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…


Struggling Man (私はいったい、何と闘っているのか, Toshio Lee, 2021)
A dejected middle-aged man experiences a crisis of masculinity when his home and work lives come under threat in Toshio Lee’s warmhearted comedy.


ka no you ni かのように - Meaning in Japanese
What ka no you ni かのように means in Japanese. Grammar and examples.


you da ようだ - Meaning in Japanese
What you da means in Japanese.


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


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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Follow the Light (光を追いかけて, Yoichi Narita, 2021) [Fantasia 2021]
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


Futari ha Daitai Konna Kanji, Volume 4 (ふたりはだいたいこんなかんじ)
In Futari ha Daitai Konna Kanji, Volume 4 (ふたりはだいたいこんなかんじ) Ikeda Takashi brings his specific brand of wacky slice-of-life to a fantastic conclusion. In the first three volumes of…
Futari ha Daitai Konna Kanji, Volume 2 (ふたりはだいたいこんなかんじ)
Okay, so here’s a mood. You like a creator, so when they announce a new book or series, you’re cautiously optimistic at the least. You know it might…


Futari ha Daitai Konna Kanji, Volume 3 (ふたりはだいたいこんなかんじ)
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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Among Four of Us 4人のあいだで Dir: Mayu Nakamura (2020) [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]
Among Four of Us 4人のあいだで Dir: Mayu Nakamura (2020) [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021]


Remembering Every Night (すべての夜を思いだす, Yui Kiyohara, 2022)
A series of women wander around Tama New Town each searching for something in Yui Kiyohara’s wistful drama.


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.


The Wonder of a Summer Day (幻の蛍, Yuka Ibayashi, 2022)
A sullen teenage girl finds new accommodation with her familial circumstances during a summer at grandma’s in Yuka Ibayashi’s charming indie drama
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…


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.


Seven Weeks (野のなななのか, Nobuhiko Obayashi, 2014)
“A death is a history” in Obayashi’s intensely moving tale of the interconnectedness of all things, love, death, war, and memory.
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)
Onna x Onna Umakuikanai Renai Essay parlor, Volume 1 (女×女のうまくいかない恋愛エッセイ parlor) by Fujio, has had a long journey from there to here. This manga began more than a…
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Okiku and the World せかいのおきく (2023) Director: Junji Sakamoto [New York Asian Film Festival 2023]
Okiku and the World せかいのおきく (2023), directed by Junji Sakamoto, is an absolutely heart-warming and moving story of love set during the end of the samurai period. Its beautiful…
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Just Remembering (ちょっと思い出しただけ, Daigo Matsui, 2021) [Fantasia 2022]
Former lovers are confronted by reminders of their failed romance amid the loneliness of the coronavirus pandemic in Daigo Matsui’s melancholy drama.
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...
Kaijuu-iro no Shima, Volume 1 (かいじゅう色の島), Guest Review by Mariko S.
It is Wednesday and you know what that means! It is indeed a Guest Review Wednesday here on Okazu. Today we welcome back Mariko S. (whose compelling review…


Duolingo Doesn't Know How to Say ゆかい #learnjapanese
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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


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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.


Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy (偶然と想像, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, 2021)
A series of chance meetings and a healthy dose of fantasy lead a collection of wounded souls towards a kind of liberation in Hamaguchi’s whimsical triptych


「全部磯チルドレンでいいんじゃないかと思っています」- 沓名健一インタビュー
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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
Somebody’s Flowers 誰かの花 「Dareka no Hana」 Release Date: January 29th, 2022 Duration: 115 mins. Director: Yusuke Okada Writer: Yusuke Okada (Script), Starring: Shinsuke Kato, Kazuko Yoshiyuki, Ch…


Six Pork Cutlets / 六枚のとんかつ
Feeling hungry? Six Pork Cutlets is a baka-mys short story collection that won the third Mephisto prize , so as you could probably expect ...
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River (リバー、流れないでよ, Junta Yamaguchi, 2023) [Fantasia 2023]
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.


I Go Gaga, Welcome Home Mom (ぼけますから、よろしくお願いします。~おかえりお母さん~, Naoko Nobutomo, 2022)
In a followup to her hugely popular documentary, Naoko Nobutomo follows her parents as her mother’s health continues to decline.


Kinuyo’s First Love (絹代の初恋, Hiromasa Nomura, 1940)
The changing social mores of the 1930s are played out in the fortunes of two sisters unwittingly falling for the same man in Hiromasa Nomura’s romantic drama.


New Moomin 38/52 - The Curse of the Red Moon (赤い月の呪い) (1972) (English subtitles)
Every lunar eclipse, swarms of bats arrive in Moominvalley, and these bats are said to be vampiric. When it turns out that Snufkin has been taking care of…


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…


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 Interview with Junji Sakamoto, Director of Okiku and the World せかいのおきく [New York Asian Film Festival 2023]
Okiku and the World せかいのおきく (2023), directed by Junji Sakamoto, is an absolutely heart-warming and moving story of love set during the end of the samurai period. Its beautiful…


The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes (夏へのトンネル、さよならの出口, Tomohisa Taguchi, 2022)
A pair of teenagers search for a way out of their mutual anxieties while exploring a mysterious tunnel in Tomohisa Taguchi’s animated sci-fi romance.
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The Fish Tale (さかなのこ, Shuichi Okita, 2022) [Fantasia 2022]
The infinite enthusiasm of a fish obsessive gradually brightens the world around them in Shuichi Okita’s charming portrait of an eccentric.
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The 12 Day Tale of the Monster that Died in 8 (8日で死んだ怪獣の12日の物語, Shunji Iwai, 2020) [Fantasia 2021]
Takumi Saito plays a version of himself raising “capsule kaiju” as means of combatting Covid helplessness in Iwai’s whimsical pandemic drama