A privileged young man begins to understand the divisive effects of inequality after taking over the family business in Ozu’s wistful student drama
Jul 17, 2021 • Subscribe
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Early Spring (早春, Yasujiro Ozu, 1956)
A dejected office worker and his disappointed wife battle the emptiness of the “salaryman dream” in Ozu’s embittered marital drama
Passing Fancy (出来ごころ, Yasujiro Ozu, 1933)
A feckless widowed father faces twin crises when he falls for a young woman and his falls ill in Yasujiro Ozu’s depression-era drama.
Woman of Tokyo (東京の女, Yasujiro Ozu, 1933)
A loyal sister finds her tremendous sacrifice rejected by an unforgiving and conservative society in Yasujiro Ozu’s silent melodrama
The End of Summer (小早川家の秋, Yasujiro Ozu, 1961)
A small family become increasingly exasperated with the happy-go-lucky patriarch’s inconsiderate and irresponsible behaviour in Yasujiro Ozu’s penultimate film.
A Hen in the Wind (風の中の牝鶏, Yasujiro Ozu, 1948)
A wife makes a fateful choice to save her child while her husband is away at war only to be resented for it on his return in an…
An Inn in Tokyo (東京の宿, Yasujiro Ozu, 1935)
Yasujiro Ozu was perhaps most at home in the genial world of the shomingeki in which everyone is comfortable enough and the problems, such as they are, are…
The Gate of Youth / 青春の門 / Seishun no mon (1975)
Obscure Japanese Film #165 Tomohiro Tanabe and Sayuri Yoshinaga Based on the first part of a bestselling doorstop novel by Hiroyuki Itsu...
Where are the Kalafina Members Now?
Kalafina was the only band that I’ve ever actively kept up with, and the main content on this blog used to be Kalafina translyrics. So, for the handful…
Equinox Flower (彼岸花, Yasujiro Ozu, 1958)
An ageing patriarch struggles to accept his declining authority in Ozu’s first colour film
The Munekata Sisters (宗方姉妹, Yasujiro Ozu, 1950)
Two sisters with contrasting outlooks clash in their responses to failed marriage and potential romance in an unusually bitter Ozu melodrama
Good Morning (お早よう, Yasujiro Ozu, 1959)
Frustrated by adult hypocrisy, two little boys go on a pleasantries strike to force their parents to buy a TV in Yasujiro Ozu’s charming family drama.
Can You Say このぬいぐるみいる？ #learnjapanese
Learn Japanese with Me - https://bit.ly/4drmyU2
"Would it Be これがいりますか？" #learnjapanese
Learn Japanese with Me - https://bit.ly/4drmyU2
"これいる？ vs. これ欲しい？" #learnjapanese
Learn Japanese with Me - https://bit.ly/4drmyU2
Mondays: See You “This” Week! (MONDAYS／このタイムループ、上司に気づかせないと終わらない, Ryo Takebayashi, 2022)
Harried office workers must get through to their dejected salaryman boss if they’re to escape a workplace time loop in Ryo Takebayashi’s zany corporate comedy.
Record of a Tenement Gentleman (長屋紳士録, Yasujiro Ozu, 1947)
A cynical old woman regains her sense of humanity after unwillingly fostering a lost little boy in Ozu’s heartwarming post-war drama
Youth (Spring) (青春, Wang Bing, 2023)
Wang Bing turns his camera on the mostly young workers in the textile factories of Zhili.
The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese (窮鼠はチーズの夢を見る, Isao Yukisada, 2020)
An office worker struggles to accept his sexuality after reuniting with a college friend in Isao Yukisada’s dark romantic drama.
Sazae-san no seishun / サザエさんの青春 (‘Sazae-san’s Youth’, 1957)
Obscure Japanese Film #246Chiemi Eri This third film in the Toho series kicked off by the previously-reviewed Sazae-san was the first to be shot in colour, but otherwise director Nobuo Aoyagi repeats…
Manga Kodomo Bunko (まんがこども文庫) June ED (6月の歌) - Lullaby of the Rain (雨のこもりうた)
Sung by (歌): Naoko Watanabe (渡辺直子) Lyrics (作詞): Tomoko Koike (小池知子) Composition and Arrangement (作曲・編曲): Tokuhide Niimi (新実徳英) Very special thanks to PopKorn Kat for transferring and scanning this record!
Manga Kodomo Bunko (まんがこども文庫) August ED (8月の歌) - The Fountain (ふんすい)
Sung by (歌): Koorogi '73 (こおろぎ'73) Lyrics (作詞): Futabako Mitsui (西條ふたばこ) Composition (作曲): Takekuni Hirayoshi (平吉毅州) Arrangement (編曲): Nozomi Aoki (青木望) Very special thanks to PopKorn Kat for transferring and scanning this…
You Are Where You Are Meant to Be, As You Are Right Now
To insist on arbitrary action because you’re not reconciled to your fate is something that men should be most wary of. If people let their minds go off…
Itoshii Koishi, Volume 3 (いとしこいし)
Hina is a high school senior with a secret -she’s dating an older woman. She wants very much to share that secret with her friends, she just needs…
Manga Kodomo Bunko (まんがこども文庫) April ED (4月の歌) - Chick (ひよこ)
Sung by (歌): Yoshiko Mari (真理ヨシコ) and the Suginami Junior Chorus (杉並児童合唱団) Lyrics (作詞): Akahiko Shimaki (島木赤彦) Composition and Arrangement (作曲・編曲): Akihiro Komori (小森昭宏) Very special thanks to PopKorn Kat for…
Sincerity (まごころ, Mikio Naruse, 1939)
When the daughter of a poor family leapfrogs that of a rich one to be named top of the class, it exposes a series of hypocrisies and contradictions…
Where Are the Shoujo Anime?
I don’t know when was the last time Shoujo anime became prominent. For some time, there has been fewer and fewer series of this demographic turned into anime…
Where the Wild Ladies Are
Author: Aoko Matsuda (松田 青子)Japanese Title: おばちゃんたちのいるところ (Obachan-tachi no iru tokoro)Translator: Polly BartonPublication Year: 2016 (Japan); 2020 (United States)Publisher: Soft Skull PressPages: …
Let’s Have A Dream (九ちゃんのでっかい夢, Yoji Yamada, 1967)
Fearing he has a terminal disease a young man falls into despair little knowing he is the heir to a Swiss fortune in Yoji Yamada’s nonsense comedy.
Haru Tsuzuru, Sakura Saku Kono Heya de (春綴る、桜咲くこの部屋で)
Haru Tsuzuru, Sakura Saku Kono Heya de (春綴る、桜咲くこの部屋で) is a deeply poignant and touching manga by Tokuwotsumu, an author who does low-key Yuri that I absolutely love. Haruki…
Manga Kodomo Bunko (まんがこども文庫) July ED (7月の歌) - Lullaby of the Zoo (どうぶつえんのこもりうた)
Sung by (歌): Kumiko Kaori (かおりくみこ) Lyrics (作詞): Tomoko Koike (小池知子) Composition and Arrangement (作曲・編曲): Nobuyoshi Koshibe (越部信義) Very special thanks to PopKorn Kat for transferring and scanning this record!
Dangerous Youth (危險的青春, Hsin Chi, 1969)
A young couple struggle to adapt themselves to a changing society in Hsin Chi’s youth morality drama
MAMIYA -DoomsDay Dreams- out NOW!
On November 21st "DoomsDay Dreams", the final chapter of MAMIYA releases as DLC and part of a new Complete Collection!
Booty Royale: Never Go Down Without a Fight! (Volume 15) – Where Dreams Are!
Now that the Valkyrie Opera is well and truly behind them, the girls of Space Wolf are able to focus on their individual careers. That, unfortunately, leaves them…
Haru Tsudzuru, Sakurasaku Kono Heya de, Volume 2 (春綴る、桜咲くこの部屋で)
In Volume 1, we met Haruki, a woman suffering from intense, debilitating grief from the loss of her lover, even after 5 years. She finds Sakura’s 10-year diary…
Drifting Flowers, Flowing Days (この日々が凪いだら, Yutaka Tsunemachi, 2023)
Two young people experience a crisis of youth after discovering their apartment block is to be torn down in Yutaka Tsunemachi’s indie drama.
Dekisokonai Hime-tachi, Volume 4 (できそこないの姫君たち)
Fujishiro Nanaki, having been ostracized by her group of fashionable and popular girls, has found acceptance with the “nerd” group, Kurokawa’s friends Izumi and Iroha. Together th…
Review—Where the Wild Ladies Are
In Matsuda’s collection, familiar ghosts are treated as commonplace: They are neither surprising nor frightening as they comfortably situate themselves in the modern world
Where are the Visual Kei stores?
The title is a question that I can actually answer this time around! Time and time again, I often see fans ask where they can find Visual Kei…
Review—Where the Wild Ladies Are
In Matsuda’s collection, familiar ghosts are treated as commonplace: They are neither surprising nor frightening as they comfortably situate themselves in the modern world
Manga Kodomo Bunko (まんがこども文庫) February ED (2月の歌) - Camellia Buds (椿の莟)
Sung by (歌): Yoshiko Mari (真理ヨシコ) Lyrics (作詞): Akahiko Shimaki (島木赤彦) Composition (作曲): Rō Ogura (小倉朗) Arrangement (編曲): Akihiro Komori (小森昭宏) Very special thanks to PopKorn Kat for transferring and scanning this…
See Where Cherry Blossoms Are Blooming Now in Japan on GaijinPot Travel
Cherry blossom season is officially here! Check out GaijinPot Travel to learn about Japan's best cherry blossom viewing spots.
Yume no Hashibashi, Volume 1 (夢の端々 上)
Yume no Hashibashi, Volume 1 (夢の端々 上) is a story told by leaps backwards in time, of a relationship between two women that would never have been allowed…
Yume no Hashibashi, Volume 2 (夢の端々 下)
In Yume no Hashibashi, Volume 1, we took a journey backwards through the years, following Kayoko and Mitsu as adults. From their senior years back through their different…
Kono Naka ni Hotori, Imouto ga Iru! この中に1人、妹がいる!
Mikadono Shougo, son to a rich and powerful company chairman, has to attend school to find a girl he is serious on before he can inherit the company.…
Dekisokonai no Hime-tachi, Volume 3 (できそこないの姫君たち)
In Volume 1, otaku and class loner Kurokawa Kaede is thrown together with school princess, Fujishiro Nanaki. In time-honored fashion, Fujishiro gives a radical makeover to the girl…
Manga Kodomo Bunko (まんがこども文庫) December ED (12月の歌) - The Candy Train (お菓子の汽車)
Sung by (歌): Kyōko Ishige (石毛恭子) Lyrics (作詞): Yaso Saijō (西條八十) Composition and Arrangement (作曲・編曲): Teruyuki Noda (野田暉行) Very special thanks to PopKorn Kat for transferring and scanning this record!
Manga Kodomo Bunko (まんがこども文庫) May ED (5月の歌) - The Skylark (雲雀)
Sung by (歌): Suginami Junior Chorus (杉並児童合唱団) Lyrics (作詞): Rofū Miki (三木露風) Composition and Arrangement (作曲・編曲): Nobuyoshi Iinuma (飯沼信義) Very special thanks to PopKorn Kat for transferring and scanning this record!
Where Are the Dark-Skinned Koreans Today?
Interestingly enough, I cannot find keywords for dark skinned Koreans unless I call them Black or African – which they are not. I wonder why that is.