Showa OK!

Charles Bronson In Mandom

noreply@blogger.com (Nakore) — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 11:42:00 +0000

As mentioned before, things have been a little chaotic for the staff at Showa OK! over the past couple of months, so please excuse our lack of updates to the site. We hope you've been following our posts on Twitter and Facebook and enjoying the content we've been sharing there. However, as we prepare for our move east, we'd like to provide you with a little something in the meantime to whet your surely insatiable appetite for all things Shōwa.

A few months ago we covered director Nobuhiko Ōbayashi's spectacularly odd film House (ハウス, Hausu), which, at the time, was touring theaters across the country. It has since been announced that the film will be released in October by The Criterion Collection on both Blu-Ray and DVD. In our post we had mentioned that Ōbayashi had honed his skills producing television commercials in the 70s, perhaps the most memorable of which was a campaign for men's care line Mandom featuring fearless action star Charles Bronson.

First aired in 1970, the ads showed Bronson performing a host of "manly" tasks, set to the music of Jerry Wallace's single of the same year, "The Lovers Of The World", which was released only in Japan — apparently as a commercial tie-in — under the title "Otoko No Sekai" (男の世界).

Below is a collection of those curious commercials, originally found via the website C.H.U.D. and graciously posted to YouTube by user rinrinsky. So sit back, kick off your boots, douse yourself in cologne and enjoy the rustic world of Mandom.

Just A Chotto Matte Minute Please

noreply@blogger.com (Nakore) — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 11:54:00 +0000

Thanks for bearing with us during the past (bare) month or so. Things have been a little hectic here at Showa OK!, but following our move to Tokyo the site will undergo a few format changes. In the meantime we'll be posting music, videos, images and links via Twitter and Facebook, so be sure to follow us there if you haven't done so already.

We're definitely looking forward to the second half of 2010 and hope you enjoy what we have in store for you! Until then, my friends, stay Shōwa...

Happy Shōwa Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Nakore) — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 11:39:00 +0000

Today is Shōwa Day (昭和の日), a Japanese public holiday honoring the birthday of the Shōwa emperor, Hirohito.

After his death in 1989, the emperor's birthday was no longer observed as it had been throughout his 62-year reign, but instead labeled Greenery Day (みどりの日), a celebration of nature meant to hint at the emperor's fondness of plants.

In 2005 legislation was passed to officially declare April 29th "Shōwa Day", while Greenery Day was subsequently moved to May 4th, adding to the Golden Week vacation.

Although the measure was overwhelming popular in parliament, the holiday is seen as controversial by some who feel it merely glorifies the years of Japanese aggression in the 1930s and 40s. Still, others claim that it should be seen as a time to reflect on all things — good, bad and otherwise — which shaped the face of Japan during the long years of 1926 and 1989.

Summer Secret (1982)

noreply@blogger.com (Nakore) — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 04:30:00 +0000

As we here in the Northern Hemisphere prepare for the approaching sunny summer months (well, some of us, at least; it hailed earlier today in San Francisco), I truly believe that nothing channels the spirit of the season quite like — brace yourself — a teen-themed suspense thriller! Remember I Know What You Did Last Summer? Yeah, I never watched it either. But I'm guessing the movie I'm about to describe isn't nearly as gory, nor are its teenage characters played by 20-somethings.

The 1982 film Natsu No Himitsu (夏の秘密, "Summer Secret"), adapted from prolific mystery writer Kyūzō Kobayashi's (小林久三) novel of the same name, features members of short-lived pop outfit Pansy (パンジー). Teenage idols Chiemi Manabe (真鍋ちえみ), Sawako Kitahara (北原佐和子) and Hisako Mitsui (三井比佐子) star as three friends on their high school's swim team. Suddenly one day, one of the group vanishes suspiciously, leaving the other two to solve the mystery of her disappearance.

In a commercial attempt to promote the girls' individual efforts, Shochiku Films produced a promotional video preceding the film's release (I guess?) entitled "Pansy Confidence". It featured each members' single of the day spliced over a bizarre montage of shots of the girls doing cute things like being chased down the street by a German shepherd, or harassing a man in a gorilla suit.

Only in the last 30 some-odd seconds do we actually catch a glimpse of Natsu No Himitsu, which, comparatively speaking, looks pretty deep. I mean come on, it can't be too soft if "Beat" Takeshi Kitano (北野武) is credited with a cameo (as a ramen vendor, no less).

With respect to the film's music, director Hiromichi Kawakami (川上裕通) couldn't have chosen a better man for the job. Y.M.O.'s Haruomi Hosono (細野晴臣) (get used to seeing these guys' names a lot on this site) completed the accompanying score in addition to writing music for the song "Night Train Bishōjo" (ナイトレイン・美少女, "Night Train Beauty"), sung by Pansy's Chiemi Manabe during the film's closing credits.

Manabe — only 17 at the time — was fortunate enough to work with Hosono on two of her three singles released the same year, enlisting the expertise of songwriter and producer Nobuyuki Shimizu (清水信之) for the other. The songs she recorded were all featured on a full-length album released a month before Natsu No Himitsu's opening, but Manabe's musical career seems to have ended there. However, her debut single "Nerawareta Shōjo" (ねらわれた少女, something like "Targeted Girl"), both written and produced by Hosono, stands out in my mind as one of the funkiest techno-pop (テクノ歌謡, techno-kayō) tracks I know.

Chiemi Manabe - Nerawareta Shōjo (1982)
真鍋ちえみ - ねらわれた少女

Natsu No Himitsu was eventually made into a weekday daytime T.V. drama, running from June to October of 2009. Unfortunately, having not seen the movie I'm unable to compare the depth of the original film to that of the show (which I haven't seen either). But simply based on the inclusion of both Haruomi Hosono and Takeshi Kitano in one film, regardless of how large or small their roles, I'm willing to bet the original packs more punch than the remake. Although that usually goes without saying, right?

Tatsuo Sunaga's Jazz Allnighters

noreply@blogger.com (Nakore) — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 00:02:00 +0000

Fans of rare and Japanese jazz are surely familiar with DJ/producer Tatsuo Sunaga's supremely cool Jazz Allnighters compilation series (須永辰緒の夜ジャズ, Sunaga Tatsuo No Yoru Jazz). But in his latest effort All The Young Dudes, Sunaga has chosen to focus strictly on the music of younger, modern Japanese talent — a clear break from the eclectic, international character of the original Jazz Allnighters titles. Slated in Japan for an April 28th release, this series spinoff features contemporary artists such as Ego-Wrappin' and Soil & "Pimp" Sessions, as well as Sunaga's own group Sunaga T Experience.

However, seeing as this is a Shōwa-focused blog, we'd like to share a handful of our favorite recordings taken from previous entries in the series.

Sunaga's thoughtful selections create a vivid image of the smoky, dimly-lit jazz cafes (ジャズ喫茶, jazz kissa) one might hope to find scattered throughout the back alleys of Japan's bustling urban centers. From sexy to swinging, halcyon to heartbroken, the sounds contained on each disc are no doubt representative of the spirit and tenor of just such an establishment — a place where patrons might grab a drink, snap a finger or two and dance the night away.

Download:
Terumasa Hino - La Macarena
日野皓正 - ラ・マカレーナ
From Jazz Allnighters Volume 3
Originally released on the album Mas Que Nada (1975)

Nobuo Hara & Sharps And Flats - Sōran Bushi
原信夫 & シャープスアンドフラッツ - ソーラン節
From Jazz Allnighters Volume 5
Originally released on the album Sharps And Flats In Newport (1967)

Chiemi Eri - Istanbul Mambo
江利チエミ - イスタンブール・マンボ
From Jazz Allnighters Volume 8
Originally released on the single Uramachi No Otenba Musume (1956)

Mari Nakamoto - Englishman In New York
中本マリ - イングリッシュマン･イン･ニューヨーク
From Jazz Allnighters Volume 6
Originally released on the album New Swing Street (1988)

Fumio Itabashi - Watarase
板橋文夫 - 渡良瀬
From Jazz Allnighters Volume 5
Originally released on the album Watarase (1982)

House (1977)

noreply@blogger.com (Nakore) — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 13:25:00 +0000

Described by one reviewer as "an episode of Scooby Doo as directed by Dario Argento", House (ハウス, Hausu) is the first feature film from prolific director and screenwriter Nobuhiko Ōbayashi (大林宣彦). During the 60s, Ōbayashi spent his years following university producing short experimental films, while the next decade saw him directing commercials for television. He was able to use his expertise in these two seemingly divergent fields to produce a wholly engrossing, terrifyingly comic debut in this phantasmagorical coming-of-age nightmare.

According to Ōbayashi, production giant Toho Films was "tired of losing money on completely comprehensible films" and encouraged the director to "produce his own completely incomprehensible script". The result: a plethora of poltergeist phenomena and murderous mayhem; a film "too absurd to be genuinely terrifying, yet too nightmarish to be merely comic".

Fortunately, we here in San Francisco have the opportunity to experience the gut-busting, mind-blowing macabre of House on the big screen during an upcoming showing at the Castro Theater. North American distributor Janus Films is presenting the film in theaters across the country in preparation for its eventual DVD release, possibly slated for later this year. Additional show times and dates can be found by visiting the film's site.

House plays at the Castro Theater on Saturday, April 17th at 7:30 and 9:45p. For more information, click here.

Mad, Bad... & Dangerous To Know

noreply@blogger.com (Nakore) — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 19:47:00 +0000

If you haven't already, be sure to check out the exciting listings for Mad, Bad... & Dangerous To Know, a currently ongoing film series at the Japan Society of New York showcasing femme fatales of the 60s and 70s. The three-week, three-part event focuses on "three untamed beauties": actresses Ayako Wakao (若尾文子), Meiko Kaji (梶芽衣子) and Mariko Okada (岡田茉莉子).

Japan Society film programmer Samuel Jamier notes, "Both Wakao and Okada were muses and inspiration for two major film directors, Yasuzo Masumura (増村保造) and Kijū (Yoshishige) Yoshida (吉田喜重), respectively, while Kaji navigated between filmmakers, a wild card of Japanese cinema at the time. Put together, their films delineate what one could call an aesthetic of 'convulsive beauty.'"

The selections' themes vary from violent to erotic and anywhere in between. However, according to the series' press release, it's about more than just fetishizing skin flicks. Rather, "the films of Mad, Bad… & Dangerous to Know address concerns of the Japanese New Wave, post-war discontent, and the influence of international film genres such as the westerns and film noir."

"On one level [the series] reflects the status of the 'movie star' during the Golden Age of Japanese cinema at a time when cross-cultural traffic truly emerged. On a much deeper level, it brings to light new views of gender politics in Japan and examines the interconnections between female agency, gender ideologies, and Japanese models of womanhood."

Mad, Bad... & Dangerous To Know runs through April 18th at the Japan Society of New York. For more information, visit their website.

The Apryl Fool

noreply@blogger.com (Nakore) — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 21:03:00 +0000

In honor of today's ubiquitously acknowledged, prank-filled pseudo-celebration, we offer you a pair of songs from aptly titled blues-psych-rock outfit The Apryl Fool (エイプリル・フール), taken off their first and only album, 1969's Apryl Fool. Astute readers may recall the group as one of the earliest recorded projects of producer extraordinaire and one-third of the supergroup Yellow Magic Orchestra, Haruomi Hosono (細野晴臣), just 22 at the time of recording.

Both Hosono and drummer Takashi Matsumoto (松本隆) — credited as "Rei Matsumoto" on the album, and now a successful songwriter in his own right — went on to form the group Happy End, whose emotive sound sidestepped the pitfalls of hackneyed "folk" contemporaries and helped in creating a new voice in Japanese rock during the early 1970s.

Julian Cope's description of The Apryl Fool as part of his ambitious Japrocksampler project reveals a little of their history, providing some context for the group's sole, obscure long-player release. But through the haze, I can't tell if Cope's comment on "weak-as-shit drumming" refers to the band or not; if so, I beg to differ.

It should be noted, in fact, that this is not a psychedelic album. One blog post acknowledges the anomalous nature of the jarringly trippy, effects-laden jam "The Lost Mother Land" (part one of which is included on the 2001 compilation Love, Peace & Poetry: Japanese Psychedelic Music).

On the contrary, despite their experimentation with fuzz-drenched guitars, reverb and tape effects, The Apryl Fool obviously appear to be inspired more by simple blues chord progressions than anything one would refer to as "psychedelic". And that's not at all a bad thing.

Download:
The Apryl Fool - Ningen Shinwa No Hōkai (a.k.a. "April Blues")
エイプリル・フール - 人間神話の崩壊
The Apryl Fool - Kurai Nichiyōbi (a.k.a. "Sunday")
エイプリル・フール - 暗い日曜日

Hatsumi Shibata (1952-2010)

noreply@blogger.com (Nakore) — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 22:29:00 +0000

Hatsumi Shibata
しばたはつみ

April 11th, 1952 - March 28th, 2010

Yesterday, I discovered that singer Hatsumi Shibata died of a heart attack Saturday at her home in Shizuoka-ken. She was 57.

Remarkably, Shibata began her singing career as a child, performing for American servicemen at the age of 9. Born Hatsumi Hosoai (細合はつみ), she was raised in Tokyo by musically gifted parents who quickly spotted her talent as a vocalist; by 15 she had already begun recording music for television commercials.

The following year, under the stage name Hatsumi Kanna (はつみかんな), she released her first single, "Koi To Umi To Taiyō To", (恋と海と太陽と), a frenetic little number showcasing the singer's surprising strength for a 16 year-old girl.

During the early 70s she traveled to the U.S. in hopes of finding work in show business. But after limited touring, she returned to Japan and in 1974 released her first single as Hatsumi Shibata, the funky, forlorn ballad "Aikagi" (合鍵), or "duplicate key". Shortly thereafter, Shibata seized the opportunity to open for both Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. during the pair's performances in Tokyo.

Despite a rather impressive resume for someone her age, it was ultimately the 1977 hit "My Luxury Night" (マイ・ラグジュアリー・ナイト) — penned by brother and sister duo Takao and Etsuko Kisugi — which solidified Shibata's success as an entertainer, granting her a coveted spot on NHK's New Year's Eve special Kōhaku Uta Gassen (紅白歌合戦).

However, to me, the singer's most interesting material is to be found in her earlier collaborations with composer and pianist Yuji Ōno (大野雄二), that of which is both esteemed and desired by small, devoted circles of mainly Japanese record collectors.

So then, to celebrate the jazzier side of Shibata's oeuvre, consider this Ōno-penned original from the album Singer Lady (シンガーレディ), produced by Ōno as well.

Hatsumi Shibata - Mōichido Kikasete (1975)
しばたはつみ - もう一度聞かせて

Of course, Shibata's role in the gaudy theatrics typical of the late 70s variety show circuit mustn't be overlooked. This gem of a live performance, "I Love Paris", is taken from Sound In "S", a show which Shibata co-hosted with Ayumi Ishida (石田あゆみ) and Yuji Ōno as part of Ōno's trio.

The elaborate musical number features Shibata alongside Yuzuru Sera (世良譲) on piano, as well as idol singers Machiko Watanabe (渡辺真知子) and Yukari Itō (伊東ゆかり).

Three Steps Over Japan: Garo #29

noreply@blogger.com (Nakore) — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 17:00:00 +0000

To kick off what's turned into somewhat of a manga/anime kick that began earlier this month, we provided you with scans of monthly magazine Garo (ガロ), taken from the blog Three Steps Over Japan.

Well, the fellas over there — fella, actually — have done it again, providing us more quality scans with Issue 29 of the gekiga (劇画) journal, originally published January 1967.

You can tell just by the cover it's not your run-of-the-mill comic book.

To check out more of this issue, visit Three Steps Over Japan. To learn more about Garo, click on the "Garo" label at the bottom of this post.

Experimental Animation Of Osamu Tezuka (1962-65)

noreply@blogger.com (Nakore) — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 23:30:00 +0000

Osamu Tezuka (手塚治虫) — internationally renowned animator, director and pioneer of both page and screen — is probably best remembered for his starry-eyed wunderkind Astro Boy (known in Japan as 鉄腕アトム, Testsuwan Atomu). Although to limit Tezuka's artistic contributions as such would be to overlook a remarkably prolific career in which he is said to have created over 150,000 pages of manga, not to mention the countless cells of animation he saw produced in his lifetime.

Similar to the work of famed director Hayao Miyazaki (宮崎駿), though in a much different style, Tezuka addressed important issues of modern society (i.e. nuclear armament, human rights, etc.) while still managing to produce an end result that was as visually impressive as it was accessible. Ever the innovator, he pushed the boundaries of what could be communicated to a large-scale audience through the art of manga and anime.

In 1967 Tezuka created the monthly magazine COM — his foray into the world of "mature" manga (mentioned in our recent post on the journal's predecessor Garo). Through COM he was able to showcase the work of up and coming artists, as well as his own — some of which might not have seen acceptance amongst more mainstream audiences.

The clips below were created by Tezuka's production company Mushi Pro (虫プロダクション) in the years preceding COM's first publication. They clearly indicate the director's desire to explore new avenues of animation, both in style and content, particularly when considering the overtly sexual tone of the first two films.

Last year these animated shorts were finally made available to North American audiences as part of the DVD collection The Astonishing Work of Tezuka Osamu.

Male (1962)
おす

Memory (1964)
めもりい

Mermaid (1964)
人魚

The Drop (1965)
しずく

Akira Kurosawa Turns 100

noreply@blogger.com (Nakore) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 21:17:00 +0000

Akira Kurosawa
黒澤明

March 23rd, 1910 - September 6th, 1998

"Akira Kurosawa was the youngest of seven children, born in Tokyo on 23 March 1910. He has said that the first important influence in his life was a teacher called Tachikawa, who was progressive in his emphasis on art education for the young. This was how the young Kurosawa was introduced to art and film. A talented painter, he enrolled in an art school that emphasized Western styles. Around this time he also joined an artists' group with a great enthusiasm for nineteenth-century Russian literature, with Dostoevsky a particular favourite. Another influence was Heigo, one of his brothers, who loved film and worked as a benshi, a film narrator/commentator for foreign silent films. His suicide deeply affected the director's sensibilities.

In 1930 he responded to a newspaper advertisement for assistant directors at a film studio and began assisting Kajirō Yamamoto (山本嘉次郎), who liked the fact he knew 'a lot about things other than movies'. Within five years he was writing scripts and directing whole sequences for Yamamoto films. In 1943 he made his debut as a director with Judo Saga (姿三四郎, Sugata Sanshirō), with a magnificent martial-arts sequence in which two masters fight to the death in a wind-swept field, their flying limbs all but obscured by the tall swaying grasses. Consider the acclaim given to the similar fight sequences in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and it's obvious why in 1943 people began to talk about a young film-maker with a brilliant future."

Continue reading Akira Kurosawa's biography at the British Film Institute.

Off Course - Kotoba Ni Dekinai (1981)

noreply@blogger.com (Nakore) — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 21:20:00 +0000

The second single taken from Off Course's 1981 release over, "Kotoba Ni Dekinai" (literally "a loss for words") highlights the emotional lyricism found in much of the group's better material. By this time Off Course had abandoned their folk stylings of the late 60s and early 70s in favor of a more polished pop aesthetic. As it happens, the title of the album is meant to combine with their previous album We are to form the bleak admission, "We are over."

In providing the majority of the album's music, lyrics and arrangements, frontman Kazumasa Oda (小田和正) exposes the trials and tribulations of love with a uniquely fragile yet passionate resolution. His pristine, pathetic delivery and solid songwriting talents, as well as a taste for spacy synths, add substance to the group's output during the mainly monotonous adult contemporary boom — often labeled in Japan as "new music" or "city pops" — of the late 70s and 80s.

Download:
Off Course - Kotoba Ni Dekinai
オフコース - 言葉にできない

Kleenex: It's A Fine Day

noreply@blogger.com (Nakore) — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 01:48:00 +0000

In light of the modern world's current obsession with up-to-the-second information, we're asking for a late pass on this one, if one is indeed necessary.

The haunting video above was posted a week ago (seems like ages, right?) over at incredulous upstart blog WTF Japan Seriously!? Actress Keiko Matsuzaka (松坂慶子) appears in a pair of 1985 television commercials for Kleenex tissue seated alongside some red demon child (赤鬼の子, akaoni no ko) with an affinity for soft, soaring paper products.

As the a cappella here sounds and feels very much like a lullaby that doesn't really have a happy ending ("Rock-a-bye Baby", anyone?), ironically it's been sampled in numerous dance/trance "anthems" since the early 90s. Originally, however, the song was recorded by English folk duo Jane And Barton for their 1983 single "It's A Fine Day".

What this has to do with tissues, though, I have no idea.

Showa OK! Now 25% Less Esoteric!

noreply@blogger.com (Nakore) — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 01:22:00 +0000

As this post clearly indicates, we've dropped the fancy Japanese titles from our blog posts. No more "昭和OK! 今25%未満の秘伝的なもの!" to offend the senses of those lacking Japanese comprehension. But don't worry, we'll be sure to pepper up future posts with plenty of translated words and characters because, hey, it just looks cool.

Garo Manga Monthly

noreply@blogger.com (Nakore) — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 13:17:00 +0000

Excepting obvious classics such as Doraemon and Akira, I must say I'm not a big fan of manga or anime. But recently I've discovered a magazine that exposed to me a side of the art I had yet to observe in any great detail.

First published in September 1964, the manga monthly Garo (月刊漫画ガロ) was heavily read by young, college-aged boys, many of whom were no doubt anxious for graphic literature that acknowledged the radical developments of the decade, whether in story or style.

Garo's founder and editor Katsuichi Nagai helped establish the genre of gekiga, or "dramatic pictures", with the help of fresh, talented artists like Sanpei Shirato, whose serialized ninja epic Kamui-den ("The Legend of Kamui") ran in the journal for nearly seven years. Through his ambitious choice of subjects and illustrators, Nagai helped pave the way for a generation of artists whose work targeted a more mature audience.

As an ambitious and influential periodical Garo spawned a number of imitators, most notably Osamu Tezuka's similarly themed monthly COM. Garo also appeared to have influenced some of Tezuka's more naturalistic works of the 70s and 80s, such as Phoenix — first published in COM and considered by many his crowning achievement — and Adolf, a dark mystery of sorts set in Nazi Germany.

Garo reached the height of its popularity in the early 70s, and though it encompassed a myriad assortment of modern artistic styles over the years, the magazine began to experience a gradual decline in circulation until Nagai was forced to sell his publishing company Serindō to PC software manufacturer Zeit in 1991; he was kept on as chairman until his death in 1996.

Nagai's passing marked the beginning of the end for the troubled monthly. Citing internal discord, Zeit filed for bankruptcy the following year. Despite this, Garo continued to be published. But in a market over-saturated with bland, easy-to-digest content, Nagai's original, pioneering effort ultimately became unprofitable, and the end of 2002 brought with it the journal's final issue.

I owe my discovery of gekiga to a gentleman by the name of Tsote (a.k.a. Curtis Hoffman), who, being somewhat of a manga connoisseur, graciously provides full-page scans, reviews and translations of Garo (and other manga) on his blog Three Steps Over Japan. Mr. Hoffman has also compiled a detailed history of manga from the birth of woodblock printing up until the advent of modern manga in the 1950s and 60s.

Here, we offer a sample of Mr. Hoffman's scans of Garo thus far; a collection of choice images representing the magazine's outstanding art, specifically during the latter half of 1966. For more, visit Three Steps Over Japan and its sister blog Nihongo Hunter.

Garo, Issue 23, July 1966

Garo, Issue 24, August 1966

Garo, Issue 25, September 1966

Garo, Issue 26, October 1966

Garo, Issue 27, November 1966

Garo, Issue 28, December 1966

Toyota Concept Cars (1957-89)

noreply@blogger.com (Nakore) — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 09:04:00 +0000

Though Toyota Motor Corporation (トヨタ自動車株式会社, Toyota Jidōsha Kabushiki Gaisha) has usually remained at the top of car sales in both Japan and the U.S., sales have slumped for the auto manufacturing giant. In early 2009, after Wall Street closed out its worst year since the Great Depression, Toyota announced its first annual loss since the company's founding in 1937. To make matters worse, as of late Toyota has been embroiled in a scandal involving the recent recall of over ten different models, tarnishing its polished consumer image. But enough of the world's financial woes for now (I have plenty of time to gripe elsewhere).

After stumbling across a treasure trove of images hosted by the good people at Carstyling.ru, we'd like to showcase some of the more interesting designs of Toyota concept cars over the decades. While most were never slated for mass production, a handful of designs eventually made their way to the assembly line. Mite ne!

1957 Toyota Proto

1962 Toyota Publica Sports

1966 Toyota Concept

1969 Toyota EX-1

1969 Toyota EX-III

1971 Toyota RV-1

1972 Toyota EX-7

1972 Toyota RV-2

1973 Toyota F101

1977 Toyota F110

1979 Toyota CX-80

1983 Toyota FX-1

1983 Toyota TAC3

1985 Toyota FXV

1987 Toyota AXV-II

1989 Toyota 4500GT

Hiroko Yakushimaru - Sailor Fuku To Kikanjū (1981)

noreply@blogger.com (Nakore) — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 12:42:00 +0000

"Sailor Suit and Machine Gun", the title's translation, presents an image of tantalizing paradox in that of the bad-ass schoolgirl, an altogether not uncommon theme in Japanese media. The teenage daughter of a yakuza boss inherits her father's clan and finds herself faced with an unbelievable burden of responsibility. Originally a 1978 novel penned by prolific author Jirō Akagawa (赤川次郎), the story was later made into a film, and then into pair of television miniseries filmed over twenty years apart.

But before it all was Hiroko Yakushimaru's titular single, released November 21st, 1981 (exactly one year before this writer's birth). Anticipating the movie's release by about a month, the film's theme song, with it's dramatic keyboard stabs and melancholy air, was written music and lyrics by Takao and Etsuko Kisugi (来生たかお, 来生えつこ), respectively. The brother and sister duo helped produce a multitude of hit records together, with Takao in particular enjoying immense popularity as a singer-songwriter.

However, "Sailor Fuku To Kikanjū" was in fact a cover of sorts, only the Kisugi siblings happened to pen the original as well: Takao's single "Yume No Tochū" (夢の途中). Ultimately released a month after Yakushimaru's offering, Kisugi had originally chosen his own song as the film's theme, but reportedly director Shinji Sōmai (相米慎二) would only accept a version with Yakushimaru singing.

Takao Kisugi - Yume No Tochū (1981)

Luckily for everyone involved both the film and record were hits, and the following summer saw the first of two subsequent television miniseries. Hot on the heels of their previous success, the theme song for the 1982 series featured the same writing and production staff, only with idol Tomoyo Harada (原田知世) assuming lead vocal and actress duties.

With it the 2006 series brought a lackluster remake of the original theme, sung this time around by popular actress and leading lady Masami Nagasawa (長澤まさみ). The single, Nagasawa's first and only thus far, was released under the pseudonym "Izumi Hoshi", the name of the heroine in Sailor Fuku To Kikanjū.

Download:
Hiroko Yakushimaru - Sailor Fuku To Kikanjū
薬師丸ひろ子 - セーラー服と機関銃

And here's the film's original trailer from 1981, with Yakushimaru singing over Kisugi's instrumental:

Images of the Month: February 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Nakore) — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 20:00:00 +0000

A collection of images posted to Twitter during the past month. Follow us @showaok.

Japanese Capri-Sun (Capri-Sonne) ad, c. 1980

Shigeo Fukuda - Victory 1945, 1971

Kazumasa Nagai - Sapporo '72, 1971

Japanese ice skater Tomō Kurosawa during a rehearsal for the 1972 Sapporo Olympics

Entrance to the 23rd Snow Festival during the Sapporo Olympics

Another shot of the Sapporo Snow Festival during the 1972 Winter Olympics

Kazumasa Nagai - Poster for Asahi Stiny beer, 1965

We're Moving To Japan!

noreply@blogger.com (Nakore) — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 01:05:00 +0000

Well, it's official; this is the big news we've been waiting for...

The Showa OK! team is moving to Japan! As of the summer we will have relocated to the Tokyo area, with our San Francisco "offices" still in tact. But what better a place to explore Shōwa-era ephemera than that bustling metropolitan sprawl which lies home to the imperial palace?

And as an added bonus we plan to offer special limited coverage from Kyūshū, southernmost of the four major islands in the Japanese archipelago, where contributor Kumaco will be stationed over the next few months.

Clearly big changes for the team here at Showa OK!, but we plan to face them with open hearts and open minds. Here's to riding the tiger in 2010!

That Night's Wife (1930)

noreply@blogger.com (Nakore) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 10:06:00 +0000

Sono Yo No Tsuma (a.k.a. That Night's Wife) - Directed by Yasujirō Ozu
その夜の妻 (監督：小津安二郎)

This Friday, February 19th, the Pacific Film Archive at UC Berkeley will be presenting That Night's Wife, a rare work by filmmaker Yasujirō Ozu. The 1930 silent movie is part of the two-film miniseries Masters of Asian Cinema, showing alongside Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-hsien's "modern classic" A City of Sadness, which runs the following day. The screening of That Night's Wife features Judith Rosenberg on piano, who will provide live accompaniment to the film.

"One of seven films Ozu made in 1930, this seems at first to be a prime example of his 'atypical' early silent period, when he experimented with numerous Hollywood-influenced genres and techniques before gradually refining the minimalist style and thematic focus of his mature career. The film opens as an effective heist drama pastiche, with [male lead Tokihiko] Okada trussing up bank clerks and dodging the long shadows of a police dragnet, fox-like; we follow him home to his wife and their critically ill baby daughter, as does a wily police chief. As captor and prey sit out the night, waiting for the child's recovery, the scene is set for a claustrophobic battle of nerves." (NB, Time Out London)

The films are presented in conjunction with the conference Relocating Ozu: The Question of an Asian Cinematic Vernacular, organized by the Centers for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Studies at UC Berkeley. The conference aims to "bring together a dynamic group of international scholars to reassess Ozu’s work in its wider relation to inter- and postwar colonial and urban modernities in East Asia." For more information, visit the UC Berkeley Institute on East Asian Studies.

For more information on Masters of Asian Cinema: Yasujiro Ozu and Hou Hsiao-hsien, visit the Pacific Film Archive Theater.

Toi Et Moi - Niji To Yuki No Ballad (1971)

noreply@blogger.com (Nakore) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 22:03:00 +0000

Toi Et Moi - Niji To Yuki No Ballad (1971)
トワ・エ・モア - 虹と雪のバラード

In light of the current festivities in Vancouver, we at Showa OK! have been swept away by the international wave of Olympic fever. And as the focus of our efforts here pertain to all things Shōwa, we were immediately nostalgic for sights and sounds from the Games of the 11th Winter Olympiad in Sapporo, Hokkaidō.

Japan was originally awarded rights to host the 1940 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, in addition to the Summer Games which were to be held in Tokyo earlier that year. However, the Games were ultimately cancelled when Japan resigned as host after the country's invasion of China in 1937. Following the war, cities which forfeited hosting the Games were again awarded the opportunity to do so, resulting in the 1964 Tokyo Games and, of course, the 1972 Winter Games. In both instances, Japan was the first Asian country to host either Olympic ceremonies.

Pop-folk duo Toi Et Moi's "Niji To Yuki No Ballad" ("Ballad of Rainbows and Snow"), released in 1971, was chosen as the official theme song of the Sapporo Olympics. While the song's title may sound corny (and, indeed, the song itself may sound corny as well), we feel it representative not only of popular music in Japan at the time, but also of the simple hope that countries once entrenched in aggression could join together to participate in friendly competition for the sake of international welfare.

Exhibition Posters (1928-41)

noreply@blogger.com (Nakore) — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 00:39:00 +0000

Yesterday, the off-kilter cultural archivists at Pink Tentacle presented us with a stunning array of Japanese exhibition posters taken from the book Nihon No Hakurankai (日本の博覧会), published in 2005. These illustrated graphic designs were created to promote various government-sponsored exhibitions (hakurankai) from the mid-1920s to the early 1940s. We'd like to share with you some of our favorites, as well as a little quick commentary.

From the celebration of the Shōwa emperor's coronation to the final image seen here, taken from 1941, the radical emotional and political shift in the country at the time is clearly conveyed through the artwork. Unsurprisingly, tanks and machine guns figure prominently in the latter designs, representing ideas of "national defense" and "Asia development". Ironically, 1937 marks the year of the Pan-Pacific Peace Exposition, a world's fair in Nagoya, in which both China and the U.S. were participating countries. During the months following the exhibition Japanese troops would eventually capture Shanghai and commit unspeakable atrocities in Nanking.

Notice how the text of these posters reads from right to left. This was typical of most printed material in Japanese from before and during the war.

Ikkō Tanaka (1930-2002)

noreply@blogger.com (Nakore) — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 03:01:00 +0000

Albeit somewhat tardily, it has to come to our knowledge that Ginza Graphic Gallery in Tokyo is currently holding an exhibition documenting the work of prolific designer Ikkō Tanaka (田中一光). Exactly 150 posters were selected for the show, highlighting the artist's output from 1953 to 1979. Incidentally, it was Tanaka's work with the Japan Graphic Designers Association that contributed to the establishment of the gallery over 20 years ago.

Tanaka was born in Nara City and educated at what is now Kyoto City University of Arts, the oldest arts college in Japan. He was an innovative and influential artist whose work helped define a sense of modernity in Shōwa-era graphic art. Beginning his career in advertising during the 50s, Tanaka established his own design studio in 1963. It was around the same time that he began to attract an international audience, holding his first solo exhibit overseas only two years later.

His work has been described as "strong, clean, and impactful", the volume of which is as diverse as it is simplistic. After producing designs for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and the 1970 World Expo in Osaka, he became the creative director for Seibu Retailing Group (now the Saison Group) in 1975. There he oversaw a wide variety of work, including retail space and environmental design, product packaging and art direction for theaters and museums. Tanaka was later credited with developing the concept for Muji, the popular Japanese "no-brand" retail chain, and served as the company's first art director.

Distinguished amongst the graphic design community in both Japan and abroad, he was awarded numerous accolades and honors during his career including the Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon, bestowed upon him by the Japanese government in 1994. Ikkō Tanaka passed away in 2002, just three days shy of his 72nd birthday.

New Year's Resolutions

noreply@blogger.com (Nakore) — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 07:17:00 +0000

January has been a quiet month for the staff at Showa OK!, but that doesn't mean we've been hibernating. Quite the contrary, 2010 is shaping up to be a year of monumental changes. We've got some big plans on the horizon, and we aim to bring you much more great music, film, art and culture of the Shōwa period. Check back over the next couple of weeks for some exciting news! Until then, mata ne!