Love Exposure
Love Exposure is a 2008 Japanese film written and directed by the controversial filmmaker Sion Sono (Cold Fish, Guilty of Romance). The film gained a considerable amount of notoriety in film festivals around the world for its four-hour duration and controversial themes including love, family, lust, religion, cults, cross dressing and the art of upskirt photography – yup, all these are covered! At the Berlin International Film Festival, it won the Caligari Film Award and the FIPRESCI Prize.
From Rotten Tomatoes, the movie is about “Tokyo teen Yu Honda (Takahiro Nishijima) is the traumatized son of a widower-cum-Catholic priest (Atsuro Watabe), who begins a sexual liaison with parishioner Kaori (Makiko Watanabe). When Dad’s affair comes to a halt, he begins admonishing his son to confess to so many sins that the 17-year-old takes up new ones to appease his father’s increased religious zeal. One sin (taking candid photographs of panties worn by female pedestrians) becomes a vocation. Unfortunately, a deal with a porn company comes undone when Yu turns down starring roles, because he admits he’s saving himself for a Virgin Mary-like ideal woman. On cue, the narrative introduces feisty schoolgirl Yoko (Hikari Mitsushima), who loathes men and enjoys beating them up for their moronic attitudes.”
From this description, you can tell that this is not your average or normal movie, even for Japanese standards. The movie has its funny moments, in a weird way.
Hooters Tokyo
On October 2010, the first Hooters Japan restaurant opened in Akasakamitsuke in central Tokyo.
You can see Hooters’ distinctive orange color from the street (the restaurant is on the second floor).
They have lunch and dinner menus serving typical western food as such hamburgers, chicken wings, etc.
Hooters Japan will open its second restaurant in Ginza in early June 2012.
Finally, a picture of a Japanese Hooters girl.
Swing Girls
Swing Girls is a 2004 comedy about the efforts of a group of high school girls to form a jazz band. It won seven awards at the 2005 Japanese Academy Awards, including Most Popular Film and Newcomer of the Year awards.
Similar to Hula Girls, the feel good story follows the girls as they learn to play their instruments and appreciate jazz, and eventually compete in finale, a school battle of the bands. This movie is both charming and quirky.
Photo of the Day: JR Akihabara Station Entrance
This JR Akihabara Station entrance was just recently re-opened after some renovations.
Sawako Decides
Sawako Decides is a 2009 Japanese comedy-drama film directed by Yuya Ishii. It premiered in Tokyo at the PIA Film Festival in 2009 and at the Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal, where the film won the Best Feature Film and Best Actress awards. This movie was also shown at the 35d Shinsedai Cinema Festival last summer (2011) at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre (JCCC) in Toronto.
The film stars Hikari Mitsushima (Death Note, Love Exposure) as Sawako who has gone through five different part-time jobs and boyfriends for the past five years in Tokyo. One day, her uncle asks her to return to her hometown to take over the clam processing family business after her father falls ill. Her boyfriend and his daughter come along with her (later, her boyfriend returns to Tokyo and leaves his daughter with him). This movie is very funny in an under-stated and ironic manner – just looking at the DVD cover above with Sawako singing the company anthem with the rest of her co-workers in their all-white clam suits makes me chuckle 🙂
Sputnik Sweetheart
A few months ago, I read Haruki Murakami’s latest bestseller titled 1Q84. The next Murakami book I just finished reading is Sputnik Sweetheart, published in 1999 in Japan and translated to English in 2001.
The narrator of the story is only known as “K”, who is a 25 year old elementary school teacher who is in love with the novel’s main character, an aspiring writer named Sumire. At a wedding, Sumire meets an ethnic Korean woman, Miu. The two strike up a conversation and Sumire starts to work for the older, married woman. One day, Miu asks that Sumire accompany her on a business trip to France and a vacation on a Greek Island where Sumire falls in love with Miu. After several days, Sumire disappears and Miu asks “K” to fly to Greece to help look for Sumire.
This is a much shorter book than 1Q84 and I found the ending quite abrupt (which I won’t spoil here). Anyway, just like 1Q84, I enjoyed this Murakami book as well.
Battle Royale
Battle Royale is a 2000 Japanese thriller film based on the 1999 novel of the same name by Koushun Takami directed by Kinji Fukasaku and starring Tatsuya Fujiwara (Death Note, Kaiji).
You can say that Battle Royale is similar to the recent megahit Hunger Games (also adapted from a book of the same name). Set in the near future where society is on the verge of collapse, the Japanese government takes drastic action against the problem of rebellious teenagers by forcing them to compete in a deadly game in an island, where the students must kill each other using weapons until one remains. Sound familiar?
The film was a mainstream domestic blockbuster, becoming one of the ten highest grossing films in Japan, and was released in 22 countries worldwide. There is probably renewed interest recently in this film due to Hunger Games.
Japan in the News: Gundam at Diver City Tokyo Plaza
A 18-meter-tall Gundam greets shoppers at the new Diver City Tokyo Plaza shopping mall in Odaiba. Photo courtesy of AP.
This full-size Gundam model was last seen in Odaiba’s waterfront in the summer of 2009 as part of its 30th year Anniversary.
Outrage
Outrage is a 2010 Japanese yakuza (organized crime syndicate) film directed by and starring Takeshi “Beat” Kitano, widely considered to be Japan’s foremost media personality. It premiered in the 2010 Cannes Film Festival.
In a ruthless battle for power set in Tokyo, several yakuza clans vie for the favor of their head family in the Japanese underworld. These rival bosses (and under-bosses) seek to rise through the ranks by scheming and making allegiances. Not surprisingly, the results are very bloody – so as expected, this is a very brutally violent movie (you have been warned!).
Photo of the Day: Mickey and Minnie
Mickey and Minnie spotted outside a store in Ginza, Tokyo during Christmas 2011.
