A young woman begins to regain a sense of self-confidence in the face of social prejudice when invited to consult on a film in Yuka Yasukawa’s adaptation of the Rio Shimamoto novel
Nov 12, 2022 • Subscribe
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からだの美
Yōko Ogawa’s 2023 collection からだの美 brings together sixteen short essays on the theme of bodies and physicality. The three primary topics are sports, performing arts, and animals. The…
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A subtle but important tip for written Japanese - How to Japanese - August 2023
Aisarete mo Iindayo, Volume 1 ( 愛されてもいいんだよ)
In Amano Shuninta’s Aisarete mo Iindayo, Volume 1 ( 愛されてもいいんだよ) we meet Kimura Rin, an office worker who is being sexually harassed by a superior at work. She has…
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ka no you ni かのように - Meaning in Japanese
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Sensei, Would You Sit Beside Me? (先生、私の隣に座っていただけませんか？, Takahiro Horie, 2021)
A mangaka and her cheating husband become locked in a cat and mouse game of ambiguous revenge in Takahiro Horie’s deliciously cynical anti-rom-com
you da ようだ - Meaning in Japanese
What you da means in Japanese.
My Sorry Life (愛のくだらない, Kozue Nomoto, 2020)
A self-absorbed TV producer gets a wake up call when her boyfriend announces he’s pregnant in Kozue Nomoto’s ironic dramedy
Futari ha Daitai Konna Kanji (ふたりはだいたいこんなかんじ)
In the Yuri world Ikeda Takashi is best known for Sasamekikoto / Whispered Words in English, from One Peace Books. That series made fun of every Yuri trope,…
Okiku and the World (せかいのおきく, Junji Sakamoto, 2023)
A samurai’s daughter falls for a lowly manure man in a city on the brink of change in Junji Sakamoto’s touching dramedy.
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An alienated young man resentful of his forced relocation to the countryside bonds with an intense classmate in Yoichi Narita’s gentle coming of age drama
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One of the defining characteristics of an adult life is facing setbacks. You can work really hard, gambare with all you have and still not achieve the goal.…
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Drifting Flowers, Flowing Days (この日々が凪いだら, Yutaka Tsunemachi, 2023)
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Remembering Every Night (すべての夜を思いだす, Yui Kiyohara, 2022)
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The Wonder of a Summer Day (幻の蛍, Yuka Ibayashi, 2022)
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How to Japanese Podcast – Episode 42 – のだ
I remember vividly learning how to use んだ in Japanese. My third year teacher did a section on storytelling/explaining, and she had us tell different stories over and…
Sorasoi (そらそい, Katsuhito Ishii, Shunichiro Miki, Yuka Osumi, 2008)
Students on a dance summer camp pick up a few lessons in authenticity and self-confidence while staying in an out of the way hotel in Ishii, Miki, &…
Eternally Younger Than Those Idiots (君は永遠にそいつらより若い, Ryuhei Yoshino, 2021)
An insecure young woman struggles to assume her place in the world while preparing to leave the aimless security of college life for an uncertain adulthood in Ryuhei…
Seven Weeks (野のなななのか, Nobuhiko Obayashi, 2014)
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Onna x a Onna Umakuikanai Renai Essay parlor, Volume 1 (女×女のうまくいかない恋愛エッセイ parlor)
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Just Remembering (ちょっと思い出しただけ, Daigo Matsui, 2021) [Fantasia 2022]
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The Tycoon / 傷だらけの山河 / Kizudarake no sanga (1964)
Obscure Japanese Film #144 Ayako Wakao and So Yamamura Having delivered a mega-hit for Daiei studios with Shinobi no mono (1962) and also...
Leave Me Alone (不想一個人, Fan Yang-chung, 2021)
A lovelorn gallery owner and ambitious pimp embark on a steamy affair but find themselves bound by their shared yet opposing desires in Fan Yang-chung’s steamy urban drama
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.
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Yellow Crow (黄色いからす, Heinosuke Gosho, 1957)
A small family struggles to repair itself after eight years of wartime separation in Heinosuke Gosho’s post-war melodrama.
Somebody’s Flowers 誰かの花 (2022) Director: Yusuke Okada
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The staff of a hotel along with its guests find themselves trapped in an infinite two minute loop in Junta Yamaguchi’s strangely poignant farce.
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Get ’em All (「みな殺しの歌」より 拳銃よさらば, Eizo Sugawa, 1960)
A recently released young man is forced onto a nihilistic path of meaningless violence when his bank robber brother is killed in a hit and run in Eizo…
Love in the Mountains / わかれ / Wakare (‘Parting’, 1959)
Obscure Japanese Film #145 Haruko Wanibuchi and Isuzu Yamada Teenager Kimiko (Haruko Wanibuchi) helps out at a ryokan (traditional inn) i...
Under the Turquoise Sky (ターコイズの空の下で, KENTARO, 2021)
An aimless young man embarks on a spiritual journey after being sent to Mongolia to look for the daughter his grandfather left behind 70 years previously in the…
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An attempt to recreate the “real” in the “virtual” causes a rupture between this world and another in Takashi Shimizu’s high tech horror.
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In the penultimate episode of the season, Perry is joined by Japanese film buff Nathaniel de Bel to discuss the classic Japanese film, The Yellow Handkerchief starring the…
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Yesterday I said that I was reviewing two series this week that focused on complicated relationships. The first was Volume 9 of Otona ni Nattemo, by Shimura Takako…