Japan makes fun movies. Really good, arty movies, yes - but generally speaking, if I want art, I'll read a book (personal preference).
We prepared (and decompressed) from our Japan trip by watching a silly amount of not-serious Japanese movies - which led to a lot of gleeful "that's just like in that movie!" or "that's just like in Japan!" To illustrate, five of my favorites (complete with Maggie haikus):
Train Man combines that classic rom-com motif of geek makeover with mild commentary on the then-new world of online socializing. It's a light movie.
"That's just like in that movie!" Meet Akihabara, the neon-lit consumer technology district of Tokyo. Tokyo has a neighborhood for everything: teenage girls (Harajuku), disconnected expats (Roppongi), plastic food (Kappabashi). Akihabara is for the computer geeks; megastores akin to Best Buy but with entire floors dedicated to the most advanced technology in toilet seats anchor buzzing streets lined with small discount stores and parts shops with bins of electronic bric-a-brac piled on the sidewalks. Pachinko parlors and video arcades glare with florescent lighting and pavlovian chiming. Females are few, other than those dressed in costume advertising various forms of male entertainment (school girls, yes, but also Princess Leias).
Other contextualizing Tokyo movies: Shall We Dance? (note the role of the elevated JR train lines throughout the film); Lost in Translation (speaking of disconnected expats in Roppongi). Granted, Lost in Translation is not Japanese and not even particularly sympathetic to Japanese culture - for the Japanese version of the same themes, I recommend Murakami's After Dark.
Totoro, To-to-ro! Hayao Miyazaki has made many brilliant movies (among them one of my all-time favorites, Spirited Away), but Totoro was/is a cultural phenomenon in Japan. Miyazaki remembers what it's like to be a child, and Totoro takes you back there. It's utterly charming, but in a deep way.
"That's just like in Japan!" The family moves to a seriously rural - and traditional - house: we're talking rice paper doors, communal bath, tatami mats and an old-school kitchen. The girls encounter Shinto shrines in the forest and roadside jizos; Totoro and his friends are themselves forest spirits - a cross between Shintoism and a child's imagination.
Totoro is set in the 1950s and is a bit nostalgic for this sweetly innocent, rural world. While that way of life has largely disappeared, aspects of it are preserved at Takayama's Hida Folk Village: rice paddies and forest shrines, traditional houses with sliding rice paper doors. And just like Totoro, Hida Folk Village appeals to children of all ages, too.
This is the most mainstream movie on my list - it won the Academy Award for best foreign film, which is rather surprising since it's frankly not that deep. But it is endearing, mostly thanks to the wry father figure who mentors the rather maudlin lead through the fine art of Japanese undertaking.
"That's just like in Japan!": Re-watching Departures post-trip, we recognized in the mountain town echoes of Takayama: quiet streets, dramatic mountain peaks, even the alpine river running through town that has been tamed and channeled into an orderly stream.
Also noted: the fading tradition of the local bath house (sento); the use of hibachi stoves and sweaters in winter (Japanese houses traditionally are not heated); and the tradition of eating fried chicken on Christmas.
"That's just like in that movie!" Battle Royale begins when a high school class, setting off on a end-of-school-year trip, is hijacked by nefarious adults to a remote island. Up to the hijacking part, this set-up is very mundane, like kids going to prom at an American school - schools in Japan routinely take class trips to other parts of the country. We saw hordes of class trips at the peace memorial in Hiroshima, but our most memorable encounter was on the island of Miyajima, where we ended up in a cookie-making class with a group of mostly female high-school students. My guess is that Miyajima, one of the most famous tourist spots in all of Japan, is pretty much the ultimate school trip destination.
Yes, Jiro is too much of an art house movie to be on my list, but the movie I really wanted to include - Tampopo - wasn't ever released to DVD. So sad - who wouldn't love a movie that combines ramen, Ken Watanabe, and spaghetti western music?
"That's just like in that movie!" But Jiro allows me to plug again the mesmerizing experience of the Tsukiji fish market. Also, if you watch Jiro, which documents the market's famous tuna auction, you really don't need to bother getting up at 4 a.m. to try to see it for yourself.
We prepared (and decompressed) from our Japan trip by watching a silly amount of not-serious Japanese movies - which led to a lot of gleeful "that's just like in that movie!" or "that's just like in Japan!" To illustrate, five of my favorites (complete with Maggie haikus):
Train Man (2005)
online geeks unite!
makeover of nerd to woo
rich girl from subway
Train Man combines that classic rom-com motif of geek makeover with mild commentary on the then-new world of online socializing. It's a light movie.
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| Akihabara at night: prime time. |
Other contextualizing Tokyo movies: Shall We Dance? (note the role of the elevated JR train lines throughout the film); Lost in Translation (speaking of disconnected expats in Roppongi). Granted, Lost in Translation is not Japanese and not even particularly sympathetic to Japanese culture - for the Japanese version of the same themes, I recommend Murakami's After Dark.
My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
two sisters explore
new rural world of spirits
everyday magic
Totoro, To-to-ro! Hayao Miyazaki has made many brilliant movies (among them one of my all-time favorites, Spirited Away), but Totoro was/is a cultural phenomenon in Japan. Miyazaki remembers what it's like to be a child, and Totoro takes you back there. It's utterly charming, but in a deep way.
 |
| Hida Folk Village's model rice paddy. |
Totoro is set in the 1950s and is a bit nostalgic for this sweetly innocent, rural world. While that way of life has largely disappeared, aspects of it are preserved at Takayama's Hida Folk Village: rice paddies and forest shrines, traditional houses with sliding rice paper doors. And just like Totoro, Hida Folk Village appeals to children of all ages, too.
Departures (2008)
failed cellist goes home,
breaks taboos to try new job:
dignifying death
This is the most mainstream movie on my list - it won the Academy Award for best foreign film, which is rather surprising since it's frankly not that deep. But it is endearing, mostly thanks to the wry father figure who mentors the rather maudlin lead through the fine art of Japanese undertaking.
 |
| Takayama: A river runs through it. |
Also noted: the fading tradition of the local bath house (sento); the use of hibachi stoves and sweaters in winter (Japanese houses traditionally are not heated); and the tradition of eating fried chicken on Christmas.
Battle Royale (2000)
on island, school group
told to kill each other or die
campy violence ensues
All you really need to know about Battle Royale is that it's the Japanese Hunger Games (note well, however, that Battle Royale came first). Not surprisingly, the Japanese version is less gritty and more gory, in that over-the-top, obviously fake blood sort of way. And while the American version is a not-so-subtle commentary on capitalism and class divides, the Japanese version is all about intergenerational distrust. Telling.
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| Making momiji manju: Not exactly a Battle Royale. |
Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011)
old man perfectionist
loving shots of fish and rice
and not much else ...
Yes, Jiro is too much of an art house movie to be on my list, but the movie I really wanted to include - Tampopo - wasn't ever released to DVD. So sad - who wouldn't love a movie that combines ramen, Ken Watanabe, and spaghetti western music?
I was in Japan last month. It is very beautiful country and have a very beautiful culture. I stayed at Tokyo and almost saw all tourist places of Tokyo.
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