Of course, no discussion of Akira Kurosawa would be complete without a mention of Kurosawa’s (arguably) best and (certainly) best-known film: The Seven Samurai. More »

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Tak Sakaguchi has long been a martial arts force to reckon with on the big screen. Now he has taken a seat behind the camera for his first directorial piece, Sakigake!! Otokojuku (Be A Man! Samurai School). As an actor, Sakaguchi is perhaps best known for his roles in the cult classics “Versus” and “Death Trance,” both of which are non-stop action buffets. As a director, he has kept the may elements of over-the-top martial arts movies but coupled it nicely with a healthy dose of comedy and social commentary in his directorial debut. Based on an Akira Miyashita manga serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump from 1985-1991, BAM!SS stars veteran actors Akaji Maro and Shun Sugata. If you like action, humor, blood, and lots of shouting, then “Be A Man! Samurai School” is definitely for you! More »

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Prepare yourself Japanese film enthusiasts and mark your calendars because on March 30th, distributor Well Go USA is unleashing some chainsaw swinging, wire-fu, CGI goodness. More »

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If you’re looking for something incredibly nerdy with a hint of hilarious, check out Summer Timemachine Blues, it could be for you. Directed by Katsuyuki Motohiro, it takes a familiar concept (time travel) and makes it into something you probably didn’t expect.

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2010 is going to be THE year for Space Battleship Yamato fans. More »

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Japan has seen a surge of shock horror films in the past decade with such movies as Ichi the Killer, Audition, and now, The Machine Girl joins these ranks. More »

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Perhaps motivated by white guilt (having only a trace of Asian heritage myself), I’ve always opposed characterizations of Japanese art as subtle, inscrutable, feminine or “Zen” (whatever that means)…and then I encounter an artist who actually is all those things: filmmaker Yasujiro Ozu. Ozu is perhaps Kurosawa’s most serious competition for the title of “greatest twentieth century Japanese director,” and his name routinely appears on lists of the greatest directors of all time. More »

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If you don’t know who Takeshi Kaneshiro is (shame on you), this post should prove quite enlightening. Known mostly for his roles in Chungking Express, House of Flying Daggers, Fallen Angels, as well as a host of other films, Kaneshiro is one of Japan’s finest actors and this post is going to show you just why… More »

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Forget Sherlock Holmes, there’s a new detective in town. The popular manga Konchu Tantei Yoshida Yoshimi (Insect Detective Yoshimi Yoshida) is getting the silver screen treatment this April. More »

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I rave so much about Japanese art that it may seem like as far as I’m concerned, everything is the “best” or “most important” or “life-changing” or oh-so-much better than its Western counterpart. But getting down to it. Across all genres–what is the best, that is the one most important story told in recent years: the narrative of modern Japan? As an example of what I mean by this, in America for a long time it was Fitzgerald’s Great Gatsby. Like it or not (I personally don’t), that’s basically the story of America. As far as post-War Japan goes, Neon Genesis Evangelion is a strong candidate. So is Barefoot Gen. But I have to put my money on the pop-culture phenomenon of Battle Royale. More »

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