TsukuBlog

2007 KVA Festival Department of Global Communication Movie Party

Classic Japanese Cinema with English Subtitles

VENUE: Tsukuba Gakuin University, Room 1311

SATURDAY, October 27

11:00-12:10…… Sisters of the Gion (Mizoguchi, 1936; 66 minutes)
12:15-14:00…… Late Spring (Ozu, 1949; 90 minutes)
14:10-16:40…… Ikiru (Kurosawa, 1952; 143 minutes)
16:50-18:40…… Late Chrysanthemums (Naruse, 1954; 101 minutes)

SPECIAL EVENING SHOW:
18:45-20-45…… The Funeral (Itami, 1987; 120 minutes)

SUNDAY, October 28

10:00-12:10…… Woman in the Dunes (Teshigahara, 1964; 123 minutes)
12:15-2:20…… The Burmese Harp (Ichikawa, 1956; 116 minutes)
2:30-4:30…… Sansho the Bailiff (Mizoguchi, 1954; 120 minutes)
4:40-6:40…… When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (Naruse, 1960; 110 minutes)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
1. For a program and description of the films in English, contact Robert Juppe at juppe[AT]tsukuba-g.ac.jp
2. There is no charge for this program. Seating limited to 40, provided on a first come, first served basis.
3. All films are shown in Japanese with English subtitles.
4. Light snacks will be available free of charge (as long as supplies last).

Since the success of the international hit Shall We Dance (1996), Japanese film producers have been regularly investing in the genre which can be called O-keikomono （お稽古物）. Those of you who are active in martial arts will be familiar with the word keiko, which means training, and the above-mentioned term can be used to refer to stories in which one or more characters begin to practice an activity under the guidance of a teacher, resulting in personal growth for both student and teacher and an obligatory grand finale to display the great skill acquired as a result of the hard training.

I guess you could say that it is an age old Asian genre which has also found success in the West in films ranging from the Karate Kid to Rocky. Such recent Japanese movies as Swing Girls and Water Boys were efforts that used the same plot pattern as Shall We Dance but did not achieve the same results in either critical acclaim or box office success.

Last year, however, director and writer Sang-il Lee used the old formula to create what I found to be a film that was not only very entertaining, moving, and very well made, but also a work that should be seen by anyone with an interest in the history of this part of Japan.

The story takes place in Iwaki , which is in Fukushima Prefecture just across the border from Ibaraki (our own Prefecture) and most of the dialogue is in a type of stage Fukushima dialect (if they used real dialect general viewers would not understand) which very closely resembles the dialect spoken by natives of rural Tsukuba.

Iwaki and Northern Ibaraki were important coal mining regions and the labor of the miners was essential for Japans industrialization.The shows how these laborers and their families were proud to have made such efforts for their country and which was confirmed for them by the fact that the Emperor had visited
their town and had actually gone into the mine.

Times change however, and the company could not keep on all the miners. In Japan, however, the company is always concerned about its worker s(well, NOT always!) and tried to branch off into another business which would keep the town going. The idea was to utilize geothermal resources around the mine to develop a huge spa resort with a Hawaiian theme. Sounds crazy now and it sounded even crazier then to the hardened miners and their families.

Hula Girls is the story of the miners daughters who through great efforts with the help of an alcoholic, debt-ridden, big city girl teacher to help save the town and turn the Hawaiian resort into a smashing success, which it still is today.

Director Lee makes every frame count right from the start as a hand drawn flyer of Diamondhead blends into the next shot of the coal mountain. The script is funny and intelligent. The performances, which are sometimes campy or over the top, are sometimes quite good or even excellent. The story is formulaic, but surprising, though I don’t want to give anything away. I must add, however that it is one of the greatest feminist films I have ever seen, made in Japan or anywhere else.

Japan is a country of successive fads and the success of this film has created yet another. Have you met anyone who has joined any of the Hawaiian dance classes which have suddenly sprung up around town? And did you notice the new Hawaiian clothing shop located on the ground floor of Q’t? How long will these shops and classes be around? My guess would be not very long, though there still are a few Flamenco dance class holdovers from the Spanish dance boom created in the wake of the Barcelona Olympics (when were they?).

As I said, I’m not going to go into the details of the story. Just see it! If you don’t cry, you are made of stone!

(Rental DVDs have English subtitles.)

The What Japan Thinks site translated a poll by DIMSDRIVE Research in which Japanese people were asked what Japanese movies they would recommend to foreigners.

The series of movies entitled “It’s Hard Being a Man” (男はつらいよ) was recommended the most by both men and women. I haven’t seen it, but I have heard of it. In fact, I have only seen three of the top ten movies (Seven Samurai, My Neighbour Totoro, Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind) and I haven’t even heard of four of them before (Love and Honour, Always - Sunset in the Third Street, Dororo, Death Note). And isn’t Letters from Iwojima officially an American movie? Anyway, it looks like I have some movie watching to do!

First of all, I would like to thank all of the people who came to the Coffee Hour yesterday. I was really nervous before I started the speech, but as things got underway, I calmed down and was able to get into a rhythm. It seemed like a successful event from my point of view. I hope that the audience felt the same way.

One of the members of the audience mentioned to me afterwards that she had trouble finding the schedule for the movie theatre. The schedule is available here. Whenever English movies are playing, the English title will appear under the Japanese title.

One thing you have to be careful about, though, is to check whether the movie is being offered with subtitles (which is the normal way in Japan) or with a dubbed soundtrack. Most movies aimed at an adult audience are subtitled, but many children’s movies are only offered in their dubbed versions (presumably because kids can’t read the subtitles that quickly).

For example, “Charlotte’s Web” is currently playing at the theatre, but only in its dubbed version. Too bad for all the non-Japanese speaking kids out there…

Movies that are dubbed are indicated by putting the Japanese word for dubbed (日本語吹替版) after the Japanese title. See, the listing for Charlotte’s Web for example.

シャーロットのおくりもの(日本語吹替版)
Charlotte no okurimono (ni hon go fuki kae ban)

Movies that are subtitled are usually not given any special qualification, but occasionally the theatre will show the dubbed version and the subtitled version at different times. Or, sometimes they just want patrons to be clear that they are showing the subtitled version (字幕版), as in the case of Eragon, another movie that is currently showing.

エラゴン　遺志を継ぐ者(字幕版)
Eragon: Ishi wo tsugu mono (ji maku ban)

(”Ishi wo tsugu mono” means something like “Inheritance”, which is the name of the trilogy. The first book in the trilogy is called Eragon, the second is Eldest, and the third has not been published yet, but it might be called “Empire” according to Wikipedia.)

If you haven’t been to Tsukuba You World in a while, you might be shocked to hear this: the parking there now cost you money.

There are still a lot of free parking spaces, but it’ll be nearly impossible to park in free parking spaces on weekends and sometimes even on weeknights. The parking will be free if you purchase something at Yamada Denki, but Cineplex Tsukuba won’t reimburse the parking fee. Summer “blockbuster season” has started, and Tsukuba You World gets even more crowded. If you are new to this area, stay away from Route 354 during the rush hour, especially around the opening day of a popular movie! (Tip: the opening of Harry Potter is July 20, but the advance screenings are held on July 14 to 16. )

If you live too far to get to the movie theater by bicycle, then you can ue their free bus service from Tsukuba Station.

You World Shuttle Bus Schedule
*** more services have been added on July 1, so please call 029-839-5555 (Japanese) to check the latest schedule! ***
Weekdays
Departing from Tsukuba Station*- 11:10AM/12:30PM
Departing from You World - 16:30PM/17:40PM/20:20PM
Weekends
From Tsukuba Station - 11:10AM/12:30PM
From You World - 17:00PM/18:20PM/19:40PM/21:00PM
*I think by Tsukuba Station, they mean “Tsukuba Center Bus Terminal.”
Tsukuba You World website (Japanese)

OK, Tsukuba parents. Are you planning on taking your kid(s) to Shrek3? It came out in the movie theaters last Saturday, so I figured that it’d be wise to wait until mid or late July to go watch this so I can avoid the crowds. Well, I was wrong.

Cineplex Tsukuba on Route 354 shows the English (or Japanese subtitled) version only once during the day and once at night, and they will completely stop showing the English version next Friday!! If you have kids who attend the Japanese public schools, then this weekend is the only chance for your kids to watch Shrek3 in English!

Shrek3 schedule at Cineplex Tsukuba
July 6 (today)
14:30 to 16:15 and 21:50 to 23:35*
July 7 (Sat) to 13 (Fri)
12:55 to 14:40 and 21:50 to 23:35*
comeplete schedule in Japanese
——————————————————————————
*** IMPORTANT NOTICE ***
Due to the ordinance by Ibaraki Prefecture,
children under 18 are not allowed to enter movie theaters
and watch movies that end after 23:00
even if they are accompanied by their guardians.
——————————————————————————

Related articles
Movies in Tsukuba (TsukuBlog)
Toe Jam’s Top Tips: September 2001 (Alien Times)
Tsukuba You World (Alien Times)

I don’t know how many of this blog readers are in the field of education or medicine, or just a big fun of Takako Tokiwa, but I got a flyer for this special showing that some of you may be interested.

There will be a special showing of a film called Fudeko Sono Ai, Tenshi no Piano (Fudeko, Her Love, The Angel’s Piano) in Joso City on February 17, Saturday.

This film is about Fudeko Ishii who became one of the pioneers of welfare of people with intellectual disabilities* and education of women. She was also a mother of three girls. Her first child was born with hypophrenia, and second and third girls passed away due to their health problems. She remarried a founder of Takinogawa Gakuen, the oldest welfare insutitution for people with hypophrenia in Japan, after her first husband died at the age of 35.
*I don’t know what the most appropriate word to use is nowadays.

Fudeko was a Christian woman from a noble family born during Keiou Period (1865 - 1868). She spoke 3 languages, and taught French at school for aristocratic women. The Empress Teimei, the wife of Taisho Period emperor, was one of her students. She had everything anyone could ask for, but she dedicated her life to educating people with intellectual disabilities and educating “healthy” people about people with disabilities.

The film’s subtitle, The Angel’s Piano, comes from the piano with the angel emblem Fudeko received as a wedding gift from her father and the other family members when she married to her first husband.

Here’s the official website for this film. The director of this film, Hisako Yamada, is also a mother of 43 year-old daughter who has severe hypophrenia.

Unfortunately, this film is not in any commercial theaters in Ibaraki, and the showing in Joso City is THE only chance for those who are interested to watch it in Ibaraki.

**** 筆子その愛、天使のピアノ(Fudeko Sono Ai) *******************

Casts: Takako Tokiwa(Fudeko), Emiya Ichikawa, Gou Katou
(they are all big names)

Time: February 17, Sat. from 2PM and 6:30PM
Place: Joso Civic Hall, 3222-3 Suwa Machi, Joso City,
Tel: 0297-22-2011

Tickets:
1600yen(1300yen Advance) for adults
1400yen(1100yen Advance) for high-schoolers and younger, people with disabilities, and care personnel.

* Childcare services available for toddlers and children with disabilities.
Advance reservations required. Cost: 200yen for snacks.

**********************************************************************

Sorry, the film and websites are all in Japanese.
Thanks wiki for additional information on Fudeko Ishii.

Star Wars Celebration Japan
When: July 19 (Sat) to July 21 (Mon), 2008
Venue: Makuhari Messe, Chiba Prefecture

Star Wars Celebration Japan promises to be one of the biggest international Celebrations ever. Please join us at the Makuhari-Messe in Chiba, near Tokyo, for three unforgettable days of Star Wars entertainment, events, exhibits, and fan fun, July 19-21, 2008.

Tickets:
Yoda 3-Day Premium Ticket: 22,000yen
Vader 1-Day Premium Ticket; 7,500yen
Standard 3-Day Adult Ticket: 10,000yen
Standard 3-Day Child (6 to 12 years old) Ticket: 5,000yen
Standard 1-Day Adult Ticket: 4,000yen
Standard 1-Day Child Ticket: 2,000yen

Star Wars Celebration Japan website:
http://www.celebrationjapan.jp/ (Japanese)
http://www.celebrationjapan.com/cj/ (English)

I just saw this information on ACCS(Tsukuba’s cable TV/ internet service provider) website.

A prominent Indian film maker Aparna Sen (spelling?) is shooting her film called “Kite” right here in Tsukuba!! The filming in Tsukuba started on March 30, but I don’t know how long she’ll be in Tsukuba. According to ACCS news, the filimg is taking place in 神郡(Kan-go-o-ri) area of Tsukuba, which is just south of Mt. Tsukuba or I should say just north of Hojo area, near the Hojo Lake. The film is not scheduled to be released in Japan, but the Japanese title would be “Japanese Wife” if it ever comes to Japan.

I tried to look for more information, but all I could find was the information for the 1994 Indian film by the same title. Tsukuba City’s Film Commission office hasn’t even mentioned this on their website.

Does anyone have more information about this, and if you do, would it be possible to share that information here? I’d LOVE to know more about it!