Hoga News

DVD's on sale in the U.S. - "Maiko Haaaan!!!"

Thanks to Nippon Cinema, I noticed that several of my favorite movies are on sale in the U.S.

Now with my renewed interest in Kyoto (see here), I have to meet Maiko-san.  I am talking about the powerfully-hilarious, endlessly-high-tension, "that-never-happens!" movie by Kudokan (Kankuro Kudo), "Maiko Haaaan!!!".

Kimi (Sadawo Abe) is an extreme "maiko otaku", so when his employer, instant noodle maker, sends him away to their Kyoto branch office (which is considered a Siberia), he gladly takes it, abandoning his girlfriend (Kou Shibasaki) in Tokyo.  There, he tries every tactics to get into Maiko house and realize his dream to play "yakyu-ken" (paper-rock-scissors game, with a penalty to strip one layer of your clothes each time you lose).  But a rich-and-famous baseball player (Shinichi Tsutsumi) gets in his way and so their rivalry begins.

This is another odd ball movie, but I give LOTS of credit to Sadawo Abe for leading this totally nonsense movie to a whole new level of tension and power.  The strange and rigid rules and tradition of Maiko houses are actually even stranger than Abe's crazy acting at times.  I also realized that it is the cultural roots that leads to the famous (notorious) "maid cafe's" in Akihabara districe in a funny way - the simple games people play with maids there are basically on the same concept as "ozashiki play" that maiko-san's do.  If you like to laugh till you get knocked off from your chair, and/or curious about old-time Japan's symbol Maiko, then you definitely should see this movie.

Kudokan's previous movie "Yaji and Kita - Midnight Pilgrims" was another odd ball funny movie, but the strangeness of the Yaji Kita did not totally match to my sense somehow - at times, I felt just simply "sick".  "Maiko" has much dryer sense of humor and I like this one better.  Either way, Kudokan is a kind of pop icon among young Japanese people, and I am glad that we have a chance to see it in the U.S.

Maiko Haaaan!!! official site (VIZ PICTURES)  <- you can see the better quality Quicktime trailer here

"Sukiyaki Western Django" is coming to town

Speaking of Takashi Miike, I am overjoyed to learn that my recent favorite, "Sukiyaki Western Django" US theatrical release (by Firstlook Studios) is coming up in August.  NYAFF/JapanCuts had the US premiere in June.

(Photo courtesy of Subway Cinema)

There is a good review written on Amazon, so read it - it tells you all.  I love it because Miike's odd/edgy sense of humor really touches my nerve (in a good way) somehow.  The story framework is taken from old Genji (white) vs. Heike (Red) battle in the 12th centry, but their characters are totally anime/manga-like.  I LOVE air-head macho Taira no Kiyomori (Koichi Sato), cool beauty Minamoto no Yoshitsune (Yusuke Iseya) - and the gunman (Hideaki Ito) is like totally do not belong there..  Kaori Momoi and Teruyuki Kagawa ("The Sheriff") are my two favorites too.  Some actors' English lines are not perfect, but honestly speaking, I was expecting the worse when I watched it, so I was actually relieved.  Particularly, Yoshino Kimura ("Shizuka") was really good - I understand she was raised in the U.S. as a youngster.  Oh, and of course, don't forget Quentin Tarantino ^o^ !

And the top reason I love Miike's movies is because he knows how to make his male actors look SEXY - not in an explicit way but you know what I mean...  It is TOTALLY true for this Sukiyaki Western, too. 

I admit it is an odd ball movie and the people's review was mixed in Japan.  I still highly recommend this movie.  Whatever it is.

Yokai (Monster) Festival at Toei Movie Land

So here is the first piece of info about Toei Movie Land.

Summer is in full swing in Japan as well, and summer is the season for "scary monsters and haunted house" over there - not, ehh, Halloween.  So Toei Movie Land is holding the seasonal Yokai Festival ("Yokai Matsuri") from July 19 till August 31.  The main focus of the event series is "World Yokai Conference" held on August 23 and 24.

"Yokai" is the folk monster, depicted in various folk tales, and there are so many of them.  There is a good site to explain and introduce about yokais in English, Obakemono.  This rich tradition of monsters is the base of people's imagination that created Japan horror films and monster films.  Most recently, Takashi Miike's "The Great Yokai War", I believe, is the great showcase for the scary+friendly+comical folk monsters.  (Personally, I fell in love with Miike films with this movie, and am trying to catch all his stuff as much as possible since.)  Shigeru Mizuki's "Gegege no Kitaro" is the most popular yokai character comic (manga) in Japan.  Mizuki is appearing in The World Yokai Conference in August, and "Kitaro" has been filmized there, but I have not seen it yet.

More detailed information will follow - stay tuned!

Introduction of Toei Movie Land

First off,  I would like to introduce Toei Movie Land ("Toei Uzumasa Eiga Mura" in Japanese) here as our new Hoga Central's friend.  They are not exactly a sponsor (in terms of money), but have agreed to back us up with information and resources.  We hope to expand our relationship further.

Toei Movie Land home
Toei Movie Land English page

Toei Movie Land is a subsidiary of Toei, one of the big three Japanese film studios.  They are known for its rich archives and tradition of Jidai-geki (period/samurai dramas) during the golden age of Japanese movies.  More recently, built on this tradition, they also have expanded the library of "yakuza" and "super-hero" movies.  Toei Uzumasa Studio is the home of many of these samurai, yakuza and hero movies. 

Toei Movie Land is open-to-public theme park based on this movie tradition.  They have the life-size set of old town during the Edo period (which also is still used for movie filming) and various attractions, including Ninja shows and Samurai battle shows (in which, I understand, Mr. Seizo Fukumoto, "the quiet samurai" in Ed Zweig's "The Last Samurai", sometimes appears).  You can also wear the period costumes and become a samurai or princess yourself.

Toei Movie Land is located in the north-west of Kyoto city, the old capitol of 1000 years and must-visit place if you are taking a trip to Japan.  I will be writing from time to time about the studio and Toei movies in this blog, in addition to regular J-cinema related topics.

Thank you, Toei Movie Land and Toei, for helping us.

I am adding J-cinema screening event calender

So I am starting slowly with what I wanted to do the most for the past year or so. 

I am trying to compile schedule of J-cinema screening events outside Japan.  I am starting with the U.S., just because I know about it more than any other place.  If you know any other film showing info, within or outside of the U.S., please let me know.  I will update my little Google calender on the upper right hand corner.  I welcome information about commercial showing of J-cinema as well.

Long time no see, and I am planning to restart this blog...

If anybody still has this link in RSS reader, here is my entry after more than a year.  I am planning to restart my blog and other Japanese-movie-related activities.

I am currently working to get financial and human power support to this activity, and looks like it is on its way.  So although I am still quite busy in my day job, I will try to update this blog little by little.  Hope things will get through so we will have more activities around this blog.