital as well as 35mm projection, and a THX^®-certified sound system.

About NEW PEOPLE

NEW PEOPLE offers the latest films, art, fashion and retail brands from Japan and is the creative vision of the J-Pop Center Project and VIZ Pictures, a distributor and producer of Japanese live action film. Located at 1746 Post Street, the 20,000 square foot structure features a striking 3-floor transparent glass façade that frames a fun and exotic new environment to engage the imagination into the 21^st Century. A dedicated web site is also now available at: www.NewPeopleWorld.com.

Passion For Spirituality, Food, Music, Love And More Among The Topics Featured In New Films At NEW PEOPLE Movie Theatre This Month

San Francisco, CA, November 1, 2010 – VIZ Cinema makes November’s cinema programming about the theme of prowess. Passion turns into expertise as one’s art and expression matures.  It could simply save a soul, become a powerful weapon, or even lead a popular movement. Tickets, screening times and complete details for each film are available at: www.vizcinema.com.

The month begins as the theatre proudly presents the opening night of the San Francisco International South Asian Film Festival 2010 on November 3^rd with the premiere of Journey from Zanskar, a new film from the producers of Hoop Dreams that follows a group of monks and children across the breath-taking and dangerous Himalayas. Heavy metal comedy is up next with a special one-night-only show on November 4^th of Detroit Metal City, to celebrate the film’s brand new DVD release from VIZ Pictures. The New Media Film Festival and S.F. Bay Area Market & Forum will be held this month at the venue, featuring work from innovative creators using the latest technology to develop visionary content.

Then work up an appetite for the premiere of Chef of the South Polar, based on the hilarious autobiographical essay of a chef on an Antarctic research team who brings gourmet cuisine to one of the most inhospitable place on earth. Live From Tokyo next takes audiences to the backstreets of Japan’s capital to sample the city’s burgeoning underground music scene. This screening will be complemented by a simulcast of a live set from the band Sajjunu (also featured in the film) broadcast from the Super Deluxe club in Tokyo.  Anime fans won’t want to miss special screenings of Patlabor The Movie, and Patlabor The Movie 2, presented in partnership with Bandai Entertainment, and also a premiere showing of Kamui Gaidan, based on the legendary 1970’s Japanese comic book by Sampei Shirato.

Director Yuki Tanada’s Electric Button then brings erotic flavors to audiences and manages to be as sweet as it is unsentimental, while effortlessly dancing across the lines of comedy, drama, romance and eroticism. And don’t miss the return of the TokyoScope Talk film discussion series as it holds a special Saturday afternoon session on ninja cinema! The month wraps up with a special film retrospective on removed Japanese actor and author Yukio Mishima.

Journey from Zanskar,         Wednesday, 11/3 at 7:20pm

San Francisco Premiere!

(Directed by Frederick Marx, 2009, 90mins, English, Tibetan, and Hindi with English subtitles)

Oscar-winning filmmaker Frederick Marx follows a group of monks and children across the breath-taking and dangerous Himalayas as they journey from Zanskar, one of the most isolated places on earth, to a Buddhist school in Manali (India).

Detroit Metal City,     November 4^th 7:00pm,          One Night Only!!!

(Directed by Toshio Lee, 2008, 104min, 35mm, Japanese with English Subtitles)

Detroit Metal City takes the zany rock antics inspired by films like Spinal Tap to hilarious new extremes in this story, based on a popular manga comic created by Kiminori Wakasugi that has sold more than 4.5 million copies in Japan and features notable appearances by Gene Simmons from the legendary band, KISS, and Marty Friedman of Megadeth.

In the film, Soichi Negishi (played by Kenichi Matsuyama) is a sweet and shy young man who dreams of becoming a trendy singer songwriter. But for some reason, he is forced into joining the devil worshiping death metal band “Detroit Metal City” (DMC). In full stage make-up and costume, he transforms into Johannes Krauser II the vulgar-mouthed lead vocalist of the band. Against Negishi’s will, DMC rises to stardom. Things get even more complicated when the legendary king of death metal, Jack IL Dark (played by Gene Simmons), challenges DMC to a duel in the film’s climatic finale. What will be the fate of innocent Negishi as he climbs to the top of the death metal world?

NEW MEDIA FILM FESTIVAL SF BAY AREA MARKET & FORUM

Friday, 11/5 & Saturday 11/6

Join as VIZ Cinema brings together several leaders and content creators in film, TV, games, publishing, web, mobile technology and screen mobile, webisodes and mobile series, shorts, animation, and much more. Film screenings include selections from Sundance, Cannes, Los Angeles Film Festival premieres as well as work by the best local Bay Area talent working in New Media. Competition Judges are industry professionals from Industrial Light & Magic, Pixar, Summit Entertainment, Creative Convergence and United Talent Agency.

More details and tickets are available at: www.newmediafilmfestival.com/newmediatickets.php

The Chef of South Polar Monday, 11/ 7 – Thursday, 11/12

(Directed by Shuichi Okita, 2009, 125mins, Japanese with English subtitles)

Based on the hilarious autobiography by the chef of an Antarctic research team!

Eight men join a research expedition to the Dome Fuji Station in Antarctica – an environment so cold that even viruses cannot exist, let alone living creatures. Jun Nishimura’s job is to cook for the members every day. He prepares the meals with the greatest care, sometimes with fine delicacies, and takes pleasure in watching everyone sitting down together and enjoying his food. In far away Japan, Nishimura has a family including a new-born son. The assignment lasts a year and a half and while his thoughts are with his family 14,000 kilometers away, the ultimate mission away from home must continue. Antarctic life is unlike anything in Japan. But as long as there is good food, it gives the team the strength to go on. Though the film is set in the coldest climate in the world, The Chef of South Polar will warm viewers up from the center of their hearts. Good food and human drama, full of laughter and love.

Live From Tokyo Friday, 11/12 at 7:15pm

(Directed by Lewis Rapkin, 2010, 79min, HDCam, Japanese with English Subtitles,)

“Live From Tokyo” is a documentary film about underground music culture in Tokyo. The city’s reputation as a media-saturated hub for global information and cutting-edge innovation makes it the perfect setting for addressing a new outlook on music culture. This documentary takes the viewer through the back streets in Shinjuku, the intersections in Shibuya, the alleys in Koenji, and all over Tokyo, as it highlights the innovative musicians who create this multi-faceted artistic culture. The film features interviews and performances by DMBQ, Tenniscoats, Shugo Tokumaru, Nisennenmondai, PARA (ex-Boredoms members), Kirihito, d.v.d., and many more.

After the film screening, the band Sajjanu (featured in the film) will simulcast a live performance from Tokyo!
Sajjanu is a ripping new unit from Tokyo that performs incredibly complex through-composed compositions with few if any repetition. Combining the intensity of the Ruins with the quirkiness of the Boredoms and the compositional integrity of Zappa, Zorn and more, Sajjanu is creating a new Japanese music of infinite possibilities. In addition to releases in Japan, Sajjanu’s album Pechiku!! was released in 2009 on John Zorn’s New York-based Tzadik label.

Patlabor The Movie,              November 13^th (Subtitled) & 14^th(Dubbed)

(Directed by Mamoru Oshii, 1989, 99min, Digital, Japanese with English Subtitles)

Set in an alternate 1999 in Tokyo where advanced robotic vehicles called Labors are heavily relied on to reshape the city, a maverick team of the Metropolitan Police force tries to uncover and thwart a devilish computer crime aimed at the heart of the Labor industry. As a powerful typhoon approaches the city and the schemes of a mad genius start to take full effect, time is running out for the team of Special Vehicles Section 2 to act on the offensive, or risk citywide devastation by eight thousand Labors gone berserk!

Patlabor The Movie 2,           November 13^th (Subtitled) & 14^th(Dubbed)

(Directed by Mamoru Oshii, 1993, 113min, Digital, Japanese with English Subtitles)

Set three years after the first film, PATLABOR 2 draws police commanders Ki’ichi Gotoh and Shinobu Nagumo into the hunt for Tsuge, a rogue officer of the Japan Self-Defense Forces connected with an escalating wave of terrorist attacks. But the investigation into the plot is guarded by secrets both personal and political, as the awakening fear of terror in Tokyo is slowly answered by the dream-like fade of democracy into martial law… Ominous, beautiful, suspenseful, and poetic, Patlabor 2 deserves the term visionary in every sense of the word.

Electric Button (Moon & Cherry) Saturday, 11/13 – Thursday, 11/18

San Francisco Premiere!

Recalling the traditional “Pink Film” in form – but radically different in the particulars, Yuki Tanada’s ELECTRIC BUTTON manages to be as sweet as it is unsentimental, while effortlessly dancing across the lines of comedy, drama, romance and eroticism.

21 year-old Kenichi Tadokoro (Tasuku Nagaoka) has finally been accepted into a university after his third try at the entrance exam. One day he is virtually shanghaied into joining an erotic fiction writing club by an odd character who seems much too old to be a proper student (veteran film actor Akira Emoto). The club is populated by an odd assortment of characters, including the sole female member, Hazuki Mayama (Noriko Eguchi), who, under a male nom de porn, is also the club’s only published member. When the group engages in a sexually explicit round of shop talk, Tadokoro regales them with his expertise. Mayama, however, to Tadakoro’s horror, easily identifies him as a virgin – out loud, casually, and in front of everyone.

Kamui Gaidan           Friday, 11/19 – Wednesday, 12/1

San Francisco Premiere!

(Directed by Yoichi Sai, 2009, 120min, Digital, Japanese with English subtitles)
Based on the legendary 1970’s Japanese comic book by Sampei Shirato, Kamui Gaidan boasts one of the largest budgets in the history of Japanese film history. Taking you on a journey by land and by sea, Kamui Gaidan is sure to capture the attention of audiences world-wide with its amazing action and colorful story. Set in 17th Century Japan, Kamui Gaidan tells the story of Kamui, an outcast from society who dreams of someday escaping his miserable existence. Feeling that he is left with no alternative, Kamui trains to become a deadly Ninja, killing just to survive. A life of that revolves around kill after kill starts to get to the warrior. Kamui grows to despise the lethal rules that govern the Ninja, prompting him to leave the only world he knows. Now a fugitive from his former clan, Kamui goes on the run towards an uncertain future. The Ninja’s view on life changes after an incident brings him to a fisherman’s family. It is there he finally starts to open up to other people. Meanwhile, those hunting him are setting their trap.

TokyoScope Talk, Vol. 7 – NINJA ATTACK! Saturday, 11/20 at 12:15pm

The ninja – Japan’s famed shadow warriors of legend – are the subject of the next TokyoScope Talk film event.

Presented by host Patrick Macias (Editor, Otaku USA) and produced in association with Matt Alt, co-author of the new book Ninja Attack! True Tales of Assassins, Samurai, and Outlaws (published by Kodansha International), this presentation will explore the historical and pop culture legacy of the original men (and women!) in black.

Gasp in amazement as rare clips from assorted movies, anime, and TV programs such as Shinobi no Mono, Red Mask, Shogun Assassin, Dagger of Kamui, and Alien vs. Ninja reveal the over-the-top skills, weapons, and deadly techniques of these fearsome martial artists!

All attendees will be entered into a raffle to win free copies of the Ninja Attack! book!

Mishima Retrospective

11/26 Fri – 12/1 Wed

To honor the 40^th anniversary of the death of renowned actor Yukio Mishima on November 25^th, 1970, VIZ Cinema proudly presents the Mishima Retrospective which showcases three films inspired by his novel, his life and his work as an actor.

Ken

Directed by Kenji Misumi, 1964, 94min, Japanese with English subtitles)

Based on Yukio Mishima’s short story published in 1963, the story revolves around the story of the captain of a university kendo club – Kokubu – and his relationships with other members of the club, his family, women, and modern society in general.

Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters

(Directed by Paul Schrader, 1985, 120min, Japanese with English subtitles)

A visually stunning, collage-like portrait of acclaimed Japanese author and playwright Yukio Mishima (played by Ken Ogata), this film investigates the inner turmoil and contradictions of a man who attempted an impossible harmony between self, art, and society. Taking place on Mishima’s last day, when he famously committed public seppuku, the film is punctuated by extended flashbacks to the writer’s life as well as by gloriously stylized evocations of his fictional works.

Afraid to Die

(Directed by Yasuzo Masumura, 1960, 96min, Japanese with English subtitles)

Yukio Mishima stars in this New Wave cult film playing the role of Takeo, a youthful yakuza who turns back to his criminal ways after leaving prison. Takeo finds himself embroiled in the business of assassinations, revenge and violence, and must struggle to keep alive for the love of his family and girlfriend, Yoshie.

VIZ Cinema is the nation’s only movie theatre devoted exclusively to Japanese film and anime. The 143-seat subterranean theatre is located in the basement of the NEW PEOPLE building and features plush seating, digital as well as 35mm projection, and a THX^®-certified sound system.

About NEW PEOPLE

NEW PEOPLE offers the latest films, art, fashion and retail brands from Japan and is the creative vision of the J-Pop Center Project and VIZ Pictures, a distributor and producer of Japanese live action film. Located at 1746 Post Street, the 20,000 square foot structure features a striking 3-floor transparent glass façade that frames a fun and exotic new environment to engage the imagination into the 21^st Century. A dedicated web site is also now available at: www.NewPeopleWorld.com.

The audio interview can be viewed below:

Please support the project by connecting with Abe through these various social networking outlets:

Facebook Group | Tumblr | Twitter

The trailer can be viewed below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-NkFvYz6VA

[See post to watch Flash video] ]]> http://www.isugoi.com/evangelion-explanation-of-religious-references/feed/ 2 http://www.isugoi.com/zen-its-opposite-essential-turbulent-japanese-art-house/ http://www.isugoi.com/zen-its-opposite-essential-turbulent-japanese-art-house/#comments Tue, 05 Oct 2010 07:53:45 +0000 Miguel Douglas http://www.isugoi.com/?p=2541 READ MORE]]>

Coming up at New York’s Japan Society, the 2010-2011 Monthly Classics series peers into the dark side of the classical repertoire of the late 1950s and 1960s: from Masaki Kobayashi’s Kwaidan (1965), Kon Ichikawa’s Fires on the Plain (1959), Kaneto Shindo’s Onibaba (1964) to Nobuo Nakagawa’s Hell (1960) and Kihachi Okamoto’s Sword of Doom (1966). Like Antonin Artaud’s proposed “theater of cruelty”, these five master filmmakers offer the bloody and all-too-human spectacle of sin, folly and frailty, in unforgettable tales of crime and punishment, vengeful ghosts and delirious soldiers, mad samurai and deranged marauders (or the other way around), fire and brimstone, and spiritual darkness for good measure… tales of our world, which will give a good (or bad) idea of what comes next.

Thus, the films selected show the little-understood, paradoxical unity of zen and violence: in his book, Zen at War (1997), Brian Daizen Victoria, an ordained Soto Zen priest, documented Japanese Buddhist support for violence and warfare, from 1868 until the end of World War II. He tracked down this surprising embracing of war-making to the intimate relation between Zen and Samurai warrior culture.

This selection will satisfy the courteous viewer with an appetite for dark eroticism and macabre poetry: one who will does not recoil from the exquisite monstrosity of the human heart—which will not fail to haunt him/her long after the screening(s).

Each film illustrates one or several of the “Six Planes of Existence“—a Buddhist concept commonly referred to as “Six Paths” (Rokudō 六道 or Rokudō-rinne 六道輪廻) in Japan—within “the realm of Birth and Death” (Samsara).

Like Antonin Artaud’s proposed “theater of cruelty”, these five master filmmakers offer the bloody and all-too-human spectacle of sin, folly and frailty, in unforgettable tales of crime and punishment, vengeful ghosts and delirious soldiers, mad samurai and deranged marauders (or the other way around), fire and brimstone, and spiritual darkness for good measure… tales of our world, which will give a good (or bad) idea of what comes next.

Schedule

Kwaidan

怪談 (Kaidan)
Friday, October 15, 2010
7:30 PM

Onibaba

鬼婆 (Onibaba)
Friday, November 12, 2010
7:30 PM

Fires on the Plain

野火 (Nobi)
Friday, December 10, 2010
7:30 PM

Hell

地獄 (Jigoku)
Friday, January 21, 2011
7:30 PM

Sword of Doom

大菩薩峠 (Daibosatsu Toge)
Friday, February 18, 2011
7:30 PM

More information on the 2010-2011 Monthly Classics series can be found at the following URL:

http://www.japansociety.org/film

About New York’s Japan Society:

Established in 1907, New York’s Japan Society has evolved into North America’s single major producer of high-quality content on Japan for an English-speaking audience. Presenting over 100 events annually through well established Corporate, Education, Film, Gallery, Lectures, Performing Arts and Innovators Network programs, the Society is an internationally recognized nonprofit, nonpolitical organization that provides access to information on Japan, offers opportunities to experience Japanese culture, and fosters sustained and open dialogue on issues important to the U.S., Japan, and East Asia.