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Japanese Masters: Kawashima Yuzo (film)

2012-02-27T10:07:00.000+09:00

Kawashima Yuzo (1918-1963;川島雄三) came from Mutsu in Aomori and was educated at Meiji university in Tokyo. He entered the Shochiku Studios in 1938 and became an assistant to the great classical director Kinoshita Keisuke. Kawashima made his first own film in 1944, and continued after the war at Shochiku with a number of comedies. These were second features (the second and least important film on a bill of two) and not very well received.

In order to improve his opportunities, in 1955 Kawashima moved to Nikkatsu, where he received better treatment and indeed made his best films, such as Bakumatsu Taiyoden (1957), which was voted the "fifth best Japanese film of all time" in an influential poll of the film magazine Kinema Junpo. In the early 1960s, he also worked for other studios and made some literary adaptations. He worked hard - before his sudden death in 1963 (Kawashima suffered from ALS), he made 51 films (during a career of only 19 years). Kawashima was the mentor of Imamura Shohei who worked under him as assistant director.

Kawashima is perhaps the greatest unknown in the West of all Japanese film directors I can think of, and one who least deserves it. His films are quirky, original, satirical, iconoclastic - and great fun. Kawashima's films are about people trying to survive in a world without morals. Kawashima was a forerunner of the Japanese New Wave and the connection between the classical directors of the fifties and the angry young men of the sixties. In fact, one of his last films, Beautiful Beast, which has been filmed from interesting angles in a claustrophobic environment, is very close to the New Wave.

In Japan, if only for the everlasting fame of Bakumatsu Taiyoden (that never made it to the West, yet), Kawashima is an established name and my local DVD rental shop even has a "Kawashima section." There is still a lot to discover, but that, after all, is one of the pleasures of Japanese film.

Selection of films:

Burden of Love (Ai no onimotsu, 1955)
Burlesque social satire about a government minister who advocates birth control (we are in the baby boom years here), even as all women in his family become pregnant one after the other. Kawashima's first success after his move to Nikkatsu.
Our Town (Waga machi, 1956)
An account of an Osaka suburb from the Meiji-period to the 1930s. Adept handling of a large number of characters in this comedy.
Suzaki Paradise: Red Signal (Suzaki paradaisu: Akashingo, 1956)
Satire set in Tokyo's seamy milieu of bars and brothels. A young couple has fled to Tokyo to marry. Looking for income and a roof above their head, they end up in the Suzaki brothel area - the woman only works in a bar at the entrance to the district, but even that makes her man madly jealous.
The Shinagawa Path (Bakumatsu Taiyoden, 1957)
Witty account of events in a brothel where reformers gather around the time of the Meiji restoration. Typically, they are interested in money and other things, rather than politics. A hustler (Frankie Sakai) who can't serve his debt is taken into custody by the owner of the establishment and has to work his debt off. Title also translated as "Sun Legend of the Last Days of the Shogunate." Script by Imamura Shohei and Kawashima Yuzo.
Room to Let (Kashima ari, 1959)
Hilarious portrait of Osaka low life.
Shadow of a Flower (Kaei, 1961)
Touching study of the unhappy lives of bar hostesses, notable for the sympathy for their pain.
Women Are Born Twice (Onna wa Nido Umareru, 1961)
Sensitive look at the condition of women after WWII, seen through the eyes of the geisha of a downtown area of Tokyo. Subtle delineation of character.
The Temple of the Wild Geese (Gan no tera, 1962)
Film version of the novelistic masterwork of Mizukami Tsutomu about the destructive love triangle between a lecherous priest, an ex-geisha and a novice. Set in a Kyoto temple and full of atmosphere.
Elegant Beast (Shitoyakana kedamono, 1962)
Parents with two grown-up children make a living as fraudsters, turning to crime out of fear that the former years of utter poverty will return. Deceit, lies and surveillance determine the film. In Kawashima's hands the family becomes a symbol for Japan itself. Completely filmed inside the apartment of the parents, with many interesting camera angles (like Rear Window). Modernist style. With Wakao Ayako. The script was written by Shindo Kaneto. Review in Slant Magazine.

French retrospective held in 2003; portrait in French.
Also see A Critical Handbook of Japanese Film Directors by Alexander Jacoby (Stone Bridge Press, 2008) - an important resource.

I would recommend Elegant Beast, Temple of the Wild Geese, Women are Born Twice, Suzaki Paradise and The Shinagawa Path as the best of Kawashima's movies - with the exception of Temple of the Wild Geese, these are also the films that Imamura Shohei recommended for a retrospective at the Rotterdam Film Festival.

Posts written on my other blogs in week 8, 2012

2012-02-26T09:17:00.000+09:00

Splendid Labyrinths:

Classic Fiction: Torrents of Spring by Turgenev
Classic Film: Trouble in Paradise by Lubitsch
Bach Cantatas: Quinquagesima Sunday

Japanese Food Dictionary:

Nameko fungus
Shijimi freshwater clams

Regional sake: Yamagata Prefecture

2012-02-24T08:14:00.000+09:00

Yamagata Prefecture is famous for the Mogami River, the mountain temple Yamadera near the capital Yamagata and the mysterious area of the Three Dewa Mountains and its yamabushi. But it also has a large central basin and the Shonai coastal plain where from olden times rice cultivation has been important. Sakai has always been a major trading port for commerce with, for example, the Kansai area. Other important towns are Tsuruoka, the gateway for pilgrims to the Dewa mountains, which used to have more than 30 sake breweries in the past, and the castle town of Yonezawa.

Yamagata's sake breweries are mostly small and traditional, but large in numbers (more than 50) and they all have a good and steady quality. Many of them have a long tradition. In other words, thanks to the presence of so many excellent, small sake houses, the prefecture has become a sure haven for jizake fans.

The brewing system is interesting: instead of working with a toji, many breweries work with teams made up from local farmers, where natural leaders take the lead, instead of having a toji with his brewers come from afar (although there are also some breweries which employ Nanbu toji).

Yamagata's breweries also work together to promote the prefecture's sake, for example by creating common "prefectural" brands, such as "Funamaezake" for unpasteurized Shiboritate sake, or "Yamagata Seisei" for low-alcohol sake. The most famous example is the junmai ginjo "Dewa 33": here not only the local sake rice, Dewa Sansan has been used, but also local Yamagata yeast and even proprietary koji from the prefecture. The prefecture has also developed the KA yeast for ginjo sake and plays an active role in supporting its breweries via its technology and research centers.

Sake rice used is often Miyama Nishiki or the famous but rare Kame no O sake rice. The local sake rice Dewa Sansan took 10 years to develop and was first cultivated in 1996 - it is suited to Yamagata's hot summers and cold winters.

Sake from Yamagata is generally crisp and clean, but with a full depth of flavor and aroma - in other words, it also has plenty of "body;" at the same time, each small brewery has its individual characteristics.

Some Breweries:

Chiyokotobuki (Chiyokotobuki Toraya Co., Ltd., Sagae). Est. 1696. Sagae (close to Yamagata City) has water of the quality of the famous Miyamizu (underground water of the Sagae River which in its turn consists of the ice water of Mt. Gassan). Uses only local Yamagata rice. Makes Junmai sake with the Yamahai method and also has an interesting Ginjo Koshu in its lineup.
Dewazakura (Dewazakura Sake Brewery Co., Ltd., Tendo). Est. 1891. "Cherry-blossoms of Dewa" (Dewa is the ancient name for Yamagata). Named after the cherry-blossoms on local Mt. Maizuru. Oka brand is longseller among ginjo sakes, and was instrumental in developing the fledgling ginjo market. The taste is smooth, the fragrance strongly floral. Try this sake if you want to know what "ginjo-ka" is. Much sake unpasteurized (to that purpose, all aging tanks have cooling attached). English website. Active in selling abroad.
Eiko Fuji (Fuji Shuzo, Tsuruoka). Est. 1788. The Oyama district of Tsuruoka where this brewery is located, was once called the "Nada of Tohoku." Now only four breweries are left, among which Eiko Fuji is one of the most venerated. Founded by a member of the family of the warlord Kato Kiyomasa. Taste is soft and has at the same time plenty of umami, with some sweetness. Uses No. 10 Yeast which has almost no acidity.
Fumotoi (Fumotoi Sake Brewery Co., Ltd., Sakata). Name means "Well at the foot of the mountain." Also makes sake with the Kimoto method. One of the many breweries from port city and merchant town Sakata. Small in size, but known for high quality. Owners related to Hatsumago in the same town.
Ginrei Gassan (Gassan Shuzo, Sagae). ”Silver ridge of Gassan (Mt. Moon)." Est. 1972 through shared bottling of three breweries which themselves date back to the Edo-period. Although two other brand names are left for the local market, the company has gradually shifted to the shared brand "Ginrei Gassan." One of the breweries making an excellent "Dewa 33." Light mouth-feel thanks to excellent water from Mt. Gassan.
Hatsumago (Tohoku Meijo, Sakata). Est. 1893. The present brand-name, ”First Grandchild," was selected when the first grandson was born to the owner. One of the largest brewers in Yamagata, with two facilities in Sakata. Also makes sake according to the Kimoto method, with a deep taste.
Jokigen (Sakata Shuzo Co., Ltd., Sakata). Est. 1946 through merger of 5 breweries. Brandname means "Source of True Joy." Uses subsoil water from Chokai mountain range. In 1998, the toji also became president. Excels in ginjo sake.
Juyondai (Takagi Shuzo Co., Ltd., Murayama). Est. 1615. "Fourteenth Generation." Does not pasteurize its sake and therefore only produces a limited quantity. Difficult to find and very popular. Pairs floral fragrance to a fresh taste. Does not press its sake, but uses natural drip method.
Kikuisami (Kikuisami Co., Ltd., Sakata). Founded in 1973 through the merger of three firms."Strength of the Chrysanthemum."
Kobai (Kobai Corporation, Yonezawa).　"Fragrant Plum." Handworked sake, wide variety: includes sake made with wine yeast, a super dry sake (+19) and a frozen unpasteurized junmai.
Kudoki Jozu (Kamenoi Shuzo Co., Ltd., Tsuruoka). Established in 1875. "Good in seducing the heart and mind," a name which does not refer to a pick-up artist, but to the ability of the warlord Hideyoshi to manipulate people to his advantage. More than 70% of total production is junmai ginjo sake. President also acts as the Toji. Labels in easy to recognize ukiyo-e style. Uses Yeast No. 10 for an elegant taste.
Oyama (Kato Kihachiro Shuzo Co., Ltd., Tsuruoka). Established in 1972 in the Oyama district of Tsuruoka (where you will also find Eiko Fuji). Computerized production, clean-tasting sake.
Take no Tsuyu, Hakurosuishu (Take no Tsuyu Sake Brewery, Tsuruoka). Est. 1858. Located in the temple town at the foot of Mt Haguro, one of the Three Sacred Dewa Mountains. Company named "Take no Tsuyu" because the brewery stands in a bamboo forest. The name for the junmai ginjo of the company, "Hakurosuishu" compares the white dew to pearls. Uses only locally grown rice. In this company, too, the owner also works as toji.
Taruhei (Taruhei Shuzo, ). Ages its sake in wooden kegs, which adds a deep cedar-wood flavor; also rather high in acidity. Does not filter the sake with charcoal, so amber colored. Uses Sumiyoshi brand for dry junmai sake, and the Taruhei name for more richly flavored sake. Junmai more than 80% of output. Its dryness is interesting, as here it is not obtained by adding alcohol!
Tatenokawa (Tatenokawa Inc., Sakata). Est. 1832. Name given by the Sakai lords of Sakata. All Handwork. English website.
Toko (Kojima Sohonten Co., Ltd., Yonezawa). Est 1597. Patronized by Uesugi lords of Yonezawa. Brewery now 23th generation owner. Full, but elegant taste. Operates sake museum "Toko no Sakagura" in city of Yonezawa.
Yonetsuru (Yonetsuru Sake Brewery, Ltd., Takahata-machi). Uses no toji, but Yamagata system of teamwork with local farmers. Employs brewers the whole year, in summer they change into rice farmers cultivating the sake rice Yonetsuru uses. Brewery developed new rice strain Kissui. Was the first to make ginjo sake in Yamagata. Soft taste with much umami, almost no acidity.

Japanese Masters: Mizukami Tsutomu

2012-02-21T08:25:00.001+09:00

In the West, those interested in Japanese literature and film, have made their own "canon" of Japanese books and films, which is different from the canon the Japanese have made. Not only is the emphasis different, it is also narrower and many true talents have been left out. In the series "Japanese Masters" we will look at a number of Japanese authors and film makers, who still await discovery in the West. This time: Mizukami Tsutomu, who in the 1960s was one of Japan's most popular literary authors.

Mizukami Tsutomu (1919 - 2004; 水上勉) was a literary author of fiction who often straddled the border of pure literature and more popular genres. More than ten of his novels were made into films, a sure sign of his popularity in his own country (strangely enough, these films mostly remained outside the Western "Japan canon"). When I lived as researcher in Kyoto in the early 1980s, I often saw his books in bookshops and on shelves of friends. In the West, he is almost unknown - it was only in 2008 that, coincidentally, translations appeared in both English and German of his masterwork, The Temple of the Wild Geese, and in English also of his novel Bamboo Dolls of Echizen. This neglect is strange, for Mizukami's greatest work has a certain obsessiveness in common with Tanizaki and Kawabata, and gives atmospheric depictions of the world of priests and geisha in Kyoto, as well as the poor countryside of the Wakasa area. It has also strong folkloristic elements

By the way, the author's name can also be read as Minakami - that was in fact the pseudonym he used as a writer, but as he himself was not strict about it and "Mizukami" is the pronunciation now usually used in Japan, we will keep to Mizukami.

Mizukami was born as the son of a shrine carpenter in the Wakasa region of Fukui Prefecture, on the Japan Sea coast above Kyoto. In his early teens, he became a novice in a Kyoto temple (a subtemple of Shokokuji), taking his vows in 1930. But the young Mizukami had a difficult time in the Zen establishment, moving from temple to temple. In 1932 he entered the Tojiin and went to nearby Hanazono Middle School, but had quite a turbulent relationship with the head priest whom he considered as corrupt. He left in 1936, after graduation.

Minakami then entered Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto to study Japanese literature, but dropped out due to financial problems. It took a long time to get on his feet - he had thirty-six different jobs in this period, from vagrant peddler to clerk in a geta shop and manager of a mahjong parlor (which of course gave him the life experience useful for a writer). Study with the author Uno Koji (1891-1961), known for his naturalistic novels in a personal style, led to his first autobiographical novel (The Song of the Frying Pan, 1948), but Mizukami was unable to support himself by writing for at least another decade. His breakthrough came in 1959 when he published an extremely popular mystery, Mist and Shadow. It was detective fiction with a social theme, a genre initiated by Matsumoto Seicho (Ten to Sen). In 1961 Mizukami wrote The Fangs of the Sea in the same vein, a mystery novel about the Minamata Disease, caused by environmental pollution, that won him the Mystery Writers' Club Prize. His most enduring popular work in this genre was Straits of Hunger from 1963.

Mizukami used the financial security provided by these mystery novels to step back into pure literature. The Temple of the Geese (1962) was based on his own temple experiences and won him the prestigious Naoki Prize - it has been filmed by Kawashima Yuzo and is generally considered as his masterwork. The years of literary and social apprenticeship now paid off.

In The Yugiri Brothel at Gobancho (1962) Mizukami wrote about a young girl from a poor family who is sold to become a geisha (Gobancho was a geisha district in Nishijin, Kyoto). In the same novel, he treats the burning of the Golden Pavilion from a different point of view than Mishima Yukio had done. Local color is very strong in The Bamboo Dolls of Echizen ("Echizen" is the traditional name for Fukui Prefecture where Minakami was born), which won very high praise from Tanizaki in 1963. Minakami also excelled in the genre of the literary biography. His biography of his literary mentor Uno Koji won the Kikuchi Kan Prize in 1971, and his study of the 15th c. eccentric Zen-master Ikkyu was awarded the Tanizaki Prize in 1975.

Mizukami started only in his early forties as a full-time writer, but his output was tremendous: he wrote between 5 and 10 books a year, in the 1960s even 15. Already in 1968 his Selected Works were published by Shinchosha in six volumes. In 1976-78 followed his Collected Works in 26 volumes (Chuo Koronsha), and again in 16 volumes in 1995-97. Besides fiction (both high-brow and middle-brow, and often a mix of both), he also wrote travel essays, autobiographical reminiscences and popular books about Buddhism. Kyoto and its temples were a favorite subject. His travel essays were collected in 1982-83 by Heibonsha in eight volumes. Mizukami wrote in a beautiful literary style, but in his dialogues he also used dialect elements.

Here are some of his major works:

The Temple of the Wild Geese (Gan no Tera, 1961).
Mizukami used thriller techniques in this semi-autobiographical novel, set in a Kyoto temple called "the Temple of the Wild Geese" because a famous painter has decorated the sliding doors with these birds. The story centers on Jinen, a thirteen-year old novice with a mysterious background. The orphaned son of a beggar, he has a grotesquely formed head and is generally unhappy and ashamed of his past. The priest of the temple, Jikai, has taken an ex-geisha from Gion, Satoko, into the temple. In modern Japan, priests are allowed to marry, but playing around with geisha is of course a sign of lewdness in a priest. On top of that, Jikai is a notorious tippler. The lonely Jinen develops a crush on Satoko, and she does not completely discourage his youthful fancy. The unlikely love triangle leads to a brutal climax - Jikai disappears. Has he really departed on a walking tour of penance, as Jinen says? A story with great psychological depth and written in a beautiful style.

The English translation was made by Dennis Washburn and published by Dalkey Archive Press in 2008 (also includes Bamboo Dolls of Echizen); the German translation was made by Eduard Klopfenstein, also in 2008.

The Temple of the Wild Geese was filmed in 1962 by Kawashima Yuzo (another Unknown Master) in vibrant black-and-white. Wakao Ayako plays the role of Satoko. Jinen is older than in the book, he is in Middle School and looks about eighteen - this makes the love triangle more probable.

The Yugiri Brothel at Gobancho (Gobancho Yugiriro, 1963)
A young woman from a poor family in Fukui is sold to the Yugiri geisha house in Nishijin, Kyoto. A rich merchant wants to be her lover, but she is already in love with a local boy who has become a novice in the Temple of the Golden Pavilion. Out of frustration he in the end sets fire to the priceless structure...

The Yugiri Brothel at Gobancho was filmed in 1963 by Tasaka Tomitaka (another Unknown Master).

Bamboo Dolls of Echizen (Echizen Takeningyo, 1963)
A young bamboo craftsman, Kisuke, takes his father's prostitute Tamae as a wife and insists on treating her as a mother - the two never become lovers. The story has weird Freudian overtones. Cared for by Tamae, Kisuke becomes a renowned craftsman, a maker of the bamboo dolls the region is famous for. Part folk tale and part social realism, set in the isolated rural scenery of Fukui Prefecture. Lots of local color, often of a primitive and ghostly nature.

Bamboo Dolls of Echizen was translated by Dennis Washburn and published by Dalkey Archive Press in 2008 in the same volume as The Temple of the Wild Geese.

Bamboo Dolls of Echizen was filmed in 1963 by Yoshimura Kozaburo (yes, another Unknown Master!) as a stylish melodrama.

Anthologies of Japanese literature in English contain two further short stories by Mizukami: The Showa Anthology (2) contains "Mulberry Child" in the translation by Anthony H. Chambers, and Autumn Wind contains "Bamboo Flowers" in the translation by Lane Dunlop.

Films other than those mentioned above based on novels by Mizukami Tsutomu include: Mist and Shadows (Kiri to Kage) was filmed in 1961 by Isshi Teruo; The Story of Echigo (Echigo tsutsuishi oya shirazu) was filmed in 1964 by Imai Tadashi, and stars Mikuni Rentaro; Straits of Hunger (Kiga kaikyo, also titled "A Fugitive from the Past" in English) was filmed in 1965 by Uchida Tomu - a study of the dark underbelly of postwar society; Shadow of the Waves (Namikage) was filmed in 1965 by Toyoda Shiro; Clouds at Sunset (Akenegumo) in 1967 by Shinoda Masahiro; the same director also filmed Ballad of Orin (Hanare goze Orin) in 1977 - protagonist in both films was Iwashita Shima; and Father and Child (Chichi to Ko) by Hosaka Nobuhiko in 1983; in the same year followed The Legend of the White Snake (Hakujasho), another and more erotic take on the love triangle between a lustful priest - second wife - and novice, here with Koyanagi Rumiko.

Posts written on my other blogs in week 7, 2012

2012-02-19T08:21:00.000+09:00

Splendid Labyrinths:

Classic Fiction: The Sea, the Sea by Iris Murdoch
Bach Cantatas: Sexagesima Sunday

Japanese Food Dictionary:

Mirin

Su, rice vinegar

Chawanmushi

Kamaboko

Karashi, Japanese mustard

Japanese Masters: Ueki Hitoshi

2012-02-18T13:11:00.002+09:00

Humor doesn't travel very well, it is often said, and you would certainly think so when looking at the Japanese film scene. While Kurosawa and Ozu have become worldwide household words and many samurai and yakuza genre films have been brought out with English subtitles, comedies seem to have a hard time breaking through the cultural barrrier. The only exceptions are the long series It's Hard Being a Man with Atsumi Kiyoshi as Tora-san (1969-1995), or a few films by Itami Juzo. But there seem to be no comedies from the 1960s that have been graced with subtitles and favored with a release outside of Japan. That is all the more regrettable because such films can tell you a lot about daily life in Japan, both at home and in the office. The Toho company was very actice in the humorous film genre, with as iconic actors Ueki Hitoshi and Morishige Hisaya. Here, we will look at the films made by Ueki Hitoshi.

Ueki Hitoshi (1926-2007) was a comedian, actor and singer representative of the Japanese post-war miracle. Born in a family of priests in Mie Prefecture, immediately after the war he started his career as a singer and guitarist in Tokyo. He first became famous as a member of the Crazy Cats, a comic jazz band, with Hana Hajime and Tani Kei. Their act was full of crazy gags a la Marx Brothers. Ueki and The Crazy Cats became a big hit on TV as well. One of Ueki's most famous songs was Suudara bushi, from 1962, with the nonsense text "I know it, but I can't stop."

Ueki made his film debut in Masamura Yasuzo’s remake of The Woman Who Touched the Legs (1960), but his breakthrough came with his own feature, the classic comedy The Age of Irresponsibility in Japan (Nippon Musekinin Jidai, 1962). We of course also find his fellow-cats, Hana Hajime and Tani Kei, here (as well as in most other Ueki Hitoshi films). This film, in which Ueki played a wayward salaryman, exactly suited the spirit of the times. Thanks to the hard work of its people, Japan was back to prosperity. The 1960s were the time of consumerism, of TVs, cars and "my homes." It was just before the Tokyo Olympics and the nation felt confident about the future. It was even possible to work a bit less hard and enjoy life.

That is exactly what Ueki's salaryman-type does. He is "genki," optimistic and energetic. While his colleagues sit yawning at their desks, he storms into the office, cries "Work, work," and starts working the phones to make a sales appointment with a big voice and smile - his toothy grin became his trademark. He is the archetype of the ideal salaryman. But he also has an "irresponsible" side: he doesn't care for small rules and procedures, sets his own time, jumps the hierarchy and uses very unusual methods to be successful. He brazenly says what he thinks. Any real-life salaryman who would have tried to act like Ueki, would have been out on the streets in seconds. But it sure gave satisfaction to see one guy on film break all the office rules! It gave the real salarymen of Japan the motivation to continue their grinding work.

The Age of Irresponsibility in Japan was so popular that more films were made with Ueki at high speed. There was another "irresponsibility" film, Nippon Musekinin Yaro, the Irresponsible Guy of Japan (also 1962). Another group Ueki films was created round the title "Nippon Ichi no XX Otoko," "the Best XX Man of Japan," starting with Nippon Ichi no Iro Otoko, The Most Sexy Man of Japan, and followed by Nippon Ichi no Gomasuri Otoko, The Greatest Flatterer of Japan (1965) and Nippon Ichi no Gorigan Otoko, The Greatest Pusher of Japan (1966). In total ten of these films were made, until 1971. In all these films Ueki plays basically the same type of salaryman, and that was also true for a third series of films with the word "Crazy" in it. While all above-mentioned Ueki films contained musical numbers (Ueki suddenly singing and dancing in the streets, a la Bollywood), in the "Crazy Series" the Crazy Cats band comes on stage and the music is more elaborate. A good example is Honkon Kureeji Sakusen, Hong Kong Crazy Strategy (here, 14 films were made until 1971).

Finally, there is a fourth series, in which the salaryman character of Ueki is transported to the past and runs around as a crazy salaryman-samurai. A good example is Horafuki Taikoki, The Bluffing Hideyoshi. In total, four films were made. Besides these series, in the same period, Ueki also appeared in a number of other comedies. So the 60s can rightfully be called the crazy, irresponsible Ueki Hitoshi age!

Director of many of these films was Toho comic genre director Furusawa Kengo (and to a lesser degree Furosawa's colleague Tsuboshima Takashi). A popular female counterpart (or “madonna” as the Japanese say) was Hama Mie, know in the West because of her role in James Bond's You Only Live Twice (1967).

In the 1970s, the tide turned and Ueki Hitoshi lost his comic appeal. He had some quiet years as far as cinema was concerned, but in the 1980s again appeared in many films, often in very different roles from the comedies of the 60s. He played for example a very serious supporting role as General Fujimaki in Akira Kurosawa’s Ran (1985). In the 90s his popularity was back, now mixed with nostalgia as his films started to appear on DVD. Like the ideal grandpa, still always smiling, Ueki was a frequent guest in TV shows and also was asked for almost countless TV commercials. He also continued making films, almost until his death in 2007 - the last film in which he appeared was Maiko Haaan, in which he played an elderly company owner from the Nishijin weaving district.

Ueki Hitoshi's comedies are symbolic of Japan’s postwar white collar age and form great time capsules of Japanese homes and offices in the 1960s. They are the ideal films about salaryman life. Why are they not better known outside Japan?

Obituary by Stuart Galbraith IV

Japanese Masters: Masumura Yasuzo

2012-02-15T08:43:00.000+09:00

In the West, those interested in Japanese literature and film, have made their own "canon" of Japanese books and films, which is different from the canon the Japanese have made. Not only is the emphasis different, it is also narrower - perhaps by necessity - and many true talents have been left out. Ozu Yasujiro, for example, is part of the Western canon, but not his friend and contemporary Shimizu Hiroshi - who has now been barely introduced via a Criterion box set. Oshima Nagisa is part of the canon, but not Kawashima Yuzo, who has remained an outsider in the West. And so on. In the series "Japanese Masters" we will look at a number of Japanese authors and film makers, who still await (further) discovery in the West. We start with prolific film maker Masumura Yasuzo.

Masumura Yasuzo (1924-1986, 増村保造) first attracted my attention thanks to the several films he made based on novels by Tanizaki and Kawabata. He was an older contemporary of Oshima Nagisa, and is seen as an iconoclastic precursor of the New Wave in Japan.

Born in Kofu, Masumura was from an early age interested in film. As a high-school student he three times went to see Kurosawa's Sugata Sanshiro. He studied law at Tokyo University, but dropped out to become an assistant director at the Daiei studio's because he needed money - he would return to college and graduate in philosophy in 1949. Next, he won a scholarship to a famous film school in Rome (the Centro sperimentale di cinematografia), and after graduating, worked on the Italian-Japanese co-production of Madame Butterfly. He returned to Japan in 1953.

From 1955, Masumura started working at Daiei for Mizoguchi Kenji (assisting wih the last three films of this great director) and after that, on three films for Ichikawa Kon. Although Masumura later was critical of Ichikawa's films, his work displays a considerable debt to the older director - if only in the frequent choice of literary sources. Masumura made his first film, Kisses, in 1957. He stayed with Daiei until the demise of the company, and made about three films a year, to a total output of 58 films.

Masumura's films are characterized by visual inventiveness and dark satire, they often are a strong indictment of social injustice, and an unsentimental look at what it means to be human. You could say that his films, usually by borrowing the vocabulary of the genre film, show the cruel beauty of life. Social realism of the type he learned in Italy, was not suitable for Japan with its regimented society and lack of individual freedom, he says - that is why he opted for exaggeration and over-the-top depiction. If I would have to characterize his work in one word, I would choose "obsession." The fact that he often used literary sources, from Saikaku and Chikamatsu to Tanizaki and Kawabata reveals a classical streak that links him to his "teacher," Ichikawa Kon.

Some of his major films are:

Kisses (Kuchizuke, 1957)
Known for its handheld, fluid camerawork, this first film is a cruel story of youth as Oshima would also make a few years later. A boy and girl meet in prison where they happen to visit their respective fathers. They decide to spend the day together and, after successfully gambling on a bicycle race, head for the beach.
Giants and Toys (Kyojin to Gangu, 1958)
A critique of the Economic Miracle and more vicious than the "Company President" films made around the same time by Morishige Hisaya. Still, there is no lack of humor in the endeavor of a sweets company to make an unknown girl with bad teeth into the star of their new commercial campaign. After a story by Kaiko Takeshi.
Afraid to Die (Karakkaze-yaro, 1960)
A mean yakuza film in the first place remarkable for having author Mishima Yukio in the main role. He plays a yakuza who has wounded the boss of another gang, and whatever he does, can't escape revenge. As befitting for Mishima, the death scene is the highlight of the film.
Passion (Manji, 1964)
This is a famous story by Tanizaki Junichiro, translated into English as "Quicksand." A bored middle-aged housewife (Kishida Kyoko of The Woman in the Dunes) falls obsessively in love with a young model (Wakao Ayako). When her husband and the fiance of the model also join the fray, we have the four arms of the Buddhist swastika and an emotional quicksand. By far the best among various films based on Manji.
The Hoodlum Soldier (Heitai Yakuza, 1965)
A cynical look at life in the barracks of the Japanese army in Manchuria as a miniature version of Japan itself with its suffocating hierarchies. The cruelty that characterized certain divisions of the Imperial Army leaps off the screen in the continual beatings that small-time sergeants enforce on their inferiors. The hoodlum soldier of the title is played by Katsu Shintaro, his good-willing mentor Akira by Tamura Takahiro. In the end, when told they will be sent to the killing fields of Leyte, they desert by stealing a train. Review on Midnight Eye.
The Red Angel (Akai Tenshi, 1966)
A young angelic nurse played by Wakao Ayako serves in China during the war years. She is raped by her patients and when she complains, sent to the front lines. It is like a gruesome version of MASH. Amid the carnage, she falls in love with a morphine-addicted surgeon (Ashida Shinsuke). She also provides comfort to a soldier whose arms have both been amputated. A strange, but very human and engrossing film, perhaps Masumura's masterwork.
The Wife of Seishu Hanaoka (Hanaoka Seishu no Tsuma, 1967). Based on a novel by Ariyoshi Sawako ("The Doctor's Wife"), this is a period film about the first doctor (played by Ichikawa Raizo) who performs surgery using general anesthesia. His loving but neglected wife (Wakao Ayako) offers herself as a guinea pig for his experiments. Another study in obsession.
Blind Beast (Moju, 1969)
A blind sculptor kidnaps a young fashion model and keeps her in his Dali-esque warehouse filled with huge sculptures of female body parts. His dream is to sculpt the perfect female form. Visually inventive, this is another tale of madness and obsession, after an original story by Edogawa Ranpo. Review on Midnight Eye.
Love Suicides at Sonezaki (Sonezaki Shinju, 1978)
Based on the classic Joruri play by Chikamatsu, with Kaji Meiko ("Lady Snowblood") in the main role. A period piece that is lurid, bloody and gorgeous at the same time.

Other interesting films are The Precipice (Hyoheki, 1958) with Yamamoto Fujiko and based on a novel by Inoue Yasushi; The Woman who Touched the Legs (Ashi ni Sawatta Onna, 1960), a comedy about a female pickocket (Kyo Machiko) and a remake of a film by Ichikawa Kon; A False Student (Nise Daigakusei, 1960) based on a story by Oe Kenzaburo; The Life of an Amorous Man (Koshoku Ichidai Otoko, 1961) based on a novel by Edo-period master Iharu Saikaku; A Wife Confesses (Tsuma wa Kokuhaku suru, 1961), an existential film with Wakao Ayako; Tattoo (Irezumi, 1966) based on the well-known short story by Tanizaki, and again with Wakao Ayako; Love for an Idiot (Chijin no Ai, 1967), again an obsessive film based on a Tanizaki novel, translated into English as "Naomi"; Thousand Cranes (Senbazuru, 1969), based on the eponymous novel by Kawabata Yasunari, and with Wakao Ayako and Kyo Machiko.

The Cruel Beauty of Masumura Yasuzo; Tales of ordinary Madness.

Regional Sake: Miyagi Prefecture

2012-02-13T10:01:00.000+09:00

Miyagi Prefecture forms the central part of Tohoku, and its capital Sendai, built by Date Masamune who established his castle here in 1604, is the largest city in northern Honshu with more than a million inhabitants. Although the western side of the prefecture is mountainous (including the famous Zao range), there is a large plain around Sendai. A famous scenic spot near Sendai is Matsushima, 260 tiny, pine covered islands in a shallow bay. There is a lot of fresh seafood from the Pacific coast with its many excellent ports as Shiogama and Ishimaki, while the central plain is a rice growing area.

Although the number of breweries is not as high as in Akita or Yamagata (between 20 and 30, more or less like Iwate), many of them concentrate on quality sake (about 80% of the total, against 25% nationwide) and especially junmai (more than 26%). Rice used consists in the first place of the famous food rice types Sasanishiki and Hitomebore, but also the Kura no Hana sake rice has been developed in more recent years. The taste of Miyagi sake is refined and probably the driest among the six Tohoku prefectures - due to both the use of food rice and the matching with local seafood.

Miyagi is also the area that was at the epicenter of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, but sake breweries have done their utmost to continue in business and have bounced back.

Selection of Brands & Breweries (alphabetical order):

Hakurakusei & Atagonomatsu (Niizawa Sake Brewing Co., Ltd., Osaki). Established 1873. Named after legend that horse trainer called Hakuraku reared a great steed that ascended to heaven. Aims at sake to enjoy with food. Clean and well-balanced taste.
The 19th c. kura as well as stocks were destroyed by the 2011 earthquake, but the company has built a new facility and is determined to continue brewing (visit by UrbanSake).
Hitakami (Hirakata Shuzo, Ishinomaki). Established 1861. Small boutique brewery. Gentle and soft taste.
Ishinomaki was in the center of quake and tsunami, and Hitakami suffered extensive damage, but has continued brewing. It even brewed a special sake from the tanks that were severely shaken during the quake.
Ichinokura (Ichinokura Co., Ltd., Osaki). Established 1973 through the joint-venture of four historical breweries. Pleasing and easy to drink. English website.
Ichinokura was also hard hit by the quake, loosing much of its stock.
Katsuyama Den (Katsuyama Kigyo Co., Ltd., Sendai). Founded more than 300 years ago. Only Sendai-clan approved brewery still in existence. Produces only junmai sake. Interview with president of the company, who is wine sommelier and looks at sake like wine.
Suminoe (Suminoe Co., Ltd., Ishinomaki). Est 1845. Fresh, gentle taste.
Like Hitakami from the same city, hard hit by quake and tsunami.
Urakasumi (Saura Co., Ltd., Shiogama). Established in 1724. Produced sake for the famous Shiogama Shrine. Brand-name comes from a classical poem written by Minamoto no Sanetomo. Pioneer in producing ginjo sake. Developed a new yeast that is now Association Yeast No. 12. Soft and fragrant sake. English website.
Urakasumi suffered major damage to one of their two kura, but has since been able to repair this.

Other sake regions on Japan Navigator:

Hokkaido - Aomori - Iwate - Akita - Saitama - Shiga - Kyoto - Nara - Wakayama - Osaka - Hyogo - Okayama - Tottori

Posts written on my other blogs in week 6, 2012

2012-02-11T13:30:00.000+09:00

Splendid Labyrinths:

Classic Fiction: Madame Bovary
Bach Cantatas: Septuagesima Sunday

Japanese Food Dictionary:

Yakisoba-pan
Mentaiko-furansu
Mentaiko
Oden

Sake & Food Pairings (3): Tempura

2012-02-06T10:09:00.002+09:00

Tempura is one of the top favorites among Japanese dishes, also for non-Japanese. What is more delicious than to have prawns, fish and vegetables served in those wonderful golden clouds of deep-fried dough? So it is a good thing tempura goes well with sake, and the choice this time is easy. When you remember that one of the properties of junmai sake is to cleanse the mouth from oily foods, the choice is soon made. Of course, good tempura is not really very oily, but it has been doused in a bath of hot oil. A great variety of ingredients is used, but we do not have to worry about that when making the sake pairing, as the golden dough makes everything equal.

The thing to pay attention to when eating tempura, by the way, is absolute freshness. Tempura should be eaten within minutes (if not seconds) after being fried. If you wait too long, it gets sodden, as is sadly the case when you get tempura donburi-style on rice. That is why specialist tempura restaurants serve the tempura not everything at the same time on a big plate, but bit by bit.

The only thing to pay attention to when making pairings is the way the tempura is eaten. There are two ways: with some salt (often flavored with green tea powder), or by dipping in tentsuyu (3 parts dashi, 1 part mirin, 1 part soy sauce), to which grated radish has been added (daikon-oroshi). The first way is how Japanese connoisseurs eat tempura, the second way is more common and easier to combine with sake.

In the first case (salt) I would suggest a sweetish sake, for example as made on the Inland Sea coast of Okayama or Hiroshima (Hiroshima has soft water which makes the sake sweet). And to add some zest to the dryness of the flavored salt, perhaps a fresh type like a Shiboritate.

But most people will use the tentsuyu dipping sauce, which I think is a good idea (despite what connoisseurs may think!), as the daikon adds sweetness to the umami of the sauce (no, Japanese radishes are not spicy!), creating a perfect combination with the tempura. When pairing, the sturdier junmai sakes are best, those with a somewhat higher level of acidity. Also Kimoto and Yamahai type junmai sakes will be perfect thanks to the slight touch of bitterness and higher acidity. They are a "melting accompaniment to the delicate oiliness of good tempura" as Philip Harper phrases it in The Book of Sake (Tokyo, 2006).

Finally, I would suggest to try the junmai warm, at about 40 degrees Celsius, for even more melting goodness.

Posts written on my other blogs in week 5, 2012

2012-02-04T15:00:00.004+09:00

Splendid Labyrinths:

Bach Cantatas: 4th Sunday after Epiphany (Jesus calming the storm on the lake) and five cantatas for the Feast of Purification of Mary on Feb. 2.
Classic Fiction: He Knew He Was Right by Trollope.
Classic Film: The 400 Blows and other Antoine Doinel films by Truffaut.

Japanese Food Dictionary:

Ingredient vegetarian kitchen: Fu, wheat gluten.
Seasonal sushi: Ehomaki, a thick, uncut sushi roll eaten at Setsubun.
Sweet and savory bread Japanese-style:
Anpan, the classical sweet bun filled with red bean paste.
Kare-pan, a savory bun filled with curry.
Meron-pan, a type of sweet bread that usually doesn't taste like melon.
Jiyamu-pan, a bun filled with strawberry jam.
Kurimu-pan, a custard-filled bun.

Setsubun

2012-02-03T17:22:00.000+09:00

Setsubun literally means "seasonal division" and used to refer to the day prior to the first day of spring (risshun), summer (rikka) autumn (risshu) and winter (ritto) in the lunar calendar. Today, however, it is only used for the festival held on the day prior to risshun, because this is the most important as it marks a new start. In that respect, it is comparable to New Year's Eve - as a kind of "Spring's Eve." It falls on either February 2, 3 or 4 in the solar calendar (this year Feb. 3).

Rituals on Setsubun have to do with chasing out evil influences as a sort of spiritual or ritual house cleaning before the start of Spring. These are the rituals:

Tsuina or oni-yarai. Originally held on New Year's Eve and introduced from Tang-China, this is an exorcism rite. Participants hold bows and clubs made from peach wood and symbolically chase away figures wearing demon masks.
Mame-maki. Bean-scattering ceremony. The scattering of roasted soy beans to expel evil spirits began in the 15-16th centuries and in popular folklore became linked with the above Tsuina ceremony. Participants shout "Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!" ("Out with the demons and in with good luck"). The bean scattering is done by a toshi otoko, a male family member born in the same Zodiac year (nowadays, happily, toshi onna also can take part).
Yaikagashi. Heads of sardines are struck on holly branches and hung over doorways to drive out the demons.
See here for the modern custom of eating Ehomaki, "Lucky Direction Sushi Rolls."

Many shrines and temples hold Setsubun events. Often famous persons from TV, show business or sports (sumo!) will take part, and in Kyoto there are bean-throwing maiko. Here are the major ones:

In Tokyo: Asakusa Kannon, Kanda Myojin and Hie Jinja.
In Kyoto: Mibudera (Setsubun Kyogen performances), Rokuharamitsuji (demon chase and bean throwing), Yasaka Jinja (bean throwing by maiko), Yoshida Jinja (demon chase and fire festival), Shogoin (mamemaki and demons) and Rozanji (a very theatrical demon chase with a thousand-year history).
In Nara: Horyuji (Shuni-e ceremony in the Saiendo, red, black and blue oni are driven away by Taishakuten), Gangoji Gokurakubo (firewalking), Kofukuji (Bishamonten chasing demons at Tokondo).

[Check all dates and times in advance, as Setsubun dates vary per year. Some events are in the evening]

Posts written on my other blogs in week 4, 2012

2012-01-28T10:28:00.000+09:00

At Splendid Labyrinths:

Bach Cantatas: Cantatas for the 3rd Sunday after Epiphany, focusing on the Will of God.

Classic Novels: Le Père Goriot by Balzac and The Death of the Heart by Elizabeth Bowen.

Classic Film: Letter from an Unknown Woman and Caught, both by Max Ophuls.

At Japanese Food Dictionary:

Kamameshi (mixed rice cooked in an individual pot);
Fu (wheat gluten, an ingredient in stews and soups and also in the Buddhist vegetarian kitchen);
Meron-pan (melon buns, a type of confectionery bread);
Kare-pan (curry buns, a type of confectionery bread with a savory filling);
Jiyamu-pan (a type of confectionery bread filled with strawberry jam).

Japanese Regional Sake: Iwate

2012-01-27T09:24:00.001+09:00

Iwate, the largest prefecture in North-eastern Honshu (and the second largest in Japan after Hokkaido), has interesting crafts and folklore and in Hiraizumi also boasts the ruins of an ancient cultural capital. It has great scenery and its unspoilt nature provides excellent water. But it is not a large rice-growing prefecture, the main sake rice being Miyama Nishiki which was originally developed in Nagano (Iwate's own sake rice also exists and is called "Ginginga"). And although it has some excellent breweries, it is not a "sake prefecture" like for example, Akita is.

But although the number of breweries is limited to just over twenty, the smallest number among Tohoku prefectures, strangely enough it boasts the largest group of toji, master brewers, of all Japan: the well-organized Nambu toji ("Nambu" is the old name for Iwate). If you wonder how that is possible, well, people from poorer areas in northern Japan were accustomed to leave their villages and find work elsewhere. That is why you find the Nambu toji everywhere in Japan, with the highest concentration in the north and east. The Nambu style is light and crisp, technically the Nambu toji are among the best in the country. They also excel in the ginjo style. There are more than 300 Nambu toji.

Iwate breweries, though small in numbers, do win many prizes at the National Sake Competition and their ginjo style has been fortified by the development of the Iwate No. 2 Yeast. The Iwate style is like the Nambu style (naturally, as the toji guilds are the major influence on local styles), light and mild. Main brewing areas are at the same time the areas where the Nambu toji hail from, such as Shiwamachi and Ishidoriyamachi just south of the capital Morioka. In that last village, the Nambu Toji headquarters is located, and visitors can enjoy seeing the Nambu toji museum called "Nambu Toji Denshokan."

Some important breweries from Iwate are:

Asabiraki (Asabiraki Co., Ltd., Morioka). Founded 1871. ”Asabiraki" is used in the Manyoshu for a "ship leaving port at dawn." The name was selected symbolically by Murai Genzo, a samurai of the Nanbu clan who in the early Meiji Period set out on the new endeavor of sake brewing. Largest producer in Iwate with computer-controlled new Kura (besides traditional one for handmade sake). Brewery tours possible. Sakes with an elegant and slender taste, low in acidity. Emphasis on junmai. Also experiments, such as sake with grape juice, or sake made from soy milk.
Hamachidori (Hamachidori Co., Ltd., Kamaishi). Small brewery founded in 1923 in steel town Kamaishi. The name means "plover", fitting a company on the Rikuchu Coast. Uses the local sake rice Ginginga. Besides water from its own well, also uses water from a well in the old iron ore mine (sake made with this water is branded as Sennengo). Makes a light, clean and stylish sake.
Nanbu Bijin (Nanbu-Bijin Co., Ltd., Ninohe). Set up in 1902 in Ninohe, in the northern part of Iwate. The name means "Beautiful woman of Nanbu" and was selected in the 1950s because the company wanted to promote the clean and beautiful taste of its sake. Brand has became known all over Japan. Typically fine and delicate Tohoku sake with a somewhat round taste. Made famous by veteran toji Yamaguchi Hajime.
Shichifukujin (Kiku no Tsukasa Co., Ltd., Morioka & Ishidoriyamachi).
”Shichifukujin" are the Seven Deities of Good Fortune, a group that became popular in folklore in the Edo-period. The same company also makes the brand Kiku no Tsukasa (at another location). Originally set up as sake brewery in the years between 1772-78 by the Hirai family, founded as modern company in 1929. Uses local Sasanishiki rice. Light, dry and (in the case of ginjo) delicate sakes. "Daiginjo Tezukuri Shichifukujin" is a long selling sake that helped develop the market for ginjo sake in the past.
Tsuki no Wa　(Tsukinowa Shuzoten, Shiwa Town). Founded 1886. "Full Moon" (named after a moon-shaped island in a local pond with historical connotations). Small brewery with lovely buildings. Uses local organic rice and Iwate No. 2 Yeast. All sake is hand work. Makes rather young and fragrant sake. Daughter of the owner now works as toji.

Regional information gleaned from Nihonshu no tekisuto (2): Sanchi no tokucho to tsukuritetachi, by Matsuzaki Haruo (Tokyo, 2003). Characterizations of individual sake based on Tastes of 1635: Shinpan Nihonshu Gaidobukku, also by Matsuzaki Haruo (Tokyo, 2000).

The enjoyment of warm sake

2012-01-24T14:18:00.000+09:00

There are so many types of sake today that should be drunk cold, that we almost end up thinking cold is the only way to drink sake. No: sake is a drink that can be enjoyed at a wide variety of temperatures, from 0 degrees Celsius ("ice sake") to 55 degrees. As such, it is probably unique in the world. Shaoxing wine from China is also delicious when warmed, but I do not know whether that can be drunk very cold. And there are some wines that can be had warm, but that are inferior types like Glühwein. The sake that is also delicious when warm, is high quality junmai sake.

What has made the image of warm sake bad, is the custom to drink cheap sake very hot. This not only happens abroad, but also in Japanese izakaya where piping hot sake ("tobikiri-kan") is served to hide the fact that it is rather tasteless stuff with lots of diluted brewing-alcohol added for volume plus sugar for taste. The result is a sort of jet fuel, of which the alcohol fumes blow in your face. Good sake should never be made really hot - just above body temperature, or lukewarm (40 degrees), is the best. In that case, it gives a very comforting feeling.

Where does the custom to drink sake warm come from? It has been recorded that when Emperor Saga (785-842) went out to hunt on a certain autumn day, the weather suddenly turned cold and the Minister of the Left, Fujiwara no Fuyutsugu (775-826), offered him warm sake. The Emperor was so delighted at this (according to the story) new way of drinking sake that he ordered that from then on in autumn and winter sake should be served warm in the palace. The idea may have come from China, where the custom to drink wine warm goes back to at least the Tang-period .

The best sake to drink warm is junmai, or a sturdy honjozo. Also Kimoto and Yamahai type sakes are delicious when warm. Perhaps not by coincidence, these are also the sakes that normally are better at room temperature than cold.

Sake & Food Pairings (2): Cheese

2012-01-23T13:42:00.000+09:00

Some people still have to get used to the idea, others already know it is a heavenly combination: sake and cheese (something which, being Dutch, makes me really happy!). It is true that Japan in the past did not know dairy products. These were introduced in the Meiji-period, in the late 19th c., and during the last century, gradually have become a normal part of the Japanese diet. That being said, in Japanese supermarkets you will mainly find processed cheese and natural cheese is rare and expensive (and sold in very small pieces as it is meant to be eaten as a snack and not on bread) - although there are some specialized cheese shops in Tokyo as well.

The reason cheese goes so well with sake can be found in one word: umami. Sake is full of umami, thanks to the ingredient rice, and cheese is also umami-based. So that is where both sides meet. But just as you can't plunk down just any piece of cheese and expect it to fit just any glass of wine, so in the case of sake there are also certain pairings which are better than others.

As we are talking about umami, the general rule is that sakes that are higher in umami are best with cheese, in other words, junmai sakes rather than honjozo or ginjo sakes. Also long-matured sakes will do well. Why does junmai sake contain more umami? Well, for one thing no alcohol is added to make the taste lighter, and above all, the rice is polished to a lesser degree than in the case of a (dai-) ginjo; when polishing, proteins are removed, and proteins are changed into amino acids during the brewing process, and amino acids of course provide the umami.

Another very suitable type is a Kimoto or Yamahai sake: thanks to the natural lactic acid with which the yeast is cultivated for these types of sake, some yoghurty taste remains, providing a "bridge" to the cheese. If it is a Kimoto sake, even a Junmai Ginjo or Junmai Daiginjo would be suitable for cheesy combinations - although the rice is polished further than an ordinary Junmai, the Kimoto character (and non-addition of alcohol) fully make up for the polishing away of proteins.

Keeping that in mind, it comes as no surprise that the Sake Service Institute during the Jizake Dai Show of 2011 has selected the Junmai Daiginjo "Minowamon" made with the Kimoto-method by the Fukushima sake house of Daishichi as the No. 1 combination with cheese - they used classic French Comte cheese for the pairing.

Interesting is also the second choice of the S.S.I.: a Kijoshu from the Wakatsuru Brewery. Kijoshu is "sake brewed with sake," like port wine, it is thick and sweet and has usually also been aged for many years (five or longer), so it is not difficult to imagine this would taste good with stronger cheeses.

Here are some other ideas:

- Kimoto or Yamahai sake also fits well with Mozzarella cheeses.
- In general, aged sake such as koshu goes well with aged cheese.
- Also unpasteurized (nama) sake, or even nama genshu (unpasteurized and undiluted sake) generally goes well with cheese - again, especially when this is a junmai.
- Try Camembert cheese with the mild, somewhat fruity taste of a Tokubetsu Junmai (polished to 60%)
- The blue mold Roquefort fits a Junmai Daiginjo admirably (not necessarily only Kimoto).
- Goat's cheese is great with a sparkling sake. But it also goes very well with the Kimoto Umeshu, plum wine on the basis of Junmai sake (and not shochu liquor, as is more common) made by the Daishichi sake house - and winner for three consecutive years of the platinum prize in the liqueur category the Jizake Dai Show (in 2011, it was the Daiginjo-based version of this plum wine, to be exact).

[Some of the final cheese suggestions are based on The Sake Selection, Brands of Distinction, by Akiko Tomoda, 2009]

Posts written on my other blogs in week 3, 2012

2012-01-22T11:47:00.002+09:00

At Splendid Labyrinths I have started a series of posts about the complete cantatas by Bach, listening to them in the order of the church year. I have started with the cantatas for New Year. In order to get "up to date", there are 5 cantata posts in this first week:

New Year Cantatas;
Cantatas for the Sunday between New Year and Epiphany;
Cantatas for the Feast of Epiphany;
Cantatas for the First Sunday after Epiphany;
Cantatas for the Second Sunday after Epiphany.

New film reviews:

Shop Around the Corner by Lubitsch;
Witness for the Prosecution by Wilder.

And at Japanese Food Dictionary I wrote a post about shumai.

Sake & Food Pairings (1): Tuna (Maguro)

2012-01-17T18:04:00.000+09:00

What sake can you drink with sashimi of tuna (maguro)?

At the Jizake Dai Show of SSI in 2008, Kokushi Muso's Junmai Daiginjo (Takasago Shuzo) and Jozen Nyosui's Shinmai Shinshu (Shirataki Shuzo) received the first (platinum) prizes for the combination with tuna. This is a selection by sommeliers of the Sake Service Institute in Tokyo. In general, these colleagues of mine (I am also a sommelier certified by the SSI) advise a light and delicate sake for tuna. Tuna is fatty red meat and tastes stronger than white fish. The reason to drink this type of sake is that it refreshes the mouth, more than a fear to obliterate the taste of the fish. And both recommended sakes are indeed light: it is a characteristic of sakes both from Hokkaido (Kokushi Muso) and Niigata (Jozen Nyosui) to be very dry and light. On the same note, in the case of pairing with wine, I would recommend a very dry white wine or a light red wine.

But other types of sake fit as well. Red tuna meat has a certain sourness, so a sour Junmai made with the Yamahai-method would also fit, especially if drunk cold.

So far we have been talking about Akami, the top loin of the Bluefin Tuna, which is the most common and least expensive tuna meat. There are two more types of tuna which you will find in sushi shops: Chutoro, medium fat Bluefin Tuna belly and Otoro, the fattiest portion of Bluefin Tuna belly.

Otoro is fat and creamy, with little umami - in fact, rather like foie gras -, and its popularity is a relatively recent phenomenon in Japan. It is difficult to combine with both wine and sake. The most logical choice would probably be a cold Honjozo Reishu, to wash away the fatty taste. But Japan's top sommelier Tasaki Shinya (in: "Wa" no shokutaku ni niau osake, Chukoshinsho, 2010) in contrast also suggests an aged sake, like a sweet and nutty koshu. The same pattern is repeated in the case of wine: I would suggest either a very dry white wine, or a very sweet one made with the Sémillon grape.

Nakatoro, finally, holds the middle field between the sour "iron-holding" taste of Akami and the fat, creaminess of Otoro, so wine or sake with the same balance between sweet and sour would be nice. Mr Tasaki in fact advises a Yamahai Junmai, but this time drunk warm at 40 degrees (to bring out the flavors), or in the case of wine a sparkling rose - those from the Champagne region are best, he writes.

It is a pity neither such sakes nor such wines are available in sushi shops, even in Japan, but you can try it out at home!

Japanese film: "Ornamental Hairpin" (1941) and other films by Shimizu Hiroshi

2012-01-06T13:26:00.000+09:00

Shimizu Hiroshi (1903-1966) was a contemporary, colleague and friend of Ozu Yasujiro, but history has dealt undeservedly harshly with him. He made realistic films about daily life that share Ozu's "Ofuna flavor" and also resemble Ozu technically in the preference for a static camera, long shots, distance shots and low angles. Despite my interest in things Japanese, I didn't know his name until last year when I happened to came across the Criterion edition with four of his films. I have already written about one of these, Mr. Thank You - here follows Ornamental Hairpin (1941; Kanzashi) plus a short note on the other two films.

Shimizu's films are really about nothing, they are probably the most wonderfully plot-less films that exist. Ornamental Hairpin shows the daily life of a group of people staying at a hot spring resort in the scenic Izu Peninsula: a grumpy professor (Saito Tatsuo, the father from Ozu's I Was Born But...); a married couple, of whom the husband has the annoying habit of always putting words in his wife's mouth; a grandpa who likes to play go and two boys. There is also a soldier who is recuperating from a leg wound, Nanmura (a very young Ryu Chishu) - in 1941 the war in Asia was in full swing.

When the soldier incurs an additional wound by stepping on a sharp hairpin that has fallen into the communal spa bath, the woman who lost that ornamental pin during a brief stay at the inn (Emi, played by Tanaka Kinuyo), returns all the way from Tokyo to apologize in person. She stays on to help Nanmura recuperate and learn to walk without crutches.

Emi is a geisha who by returning to the spa resort is escaping from her life in Tokyo, where she presumably was supported by a man she is fed up with. Her occupation is only slightly indicated at the beginning of the film, when she is shown walking in a sunny landscape with her friend Okiku, remarking how nice it is not to have to wear oshiroi. This is the powder used to whiten the faces of geisha. And a kanzashi, ornamental hairpin, was worn with a traditional hairdo, and was therefore around this time also in the first place an ornament of a geisha.

As Emi is beautiful, it is a foregone conclusion among the other guests that love will blossom between her and the unmarried soldier. Nanmura even doesn't mind the additional wound and calls it "poetic." They are everyday together, while Emi and the boys help him exercise his leg (with many shouts of "Gambatte!", "Do your best!"). But by the time he is recovered, the other long-staying guests are leaving for Tokyo and Nanmura joins them, presumably to go back to the battlefield. Emi stays behind alone...

Shimizu's films are seemingly very light, but you have to watch attentively. Important facts are often only suggested slightly, and they are very non-verbal, so you have to be on the look-out for the slightest gesture and facial expression. As Mr. Thank You, Ornamental Hairpin has been filmed on location in the Izu Peninsula.

Some commentators remark on the absence of the war in this film, and interpret the escape of the protagonists to the spa hotel as an escape and therefore criticism of the war Japan was waging. I think this is not the case. In the first place, we are still in 1941, before the attack at Pearl Harbor, when in general films about the war were nor very strident yet - showing more the sufferings of ordinary Japanese than the victories of the army. And in the second place, Ornamental Hairpin does have one clear patriotic episode, which must have been enough to convince the censors to let the rest of the film pass as well: the effort of Emi and the boys to help the wounded soldier exercise and as soon as possible learn to walk without crutches. In the film, Emi may have had another motivation - to be close to Nanmura as she was in love with him - but these scenes can also be interpreted as support for the army and its fighting men - think of all the "Gambattes!"

That nod to the censors, by the way, does not diminish the humanitarian values of this beautiful film.

Japanese Girls at the Harbor (1933) is a silent film, a minor melodrama made in the then popular "modernist style." The modernism appears in the experimental shots and strange camera angles, the Western names of the protagonists and the appearance of a church - not as a symbol of religion, but of the modern West! But this film has a plot, and a rather melodramatic and traditional one at that, so this is the least film in the set.

The Masseurs and a Woman (1938) is very much akin to Ornamental Hairpin, as it is also situated at a hot spring resort. Masseurs were usually blind and here they travel from inn to inn to offer their services. One of them develops a bit of a crush on a mysterious woman from Tokyo staying alone at a resort (Takamine Mieko). Like Hairpin, this film is almost plotless, just showing small daily events.

My evaluation of Ornamental Hairpin: 8 points out of 10 for Emi carrying the soldier on her back over a plank bridge.

Criterion essay; Criterion Confesssions; Stricly Film School; Schwartz.

Japanese Film: "When a Woman Ascends the Stairs" (1960) by Naruse

2012-01-05T21:28:00.000+09:00

When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (1960; Onna ga kaidan wo agaru toki) by Naruse Mikio (1905-1969) is a film set in the milieu of bars and hostesses, and the men who visit such bars. Keiko (Takamine Hideko) is a beautiful hostess who manages a bar in Tokyo's Ginza district as the "mama-san" although she does not own it. In her behavior, she is demure and conservative, seldom showing her feelings; she is always impeccably dressed in kimono. She is in her thirties (she is a widow) and it is therefore time to settle down, by either acquiring an establishment of her own, or by leaving the water trade through a second marriage. Her present bar is on the second floor, and every evening she has to climb the stairs (today, there are elevators in even the smallest buildings!). She hates the look of those steep stairs, and the grind work that awaits her at the top of them, but once she is inside her bar, she shows an impenetrable smiling face - a professional accessory - and can take everything that comes her way. She also keeps her style. In her own words: "Around midnight, Tokyo's 16,000 bar women go home. The best go home by car. Second-rate ones by streetcar. The worst go home with their customers."

Keiko's search for happiness is not an easy one. The work is hard: every night showing a friendly, smiling face and courteously flattering the guests with disregard for her own personality, even if they talk nonsense (which is most of the time). Her poor family, a good-for-nothing brother and an aging mother, depend on her financial assistance, but they give little back.

Other disasters happen. Her most popular hostess leaves to start her own bar, and pulls along many clients. Keiko also tries to get money together for her own bar by selling "subscriptions" to her most favorite customers, but the amounts they are willing to invest are pitifully insufficient. She could of course look for one, sole financier, but then he would "own" her and also expect other, repugnant services from her. She wants to keep her independence.

When the subscription plan doesn't come off the ground, she tries to find a man to marry. There is a wealthy, soft-spoken man who showers her with presents and proposes marriage. But just in time Keiko finds out that he is an impostor, and known for such proposals to other women as well. She secretly loves a handsome (and married) banker, but after they spend the night together - she breaks her own rules here - he tells her he will be transferred out of Tokyo the next day, showing that she has been used by him. She takes revenge by going to Tokyo Station to say goodbye to him while he sits in the train with his wife and child.

This event also means the break-up with her bar manager Komatsu (Nakadai Tatsuya). Komatsu always kept in the background, taking care of the bar with a strong guiding hand, but secretly was in love with her. But he despises her now she has fallen for a customer (or is just jealous).

So, with each man in her life deserting or disappointing her, in the evening, resigned but tenacious, she again climbs the stairs to her bar to spend another night serving selfish and exploitative customers. The human spirit can be strong. Although Keiko is not a prostitute and a very different character from a very different culture, I was reminded of Fellini's Cabiria, which ends on the same note.

The B/W film is imbued with a gentle sadness, and fittingly filmed in noirish tones. Dialogues are minimal, non-verbal communication plays a large role. The camera-work is unobtrusive. Naruse is the least known of the great, classical directors, even in Japan, but it is heartening to see that in recent years his fame is worldwide on the increase.

Some cultural points:

The night-time entertainment business of snack bars, bars, and cabarets where hostesses provide entertainment, is called "water trade" (mizu shobai) in Japan.
"Mama" is not a name or designation for a particular person, as is wrongly implied in the IMDB and several reviews. It is not a "special term of honor" for Keiko in this film! Rather, "Mama" or more politely "Mama-san" is the general designation for all (tens of thousands) of women who are the manager of an establishment in the "water trade." Although this designation may have originated in the sentimental whimperings of male visitors, who wanted to pour out their hearts to a surrogate mother, it now is just a title, for example like "Shacho" for "Company President." Not only the clients, but also the women and other staff working in the bar as well as caterers, etc., will call the owner by this title.
The modern bar hostess is an entertainer like the geisha of old: she sits with her guests and serves the drinks and snacks, but more importantly, it is her task to create a pleasant atmosphere and keep the conversation going. This means she has to do a lot of flattering of the egos of her customers. She may also dance or sing karaoke with the clients. Although sexual innuendo is used in the conversations, especially from the side of the male customers, providing such services is not part of her job.
The Ginza area in the film is the district in Tokyo were countless hostess bars of various types can be found (in the side streets and streets running parallel to the main street) - it is regarded today as the most classy such area. The Ginza is also one of the few areas in Tokyo where you still find some hostesses in kimono (like Keiko in the film, but that was in 1960).
There are usually many bars in one building, even several on the same floor. You can tell their presence by the many colorful neon advertisements outside on the building.
Persons working in the water trade will go to work in the early evening and then greet each other with "Ohayo gozaimasu," "Good morning!"
Customers come to bars after their dinner, which is always early in Japan: starting at five or six and finishing around eight or nine. The bars are open till the small hours of the morning.
Most customers are businessmen, either owners of companies (the wealthiest sort) or corporate managers with an expense account.
Some bars are only for members, others refuse foreigners if only out of fear of language problems, and on the other hand there are also shady bars, so visitors to Japan are advised not to explore on their own, but only go when invited by a Japanese business partner.

My evaluation: 10 points out of 10 for that patient staircase.

About Naruse: Naruse in Senses of Cinema; The Materialist Ethic of Mikio Naruse in Senses of Cinema; Unsentimental Journey: A Glimpse into the Cinema of Mikio Naruse in Senses of Cinema; Naruse in Strictly Film School; Naruse in Slant Magazine; Flowing: The Films of Mikio Naruse;

About "When a Woman Ascends the Stairs:" Criterion essay; Criterion Confessions.

New year's haiku

2012-01-01T14:11:00.001+09:00

New Year's haiku by Issa

my happiness

just about average

at my New Year

medetasa mo | chuu gurai nari | oraga haru

Planting my stick

in the quagmire -

the first sun of the year

nukarumi e | tsue tsupatte | hatsuhi kana

New Year's Day

my hovel

the same as ever

ganjitsu mo | tachi no manma no | kuzu-ya kana

even my shadow

is safe and sound

this first morning of spring

kageboshi mo | mame sokusai de | kesa no haru

New Year's haiku by Basho

has spring already come?

I feel wealthy this New Year

with five sho of old rice

haru tatsu ya | shin-nen furuki | kome go-shoo

New Year's Day

I feel lonely just like

an autumn evening

ganjitsu ya | omoeba sabishi | aki no kure

New Year's haiku by Shiki

New Year's Day

nothing good or bad -

just human beings

ganjitsu wa | ze mo hi mo nakute | shujoo nari

New Year's haiku by Shigyoku

New Year's Day

whosoever face we see

it is carefree

ganjitsu ya | taga kao mite mo | nen no naki

Cited - with corrections - from R.H. Blyth, Haiku Vol. 2, Spring. The first Issa haiku is my own translation.

The Year of the Dragon

2012-01-01T12:50:00.002+09:00

2012 is the Year of the Dragon. The dragon is the symbol of renewal and in Japan it is omni-present.

"In Japan and China, the dragon is not the gruesome monster of the Western, medieval imagination, but a genius of strength and goodness. He is the spirit of change. Hidden in the caverns of inaccessible mountains, or coiled in the unfathomable depth of the sea, he awaits the time when he slowly rouses himself into activity. He unfolds himself in the storm clouds; he washes his mane in the blackness of the seething whirlpools, His claws are in the fork of the lightning, his scales begin to glisten in the bark of rain-swept pine trees. His voice is heard in the hurricane, which scattering the withered leaves of the forest, quickens a new spring." (Okakura Tenshin, The Awakening of Japan)

The dragon is the symbol of the productive force of nature, of renewal. It is also the emblem of vigilance and safeguard. In its claws it carries the "night-shining pearl," a gem of omnipotence. The Chinese imperial coat from the Han to Qing dynasties consisted of a pair of dragons fighting for such a pearl. It was the emblem of imperial power and of the throne (called "dragon throne").

In Japanese myth, the deity Susano-o fights Yamato-Orochi, an Eight-headed dragon. After slaying him, he finds the sword Kusunagi in the tail of the beast. This is now one of the Imperial regalia. The Sea God is also called Dragon God and lives in a Dragon palace below the waves. This visited by Hikohohodemi, who marries Toyotamahime, the Dragon King's daughter - and after she joins her husband on the land, she becomes the ancestor of Ninigi-no-mikoto, the mythical progenitor of the imperial house. Also the Utsukushima Shrine on Miyajima was believed to be the abode of the Dragon King's daughter. On a different note, in a folktale, Urashima visits the Dragon Palace on the back of a trutle and also marries the dragon kings daughter, but when he leaves the underwater world, he has return alone.

Dragons figure in the names of Zen temples, as Ryoanji ("Dragon Peace Temple") and Tenryuji ("Heavenly Dragon temple") in Kyoto. When the Kannon statue that is the object of veneration in the Asakusa temple (Sensoji) appeared from the sea in the nets of two fishermen in 628, golden dragons ascended to heaven - for that reason the temple celebrates an annual Golden Dragon Dance. And in popular culture dragons can be found from Dragon Ball and Dragon Quest to the Chunichi Dragons, and not to forget, King Ghidorah, the three-headed golden dragon who appears in several Godzilla films.

Have a good Dragon Year!

The Japanese Zodiac

2011-12-26T11:25:00.000+09:00

That the years in Japan are associated with the animals of the Oriental Zodiac can escape no one who sees their effigies on New Year cards, posters and calendars and who is amazed at the tremendous amount of clay dolls of the Animal of the Year sold in department stores and temples. By the way, 2012 will be the Year of the Dragon.

In the past, these animal signs were also associated with directions of the compass, seasons, days and (double) hours.

The Japanese zodiac consists of the following twelve animals, and rotates in the order given below:

Rat (Ne) - the first year of the cycle. Symbol of industry and prosperity on account of its hoarding abundant supplies of food. The rat is also associated with Daikoku, one of the Seven Deities of Good Fortune, as it is shown gnawing on the rice bales on which the deity usually stands. Hours: 23:00-01:00. Direction: North. (2008, 2020)
Ox (Ushi) - patient and faithful, as well as an emblem of spring and agriculture (ploughs were pulled by oxen). A lucky year. Associated with Sugawara Michizane, the deity of the Tenmangu Shrines, who road an ox when driven into exile. Hours: 01:00-03:00. (2009, 2021)
Tiger (Tora) - the king of the land animals, symbol of awe and terror, but also short-tempered. Tigers never existed in Japan, but were rather common in China. Hours: 03:00-05:00. (2010, 2022)
Rabbit (U) or Hare (Usagi) - Smooth talking, but also an emblem of longevity. A fortunate year. Reminds people of the legend of the Hare in the Moon, pounding rice cakes, or the myth of the Hare of Inaba. Hours: 05:00-07:00. East. (2011, 2023)
Dragon (Tatsu) - Most important mythical animal in folklore. In contrast to the Western dragon, the Chinese/Japanese one is associated with benevolent constructive forces, as well as good health and energy. Hours: 07:00-09:00. (2012, 2024)
Snake or Serpent (Mi) - Emblem of cunning, but also of the ability to increase money. Regarded with feelings of veneration due to its kinship with the benevolent dragon. The animal of Benten, one of the Seven deities of good Fortune. Hours: 09:00-11:00. (2013, 2025)
Horse (Uma) - wild freedom. Represents the element of fire. An ancient animal in Japan. Hours: 11:00-13:00. South. (2014, 2026)
Sheep (Hitsuji) or Goat - art, elegance and passion. Symbol of a retired life. Not very numerous in Japan. Hours: 13:00-15:00. (2015, 2027)
Monkey (Saru) - Clever and skilful. Symbol of trickery. Very prominent in fairy tales, as Momotaro. Hideyoshi, who rose from commoner to the highest status in the land, was born in the year of the monkey. Think also of the three Koshin monkeys "seeing no evil, hearing no evil, speaking no evil." Hours: 15:00-17:00. (2016, 2028)
Cock (Tori) - valor and watchfulness, a lucky year. Associated with the Sun myth and the Ise Shrines. Hours: 17:00-19:00. West. (2017, 2029)
Dog (Inu) - loyal and protective. Hours: 19:00-21:00. (2018, 2030)
Wild Boar (I) - reckless courage and stubbornness. Hours: 21:00-23:00. (2019, 2031)

Japanese Film: "Days of Youth" (1929) by Ozu Yasujiro

2011-12-01T18:13:00.000+09:00

Days of Youth (1929, Wakaki Hi) was Ozu's 8th film and his first full-length feature film. It is also the first film by Ozu that has been preserved intact. Ozu started his life as director making several "student comedies" with nonsensical gags and this is one of them. The influence of American films is noticeable (for example Harold Lloyd's Girl Shy and The Freshman), although even in this early film Ozu is already Ozu. The film is carefully composed, with interesting parallels and symmetries. There is for example a great shot of the long, smoking chimney of a mountain hut, which is followed down, into the hut, to the stove and a kettle with boiling water. But the camera work is rather different from late Ozu - it is very dynamic as befits the outdoor subject. The script was written by Ozu together with Fushimi Akira, one of the best Shochiku script writers of that time.

The film starts and ends (in reverse) with something we are not used to in Ozu films - a long pan from a station, a university with sports grounds (Waseda) to a quiet residential street. This brings us to the second-floor lodgings of Watanabe Bin (Yuki Ichiro), a crafty rogue of a student who spends his time "girl hunting" in a rather ingenious way. He glues a notice on his window that the room is for rent, hoping that a nice female student will knock on his door. Of course, if one does, he has to move out, but he will take his time for the removal and come back regularly for things he has "forgotten." When a male student wants to rent the room, he tells him that "he himself has just rented them and still has to take the notice down."

This is how Watanabe manages to meet Chieko (Matsui Junko), who happens to be already friends with shy and bookish fellow student Yamamoto Shuichi (Saito Tatsuo), whose character is symbolically indicated by his "Harold Lloyd glasses." When Watanabe has given up his rooms for Chieko, he moves in with the reluctant Yamamoto - keeping him effectively from studying for the impending exams.

After the exams, halfway the film, the "student film" turns into a "ski film," as Watanabe and Yamamoto travel for a ski holiday to Akakura in Nagano. There they meet Chieko again and they compete for the girl - with Yamamoto usually the patient butt of Watanabe's jokes. Chieko actually happens to be there for a miai (arranged marriage) with the ski teacher, so both students have to return to Tokyo without success in love. They have also flunked their exams - and everything starts anew as Watanabe again sticks a "for rent" notice on the window.

It may surprise viewers to find such a lot of skiing in an early Ozu film. Skiing had been introduced to Japan about twenty years earlier and is credited to one Theodor von Lerch, an Austrian major, who taught skiing to the Japanese army at Joetsu in Niigata in early 1911. It soon became popular and Ozu used to ski every winter around the time the film was made. He usually went to the same place where the film is shot, Akakura, where the parents of his cameraman Mohara Hideo ran the Takadaya Hotel (shown in the film) - the cameraman was also an expert skier, as is clear when seeing the hand camera work on skis in Days of Youth. Ozu was still young when the film was made, 25, and we can imagine him having fun in the snow with his colleagues.

This obviously is not the film to start your Ozu experience with, but after you have seen the great films and want to know what Ozu's origins were, Days of Youth is quite interesting.

My evaluation: 7 out of 10 points for Yamamoto having to run after a lost ski sliding down the slope, while Watanabe flirts with Chieko.

Japanese Film: "A Page Of Madness" (1926) by Kinugasa

2011-11-28T09:48:00.000+09:00

An elderly man (veteran actor Inoue Masao) feels responsible for the schizophrenic condition of his wife (Nakagawa Yoshie) and has taken menial employment in the asylum where she is interned. His ultimate plan is to flee with her. Memories of their happy past mingle with scenes of their present misery.

That is the simple premise of the avant-garde film A Page of Madness (Kurutta Ichipeiji) made in 1926 by young director Kinugasa Teinosuke (1896-1982). A Page of Madness was long thought lost, like so may other films from the 1920s, until in 1971 the director found a copy of the negative in his storehouse.

The script of A Page of Madness is purposely scrambled and jumps from memories of the past to the here and now, mixing in various fantasies and hallucinations along the way. The beginning of the film is typical: a montage of shots of violent rain hitting the windows of the hospital; the unsettled weather induces one of them, a former dancer, to start a frantic dance. We see the dancing girl in fancy costume dancing on a stage, behind her a large colored ball is turning around. This is a memory from the past. The dancer collapses, the stage becomes a cell (we see the black bars, a fixed motive in the whole film), the dancer now wears rags - we are back in the mental hospital.

The film contains a barrage of startling imagery and haunting dreamlike visuals. Any cinematic device known, such as rapid montage - although Kinugasa didn't know the films by Eisenstein as Soviet products were forbidden in Japan - at the time is used. It is not only far ahead of anything happening in Japan in the mid-twenties, but also ahead of the world. And it is very original, there is no resemblance with for example Wiene's Dr Caligari as is sometimes claimed.

There is much misinformation about this film going around, so here are some sober facts (thanks to the study by Aaron Gerow, A Page of Madness: Cinema and Modernity in 1920s Japan (Center for Japanese Studies, The University of Michigan, 2008):

The project was not a low-budget, independent art film made solely by a group of enthusiastic youngsters. The studio for which Kinugasa worked invested in the project and the film was shot at Shochiku's Kamogawa Studios in Kyoto. The budget was 20,000 yen, twice as much as that of the commercial jidaigeki Kinugawa usually made for Shochiku.
Although famous modernist author and future Nobel-Prize winner Kawabata Yasunari wrote a script for the film, that was not the only scenario nor even the major one. There were several scenarios floating around this film, written by various persons.
Originally, the film was not as incomprehensible as it is today, for the following reasons:

The 60 minute version that was unearthed by the director (which is all we have today) was shortened and some of the more conventional narrative scenes seem to have been cut - perhaps to bring the film more in line with notions of what was considered "avant-garde" in the seventies.
The film originally incorporated some conservative Shinpa-type narrative elements and there also seem to have been at least some inter-titles (now there are none).
On top of that, the film was originally shown with a benshi - the famous benshi Tokugawa Musei gave his cooperation.

Some other points I would like to add:

As was usual with art films, it was shown in a theater reserved for foreign films, the Musashinokan in Shinjuku in Tokyo.
In the 1920s, there was a flourishing avant-garde scene in Japan (especially the Shinkankakusha, or New Impressionists, whose work experimented with a wide variety of modernist styles - Constructivism, Futurism, Dada, Surrealism and Expressionism) and much interest in what happened abroad in this field, so the film did not come out of the blue.
One interesting scene: at a certain moment, the male patients of the asylum are aroused by the dance of "the wife" and they cause a riot. They are then given Noh masks to wear which make them peaceful.

My evaluation: 7 points out of 10 for being totally exhausting in only 60 minutes. Advice for new viewers: just go with the flow and let the images work on your mind.

Besides Gerow's book, also see this article in Midnight Eye.