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Saigyô - the pathos of things?
yo no naka o
omoeba nabete
chiru hana no
wa ga mi o sate mo
izuchi ka mo sen
-
When, on this world of ours
I think, all is as
Scattered blossom;
Of me, in the end
What is to become, I wonder? ------- The Monk Saigyô - SKKS XVI: 1471
posted by Message from Japan on Saturday, April 21, 2007 0 comments
By special request: - Juzo Itami - 伊丹 十三
Juzo Itami (伊丹 十三, Itami Juzo, May 15, 1933 – December 20, 1997)
Itami was born Yoshihiro Ikeuchi in Kyoto, Japan. The name Itami was passed on from his father, Mansaku Itami who was a renowned satirist and film director before World War II.
He moved from Kyoto to Ehime. After failing the entrance exam for Engineering at Osaka University, he worked as a commercial designer, a television reporter, and other jobs. He first acted in 1960s in Ginza no Dora-Neko and appeared in films, including the Western film Lord Jim. The most notable movie in which Itami acted could be Yoshimitsu Morita's 1983 movie Kazoku Gēmu (The Family Game).
He first directed a movie, Ososhiki (The Funeral), in 1984, at the age of 50. This film proved popular in Japan and won many awards, including Japanese Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay. However, it was his second movie, his "noodle western" Tampopo, which earned him international exposure and acclaim. Itami's wife, Nobuko Miyamoto, is often the star of his movies, usually in the role of an ‘Everywoman’ figure.
In 1992, Itami was attacked and slashed by five members of the Goto-gumi, a Tokyo yakuza gang, who were angry at his portrayal of yakuza as thugs in his film Minbo no Onna. His subsequent stay in a hospital inspired his next film Daibyonin, a satire on the Japanese health system.
Main Films (see Wikipedia for a full list)
---- Tampopo (1985)
---- Marusa no Onna (A Taxing Woman) (1987)
---- Minbo no Onna (Minbo — or the Gentle Art of Japanese Extortion) (1992)
Tampopo (タンポポ or 蒲公英) is a 1985 Japanese comedy film by him, starring Tsutomu Yamazaki, Nobuko Miyamoto and Ken Watanabe. The publicity for the film calls it "the first Noodle Western," a play on the term Spaghetti Western. It begins when a pair of truck drivers, an experienced one named Goro and a young one named Gun, find a decrepit roadside fast food stop selling ramen noodles. The business is not doing well, and after a fight the heroes decide to help the young owner, Tampopo ("Dandelion"), turn her establishment into one which has perfected the "art of noodle soup making".
The main narrative is interspersed with stories involving consumables in several ways. The main storyline has been compared by some to the Western movie Shane, and also to the movie Seven Samurai .
The film is often given as a good reference for learning about Japanese culture, particularly the role and importance of food in Japanese society. The film also shows the fanatic following that well-prepared ramen has in Japan.
Nobuko Miyamoto (宮本信子 Miyamoto Nobuko born March 27, 1945) is a Japanese actress from Otaru, Hokkaidō.
My thanks again to Wikipedia for most of the links in this blog. 日本の手紙
posted by Message from Japan on Sunday, April 15, 2007 0 comments
Meiji Period
Above is a picture of the Battle of Shiroyama.
The Choshu Five, left Japan at a time when travel into and out of Japan was punishable by death, they studied in England from 1863 at University College London under Professor Alexander William Williamson. Inoue Kaoru and Ito Hirobumi, destined to be two of the greatest Japanese statesmen in the Meiji Government, worked as deckhands aboard the 1500 ton steamer Pegasus as they made their way to Europe. (See previous Blog.)
The Meiji period (明治時代, Meiji-jidai), is the 45-year reign of Emperor Meiji, running from October 1868 to July 1912. During this time, Japan started to modernise and rose to become a world power.The Meiji oligarchy, as the ruling class of Meiji period Japan is called by historians, was a privileged clique. The members of this class were adherents of kokugaku. This draws heavily from Shinto and Japan's ancient literature and upon ancient Japanese poetry (predating the rise of the feudal orders) to show the 'Emotion' of Japan. A famous emotion is 'Mono no aware'. (物の哀れ,”the pathos of things")
Two of the major figures of this group were Okubo Toshimichi (1832–78), son of a Satsuma retainer, and Satsuma samurai Saigō Takamori (西郷 隆盛, 1827–77), who had joined forces with Chōshū, Tosa, and Hizen to overthrow the Tokugawa. Okubo became minister of finance and Saigō a field marshal.
The Meiji oligarchy set out to abolish the four divisions of society through social reforms starting in 1871. To provide revenue and develop infrastructure, they financed harbor improvements, machinery imports, schools, overseas study for students, salaries for foreign teachers and advisers (o-yatoi gaikokujin, お雇い外国人), modernisation of the army and navy, railroads, and foreign diplomatic missions.
Difficult economic times and increasing incidents of agrarian rioting led to calls for more social reforms. The 1873 Korean crisis resulted in the resignation of military expedition supporters Saigō and Eto Shimpei (1834–74). Three years later, the last major internal armed uprising occurred, the Satsuma Rebellion. Saigō, with some reluctance, raised a rebellion in 1877; both sides fought well, but with modern weaponry the government forces prevailed finally at the Battle of Shiroyama. Saigō was not branded a traitor and has become a heroic figure in Japanese history.
(Thanks to Wikipedia for many useful links.) 日本の手紙.
posted by Message from Japan on Saturday, April 07, 2007 0 comments