Video Library at Asian Studies Center Procedure
& Request Form for Borrowing Videos (http://www.asianstudies.msu.edu/../videorequest.htm) |
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| Japan | ||||
| Title | Genre/Code | Description | Language | |
| 150 Years of US-Japan Relations: Past, Present and Future (2003) 2 Parts | Documentary DVD / JA.d.001 |
Numerous exchanges and friendships have enabled the United States and Japan to cultivate one of the world's closest bilateral relationships. We invite you to take a fresh look at various aspects of the past, present and future of Japan-US relations. Part 1 - Promoting Friendship: Perry's journey to Japan; John Manjiro and the samurai who visited the US; The Iwakura Mission; American teachers in Japan; Bushido; The Reischauers; A bond that endured; Student exchange; The fruits of exchange Part 2 - Strenghtening the Partnership: Lifestyles; Sports; Culture; The economy; Security; The fight against terrorism; Official Development Assistance; Afghanistan reconstruction assistance; Japan's stance on Iraq issues; The environment |
English | |
| Abduction : The Megumi Yokota Story (2006; 85min) | Documentary DVD / JA.d.057 |
In November, 1977, 13-year-old Megumi Yokota vanishes without a trace. Her parents search for her for years until one day, they encounter shocking news: Megumi was kidnapped by North korean secret agents. What begins as a simple missing persons case becomes a battle between two nations at the highest levels. Suddenly, an ordinary banker and his housewife find themselves entangled in an extraordinary conspiracy. This is the astonishing story of their decades-long journey to uncover the truth. | Japanese with subtitles in English, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, French, Spanish, Portuguese and German | |
| After Life (1998; 118min) | Feature Film DVD / JA.d.004 |
Many films have offered insight into the unexplainable realm of the after life. In Kore-eda's thought-provoking vision, the newly deceased find themselves in a way station somewhere between Heaven and Earth. With the help of dedicated caseworkers, each soul is given three days to choose one cherished memory from their life that they will relive for eternity. As the film reveals, recognizing happiness and finding a life's worth of meaning in a single event is no simple task. if Heaven is only a single memory from your life, as Kore-eda suggests, which memory would you choose? | Japanese with English subtitles | |
| Akira (1988; 125min) | Feature Animation DVD / JA.d.006 |
A landmark film that introduced much of the Western world to modern animé, AKIRA is a marvel of modern animation. Based on Katsuhiro Otomo's 2,000 page manga, AKIRA begins on July 16, 1988, when what was believed to be an atomic bomb was dropped on Tokyo, completely destroying the city and marking the beginning of WWIII. Thirty-one years later, Neo-Tokyo has sprung from the ruins of the old city and is experiencing a prolonged period of civil unrest caused by student uprisings, political instability, and, most destructively, biker gangs. Combining a complex science-fiction universe with intricately detailed animation and phantasmagoric images, AKIRA is a stunning visual experience and a disturbing vision of the future. | Japanese and English options | |
| Animated Classics of Japanese Literature (1986; 75min)) | Educational
DVD / JA.d.007 |
Beautifully animated episodes based on masterpieces of modern Japanese literature. Ages 13+ Sound of the Waves by Mishima Yukio Parts 1 & 2 - A poor fisherman falls in love with the daughter of the most powerful man in the village. To overcome this obstacle, he must prove his bravery on the arena he knows best, the ever-changing, eternal sea. Growing Up by Higuchi Ichiyo Two friends are torn apart when one joins a gang, betraying the bond of trust between them. As they develope into individuals, will the capacity for forgiveness grow with them? |
Japanese with English subtitles | |
| Animatrix, The (2003; 89min) | Feature Animation DVD / JA.d.040 |
9 Short films exploring the incredible world of the Matrix. Welcome to the Animatrix, a visionary fusion of CG-animation and Japanese anime from the world's most revered anime directors. Experience the prequel to The Matrix and learn about the last cities of mankind, the war with the machines and humanity's ultimate downfall. Witness the Final Flight of the Osiris, which sets the stage for The Matrix Reloaded movie and Enter the Matrix video game. Grasp a more complete understanding of The Matrix available nowhere else. Expand your mind even further as you unlock a dazzling arsenal of Bonus Materials. It's time to plug in. |
English and Japanese | |
| Azumi, the Movie | Feature Film DVD / JA.d.008 |
Azumi, the only swordswomen in a band of samurai-assassins in training, and her fellow students are given their first target. Their journey is immediately met with trials and hardships as their friendship, training, and loyalty are put to the ultimate test. An action packed film filled with acrobatic martial arts scenes, based on the popular manga by Yu Koyama. Directed by Ryuhei Kitamura of the famous action movie Versus. | Japanese with English subtitles | |
| The Bad Sleep Well (1960; 151min) | Feature Film Video / JA.v.001 |
This film is one of Akira Kurosawa's (Rashmon, Ikiru) best modern-day films. The acclaimed Japanese director adopts the American gangster-film style to weave a fascinating tale of corporate greed. | Japanese with English subtitles | |
| The Ballad of Narayama (1983; 129min) | Feature Film Video / JA.v.002 |
In a remote 19th-century village in Japan, food is so scarce that babies are left to die, and thieves who steal a few potatoes are buried alive with their families. And when the elderly reach the age of 70, they are banished to a frigid mountain so that their families won't have to feed them. Director Shohei Imamura shatters the stereotype of Japanese as polite, quiet people fond of tea ceremonies and geishas. A remake of director Keisuke Kinoshita's 1958 film NARAYAMA BUSHI-KO and based on MEN OF TOHOKU by Shichiro Fukuzawa, Imamura's film is profane, shocking, and disturbing. Scenes of human coupling are juxtaposed with scenes of insects and animals having sex, as if to emphasize the savagery of these villagers. Despite these lurid images, the film is a thought-provoking account of humans trying to preserve their dignity and traditions in the face of harsh conditions. |
Japanese with English subtitles | |
| Boy's Choir (2000; 130min) | Feature Film DVD / JA.d.009 |
Michio is sent to a remote, Catholic boys orphanage soon after the death of his father. Awkward and unable to speak without stuttering, he finds it nearly impossible to get along in his new environment. Yasuo, the star soprano in the school choir, helps him escape but then convinces him to come back to the orphanage and join the choir. The two boys become best friends. But while rehearsing at a neighboring girls school, Yasuo becomes jealous of Michio's sudden fascination with the opposite sex. To vent his frustration, Yasuo spends the summer marching in anti-war demonstrations in Tokyo. When he returns to school in the fall, he discovers to his horror that his angelic voice has changed. | Japanese with English subtitles | |
| Castle in the Sky (1986; 125min) | Feature Amimation DVD / JA.d.044 |
A young boy stumbles into a mysterious girl who floats down from the sky. The girl, Sheet, was chased by pirates, army and government secret agents. In saving her life, they begin a high flying adventure that goes through all sorts of flying machine, eventually searching for Sheet's identity in a floating castle of a lost civilization. | Japanese with English subtitles | |
| The Castle of Cagliostro (1979; 110min) | Feature Animation DVD / JA.d.043 |
Reknowned international thief Lupin III (known as "Wolf" in the English dub) comes to the small European duchy of Cagliostro to investigate some excellently-forged money and stumbles across a national conspiracy going back some hundreds of years. Lupin and his friends must rescue the beautiful Clarice from the hands of the evil Count Cagliostro and solve the mystery of a hidden treasure dating back to the 15th century. | English and Japanese with English subtitles | |
| Chaos (1999; 104min) | Feature Film DVD / JA.d.010 |
From director Hideo Nakata (Ringu, Ringu 2), Japan's modern sensei of suspense, comes an ingenious and hynotic thriller of unrelenting intensity. After a successful Japanese businessman's ravishing trophy wife vanishes, sadistic and taunting ransom demands arrive and the police are summoned. As the true nature of the stakes for the captor and his captive unfold, Chaos fluidly transforms from a precision neo-noir into a macabre and shocking thriller and ultimately into a lurid, intoxicating sexual gothic. Neither pleading eyes nor bound wrists, a bandaged hand nor a shallow grave are what they seem as each step in Chaos leads to a suspensful threshold more perilous and unpredictable than the last. | Japanese with English subtitles | |
| A Commemorative Offering from Okinawa Japan | Instructional CD-Rom / JA.c.002 |
This CD-ROM introduces the history, nature, and culture of Okinawa. Okinawa was once an independent realm known as the Ryukyu Kingdom, Through trade with China and Japan, and with the countries of Southeast Asia, Okinawa forged out its own unique culture. | English | |
| Cowboy Bebop: Best Sessions (2002; 150min) | Feature Animation DVD / JA.d.038 |
Simply the Best! Everyone's favortie rag-tag group of bounty hunters gets new life in these revitalized adventures. Join the always-cool Spike, investigate genius Jet, the fabulous Faye, the amazing (but weird) Ed and the super-smart Welsh Corgi named Ein as they try to make a buck in the year 2071. How do they do it? They're bounty hunters. But then again, you probably wounldn't be reading this if you didn't already know that. Slick, stylish and visually dazzling, Cowboy Bebop continues to be one of the most popular anime films of all time. So much so that in Japan, two special DVDs were released containing six episodes reedited and remixed into Dolby Digital 5.1 audio under the direct supervision of series director Shinichiro Watanabe. |
Japanese & English language options | |
| Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (2001; 115min) | Feature Animation DVD / JA.d.036 |
Mars. Days before Halloween 2071. Villains blow up a tanker truck on Highway One, releasing a dealy virus that kills hundreds. Fearing a bigger, even more devestating biochemical attack, an astronomical reward is offered for the arrest and capture of the person behind the destruction. On the spaceship "Bebop," Spike and his crew of bounty hunters are bored and short on cash. But with the News of the reward, everything changes. | Japanese & English Language options | |
| Cutie Honey (2004; 90min) | Feature Film DVD / JA.d.011 |
The comic Cutie Honey began in 1973 about a girl with special powers that give her unusually strong fighting abilities. Kisaragi Honey usually lives in a secluded bourding school, but when crime arises she screams "HONEY FLASH!," she transforms into the sexy and sweet Cutie Honey. Directed by Anno Hideaki. | Japanese with English subtitles | |
| Double Suicide (1969; 104min) | Feature Film DVD / JA.d.013 |
Many films have drawn from classic Japanese theatrical forms, but none with such shocking cinematic efect as director Masahiro Shinoda's Double Suicide. In this striking adaptation of a bunraku puppet play, a paper merchant sacrifices family, fortune, and ultimately life for his erotic obsession with a prostitute. | Japanese with English subtitles | |
| The Eel (1998; 117min) | Feature Film DVD / JA.d.033 |
In a jealous rage, Takuro Yamashita brutally murdered his beautiful wife after catching her making love to another man. Without hesitating, he delicately covered her lifeless body and turned himself in to the local authorities. After 8 years in prison, he chooses to start a new life as a barber in a small town offering perfect isolation from his fears. The agonizing pain of his wife's infidelity has left him unforgiving and without remorse. For years now, his only solace has been through an eel he kept as a pet in prison and, as of late, in a small tank at the barbershop. As a favor to the town's priest, Takuro has reluctantly agreed to help a young woman with a troubled past by offering her a job as his assistant. Beautiful, sincere and uncompromisingly dedicated, it would appear that Keiko is just what Takuro needs in his life. However, when he least expects it, Keiko's past will collide with Takuro's. And if he isn't careful Takuro's past will come back to haunt him forever. | Japanese with English subtitles | |
| Eijanaika (1990; 151min) | Feature Film
Video / JA.v.004 |
Eijanaika is both a wonderful view of Edo-period Japan and a revealing allegory of the modern Far East. With this film, director Shohei Imamura emerged as one of the most consistently interesting and rewarding of all Japanese directors. | Japanese with English subtitles | |
| Faces of Japan: Videos 1-8 (1988; 30min) | Documentary Video / JA.v.005-006 |
Series of provocative portraits of various individuals, exploring their lives and careers: THE FASHION MODEL In Japan, models of mixed Japanese and Western heritage are prized for their exotic Western looks. Ironically, Chiharu's American/Japanese heritage has also made her an outsider in her own country. ISLAND DOCTOR With the emergence of high tech hospitals and government insurance, Japanese medicine has become big business. Dr. Hara, who administers to an island population of 870, is one of the few doctors willing to practice in small communities instead of more lucrative cities. BUNRAKU APPRENTICE It takes decades to master the intricate movements and state directions demanded by traditional Japanese puppet theater. Minoichiro Yoshida feels a special responsibility for preserving this ancient art in a rapidly changing society. A REPORTER'S STORY Toshiyuki Takahashi is a senior reporter for Japan's largest newspaper. In a culture that values consensus above all else, he finds his coverage of Prime Minister Kakeshita's election is governed by very strict rules. WOMAN SOLDIER The Japanese Self-Defense Force is an all volunteer armed service whose presence and training are the focus of continuing debate. Twenty year old Fumiko Ishikawa is one of the warriors of the future in a country whose martial tradition may be a thing of the past. BEHIND THE CAMERA Although Japanese directors and stars become celebrities at home and abroad, it is the assistant film directors who are often the unsung heroes of the set. But without the prestige of performers or directors, they inhabit a precarious place in the social world of Japan's film industry. SUMO : AN AMERICAN PORTRAIT With its 200 years history, sumo is a national sport where tradition is important as competition. Sumo wrestlers live and train in ways completely unlike that of another professional sport. Meet Konishiki, a 500 pound American who is a Japanese sumo wrestling hero. AN UNCERTAIN HARVEST As the demand for rice densities, the self sufficient rice farmer is a thing of the past. Government subsidies help keep them afloat, but usually they must find outside work to survive. Masatoshi Sato, a farmer in northern Japan, is as likely to be found in the city as on the farm. |
English | |
| Families of the World: Family of Japan (1995; 30min) | Educational Video / JA.v.007 |
In Sendai, Japan, get to know Ayako, age eight, who loves to climb trees, play piano and take calligraphy lessons. Meet ten-year-old Seichi who lives on a farm in Furukawa where his family has raised rice for 14 generations. (Ages 3-10) | English | |
| Firefly Dreams (2001; 105min) | Feature Film DVD / JA.d.014 |
Naomi, a seventeen-year-old city brat from Nagoya, finds her world turned upside down after the breakup of her parents' marriage. Packed off to the country, she reluctantly works at her aunt's inn until being asked to care for Mrs. Koide, an aging relative with Alzheimer's diesease. At first, Naomi dislikes looking after the old woman, but over the course of the summer, the two develop an extraordinary friendship that transcends age and experience. | Japanese with English subtitles | |
| Fires on the Plain (1959; 105min) | Feature Film Video / JA.v.009 |
Acclaimed director Kon Ichikawa's intense, yet poetically beautiful film focuses on the brutality of war and man's unwavering passion for life. During the final days of WWII, as the Japanese face defeat, soldiers hiding on a Philppine island commit unspeakable atrocities in a desperate attempt to survive--even for a few more days. Tamura, a tubercular soldier, is one of the stragglers. Surrounded by murder, starvation, and cannibalism, he retains his humanity in the face of his comrades' savage behavior. Because of his physical condition, Tamura knows he cannot save himself. Ironically, it is the illness that dooms him to certain death that frees him to act with dignity. | Japanese with English subtitles | |
| Focus on Japan (1994) | ASN Event Video / JA.v.010 |
Part 1: Yen for a Change Part 2: Japan the Champion? Part 3: Motorola |
English | |
| Fork in Asia - Japan, A (2000; 30min) | Documentary Video / JA.v.054 |
This program visits Japan and explores gender roles, questions the effects of tourism on the environment, and samples the local cuisine. It also examines the modern and historical influences inherent in Japanese culture. | English | |
| The Franklin Spirit (2005) | Audio CD / JA.c.006 |
This audio CD contains five pieces of music used at the U.S. Pavilion World Expo 2005, Aichi, Japan. | English | |
| Fudoh: The New Generation (1996; 100min) | Feature Film DVD / JA.d.015 |
Riki Fudoh is a young man whose appearance is misleading...a highly cultured model high school student on the surface, but underneath lies a vicious and silent killer. Successor of the Fudoh family, Riki devises a plan to recruit his own criminal organization made up of fellow classmates. His goal, to brutally assassinate the old generation of Yakuza bosses and take control. Hailed by critics the world over and winner of the International Fantasy Film Special Jury Award at the 1998 Portugal Fantasporto Film Festival. | Japanese with English subtitles | |
| Gagaku: The Court Music of Japan (1989; 29min) | Documentary Video / JA.v.011 |
"Gagaku: The Court Music of Japan" allows the viewer to experience the hauting sounds of the Japanese court orchestra and to see the maginificent costumes and masks of its stately dances. Host for the program is Dr. William Malm, professor of Ethnomusicology at the University of Michigan, who introduces the instruments of Gagaku and the musicians who play them. Also featured in the program is Suenobu Togi, Gagaku Maser at UCLA and Dr. Sidney Brown. professor of Japanese History at the University of Oklahoma, who explains the historic roots of Gagaku. | English | |
| Getting by in Japanese: Starter Kit for Japanese Language Learning 2 casets |
Educational Caset / JA.c.004 |
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| The Globalization of Japan (29min) Two parts | Informational Video / JA.v.012-013 |
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| Ghost in the Shell (1996; 82min) | Feature Film DVD / JA.d.016 |
Mamoru Oshii's futuristic animated masterpiece, Ghost in The Shell took the world by storm, introducing a new wave of Japanese animation through its mesmerizing cinematic expression. A movie that questions our own human existence in the fast-paced world of the information age, this remarkable, award-winning, cyber-tech thriller has gone on to become one of the leading Japanese animation films of all time. | Japanese with English subtitles | |
| Gohatto/Taboo (1999; 100min) | Feature Film DVD & Video / JA.d.029, JA.v.014 |
Widely regarded as the greatest living Japanese director as well as one of the film world's foremost hierophants of transgression, Nagisa Oshima returns from a long hiatus with a film worthy of his reputation. Set in 1865 during the waning days of the Tokugawa shogunate, it focuses on an exotic young male beauty, Kano, who has recently been recruited by the strict Shinsengumi samurai militia. He quickly becomes the lover of another recruit, Hyozo Tashiro, and, although homosexuality is officially verboten, Commander Kondo seems to have adopted a don't-ask don't-tell policy. He has little choice, since the teenage wraith soon becomes the prime object of desire for half the militia. Jealousy threatens to erode the company's morale as the samurai engage in kendo swordplay for a shard of attention from the impassive Kano. Captain Hijikata, the most humane and aware of the samurai, struggles to maintain discipline while fighting against his own attraction to the youth. Taboo is a fascinatingly ambiguous exploration of the uncontrollable force of sexuality in a highly repressive military environment. | Japanese with English subtitles | |
| Guidelines for Entering a Japanese Language School | Instructional Video / JA.v.015 |
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| Harakiri (1962; 134min) | Feature Film Video / JA.v.016 |
Set in 17th-century Japan, director Makaki Kobayahi's HARAKIRI stars Tatsuya Nakadai as masterless samurai Hanshiro Tsugumo. Structured in a series of flashbacks, the film opens in a period of serenity that has brought about a consolidation of power in Japan, resulting in the release of many samurai from their feudal obligations. These men--Hanshiro included--are in desperate straits, struggling to avoid poverty and starvation. According to their code, they must appear at clan estates and offer to commit seppuku, or ritual disembowelment, and often the clan retainer will offer them work or alms. When Hanshiro arrives at such an estate, the chief retainer Kageyu Saito tells him a cautionary tale about the fate of samurai Motome Chijiiwa, who was forced to commit seppuku with a dull bamboo sword as punishment for dishonoring the samurai code. Hanshiro requests that the clan's three best swordsmen act as his seconds for his act of seppuku, but they are nowhere to be found. He then reveals himself as the father-in-law of the tragic Motome and begins to exact his revenge. Arguably Kobayashi's masterpiece, this savage attack on the hypocrisy, cowardice, cruelty, and ultimate emptiness of the institution of the samurai warrior features one of Nakadai's greatest performances as the disturbingly intense swordsman. | Japanese with English subtitles | |
| Hidden Blade, the (132 min; 2004) | Feature Film DVD / JA.d.050 |
The Hidden Blades is the epic of Munezo, a samurai being displaced in a rapidly changing Japan. He was raised to respect tradition and the demanding moral code fo the samurai and now circumstances are forcing him to make difficult personal anpolitical choices. After a political coup fails, he is ordered to prove his innocence by finding and killing, Yaichiro, a former friend, samurai and brilliant swordsman. Munezo secretly enlists the help of their former master who entrusts him with the secret fo THE HIDDEN BLADE. Now he must choose between duty and honor. | Japanese with English subtitle | |
| Hikone - Ann Arbor: Sister Cities | Documentary Video / JA.v.045 |
English | ||
| Himatsuri (Fire Festival) (1985; 120min) | Feature Film Video / JA.v.017 |
Based on actual accounts, Himatsuri is the visually striking, sexually daring, and frighteningly violent tale of a secluded Japanese fishing village on the brink of modernization. When a developer comes to the community to propose a tourist park, only the lumberjack Tatsuo opposes him. At once nature's mystic voice and its amorous despoiler, Tatsuo embodies the spiritual link to nature that the community must sacrifice in order to prosper. Tatsuo's decisive moment comes during the annual Fire Festival, a celebration that is said to go back two thousand years--its ceremonies remaining virtually unchanged. At the peak of the libidinal revelry, the answer to the town's dilemma is revealed to Tatsuo, and he realizes that only through a purifying act of violence can his tormented spirit be placated. | Japanese with English subtitles | |
| Hiroshima Nagasaki August 1945 (1970; 16min) | Documentary Video / JA.v.018 |
This is a historic, unforgettable film featuring the first footage shot following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The film provides a sense of being an eyewitness to the bombs' aftermath, literally walking through the rubble and hospitals jammed with dying people. In August 1945 the Japanese government commissioned Akira Iwasaki, a filmmaker jailed during WWII for his antiwar beliefs, to document the effects of this new weapon. With only balck and white film available, he recorded stark and often simple, but telling images of the vast destruction, such as the shadow of leaves, flowers and other objects burned onto stone. The U.S. military classified the raw footage as "secret for over 20 years, before making it public. In the 1970, Professor Barnouw obtained the footage and edited together this film, adding a factual, eloquently understated narration. | English | |
| Hiroshima: Why the Bomb was Dropped (1995; 70min) | Documentary Video / JA.v.019 |
A sophisticated debate of the issues surrounding the decision to drop the atom bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Peter Jennings leads viewers through a labyrinth of complex diplomatic and military developments in this Peabody Award-winning program to examine the subtleties of this still controversial issue. Dramatic newsreel footage and extensive background information on the war in the Pacific provide valuable context for the decision. Skillfully edited archival film, primary source documents, and interviews with historians and experts are combined to raise a year's worth of questions, such as did the creation of the bomb also create the impulse to use it, and did anybody ever object to the targeting of civilians? Grades 10 and up. | English | |
| Howl's Moving Castle (2004; 119min) | Feature Animation DVD / JA.d.048 |
Sophie, a quiet girl working in a hat shop, finds her life thrown into turmoil when she is literally swept off her feet by a handsome but mysterious wizard named Howl. The vain and vengeful Witch of the Waste, jealous of their friendship, puts a spell on Sophie. In a life-changing adventure, Sophie climbs aboard Howl's magnificent flying castle and enters a magical world on a quest to break the spell. | Japanese with English Subtitles | |
| Hula Girls (2006; 108min) | Feature Film DVD / JA.d.058 |
Based on a true story, HULA GIRLS is a heartwarming comedy about coal miners' daughters who took an once-in-a-lifetime chance to be recruited as professional hula dancers and escape their monotonous lives, only to save their depressed mining town as well as the whole of Japan. In 1965 the planned closing of a coal mine in Iwaki (northeastern Japan) will put 2,000 people out of work with devastating effects on the community. The mining company plans to build the Hawaiian Center to promote tourism, but the idea meets with resistance by the community's union families who boycott the effort. However, a few of the young women in Joban see the call for dancers to possibly provide a more promising future. Norio Yoshimoto is put in charge of organizing the center, with Madoka Hirayama, a professional dancer fleeing creditors in Tokyo hired to train the dancers. Kimiko, her friend Sanae, and Sayuri are amongst the handful first showing up for lessons but soon others join them. When Kimiko's mother, Chiyo, discovers that she has skipped school classes to learn dancing the two argue and Kimiko leaves home. Her brother Yojiro, one of the newly out of work miners, comes to be supportive of her dancing as he becomes protective of Madoka. The girls start to tour neighboring communities and dance to promote the center, getting more proficient in the process. After secretly seeing Kimiko practice, and how good she has become, Chiyo helps gather heaters to save palm trees imported from Taiwan from dying from the cold. Her change of heart as head of the union's woman's organization shifts the sympathies of the community as the opening of the center nears. Madoka has molded coal miner's daughters into professional dancers, and Kimiko performs a standout solo dance at the opening. |
Japanese with English Subtitles | |
| In the Name of the Emperor: The Rape of Nanjing (1995; 52min) | Documentary Video / JA.v.020 |
This is the only American documentary film to examine the Rape of Nanjing, December 13, 1937, when the Japanese Imperial troops marched into this city in China. In just six weeks they murdered 300,000 civilians, and systematically raped and killed thousands of women. Today the Japanese government continues to deny it ever happened. In The Name of The Emperor is a monument of the suffering of the Chinese at the hands of the Japanese during WWII. It weaves together rare footage of the Japanese occupation, diary entries from Americans who were there, and the eye witness accounts of surviving Japanese soldiers. Especially unique is the newly discovered film footage of the massacre shot by John McGee, an American missionary who was living in Nanjing. This footage was part of the testimony at the war crimes trial, but has never been seen until now. | English | |
| Japan 2000 | Instructional CD-ROM / JA.c.001 |
English | ||
| The Japanese Version (1991; 58min) | Documentary Video / JA.v.022 |
Producers Louis Alvarez and Andrew Kolker spent six months living in Tokyo in late 1988 and early 1989. They set out to study how Western and especially American culture undergoes a change when it arrives in Japan. "The Japanese Version" is the result of that study. Presented as a personal journey through certain aspects of Japanese culture, "The Japanese Version" does not attempt to portray all of Japanese culture, nor does it pretend to be comprehensive about its chosen subject. Rather, through a series of close-up scenes, it tries both to complement already existing films and media portraits of Japan, and to present a side of Japanese culture that has not been widely seen abroad. Unfamiliar as many scenes may seem to an American audience, in many ways they can be considered "typical" of modern Japanese life. While "The Japanese Version" is completely accessible to the viewer who knows very little about Japanese culture, the film is a rewarding experience for more knowledgeable audiences as well, as they discern more subtle examples of cultural significance within individual scenes. |
English and Japanese with English subtitles | |
| Japan's Peace Constitution (2005; 70min) | Documentary DVD / JA.d.060 |
In 2005, sixty years after the end of World War II, a conservative Japanese government is pressing ahead with plans to revise the nation's constitution and jettison its famous no-war clause, Article 9. This timely, hard-hitting documentary places the ongoing debate over the constitution in an international context: What will revision mean to Japan's neighbors, Korea and China? How has the US-Japan mmilitary alliance warped the constitution and Japan's role in the world? How is the unprecedented involvement of Japan's Self-Defense Force in the occupation of Iraq perceived in the Middle East? Through interviews conducted with leading thinkers around the world, the film explores the origins of the Constitution in the ashes of war, and the significance of its peace clauses in the conflicted times of the early 21st century. |
English | |
| Jazz in Japan (2000; 30min) | Documentary Video / JA.v.024 |
This television program presents a vivid view of Japanese culture in the early 20th century, as reflected in the history of Jazz in Japan. It traces jazz from the first bands on trans-Pacific passenger vessels and in dance halls, to the emergence of the Japanese record industry in the 30's. The program also emphasizes the popularity of American Nisei such as Betty Inada of Sacramento, who performed in Japan. | English | |
| JET Expand Your Horizons | Instructional Video / JA.v.025 |
English | ||
| JET Sharing Culture Shattering Stereotypes (29min) | Instructional Video / JA.v.026 |
English | ||
| Kabuki, Onnagata, and Creating a Feminine Ideal (2003; 96min) | ASN Event Video / JA.v.027 |
Kabuki actor, Onoe Umenosuke, demonstrates his transformation into an idealized Kabuki female character through a process that involves the many skills of the "onnagata," a performer of feminine roles. | Japanese and English | |
| Kiki's Delivery Service (1989; 105min) | Feature Animation
DVD / JA.d.045 |
Venturing out, with only her chatty black cat Jiji, Kiki flies off for the adventure of a lifetime. Landing in a far-off city, she sets up a high-flying delivery service. Here begins a wonderful experience of independence and responsibility as she finds her place in the world. | Japanese with English subtitles | |
| Kikujiro (2000; 116min) | Feature Film DVD / JA.d.034 |
Lonely nine-year-old Masao leaves Tokyo in search of his mother, a woman he's never met. He's accompanied on his journey across the Japanese countryside by surly middle-aged petty crook Kikujiro who is none too happy being the chaperone. When Kikujiro gambles away all of Masao's travel money, the two must rely on their wits and the kindness of colorful strangers. Along the way, as the two share a series of wild and unpredictable adventures, they end up at a destination that neither of them could have imagined. | Japanese with English subtitles | |
| Lost in Translation (2003; 102min) | Feature Film DVD / JA.d.056 |
Bob Harris is an American film actor, far past his prime. He visits Tokyo to appear in commercials, and he meets Charlotte, the young wife of a visiting photographer. Bored and weary, Bob and Charlotte make ideal if improbable traveling companions. Charlotte is looking for "her place in life," and Bob is tolerating a mediocre stateside marriage. Both separately and together, they live the experience of the American in Tokyo. Bob and Charlotte suffer both confusion and hilarity due to the cultural and language differences between themselves and the Japanese. As the relationship between Bob and Charlotte deepens, they come to the realization that their visits to Japan, and one another, must soon end. Or must they? | English Franch | |
| Lily Festival (Yurisai) (2001; 100min) | Feature Film Video / JA.v.032 |
Based on a novel of the same name by Momotani Hoko, this film tells the story of seven women ranging in age from 69 to 91. In Japan , desexualized "cute old ladies" sometimes appear as an ideal representation of the aged, but the heroines of this film are not pent up by the image of the "old lady"-they are bold and overflowing with energy. Yurisai portrays the lively reawakening of the sexual energies of old women who had been shackled by both oppression of women and discrimination against the elderly. | Japanese with English subtitles | |
| Linda Linda Linda (2005; 114min) | Feature Film DVD / JA.d.059 |
Only three days before their high school festival, guitarist Kei (Yu Kashii), drummer Kyoko (Aki Maeda of Battle Royale), and bassist Nozomi (Shiori Sekine) are forced to recruit a new lead vocalist for their band. They choose Korean exchange student Son (Doona Bae of Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance), though her comprehension of Japanese is a bit rough! It's a race against time as the group struggles to learn three tunes for the festival's rock concert, including a classic '80s punk-pop song by the Japanese group The Blue Hearts called "Linda Linda"... |
Japanese with English subtitles | |
| The Lover's Exile (2002; 90min) | Performance Video / JA.v.033 |
The Lover's Exile is a Bunraku (Japanese puppet theater) adaptation of Meido no Hikyaku (The Courier of Hell), by Chikamatsu Monzaemon, first perfomred in 1711 and based on events of his day. It features the incomparable Bunraku Theatrical Ensemble of Japan; the world's most sophisticated puppet theater. | Japanese with English subtitles | |
| The Lower Depths (1957; 125min) | Feature Film Video / JA.v.034 |
Based on the play by Maxim Gorky, Akira Kurosawa's film is a faithful adaptation taking liberties only with the change in character names and setting (from imperial Russia to Edo-period Japan). This surprisingly comical tale focuses on the daily tribulations of a group of lower-class people living in a small tenement. Osugi, the landlady, bickers with Okayo, her sister, over the man they both want--Sutekichi (Toshirô Mifune), the thief. Other characters in the close confines include a priest, an ex-samurai, an actor, and a gambler). By setting the film in one room and a small adjoining courtyard, Kurosawa emphasizes both its claustrophobic premise and theatrical origins. | Japanese with English subtitles | |
| Maboroshi (1995; 110min) | Feature Film DVD / JA.d.017 |
The sights and sounds of a remote Japanese village by the sea convey the isolation of a newly remarried widow trying to move forward after her first husband's inexplicable suicide. A carefully composed array of visuals carries the simple, poignant plot. Director Kore-eda's elegiac debut film earned awards at the Venice, Vancouver, and Chicago Film Festivals. | Japanese with English subtitles | |
| MacArthur's Children (1984; 115min) | Feature Film Video / JA.v.035 |
At the end of World War II, the inhabitants of a small island off the coast of Japan prepared for an invasion: U.S. soldiers bringing peace. MacArthur's Children is the tender, beautifully photographed drama of how the citizens of Japan came to terms with their nation's defeat. The sudden and shattering occupation of General MacArthur and the American forces is seen through the eyes of Komoko, a fifth grade teacher, and her students. | Japanese with English subtitles | |
| Madadayo (1992; 134min) | Feature Film DVD / JA.d.018 |
The film follows the last two decades in the life of Hyakken Uchida, a writer and teacher who retires in the war years of the early 1940s. His students venerate him in his old age, and join him and his family each year for a ritual birthday party asking "Mahda-Kai (Are You ready?)" to which Uchida downs a big glass of beer and anwers " Madadayo! (Not Yet!)." acknowlegding the death may be near, but the life still goes on. | Japanese with English subtitles | |
| Makiko's New World (1999; 56min) | Documentary Video / JA.v.036 |
Early in the 20th century new opportunities were opened to Japanese women, thanks to modern consumer goods and to the new technologies of self-awareness offered by snapshot cameras, family albums, and mass produced diary books. Nakano Makiko and her family were on the hinge of historical change in 1910, the year that she kept a daily record of her activities as the young wife in a busy merchant household in Kyoto. Makiko's New World transports its viewers into the almost-forgotten milieu of urban Japan a century ago. The program blends historical photos and film footage with pictures from family albums and with dramatized re-enactments of events Makiko recorded in her diary. |
English | |
| Metropolis, Osamu Tezuka's (2001, 109min) | Feature Animation DVD / JA.d.037 |
Brace yourself for a totally new experience in cutting edge animation. Based on the classic comic by Osamu Tezuka (Astroboy), written by Japanese anime legend Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira) and directed by Rintaro (Galaxy Express 999), Metropolis is a spectacular film feature stunning imagery and unforgettable characters. In the industrial, tri-level world of Metropolis, Duke Red is a powerful leader with plans to unveil a highly advanced robot named Tima. But Duke Red's violent sun Rock distrusts robots, and intends to find and destroy Tima. Lost in the confusing labyrinth beneath Metropolis, Tima is a beginning a friendship with the young nephew of a Japanese detective. But when Duke Red seperates the two innocents, Tima's life - and the fate of the universe - is dangerously at stake. |
Japanese & English Language Options | |
| Music of Bunraku (1991; 29min) | Documentary Video / JA.v.037 |
"Music of Bunraku" allows the viewer to exerience the exotic drama of Bunraku. The puppet theater of Japan, and to understand its music. Host for the program is Dr. William P. Malm. professor of Ethnomusicology at the University of Michigan. Who introduces the musical styles, the notation, and the performers of Bunraku. Dr. Sidney Brown. professor of Japanese History at the University of Oklahoma, explains the historic roots of Bunraku, as illustrated in antique paintings and prints. Artists from the National Bunraku Theater in Osaka, Japan, demonstrate the musical styles of Bunraku, and perform ISEONDO KOI NO NETABA (THE MASSACRE AT A GEISHA HOUSE IN ISE) |
English | |
| Music of Noh Drama (1997; 30min) | Documentary Video / JA.v.038 |
Filmed in Nara at the 1996 Takigi Onoh festival, this documentary shows Noh by torchlight at the Kofukuji Temple. Artists from the Noh Troupe led by Kinzo Komparu demonstrate the styles and forms of Noh music. The host for the program is Dr. William Malm, professor of Ethnomusicology at the University of Michigan, who explains the variety of musical traditions in Noh, the use of musical instruments, and the relationships between music, drama and dance. Dr. Sidney Brown. professor of Japanese History at the University of Oklahoma, surveys the rich historic tradition of Noh and explains the connections to Buddhism and Shinto. | English | |
| My Neighbor Totoro (1988; 86min) | Feature Animation DVD / JA.d.049 |
Follow the adventures fo Satsuki and her four-year-old sister Mei when they move into a new home in teh countryside. To their delight, they discover that their new neighbor is a mysterious forest spirit called Totoro - who can be seen only through the eyes fo a child. Totoro introduces them to extraodinary characters - including a cat that doubles as a bus!- and takes them on an incredible journey. | Japanese with English subtitle | |
| Nagauta: The Heart of Kabuki Music (1994; 30min) | Documentary Video / JA.v.039 |
"The Heart of Kabuki" music is hosted by Dr. William P.Malm, Professor of Ethnomusicology at the University of Michigan. Dr. Malm explains the subtlety of structure and style in SUE HIROGARI, composed in 1854 by KINEYA ROKUZAEMON. Dr.Sidney Brown, professor of Japanese History at the University of Oklahoma, reviews the long tradtion of the SUE HIROGARI, as it evolved from a comic kyogen in medieval Noh Drama. Artist Students of professor Ajimi Tooru at the National University of Fine Arts and Music in Tokyo demonstrate the expressive variety of vocal and instrumental styles in Naguata. | English | |
| NAUSICAA -of the Valley Of The Wind- (117min) | Feature Animation DVD / JA.d.019 |
A thousand years after a global war, a seaside kingdom known as the Valley Of The Wind remains one of only a few areas still populated. Led by the courageous Princess Nausicaa, the people of the Valley are engaged in a constant struggle with powerful insects called Ohmu, who guard a poisonous jungle that is spreading across the Earth. Nausicaa and her brave companions, together with the people of the Valley, strive to restore the bond between humanity and the Earth. | English and Japanese | |
| Nobody Knows (2004; 139min) | Feature Film DVD / JA.d.020 |
Winner, Best Actor at Cannes Film Festival. Winner of the Gold Plaque at the Chicago International Film Festival. A Childlike mother of four sneaks her children into their new apartment as if it were a game. One of the game's rules is that only Akira, the oldest, can go outside. Their mother leaves, first for a month, then possibly forever. As the money runs out and the utilities are turned off, Akira struggles to take care of his brother and sisters, determined that they stay safe...and together. |
Japanese with English subtitles | |
| Noh Training Project (10th Anniversary Performance) | Performance Video / JA.v.040 |
Torchlight Noh at the Bloomsburg Town Park Band Shell in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania August 7, 2004. Noh--the classical Japanese Performance form which combines elements of dance, drama, music and poetry into one highly aesthetic stage art. It developed largely into its present form during the 14th and 15th centuires thus making it one of the oldest continuously performed stage arts in the world. Noh is still performed today in Japan by over 1500 professional performers and tens of thousands of amateur performers. |
English | |
| Okoge (1992; 120min) | Feature Film Video / JA.v.041 |
Japan's teeming if still underground gay life is explored and celebrated in this pleasant story of the relationship between two gay lovers and the effervescent woman who befriends them. The story revolves around Goh, a young, self-employed man, and Tochi, an older married corporate worker. Their inability to find a suitable location for their lovemaking is solved by Sayoko, a naive young woman who inexplicably finds herself drawn to gay men. She offers her small apartment as a convenient love-pad. Funny but deceptively lighthearted, the film addresses the serious theme of homophobia which is pervading Japan. A note on the title: Okama is Japanese for a rice pot and a slang insult against gays; Okoge is the rice that sticks to the bottom of a pot and is Japanese slang for "fag hag." | Japanese with English subtitles | |
| Onibaba (1964; 104min) | Feature Film Video / JA.v.042 |
A sinister mood pervades Kaneto Shindo's chilling folktale set in medieval Japan. Amidst Bloody upheavals between warloards and peasants, two women survive by ambushing soldiers, then selling their armor. Living by instinct alone, the women--a war widow and her mother-in-law--are locked in a murderous partnership until the younger woman begins an affair with her husband's friend. Shindo juxtaposes images of the couple's hungry embraces with the older woman's frenzied attempts to come between them. By donning a demon's mask, she hopes to frighten her daughter-in-law, but succeeds only in sinking further into the heart of darkness. Shot in a sea of giant reeds, and accompanied by an insistent drum beat, Onibaba builds horrifying suspense from the first frame to the last. | Japanese with English subtitles | |
| Otakus in Love | Feature Film DVD / JA.d.021 |
Mon, a self-confessed manga artisan who draws and paints on stones, meets Koino, a successful amateur manga artist who sells her work at Comiket and is very active in cosplay (dressing up like anime and manga characters). The two develope a relationship and their love grows amidst many ups and downs. | Japanese with English subtitles | |
| Porco Rosso (1992; 94min) | Feature Animation DVD / JA.d.046 |
Take flight with "Porco Rosso," a valiant World War I flying ace! From tropical Adriatic settings to dazzling aerial maneuvers, this action-adventure from world-renowned animator Hayao Miyazaki is full of humor, courage and chivalry. When "Porco"--whose face has been transformed into that of a pig by a mysterious spell--infuriates a band of sky pirates with his aerial heroics, the pirates hire Curtis, a rival pilot, to "get rid" of him. On the ground, the two pilots compete for the affections of the beautiful Gina. But it is in the air where the true battles are waged. Will our hero be victorious? | Japanese with English subtitles | |
| Princess Mononoke (1999; 134min) | Feature Film DVD / JA.d.035 |
A beautifully realized tale of civilization versus nature, PRINCESS MONONOKE is a true epic by Japan's master animator Hayao Miyazaki. While protecting his village from a rampaging boar-god, the warrior Ashitaka is cursed with a rapidly spreading scar that threatens to end his life. Seeking a cure and a reason for the animal-god's attack, he journeys into the sacred depths of the Great Forest Spirit's realm. On the edge of this once serene forest, however, the Tatara clan have begun to destroy the surrounding land to produce iron. In retaliation, San, the adopted daughter of the wolf-god Moro has begun raiding the Tatara fortress to stop their encroachment. Soon Ashitaka is caught in the middle and must stop the war between the humans and the forest dwellers before they destroy each other. The startlingly fluid movements of these mythological characters are detailed far beyond any other hand-animated production, easily making this one of the most spectacular animated films ever made. | Japanese with English subtitles | |
| Rashomon (1950; 88min) | Feature Film DVD / JA.d.022 |
Through an ingenious use of camera and flash backs, Kurosawa reveals the complexities of human nature as four people recount different versions of the story of a man's murder and the rape of his wife. Toshiro Mifune gives another commanding performance in the eloquent masterwork that revolutionized film language and introduced Japanese cinema to the world. | Japanese with English subtitles | |
| Remembering the Cosmos Flower (1998; 103min) | Feature Film
DVD / JA.d.023 |
Akiko, a high school student and her mother returns to their home in a small town in Japan after 7 years in South America. The teenage girl has contracted AIDS virus. The whole town knows about this even before she arrives and fear they will be exposed to the deadly disease. Thus begins beatiful Akikos' odyssey to her childhood best friend, Natsumi, tranforming her fear of Akiko's sickness into solid support and protection, confronts the village community. Everyone learns a lesson or two about their shortcomings, prejudism and igonorance. They have all matured and come together as a community when Akiko passes away one beautiful sunny day. | Japanese with English subtitles | |
| Rikyu (1990; 116min) | Feature Film DVD / JA.d.024 |
Seno-no Rikyu, a Buddhist priest, brought the art of the tea ceremony (often said to embody the essence of Japanese culture) to perfection four centuries ago. Living in one of the most turbulent moments in Japanese history, Rikyu gained unexpected political influence as the confidant and cultural mentor to the powerful warlord, Hideyoshi Toyotomi. Rikyu's relationship with Hideyoshi is a story that has taken on epic proportions in Japanese cultural history. The film illustrates the classic struggle between art and politics, and between the impulse to create and the impulse to destroy. | Japanese with English subtitles | |
| Rising Sons (2002) | Documentary
DVD / JA.d.041 |
Q Video and Major League Baseball Productions present Rising Sons, a program that explores the incredible explosion of Japanese baseball talent in Major League Baseball. When Pitcher Masanori Murakami made the Sam Francisco Giants roster in 1964, he qualified as a pioneer - the first Japanese player to make the Major leagues. When Hideo Nomo arrived in Los Angeles 30 years later, he proved to be a phenomenon - generating so much excitment and interest that Nomo-mania was born. Still, it wasn't until 2001 that the first Japanese position players made the rosters or Major League Baseball - and it has proved to be a turning point in the globalization of the game. The success of both Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki and Tsuyoshi Shinjo of the San Francisco Giants has been amazing. Ichiro recorded more hits than any rookie since 1911, won the American League batting title, Rookie of the Year, MNP Award and helped the Mariners win their division. On the other side of the continent, Shinjo established himself in 2001 as one of the New York Mets most valuable players. Ironically, in the face of Ichiro-mania, Nomo pitched his second no-hitter and re-established himself as one of the game's great pitchers. Mac Suzuki, Tomokazu Ohka, Masato Yoshii and Shigetoshi Hasegawa all succeeded on the Major League level. And former Rookie of the Year Kazuhiro Sasaki continues to be a major piching force in Seatle. Rising Sons chronicles these extraordinary men and explores the enormous impact they have had on the game, with emphasis on the skill, enthusiasm, intensity and national pride they bring to it. It includes exclusive interviews with each player and incredible game footage. |
English | |
| Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honneamise (1987; 125min) | Feature Animation
DVD / JA.d.026 |
An epic tale of a civilization's first steps into space, set in an alien world that is strangely familiar to our own. When cadet Siro Lhadatt signs up with the Royal Space Force, he encounters ridicule and apathy from manipulative leaders and a cynical public. A chance encounter with a devout young woman spurs Shiro on towards his destiny-to become the first man in space. While military leaders conspire to use the space program to spark an all-out war, Shiro and a team of aging scientists race against time to complete the first launch. | Japanese and English options | |
| Samurai Champloo, Vol. 01 (2004; 100min) | Feature Animation DVD / JA.d.039 |
Mugen's a buck wild warrior - violent, thoughtless and womanizing. Jin is a vagrant ronin - mysterious, traditional, well-mannered and very strong as well. The two fiercely independent warriors can't be any more different from one another, yet their paths cross when Fuu, a ditzy waitress, saves them from being executed when they are arrested after a vilent swordfight. Fuu convinces the two vagrant young men to help her find a mysterious samurai "who smells of sunflowers." And their journey begins. This is a story about love, friendship and courage...NOT! | Japanese & English options | |
| Sayonara (21957; 147min) | Feature Film DVD / JA.d.042 |
American servicemen stationed in Japan during the Korean War fall in love and marry Japanese nationals despite harsh paperwork impediments and orders to the contrary. Major Lloyd Gruver (Marlon Brondo), a Korean War flying ace reassigned to Japan, staunchly supports the military's opposition to marriages between American troops and Japanese women. But that's before Gruver experiences a love that challenges his own deeply set prejudices...and plunges him into conflict with the U.S. Air Force and Japan's own culture taboos. |
English, French, and Spanish with subtitles in French and Spanish | |
| Scene at the Sea (1991; 100min) | Feature Film
DVD / JA.d.027 |
Shigeru is a deaf-mute teenager who works as a garbage collector. When he happens upon a batterd surfboard, it plants in him the dream of becoming a surfing champion. He also meets Takako, a young deaf-mute woman who becomes his girlfriend and lends him her constant support during the difficult practice sessions and competitions. Throughout the summer, their profound expression of love transcends their silence. | Japanese with English subtitles | |
| Senso Daughters (1989; 54min) | Documentary
DVD / JA.d.061 |
During World War II, 140,000 Japanese troops may have died in Papua New Guinea. Only 11,000 returned to Japan. Considered the "Forgotten War," neither the war nor its veterans received public recognition in Japan. But SENSO DAUGHTERS (DAUGHTERS OF WAR) investigates another unacknowledged tragedy of that campaign: the army's mistreatment of New Guinean women and "comfort girls," military prostitutes conscripted believing they would clean and cook. Since women, excepting nurses, had no official military status, 90,000 comfort girls were shipped to battle sites as "military commodities," without names or identities, without records to be traced by. As the women testify, even as Japanese who were there make startling denials, SENSO DAUGHTERS provoked considerable controversy in Japan because Sekiguchi, a Japanese, not only exposes a shameful episode in her nation's past, but indicts the culture which fostered it. |
English | |
| Seven Samurai (1956; 208min) | Feature Film
DVD / JA.d.028 |
A desperate village hires seven samurai to protect it form marauders in this crown jewel of Japanese cinema. No other film so seamlessly weaves philosophy and entertainment, delicate human emotions and relentless actions. This films is an inspired epic, a triumph of art, and an unforgettable three-hour ride. | Japanese with English subtitles | |
| She and He (1963; 115min) | Feature Film
Video / JA.v.043 |
One of director Susumu Hani's recurring themes was the status of women in modern society. One of his first attempts at the subject was this Antonioniesque melodrama set in a sterile high rise complex. A woman resident becomes discontent with the empty life she and her husband are leading. They encounter a street beggar who lives in poverty with his dog and a blind orphan. The woman becomes fascinated by the beggar's world and pursues a friendship which leads to terrible discord and a tragedy. | Japanese with English subtitles | |
| Shinto Festival Music (1994; 30min) | Documentary
Video / JA.v.044 |
"Shinto Festival Music" was filmed in Tokyo at the 1993 Sanja Matsuri in the Asakusa district, and the Suiyoshi, Hachiman, and the Meiji shrines. Host of the program is Dr. William Malm, professor of Ethnomusicology at the University of Michigan. He explains the variety of musical tradtions in Shinto Festival and discusses the use of musical instruments. Dr. Sidney Brown. professor of Japanese History at the University of Oklahoma, introduces the rituals of Shinto and the rich tradtions of Japanese mythology. The celebrated Hayashi Ensemble led by Taneo Wakayama performs with driving rhythms to accompany elaborate theatricals of mime and dance. | English | |
| Sit-in on the Sea: 600 Days Anti-Base Struggle in Henoko, Okinawa(2006) | Documentary DVD / JA.d.051 |
Documentary about the Okinawan Resistance to U.S. Military Base Expansion to Debut in Hawai‘i. For ten years and still counting, Okinawans have maintained a nonviolent sit-in and protest against the construction of yet another US military facility on pristine reef where endangered species feed & fishermen live, on an island already burdened 20% with harmful, forward-deployment bases. A case study in successful non-violent civil disobedience, this inspiring film gives hope to communities struggling for peace, justice, self-determination & sustainability. This Hawai`i debut (approx. 45 min.) reveals one community’s on-going struggle. |
Japanese with English Subtitle | |
| Snow Falling on Cedars (1999; 128 min) | Feature Film DVD / JA.d.054 |
Carl, a fisherman in the waters off Washington state, has been found dead, drowned in his own nets, but with a serious head wound. Was he murdered? Post-war anti-Japanese sentiments are still running high, and a murder suspect is found in the local Japanese-American community in the form of Kabuo, another fisherman, who had a grudge against Carl's family. Ishmael, the small town's newspaperman, may have the information that would acquit Kabuo, but can he ever put his jilted love for Hatsue (Kabuo's wife) aside? | English and French | |
| Spirited Away (2001; 125 min) | Feature Animation Video / JA.d.047 |
Spirited Away is a wondrous fantasy about a young girl, Chihiro, trapped in a strange new world of spirits. When her parents undergo a mysterious transformation, she must call upon the courage she never knew she had to free herself and return her family to the outside world. | Japanese with English subtitles | |
| Taxing Woman's Return, A (1989; 127min) | Feature Film
Video / JA.v.046 |
No-nonsense tax inspector Ryoko Itakura returns, this time hot on the trail of Onizawa, the wealthy, scheming and dangerous head of a phony religious sect. While investigating the cult, Ryoko and her team learn that Onizawa is also the force behind a band of underhanded businessmen who are purposefully driving up real estate values for their own material gain. Undaunted, Ryoko once again must take on the characteristics of a private eye (complete with car chases and undercover work) in order to nab the insidious Onizawa. As in all his previous films, Director Juzo Itami creates a world peopled by characters who are slightly off-kilter; they are fully fleshed caricatures who possess all the comic shortcomings of everyday himans but who live somewhere beyond Toontown. With this film, there is no doubt that Itami is truly a Japanese master. |
Japanese with English subtitles | |
| Tokyo Blues (62min) | Documentary DVD / JA.c.003 |
Japanese | ||
| Tokyo Skin (1996; 92min) | Feature Film
Video / JA.v.048 |
Amidst the swirl of Tokyo's seamy nightlife of designer drugs, casual sex, and American slang, Zhou turns 30. It's a spiritual crisis for this Chinese immigrant who quotes Confucius, this Lothario and con artist who fences stolen goods. He falls for Kyoko, a seemingly shy provincial woman looking for the man who jilted her sister. As their relationship plays out, Hanawa intercuts stories of Kazuo, a hyper- kinetic artist who loves the trendy Yoko (Kazuo bores her and she pursues the indifferent Zhou), and Ali, a Pakistani Muslim who, broke and forlorn, stands outside a convenience store love-struck by a clerk because she looked into his eyes (she thought he was shop-lifting). | Japanese with English subtitles | |
| Traffic Jam (1991; 108min) | Feature Film
Video / JA.v.049 |
On the New Year's Holiday, a classic modern "salaried man" decided to take his family to visit his parents on an island about 300 miles from Tokyo. To save an expennses, they travel by car. The normally eight hour trip goes awry when they become trapped in Japan's famous gridlock. The return to the island home becomes a modern day Odyssey, japanese Style. Through a series of misadventures, they finally arrive but only hours to spare before having to head home and face the Traffic Jam once again. | Japanese with English subtitles | |
| Village of Dreams (1996; 112min) | Feature Film
DVD / JA.d.030 |
Identical twin brothers, now successful artists, recall the summer of 1948 when they were eight years old and their Japanese village was a place full of wonder and magic. "The brats," as they are known, spend their days skinny-dipping, fishing for eels and chasing birds in the woods --when they're not busy causing mischief at home or at school. This visually ravishing film follows their adventures with humor and Zen-like clarity--powerfully evoking the boys' vibrant sensations and emotions. Village of Dreams is an enchanting hymn to the joys and mysteries of childhood. | Japanese with English subtitles | |
| Warm Water : Under a Red Bridge (2001; 119min) |
Feature Film DVD / JA.d.053 |
An impossible tale. Taro, an old man who dies homeless in Tokyo has told Yosuke, a weak-willed out-of-work salaryman about a golden statue that he left years ago in a house by the sea in Noto. Yosuke goes and he's captivated by Saeko, a young women who lives in the house where Taro left the statue. She has a strange affliction: water builds up in her and she can only vent it by wicked acts, such as shoplifting, or, more powerfully, through orgasm. Yosuke obliges, the water gives him life, as well as the plants and fish it reaches. Saeko feels shame, and she has a past. Taro's ghost urges Yosuke to fulfill his desires, but can the relationship survive? | Japanese with English subtitles | |
| Wasabi (2001; 94min) |
Feature Film
DVD / JA.d.055 |
Hubert (Jean Reno) is a French policeman with very sharp methods. After being forced to take 2 months off by his boss, who doesn't share his view on working methods, he goes back to Japan, where he used to work 19 years ago, to settle the probate of his girlfriend who left him shortly after marriage without a trace. There he mets his former colleague Momo (Michel Muller) and his daughter Yumi (Ryoko Hirosue) who he did not know was ever born. Hubert eventually finds out why his girlfriend left him and the reason becomes his and his new daughters problem. | English French |
|
| Welcome to Japan - The JET Programme | Instructional
Video / JA.v.050 |
English | ||
| West Meets East: In Japan (37min) | Documentary
Video / JA.v.051 |
Success in Japan means steadily building solid relationships with your Japanese partners and customers. No matter what your business, West Meets East: In Japan will teach you the social skills you need to build productive relations with the Japanese. West Meets East is a crash course in Japanese etiquette. The engaging 37 minute video, together with its comprehensive study guide, illustrate and explain the manners and customs essential for successful negotiation in the Japanese business world. Produced on location in Japan, West Meets East follows a likeable Every-Westerner as he interacts with Japanese people in Japanese settings - in public, at a banquet, and at work with his Japanese business contacts. Our traveler encounters some awkward and confusing moments along the way. But with help from the Narrator, he learns how to make the right impression to win over the Japanese...and so will you. | ||
| Woman in the Dunes (1964; 123min) | Feature Film
DVD / JA.d.032 |
Woeful of the trappings of civilization, a young entomologist enjoys solitary fieldwork among the dunes of an oceanside village. Missing his bus to Tokyo, he accepts an invitation to stay in the home of a young widow, whose hut lies at the bottom of an ominous sand pit. He soon realizes that he has been trapped, and that his new role as surrogate husband--helping with the Sisyphean task of shoveling the daily torrent of windblown sand--has been forced on him by a mysterious conspiracy of villagers, who supply provisions from above via rope and pulley. As time passes, the man's initial fury gives way to gradual acceptance, until life in the sand pit seems preferable to attempted escape. This restored special edition includes the original Japanese trailer. | Japanese with English subtitles | |
| Written Face, The (1995; 89min) | Documentary
Video / JA.v.052 |
In Japanese theater, women's roles are traditionally played by men. The actor (onnagata) does not imitate the woman, but tries to capture her significance. He need not stick close to his model, but draws from his own identity--a shift of value takes place. This film is an attempt to offer an insight into the Japanese Kabuki star Tamasaburo Bando, one of the last defenders of this ancient and disapperaing performing tradition. | Japanese with English subtitles | |
| WWII Internment: Voices of re-remembrance, twelve family stories (2002) | Documentary DVD / JA.d.030 |
English | ||
| Year in Japan Program | Instructional
Video / JA.v.053 |
English | ||
| The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi / Sonatine | Double Feature Film DVD / JA.d.012 |
Zatoichi - In an empire ruled by fear, the people's only hope is the ultimate weapon: Zatoichi (Kitano)- a blind nomadic samurai whose sword has made him a hero and whose courage has made him a legend. Determined to help the desperate residents of a village, Zatoichi seeks justice though revenge! Sonatine - A seasoned mobster travels to Okinawa on a "peacekeeping" mission, even though he suspects that his boss is secretly trying to eliminate him! Determined not to go down without a fight, he and his gang know exactly what they have to do! |
Japanese with English subtitles | |
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