Japanese Movies
Water Boys (In Japanese, with English subtitles) "Water Boys", in short, is a comedy about a male synchronized swimming team. A group of high school boys, persuaded by their attractive new swim coach, decide to form the first all-male high school synchronized swimming team. Some of the boys are so pathetic they can hardly even swim to begin with. But somehow they decide to persevere, despite their coach's sudden pregnancy. http://www.j-fan.com/cinema/cinema.cgi?action=viewrev&selected=2 |
Nobody Knows (In Japanese, with English subtitles) Keiko is the single mother of four children. They move into an apartment in Tokyo, where the landlord does not like noisy children. So to get the apartment Keiko claims that she only has one child: 12 year old Akira (Yûya Yagira), which she introduces to the landlord, when they move in. The two small children Shigeru and Yuki are smuggled into the apartment in suitcases and have to promise to stay hidden. Akira is left with the full responsibility of his siblings. Their mother stays away for longer and longer periods, and finally even the money stops coming.
http://www.shuqi.org/asiancinema/reviews/nobodyknows.shtml |
Kilico's Scenery (In Japanese, no subtitles) http://www.kinenaoto.com/disco/video.html
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Everybody's home (In Japanese, with English subtitles) Building a house can be a complicated affair when everybody wants their say! |
Kikujiro to Saki (and) (9 episodes) (In Japanese, no subtitles) This TV series, evoking the beauty and importance of family ties, is loosely based on the true story of the Kitano family whose son, Takeshi, became an extremely talented comedian, artist, and world-class movie director. In the series, Kikujiro, the father of the Kitano family, is strict and short- tempered, yet comically old-fashioned. Saki, the mother, while cheerful and resourceful, quarrels often with her husband, but eventually supports him in whatever hardship there may be. |
Animated Classics of Japanese Literature (In Japanese, with English subtitles) This video contains two stories, "Wandering Days" and "Growing Up," both coming-of-age stories involving adolescent girls and based on stories by women authors. "Wandering Days," set in the early 20th century, focuses on young Fumiko and her attempts to excel in school despite her family's constant moving due to her father's occupation as an itinerant seller of medicine. When a teacher takes an interest in her writing, Fumiko begins to dream of a better life. "Growing Up," set in the Meiji era, takes place in the red light district of Yoshiwara and focuses on life among the adolescents of the community, emphasizing the rift that develops between two friends, the beautiful young Midori, younger sister of a prominent Geisha, and her classmate, Shin, son of the local Buddhist monk, an inveterate drunkard. (www.amazon.com) |
Safe and Sound in Japan (Episodes 1 and 2) This series explains everyday Japanese culture in different places, at home, at the office, etc. home.wlu.edu |
Shall We Dance? (In Japanese, with English subtitles) This 1996 comedy is especially noteworthy for contrasting the boldness of social dance with the buttoned-up societal mores of Japan, where people avoid public displays of emotion. (Director: Masayuki Suo) |
Dolls (In Japanese, with English subtitles) The title refers most directly, but not exclusively, to the theatrical tradition of Bunraku, enacted by half-life-size dolls and their visible but shrouded onstage manipulators. Such a performance--a drama of doomed lovers--occupies the first five minutes of the film, striking a keynote that resonates as flesh-and-blood characters take up the action, weaving together three stories involving a young couple, an aging yakuza (Japanese Mafia), and a disfigured pop star. --Richard T. Jameson |
The Funeral (In Japanese, with English subtitles) The debut film from acclaimed Japanese director, Juzo Itami (Tampopo, A Taxing Woman) shows a very untraditional side to a very traditional ceremony. When Chizuko's (Nobuko Miyamoto) ornery father unexpectedly dies, the undertaking of the three-day funeral is too much to handle. Her family and especially her husband Wabisuke (Tsutomo Yamazaki), find themselves in hilarious situations as the younger generation struggles with the complex rituals of the Buddhist ceremony that are fading fast from modern Japanese life. From the Back Cover |
Hana and Alice (In Japanese, with English subtitles) At 15, your best friend is everything to you. Until you start growing up... Hana and Alice are inseparable friends until Miyamoto, a cute boy they spot at a train station, comes between them. Tricking Miyamoto into believing that he is suffering from amnesia, Hana claims that she is his girlfriend. A baffled Miyamoto struggles to regain his memories as he is drawn to the prettier Alice. When the bond deepens, the girls' lifelong relationship begins to fray... propelling them apart. From one of Japan's top directors, this tender coming-of-age story beautifully captures the passion and heartache of adolescence. |
Train Man (In Japanese, with English subtitles) Computer engineer Otaku (the Japanese term for "geek") is an average young man, dressed in unstylish clothes and dorky glasses. But as luck would have it, he encounters a pretty young woman on a commuter train and saves her from a lecherous molester, falling in love with her at first sight. A few days later he receives a thank-you message from the woman along with a set of Hermes teacups. Having never had a girlfriend or received a gift from a girl in his life, Otaku seeks out his pals on his BBS website for advice using his codename Train_Man: "How should I ask her out?" Deeply interested in Train Man's first love, his BBS pals eagerly supply him with advice. Encouraged by their support, Train_Man undergoes a total makeover for his first-ever date with "Hermess". Little does he know that he is about to ignite an Internet phenomenon... |
Linda, Linda, Linda (In Japanese, with English subtitles) The story follows an all-girl high school rock band after an untimely break- up. Only three days before their high school festival, guitarist Kei, drummer Kyoto, and bassist Nozumi must recruit a new lead vocalist for their band. They choose an unlikely Korean exchange student Son, even though her comprehension of Japanese is a bit rough! It's a race against time as the group struggles to learn three tunes for the festival's rock concert. |
Tampopo (In Japanese, with English subtitles) This movie explores (with hysterical results) why food becomes such an important touchstone in life. Truck driver Goro and Gun are in search of some good food and run into a widow who is trying to run a ramen shop. Unfortunately, she's not doing too well so Goro and some unlikely guides offer her some sage advice and help her on her way to becoming a true ramenista. –C. Matsusaka |
Shinobi, Heart Under Blade (In Japanese, with English subtitles)
For centuries, there lived warriors of darkness and shadow with strange powers and arcane skills, living only for battle. They were the SHINOBI. The year is 1614. Japan has been united under the Tokugawa Shoguns and the land is beginning to know peace. Two remote ninja clans, the Koga and the Iga, are ancient enemies but have long been bound by a peace agreement forbidding them to fight. The heirs to the leadership of both clans have fallen in love but a tragic fate awaits them. A cruel plot is set by the Shogun to wipe these two clans from existence by breaking the peace agreement and forcing the two clans to battle. Five Ninjas of each the Koga and Iga clans will battle against each other to the death. As a great war begins it brings the two young heirs together again. But this time as enemies. |
The Taste of Tea (In Japanese, with English subtitles) Meet the Harunos, a rather unconventional, but happy and loving family nonetheless. They live in a small town in the mountains just out of Tokyo where life is good and quiet - but that doesn't mean they don't have their own little problems. As 8-year old Sachiko tries to get rid of a giant version of herself who seems to pop up everywhere, her older brother wrestles with a love-struck heart. Meanwhile, their mother is coming out of retirement as an animator, as her husband and professional hypnotist watches on with slight apprehension. And lastly there's Grandpa, the most bizarre and perhaps the most perceptive of all, who continues to search for a better way to live life to the full. The Taste of Tea is a unique and gentle family portrait tackling the universal themes of time, people and their lives. |
A Taxing Woman (In Japanese, with English subtitles) Ryoko Itakura is a government tax agent who has just landed a big promotion. Her first assignment is to catch wheeler-dealer Hideki Gondo. She has a tough job, since in Japan tax evasion is an art and Gondo is, in effect, Rembrandt. Her job is complicated by a growing sympathy for the rogue and by political pressure to lay off. |
Hula Girls (In Japanese, with English subtitles) Based on a true story, this heart-warming comedy is about coal miners’ daughters who take a once-in-a-lifetime chance to escape their monotonous lives. They become unwitting heroes not only in their depressed mining town but in the whole of Japan as well. |
