Japan 466
Scorsese’s Silence
by Jeremy Clarke. In the middle of Martin Scorsese’s new film Silence, a Japanese is made to dig a pit in the middle of a rainstorm. “How long will he be doing that?” asks Jesuit priest Father Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield) imprisoned nearby. “’Til he’s finished,” comes the reply. The speaker might be describing the film […]
Books: Kru-shan-ki’s Christmas
By Jonathan Clements Readers of the 25th December 1880 issue of the London Illustrated News were treated to a seasonal gift – a full-page account of the mysteries of an English Christmas, as drawn by a Japanese artist. Its highlights include a Christmas pantomime, rendered in kabuki style, an impressionistic rendering of the making of […]
The Guyver
by Jeremy Clarke. Yoshiki Takaya’s manga The Guyver was published in 1985. It spawned one anime movie Guyver: Out Of Control (1986), two anime serials (in 1989 and 2005) and two low-budget, US live-action movies. The Japanese title literally translates as The Guyver Bio Booster Armour under which moniker the second anime series is known […]
The Rolling Girls
By Meghan Ellis. It’s the destruction of Tokyo, but not like you’ve seen it before. Erupting onto screens with an abundance of rayon outfits, rainbows and roundhouse kicks, The Rolling Girls offers high-octane hijinks from Wit Studio, creators of the grisly Attack on Titan and Seraph of the End. But while there’s plenty of the […]
Shinoda’s Silence
By Jasper Sharp. It has been several decades since Martin Scorsese first professed a desire to film Silence (Chinmoku), Shusaku Endo’s Tanizaki Prize-winning 1966 novel about the persecution of “hidden Christians” (kakure kirishitan) in 17th-century Japan. The story follows the Portuguese Jesuit missionary, Padre Rodrigues, after he is dispatched eastwards from Macao, arriving in 1639 […]