Hey.

I'd like to share some things Japanese related, but not create a different thread everytime, so here goes. It'll be mostly books and movies.

Recently I've seen 砂の女　(Woman in the dunes). A true masterpiece (not a B movie like I usually recommend). Black and white.

I remember some of you complaining about Japanese bureaucracy awhile back. It's true once you've mastered the language, there is still the cultural barrier, which is problematic because it relies heavily on unconscious stuff.

In order to get aware of this cultural dimension, I'd recommend an author -- most of you have probably already read -- I'm studying this semester, called Edward T. Hall. Sure, the formulation is a bit dated, but the principles are essentially sane. I've read two books so far: The hidden dimension, and The dance of life. One deals with how space is apprehended in culture, the other is about how time is. Both have a chapter on Japanese culture.

Incidently, Hall's definition of the primary level of culture is pretty close to what Levi-Strauss calls structures. To enrich your perspectives on Hall, and on anthropology, I'd recommend another book The savage mind (by Levi-Strauss) I've also read recently.

Well, that's it for now. Enjoy.

Feeling a little gore right now, so I thought I'd recommend Gothic & Lolita Psycho, if you haven't already seen it.
Not an everlasting classic, but a must-see, like Tokyo Gore Police, or The Machine Girl. ^^

Adrift in Tokyo
Memories of Matsuko
Twilight Samurai
Zatoichi: Darkness is his Ally
Nobody knows
Air Doll
The ballad of Narayama
A silent Duel
The Human Condition i, ii, iii

Just a list of films I thought were particularly insightful or just enjoyable to watch (zatoichi )

I'm not a big fan of those B grade movies, althoooough Big Tits Zombie was entertaining I guess muahahah.

If you liked Woman in the Dunes, maybe you'll like Onibaba... I wasn't too fond of suna no onna though. [spoiler] I guess I found it frustrating at the guys inability to escape, when it didn't seem impossible. He wasn't blindfolded when escorted to the pit. And he could have just run along the beach waters edge to escape. If the film had created situations that were at least believable I might have enjoyed it more. Actually that part still pisses me off. lol![/spoiler]

2 movies:

Confessions / 告白 (2010) <---- Dark

キサラギ (2007) <------ sort of a whodunit (with a funny ending)

I've encountered this cute page (don't be afraid to refresh it, the servers always behave weirdly):
http://www.kanjizone.com/fourkanjiidiom....tegory=All
There's about 90 4-kanji idioms. Do you know them all?

@definitely
Woa, thanks very much for a great, consistent recommendation!
You don't muck about. I haven't watched the Human Condition yet, but I probably will someday. All the other movies were really good, and so different. I have a sweet spot for Tasugare, Matsuko and Adrift. If you have more like that, keep them coming.

Also, I've watched other works of Nakano Takao (Big Tits Zombie), and I'd like to recommend a couple: Killer Pussy (which is like Big Tits Zombie), and The Glamorous Life Of Sachiko Hanai (which is more of an experimental movie, very interesting).

I saw Onibaba as a teen on television, but I never got the title, so thanks for letting me be able to watch this classic again.

Man, Woman and the Wall (pinku lol, but also with a funny/quirky plot - also I think ties into "Air Doll" touching on the loneliness theme or break down of communities in apartments/big cities - bit of a stretch lol.)
kuroi Ame
The taste of Tea
Ramen Girl (Brittany Murphy - A bit cheese/tacky at times but watchable - I think it's one of her last movies :o)
High & low - can be quite slow, an old kurosawa film so not for everyone.
The Hidden Fortress... also kurosawa, worth watching tho imo.

some really well known ones are

Tampopo & Shall we dansu, but you've probably seen these, i'll mention them nonetheless.

My movie recommendations are running out I'm afraid.
Usually I check out IMDB to read reviews before seeing any movies lol... so I think my choices will be pretty solid

I've seen quite a few other films - but these were my picks really. There might be some I've forgotten.

Just to follow up on the 四字熟語, someone made an Anki deck with 3300 of them, using a spreadsheet from Katsuo. Check it out if you're interested.

PS: sorry definitely, haven't watch the second recommendation yet. I'll have spare time in the summer.

There is a really good book called "making sense of japanese".

It is an attempt to explains the nuances of the language by focusing on what is happening inside the japanese mind. It helps you to understand how native japanese see the world.

It also has the best explanation (20 pages) of "Wa vs. Ga" that i've seen in any book.

Really awesome read.

Yes, Tampopo is a classic. Been watching some Kurosawa Kiyoshi recently, still not sure how I feel about him.

Just bumping this thread to say there's a new English translation of the Hagakure, dating from 2014 by Bennett, and it looks like it's the best one to this date. Great occasion to rediscover this eternal text.

Also I'm curious if anyone has a favorite Japanese edition of 葉隠. Is there a modernized language one maybe? It's not something I can tackle right now but it would be a nice goal to have.

EratiK Wrote:Been watching some Kurosawa Kiyoshi recently, still not sure how I feel about him.

basically, 'cure' is by far his best film. 'sweet home' is a fun trashy 80's horror flick.

i see you liked teshigahara's 砂の女, but have you ever read kobo abe's books? 'the box man' is one of the best japanese novels i've read so far. there's a lot of deranged philosophizing going in it, so it's obviously not to everybody's taste, but lovers of the bizarre and stories that take place at the furthest edges of sanity will probably enjoy it. 'secret rendezvous' is more linear and coherent, but also very good.

some time ago i read kanai mieko's 'the word book', a collection of short stories, and liked it a lot. this week i re-read some of the stories and found myself enjoying them even more that the first time. for example, one story is about a boy, who goes on a train to buy some milk for his mother. on his way back, when he steps out of the train, he suddenly remembers that he is in fact adult and his mother is long dead.
one piece of advice: i would recommend NOT to read these stories in their chronological order. first half of the book is occupied with stories that are rather simple and obvious in their structure and they give you a kind of a map that tells you how to read the latter, much more complex ones. i started reading from 'kitchen plays' (ante-penultimate one) and was dumbfounded by strangeness and uniqueness of author's vision. 'the moon' is also a good place to start.

about films...'osaka elegy' was pretty interesting..it's a mix of long takes, typical for mizoguchi, and experimentation with deep-focus staging, before welles and 'citizen kane'. here are some screenshots.
watched another kobo abe/teshigahara collaboration, 'the face of another', and was really disappointed. it's like the exact opposite of 砂の女, extremely pretentious, non-filmic and talky.

i've also read an excellent book about influence of traditional arts on movies, called 'cinematic landscapes: observations on the visual arts and cinema of china and japan'. half of the book is about china and the other half is dedicated to japan. it's a great book for people who are interested in japanese paintings, literature, theater or/and movies.

i opened this year with a broken arm and, for a while, had a lot of free time for books and movies

i don't know anything about 'hagakure', though.

chamcham Wrote:There is a really good book called "making sense of japanese".

It is an attempt to explains the nuances of the language by focusing on what is happening inside the japanese mind. It helps you to understand how native japanese see the world.

It also has the best explanation (20 pages) of "Wa vs. Ga" that i've seen in any book.

Really awesome read.

I have this book. I agree it's really good.

definitely Wrote:Zatoichi: Darkness is his Ally

I'm trying to watch through all the Zatoichi films. There's like 26 or so movies total. It's a really cool series of movies.