JAPANESE FILMS

5 Lost Films by 5 Masters of Japanese Cinema

Here is the list of lost films by 5 Japanese masters: Shozo Makino, Kenji Mizoguchi, Yasujiro Ozu, Sadao Yamanaka and Akira Kurosawa. I guess you may pick other films, but I will state my case.     Goban Tadanobu, Genji no Ishizue (碁盤忠信　源氏礎, 1909) Directed by Shozo Makino Produced by Yokota Shokai Starring Matsugoro Ono-e Though this is not a first dramatic cinema in the Japanese history, this is definitely the most important work during the early period of Japanese cinema. It is the first film to star the Star of Japanese Cinema, Matsunosuke Ono-e, and kicked off the life …

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Keiko Tsushima (1926 – 2012)

Keiko Tshushima, a Japanese actress starred in many films and TV during 1950’s to 2000’s, died of cancer on August 1. She was 86. Tsushima is probably best known for her role of Shino in Akira Kurosawa’s “Seven Samurai”, which is considered one of the masterpieces among Japanese cinema. Other works include, Ozu’s “The Flavor of Green Tea over Rice”, Yoshimura’s “The Ball at the Anjo House” and Imai’s “Himeyuri Lily Tower”. She married Ichio Mori, the son of Iwao Mori, the executive at Toho cinema in 1958. Around this time, she started to appear in Japanese TV dramas more …

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JAPANESE FILMS

Botanical Puzzle

This is part two of “Films of 1949” series. (Part 1 is here) “Crape Myrtle always brings bad luck.” Until I saw Kurosawa’s “Stray Dog”, I had never heard of Crape Myrtle being the omen of bad luck. This line occurs as a part of the audio montage during the pivotal scene in the film. A woman was brutally murdered in a quiet house in upper-class neighborhood. Her husband, a well-to-do businessman, Nakamura, had been away on a business trip, The Police was working on fingerprints and other clues in the murder scene, ransacked by the murderer. They knew instinctively …

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