The denizens of a moribund geisha house contemplate visions of independence in post-war Japan Mikio Naruse’s thriving ensemble drama.
Dec 14, 2024 • Subscribe
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A Wife’s Heart (妻の心, Mikio Naruse, 1956)
When plans to start a new business go awry, a dejected wife finds herself at a crossroads in Mikio Naruse’s martial drama.
Untamed (あらくれ, Mikio Naruse, 1957)
A rebellious woman strives for independence in a patriarchal society but nevertheless finds herself hamstrung by feckless men in Naruse’s Taisho-era drama
Wife (妻, Mikio Naruse, 1953)
An unhappily married woman contemplates independence but struggles to see herself as anything other than a “wife” in Naruse’s bitter marital drama
Lightning (稲妻, Mikio Naruse, 1952)
An aspirant young woman envisages a different life herself than the dissatisfactory marriages of her mother and sisters in one of Mikio Naruse’s more hopeful drama.
Repast (めし, Mikio Naruse, 1951)
An unhappily married woman fed up with the drudgery of her existence considers other options but finally concludes there are none in Naruse’s bleak melodrama
Mikio Naruse: Adventures on Harumi Island
I got a pleasant surprise recently when I watched Mikio Naruse’s AUTUMN HAS ALREADY STARTED (1960). At a key point in the narrative, the two child protagonists living…
Late Chrysanthemums (晩菊, Mikio Naruse, 1954)
Four former geishas struggle to find their place in a changing society in Miko Naruse’s melancholy melodrama.
Naruse’s FLOWING (1956): The Fall of a Geisha Household
The more films by Mikio Naruse I see, the more I feel he belongs in the pantheon of great Japanese directors alongside the three I have long considered…
A Woman’s Place (女の座, Mikio Naruse, 1962)
The young women of post-war Japan struggle to define themselves in a changing society in Mikio Naruse’s uncharacteristically hopeful family drama
A Wanderer’s Notebook (放浪記, Mikio Naruse, 1962)
A determined young woman seeks a way out of poverty in Mikio Naruse’s biopic of author Fumiko Hayashi.
Mother (おかあさん, Mikio Naruse, 1952)
A teenage girl struggles to understand her self-sacrificing mother in Mikio Naruse’s subversive take on the hahamono
The Angry Street (怒りの街, Mikio Naruse, 1950)
A sociopathic student takes revenge on a changing society by seducing wealthy women in Mikio Naruse’s brooding noir.
Sound of the Mountain (山の音, Mikio Naruse, 1954)
A failed patriarch resolves to set his unhappily married daughter-in-free in Mikio Naruse’s post-war marital drama
Hit and Run (ひき逃げ, Mikio Naruse, 1966)
A grief-stricken mother hatches a desperate plan of revenge against the woman who killed her son in Mikio Naruse’s dark psychological drama.
飲ませられる or 飲まれさせる？ #learnjapanese
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The Approach of Autumn (秋立ちぬ, Mikio Naruse, 1960)
A small boy finds himself trapped between the new society and the old in Mikio Naruse’s often deceptively cheerful childhood drama.
Five Men in a Circus (サーカス五人組, Mikio Naruse, 1935)
A 5-piece jinta brass band ends up performing as ringers at strike-stricken circus in Naruse’s melancholy anti-authoritarian comedy
"これいる？ vs. これ欲しい？" #learnjapanese
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Velvet Hustler (紅の流れ星, Toshio Masuda, 1967)
A gangster laying low realises there is no escape from his sense of ennui in Toshio Masuda’s post-modern re-imagining of his earlier Red Pier
Tokyo Drifter (東京流れ者, Seijun Suzuki, 1966)
A recently released yakuza attempts to join the new society by going straight but finds his efforts frustrated by upstart gangsters in Seijun Suzuki’s postmodern noir.
Your Japanese is Good If You Understand This No.5 させられる・される
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"させられる Must Not Be Important" #learnjapanese
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"I've Never Heard of させられる" #learnjapanese
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Baby Assassins (ベイビーわるきゅーれ, Yugo Sakamoto, 2021)
A pair of mismatched high school girls raised as elite assassins get swept into gangland conflict while forced to live together to learn how integrate into society in…
Whirlpool of Flesh (おんなの渦と淵と流れ, Ko Nakahira, 1964)
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Sword of Destiny (孤剣は折れず 月影一刀流, Yasushi Sasaki, 1960)
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A Madder Red (茜色に焼かれる, Yuya Ishii, 2021)
A single mother and her son face the myriad injustices of the modern society with dignity and grace in Yuya Ishii’s quietly seething pandemic-era social drama.
r#69 – cherry blossom flowing
もし今の私を見れたなら If you could see me now … どう思うでしょう I wonder what you would think … あなたなしで生きてる私を Me, living without you I can’t believe that I’ll never see…
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Honda delivers a bleak and disconcerting outlook on the optimistic post-war reparative economic growth.
いる vs ある #learnjapanese
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Nettaigyo ha Yuki Kogareru, Volume 9 (熱帯魚は雪に焦がれる)
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Warm Current (暖流, Yasuzo Masumura, 1957)
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甘える
Brute forcing difficult words - How to Japanese - January 2023