"Last Samurai" was a crap movie, but the title is more tolerable if you interpret it to mean "Last Group of Samurai, Which Included But Wasn't Limited To Tom Cruise" on the theory that the plural of samurai is samurai.

Some good news about the insane Fujimori candidacy: His name looks to be pretty far down the proportional representation list (see link below), so unless Kokumin Shinto wins enough votes to get 9 of the 48 proportional seats (very unlikely considering they have 4 people in the upper house now) Fujimori won't get to fulfill his dream.

Ever since party sec-gen Shizuka Kamei unleashed a creepy but vicious attack on PM Abe on the floor of the Diet some time in February, the Kokumin Shinto has been adept at what I would call a "viral marketing" approach to politics and this little "coup" is no exception.

Link (with a mouth-breathing "Fujimori" toward the bottom):
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/specialfeature/sangiin2007/list/54/

I saw Dr. Nakamats' sound-van last week!

I believe Fujimori was "recruited" by Kamei. Kamei can do no wrong in my book - he looks like the spitting image of my father-in-law, now deceased. Every time Kamei appears on television, my wife and I say in unison, "Papa!"

"I saw Dr. Nakamats' sound-van last week!"

I saw him in Shinjuku on Sunday night swarmed by 100 fans.

無我辺さん。

呂部留人　無我辺さん。

Former president of 人馬部英　

Hey, I just found his koseki, but no, you can't see it.

Rory said
"I saw Dr. Nakamats' sound-van last week!"
------
That's NakaMats, to you. He's not bound by petty liguistic conventions that hold down the common man.

Rory said
"I saw Dr. Nakamats' sound-van last week!"
------
That's NakaMats, to you. He's not bound by petty liguistic conventions that hold down the common man.

Ever since Fujimori dropped the axe on those Tupac Amaru who took over the Japanese embassy in Lima in '97, he's been the favorite of some folks in Japan who I guess see him as a old skool hard-liner.

I've seen his van all over, along with Dr. NakaMats' and Matayoshi's vans. Is Matayoshi still saying folks are going to burn in hell if he's not elected? I haven't read his campaign posters this time around.

But I was under the impression that Fujimori actually WAS born in Japan and his nationality was fudged so he could get elected in Peru...

Rory said
"I saw Dr. Nakamats' sound-van last week!"

That's NakaMats, to you. He's not bound by same petty liguistic conventions that hold back the common man.

"But I was under the impression that Fujimori actually WAS born in Japan and his nationality was fudged so he could get elected in Peru..."

You've bought into the hype.

And yes, you don't need to point out that I am following in the footsteps of his greatness.

"You've bought into the hype."

No, no, for real, I mean, I remember reading this sort of thing back in the '90s. Fujimori's detractors in Peru made all kinds of claims about him being born in Japan and that his Peruvian birth certificate was forged, etc. to allow him to be elected in Peru.

> I saw him in Shinjuku on Sunday night swarmed

wow, i saw him then too, we must have been pretty close, mate.

i don't think 'the last samurai' in the title was actually meant to refer to the tom cruise character at all. obviously the promos etc created and played played on this ambiguity.

"And yes, you don't need to point out that I am following in the footsteps of his greatness."

If you don't write things three times, I won't pay attention.

Brad is correct and Fujimori understands Japanese.
(He kept it as secret from Japanese)

"I am not sure the Fujimori candidacy really speaks well for Japanese democracy. Why the need to import dictators? Things not authoritarian enough already?! "
Not quite enough.I'm afraid.
Japan is famous for negotiating with the terrorists and surrender with open arms.Fujimori may odd certain ingredients lacking here....

I went to Narita twice covering these cases.One was Japanese Red Army guys sent back from Middle East by chartered Aeroflot,They've got out of Japanese prison in exchange of various hostage taking operation of JRA in the 70's and flew to Lebanon to join their comrads.Took 30 years and billions of tax payer's money(and probably the lives of a few U.S service men killed in bombing of disco in Berlin in'86) to have them arrested.
The second case was when Japanese mining engineers being kidnapped in Kyrgyzstan in '99 and deported back to Japan,by chartered business jet.Rumour hazzard thet MoFA had gave couple million dollars to alleged kidnapper,Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan's leader Juma Namangany.Namangany who then moved to Afghanistan to join Osama bin Laden was killed by the coalition air strike in Al Qaeda base camp in 2002.

Apart from MRTA,the notorious Shinning Path had also targeted Japanese and they've killed three JICA engineers.

Fujimori may seem a bizzarre choice to some,but there are few reasons to greet him as "able"in politics，here in Japan.
Anyway I would clarify myself that I'd rather vote for ex-Dalai Lama envoy,candidate Pema Gyalpoペマ・ギャルポ for Kokumin Shinto before
anyone pointing at me as fascist.

I'm a bit skeptic about Mugabe becoming candidate here in Japan even if he had relative in kumamoto....
Koizumi Jyunichiro visited Zimbabwe in '97 when he was health minister as part of smile diplomacy to win vote for UN security council and Mugabe canceled meeting with him twice during the visit.(once was to greet Jesse Jackson at the airport)The Elvis mania went furious and told Zimbabweans "You can't take Japanese ODA's for granted!" and left the country in spite of plea from confused Robert.....
Must be difficult for anyone to join in politics if you are hated by the most popular politician among registered voters.60 million Japanese voters can't be wrong on this one.

is there not something inherently absurd about a politician claiming PERU for a glowing track record? and furthermore, one who is reviled by the peruvians?

We got some real classics this time around, the lady from TV whose slogan is "日本人でよかた”, Tojo's relative, the Smile Party guy, Dr. NakaMats, the Sadam look alike and more! The only one I could clearly understand the platform of is the guy running under "Freeway Club" whose agenda is to make the highway system toll free since everything is much more than paid for.

Even though I've been here a decade, it strikes me as odd that no one ever defaces political posters here...

On the "Last Samurai" issue -

The director of the film has actually been quoted as saying "Yes, Tom Cruise's character is 'the last samurai'." So much for that.

On the Fujimori issue -

Can't we save our concerns for Japanese democracy until after the guy gets elected? Or not.

Isn't it technically illegal? I've always wanted to almost since I first arrived about 10 months ago. Not that I have so much interest in politics here as yet - more that those blank faces and open spaces scream out for user input.
Speaking of little interest, isn't that part of the reason nobody does it?

When people ask me why I came to Japan, I usually tell them about how several years ago I became interested in Japanese cinema and that was in many ways the catalyst for the series of events that led me here. On several occasions, this has elicited the response, "Oh, you like Japanese movies. Like The Last Samurai?"

Clint Eastwood wins an award for the Best Foreign Language film with Letters from Iwo Jima, and we draw ever closer to the irony singularity.

Well, Fujimori still has support in Peru (witness that his daughter gathered the most votes during the latest Congressional elections in Peru), and while Peru isn't a shining paragon of anything, I doubt many people there long for the good old days when the Shining Path was hacking people to death and setting them on fire.

Well, Fujimori still has support in Peru (witness that his daughter gathered the most votes during the latest Congressional elections in Peru), and while Peru isn't a shining paragon of anything, I doubt many people there long for the good old days when the Shining Path was hacking people to death and setting them on fire.

Well, Fujimori still has support in Peru (witness that his daughter gathered the most votes during the latest Congressional elections in Peru), and while Peru isn't a shining paragon of anything, I doubt many people there long for the good old days when the Shining Path was hacking people to death and setting them on fire.

"Clint Eastwood wins an award for the Best Foreign Language film with Letters from Iwo Jima, and we draw ever closer to the irony singularity."

Word.

Yeah, and according to various groups of American movie critics who picked it as the best film of the year, it must be the finest Japanese language film ever as it is the only one so honored. I'd say that it is about the 17th best Japanese-language war film of the past 25 years....

But as I read Eiga Hiho magazines(read Hee Hoo)
"Best war films ever"articles,war flick geeks had expressed "unconditional surrender"over the accuracy in detail of Eastwood's Iwojima pic.

Strike me as odd for "The Last Samurai" director Edward Zwick is a Harvad graduate who took the course in Edwin Reischauer's Japanese history class,according to the press release...

Since when does accuracy make for a top historical film? Let's not forget that the film was so accurate in its depiction of the Iwo Jima battle that it forgot about any background or context.... Often, the best way to judge a history film is by what they leave out, not what they put in.

Also, nobody should really be surprised that Zwick would go through a Reischauer course and end up with a slightly wonky idea of Japanese history....

"Since when does accuracy make for a top historical film? "
Because these dudes in question are military/weapon/uniform geeks and not trained historians by any means.
I've found "The Letter from Iwojima" wasn't particulary bad.Although I don't believe Kempeitai would shoot a barking dog in the middle of Tokyo for dog furs were desperately in need for soldiers's coats at the time.
And I know Mary Pickford had never came to Japan thus could never had visited Baron Nishi's residence.
What exactly was wrong about the film.M-Bone?
I thought it was waay better than "The Sands of Iwojima" and "The Pearl Harbor"(my wife's all time best....)
And what do you recomend as the "good"J-war flick.

"Since when does accuracy make for a top historical film? "
Because these dudes in question are military/weapon/uniform geeks and not trained historians by any means.
I've found "The Letter from Iwojima" wasn't particulary bad.Although I don't believe Kempeitai would shoot a barking dog in the middle of Tokyo for dog furs were desperately in need for soldiers's coats at the time.
And I know Mary Pickford had never came to Japan thus could never had visited Baron Nishi's residence.
What exactly was wrong about the film.M-Bone?
I thought it was waay better than "The Sands of Iwojima" and "The Pearl Harbor"(my wife's all time best....)
And what do you recomend as the "good"J-war flick.

"You can't take Japanese ODA's for granted!" and left the country in spite of plea from confused Robert....."

There are other reasons to dislike Mugabe besides being snubbed.

"Kempeitai would shoot a barking dog in the middle of Tokyo for dog furs were desperately in need for soldiers's coats at the time."

Didn't Sean John's Chinese manufacturers do this to? Oh wait, that was tanuki fur.

"Also, nobody should really be surprised that Zwick would go through a Reischauer course and end up with a slightly wonky idea of Japanese history...."

There is a difference between "I took a class" and majoring in EAS. Mira Sorvino - a Harvard EAS graduate - should be held to a higher standard if she directs a film about East Asia.

Also - I love you people. Even though I am busy working on this new site and not giving you very much content here, you still manage to turn my meager posts into exciting forums of discussion.

Yeah, there is also a big difference between "did a major" and "learned the language". That's the way that we weed out grad students.

Ace - I thought that "Letters" was just okay. I thought that it was miles ahead of "Million Dollar Baby" as a piece of film. I also think, however, that it pales compared to "Unforgiven" and that there are lots of Japanese war movies that are head an shoulders above it as cinematic achievements.

If I had to identify what I thought was wrong with it I'd say that there were some VERY forced scenes (the dog, the main character going nuts over the sword) and that it tended to get bogged down in one similar scene and character after another (you can do this to suggest the monotony of war and the sameness of the men who fought, as "The Thin Red Line" did brilliantly). It was lacking, in my books, many of the emotional and profound thematic moments that make great films great. "The Japanese were human too!" May be a step forward for American film, but give me a break.

BTW, I don't think that you will find many (any?) American film scholars who would rank Iwo Jima above "The Thin Red Line".

Not limiting myself to Japanese war movies from the past 25 years, I'll throw out a few that I admire -

Ningen no Joken (the top of the heap)
Umi to Dokuyaku (would make the list for visual achievement alone but there is a lot more going on)
203 Kochi (Nakadai is brilliant in this one, pushes the envelope for brutality, daring ending)
Barefoot Gen I and II (Some truly unforgettable moments)
Kodomo no koro senso ga atta (Pure cheese in many ways but its heart is in the right place, a few genuinely harrowing scenes)
Hotaru no haka (I wish that I could watch it again to appreciate the art, but I just can't bring myself to do it)
Nobi (Amazing acting and craft, some powerful moments)
Okinawa Kessen (Packs in an amazing amount of material, a visual triumph)
Senso to ningen (At points it is melodrama at its worst but the massacre of Chinese civilians at one point in part 3 is a "punch in the guts" type of shock)
Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (visuals and music, don't care for the anthropology of it but I'll tolerate it coming from a Japanese director)
Nikudan (just wonderful militarist satire)
Yuke Yuku Shingun (may have gotten the title wrong, one of the best docos ever)
Tokyo Saiban (another great documentary film)

I think that Imai Tadashi's Himeyuri no To films are better than "Sands", the Matsumoto Reiji "Cockpit" OVA series is just great, etc. The 50s Kike wadatsumi no koe is damn good as well.

If we are talking about films with "war" elements and not just about "the war" I'd say Tasogare Seibei and Kagemusha just off the top of my head.

More of a refacement than a defacement from a few years back:
http://tinyurl.com/2gfb95
I've wanted to put up posters of my own face for a while now.
Not running for office of course, just ya know "Hey, wazzup?"

"Yuke Yuku Shingun (may have gotten the title wrong, one of the best docos ever)"

M-Bone, I think the title is "Yuki yukite shingun".

There is another document about the war. The recently released "Ari no heitai (ant's soldiers)"

http://www.arinoheitai.com/

I had not the chance to see it, but I desperatly want it. The director Ikeya Kaoru is one of the best (if not the best) documentary dirctor of contemporary Japanese cinema.

His documentaries about contemporary china ("Daughter of Yen'an" "People of the yellow sand") was just amazing.

M-Bone;

I agree about "Unforgiven" over"Iwojima".
But "Thin Red Line"?
OK,I'm a big fan of Terrence Malick and this may not be a fair judgement.But I couldn't stand all these Hollywood stars endless cameo appearances.(You have John Travolta here,George Clooney there)It totally distracted me from the story line.

And Imai Tadashi?
My favourite Imai film is 望楼の決死隊.Joint unit of Japanese and Koreans are fighting in quasi-Alamo situation against who else but Korean bandits(ahem,resistence) in the remote village by the Yalu.Great North Korean scenery shot in colonial days.Ofcourse my interest in this film is not all cinematic,but to watch what Mr.Progressive in Japanese film world was making during the good old days.

I'll just say　Tasaka Tomotaka田坂具隆's "Five Scouts"5人の斥候兵 and Masumura Yasuzo's "Red Angel"赤い天使 and Yoji Yamada's"馬鹿が戦車でやってくる"A Fool on the Tank is coming this way".

"nobody should really be surprised that Zwick would go through a Reischauer course and end up with a slightly wonky idea of Japanese history.... "
That reminds me of an article over Asahi a few years back by RIJS director Andrew Gordon and depachika...The article said Prof.Gordon prefers Ginza department store over Kyoto for Japan watching site.
"The size of the Asian cuisine in this department store's food joint is only eighth of the size of western cuisine....Symbolizing Japanese view on Asia..."said Gordon Sensei.
At first I thought he made a good point,but after reading that article and sipping the bowl of ramen,I had to think again.So if I have either curry rice or yakiniku for dinner would it make me a Pan Asianist?I haven't picked up the translation of his "History of modern Japan"
from Misuzu partly because of this.

Chris B;
"Even though I've been here a decade, it strikes me as odd that no one ever defaces political posters here"
I think that's because it's a crime in here,consider as an attack to the post-war democracy,Chris.
I have this long hidden desire of using a marker pen and turning Abe Shinzo into an Austrian corporal.If I get caught then y'all know my real name on the national televised news

"The article said Prof.Gordon prefers Ginza department store over Kyoto for Japan watching site."

Prof. Gordon's strength is in labor history. I wouldn't judge him on his observations of modern Japanese consumer culture.

M-Bone, definitely agree with you about Ningen no Joken. Have you seen Biruma no Tategoto (The Burmese Harp)? Extremely moving, but the Orientalist function of the Burmese and Indians in the film is problematic.

I apologize in advance for more or less asking you guys to do my e-research for me, but do any of you know what the deal is with the 9条ネット guys? I saw them on tv when I was in Tokyo about a week or two ago, and I have to say, despite not knowing anything about their stance on any issues, the chance of getting that dashing ZAKI fellow into parliament would almost sway me to vote for them. (3 months too early, damn.)

"I think that's because it's a crime in here,consider as an attack to the post-war democracy"

Somehow I think of drawing a mustache and horns on Abe as "political expression" rather than an attack on democracy. BTW that phrase sounds suspiciously like a charge to jail dissidents in some crap hole dictatorship.

"(You have John Travolta here,George Clooney there)It totally distracted me from the story line."

But what role are these guys playing in the film? Aren't they the pompous asses who have no idea what the men are going through? I thought that having Travolta and Clooney in the roles of the "don't have a clue" officers worked very well. Woody Harelson was a decent "everyman" while he lasted.

Brown - While I admire Ichikawa Kon a lot (Nobi is not just a great war film but one of the best Japanese films of the golden era) I did leave the two Biruma no Tategoto movies off the list because of the lack of larger context / Asia issues that you mentioned. Come to think of it, I'd still probably put both of them above "Iwo Jima".

Tomojiro - Thanks for the correction. I'm also looking forward to seeing Ari no Heitai.

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