Category: Features

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 […]

September 11, 2017 · 0 comments

By Andrew Osmond. The most common symbols of Japan in the outside world include Mount Fuji, cherry blossom and the film star Toshiro Mifune (of Seven Samurai). In his new book A Brief History of Japan, author Jonathan Clements suggests a less obvious metaphor for the country – the game shogi, Japan’s version of chess. […]