Display problems? View this newsletter in your browser. Konnichiwa everybody,Earlier this month, Japan was delighted by the Oscar given to Tsuji Kazuhiro (辻一弘) and his colleagues. He won the Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling for his work on the movie “Darkest Hour” and it’s the first time a Japanese artist won an award in this category. In the movie, Tsuji perfectly transformed Gary Oldman into Winston Churchill and his makeup skills have been praised around the world. Tsuji was inspired to become a special effects makeup artist by the movie “Star Wars,” and he began his career as an apprentice with Dick Smith, who is known for his work on “The Exorcist,” among other films. In 2012, Tsuji left the movie industry to become a fine art sculptor. However, he accepted an offer to return to film makeup after Gary Oldman himself insisted him to work on the movie. Omedetô gozaimasu (おめでとうございます)! |
MOVIES ／ 映画
Two interesting Japanese-related movies are showing at Bay Area theatres. “Oh Lucy!” is Hirayanagi Atsuko’s (平柳敦子) first feature film and it has already been praised by critics. The movie has been invited to screen at the prestigious International Critics’ Week (Semaine de la Critique) of the upcoming Cannes Film Festival. The main character, Setsuko, is played by Teraiima Shinobu (寺島しのぶ), a famous actress born into a reknowned kabuki family. San Francisco and Berkeley showings are currently scheduled through March 29 and April 5. However, the movie might be extended, so please check the links below in the Bay Area Calendar section for more information.
This weekend, I watched “Isle of Dogs” (犬ヶ島), the latest film by Wes Anderson, and I thought it was pretty cool. It’s an animated movie whose story takes place in Japan. You can feel Anderson’s love for master film director Kurosawa Akira (黒澤明) and Japanese culture throughout the movie. I really liked the aesthetic, which is a true tribute to everything cool about Japanese culture.
http://www.isleofdogsmovie.com/
Also not to be missed in April: “Manhunt” starring Fukuyama Masaharu (福山雅治), “The Third Murder” (三度目の殺人), by Kore-eda Hirokazu (是枝裕和) with Fukuyama Masaharu (福山雅治), “The White Girl” starring Odagiri Joe (オダギリジョー), and “I Was Born, But…” (大人の見る繪本 生れてはみたけれど) by world’s most influential director Ozu Yasujirô (小津安二郎) are showing in the San Francisco International Film Festival.
ART ／ アート
Known as the symbol of Osaka’s Expo ’70, the spectacular Tower of the Sun (太陽の塔 – Taiyô no tô) has reopened to the public this month after almost half a century. Created by one of most famous Japanese artists, Okamoto Tarô (岡本太郎), the Tower of the Sun has been featured in a lot of Japanese pop culture and has definitely become an icon. The Tower of the Sun was the subject of an eponymous song by the pop rock girl band Shônen Knife (少年ナイフ) and also appeared in the manga “20th Century Boys” (20世紀少年 - Nijyusseiki shônen) by Urasawa Naoki (浦沢直樹). If you’ve been inside the Shibuya station between the Ginza and Inokashira lines, you have probably seen Okamura’s gigantic painting on the wall, too. Reservations are needed to visit the tower, so if you are interested, you should check the website. The number of entries are limited, though—if you can’t get a ticket, you can also go to Tokyo and see some of Okamoto’s work in the Taro Okamoto Memorial Museum in Omotesando (表参道).
POLITICS ／ 政治
Things are not going very well for Prime Minister Abe Shinzô (安倍晋三). Trump announced the list of countries that will temporarily benefit from tariff exemptions on steel and aluminum—and the list doesn’t include Japan. Domestically, he has some worries, too. A year ago, my newsletter mentioned a scandal surrounding him and his wife Akie (昭恵), which concerned government-owned land that had been offered for sale with an 86% discount to the controversial Osaka-based ultra-nationalist kindergarten Moritomo Gakuen (森友学園). Akie was the honorary principal of the school at the time of the deal, so people are speculating whether she was directly or indirectly involved in the unfair discount.
The media covered the scandal for months, but things seemed to finally quiet down this year. That is, until this month—the newspaper Asahi (朝日新聞) unveiled the scoop that the documents approving the deal (決裁文書 – kessai bunsho) had been falsified (改竄 – kaizan), which restarted the stir. As a result, the former head of the Financial Bureau (理財局長 – rizai kyokuchô), Sagawa Nobuhisa (佐川宣寿), has been summoned to testify before the Diet on March 27. Last year Sagawa declared to the Diet that the documents related to the deal had been destroyed, which we now know it was a lie. Who ordered Sagawa to alter the documents, and why? Was it the Prime Minister or the Finance Minister, Aso Tarô (麻生太郎)? Will Sagawa finally tell the truth? To be continued!
FASHION ／ ファッション
Japan has the best game centers (ゲームセンター), don’t you think? So it’s no surprise that fashion capital Tokyo opened world’s first Chanel-branded game center in Harajuku! “Coco Game Center” was a pop-up from March 2nd to 11th, so unfortunately you won’t be able to play there in your next trip, but let’s hope they will open a permanent one sometime soon. This is too pretty to be temporary!
That’s all for today—thank you for reading. Looking forward to seeing you soon at our next lesson!
最後まで読んでいただき、どうもありがとうございます。皆さまにまたお会いできるのを楽しみにしています。よろしくお願いいたします！
★MY PREVIOUS NEWSLETTER CAN BE SEEN HERE
■ ~Mar 29 (TBA) / Screening of “Oh Lucy!” in Berkeley
■ ~Mar 31 / “Toshiaki Noda: Ceramic Sculpture” in SF
■ ~ Mar 31 / “Exclusion: The Presidio’s Role in World War II Japanese American Incarceration” in SF
■ ~Apr 5 (TBA) / Screening of “Oh Lucy!” in SF
■ Apr 6-8 / Screening of “The Third Murder” in SF
■ Apr 8 / Screening of “Princess Mononoke” in Oakland
■ Apr 11 / Screening of “I Was Born, But…” in SF
■ Apr 12 & 16 / Screening of “The White Girl” in SF
■ Apr 13 / Screening of “Manhunt” in SF
■ Apr 14-15, Apr 21-22 / Cherry Blossom Festival in SF
■ Apr 20-21 / Screening of “Howl’s Moving Castle” in SF
■ ~Apr 25 / Hiroshi Sugimoto’s photography show in SF
■ ~Apr29 (TBA) / Screening of “Isle of Dogs” in the Bay Area
■ May 6 / “Drum Heart” by TAO in Berkeley
■ ~Aug 19 / “When Pictures Speak: The Written Word in Japanese Art” in SF