Author: Jonathan Clements

September 28, 2017 · 2 comments

By Andrew Osmond. We wake to the news that Makoto Shinkai’s blockbuster Your Name is being developed as a live-action Hollywood film, with no less a name attached than J.J. Abrams as producer – though it may be more significant that the on-board writer is Eric Heisserer, who scripted Arrival. We should stress that most […]

September 26, 2017 · 0 comments

Jonathan Clements on Isao Takahata’s obscure pre-Ghibli comedy. Chie the Brat, the adventures of “the unluckiest girl in Japan,” was conceived as a slapstick celebration of blue-collar life in Osaka, based on an award-winning strip by Etsumi Haruki in Manga Action. Chie helps out at the family restaurant, a shack selling grilled offal in downtown […]

September 23, 2017 · 0 comments

by Jeremy Clarke. Japan’s Taisho era runs from the period 1912-1926 when the Taisho Emperor held power. He was preceded by the Meiji Emperor in the Meiji era 1867-1912 and followed by the Showa Emperor a.k.a. Emperor Hirohito in the Showa era 1926-1989. We are now living in Emperor Akihito’s Heisei era, ever since 1989. […]

September 20, 2017 · 0 comments

By Jasper Sharp. Reference books have had to fight their corner harder than most in the internet age. For the subject of film in particular, online sources such as Wikipedia, Rotten Tomatoes or the IMDb (and dare I mention for Japanese film, Midnight Eye) allow instant access to facts or opinions about specific titles you […]

September 14, 2017 · 0 comments

by Jeremy Clarke. The writer Shohei Ooka (1909-1988) is best known for his novel Nobi (Fires on the Plain, 1951), one of a number influenced by his World War Two experiences as a solider fighting in the Philippines. Nobi takes place against the backdrop of the Japanese army falling apart under the American onslaught and […]