Author: Jonathan Clements

September 1, 2016 · 1 comment

By Jasper Sharp. Tetsuya Nakashima’s 2010 movie Confessions, in which an embittered teacher avenged the death of her child at the hands of schoolchildren, caused plenty of commotion on its overseas release. World of Kanako continues Nakashima’s trawl into the darker recesses of the soul and will similarly divide opinion. Adapted from by Akio Fukamachi’s […]

August 28, 2016 · 0 comments

Tom Smith goes with the Flamenco FLOW If you’re going to kick arse, you better have a theme song of equal kick arsery if you want to be remembered. The Karate Kid had “You’re the Best”, Rocky has “Eye of the Tiger”, and superhero-without-any-actual-powers Masayoshi Hazama has just switched his to FLOW’s rifferific “Ai Ai […]

August 25, 2016 · 0 comments

Jeremy Clarke on Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s supernatural love story Journey to the Shore. Mizuki (Eri Fukatsu) works as a children’s piano teacher, berated by the mother of a student who tells her that her teaching style should be more upbeat. She seems something of a loner and is spending her evening alone having just baked Shiratama […]

August 22, 2016 · 2 comments

By Jonathan Clements. From its cheeky, quirky cover, to the selection of its contributors, to its unifying tone, Mark McLelland’s new anthology deserves to shoot right to the top of Japanese Studies reading lists. The End of Cool Japan: Ethical, Legal and Cultural Challenges to Japanese Popular Culture offers a vital and timely warning for […]

August 20, 2016 · 0 comments

By Hugh David. The ancient sages said: “Do not despise the snake for having no horns, for who is to say it will not become a dragon?” So may one just man become an army.” A trio of Japanese TV serials aired in the 1970s on UK TV, becoming instrumental in creating Britain’s early generation […]