Tokyo Night Sky is Always the Densest Shade of Blue

Is there a name for this genre of film? Lovelorn, confused and underpaid people struggle through their twenties in carefully framed shots of big city life accompanied by a well-chosen indie rock soundtrack. There must be. I've seen so many. This one, however, is one of the best. Even after just twenty minutes, I sat there and thought to myself "This film is brilliant."

The film is from Yuya Ishii, the same director as Sawako Decides, and it shares some of the same qualities. A slow dreamlike story progression and a deadpan, almost undetectable, sense of humour. The two films also concern themselves with characters who are psychologically off-centre. Embarrassed that they even exist, their attempts at reaching out are often clumsy and self-defeating.

The cast is brilliant. From the two lead roles right down to sniggering staff at a cheap late night restaurant, there isn't a bad performance among them. The main female character is a great performance from Shizuka Ishibashi and the male lead, Sosuke Ikematsu, is excellent. Likable enough that his air of defeatism doesn't become insufferable and he keeps you on his side.

The photography is very fine. Understated but classy. Like a fine white wine (I'm writing this in a pub. Can you tell?). Tokyo has been photographed to death, but it still looks vibrant and new here.

Finally, and I only discovered this after watching, the dialogue has an unusual source: the poetry of Tahi Saihate. This explains the sometimes florid use of language in the voice overs, but it definitely gives the film a distinct character. The poet in question hasn't been translated into English yet, so hats off to the translator for dealing with it so well (although someone needs to tell them that "... Not." hasn't been used as a way of being sarcastic since about 2002).

I was delighted to find this film and I had that feeling afterwards as if you'd just done something good for yourself, like exercise or reading a newspaper.

A fragile and slightly awkward gem.

Tokyo for the second time

In October last year, I visted Japan agin. This time I decided to spend half of my vacation in Tokyo. I’d been once before, but only for a few days which really isn’t long enough. This time I stayed for a week, which still isn’t long enough but is better than before.

I arrived during a heavy downpour and took a while to find my hotel. I felt a bit self-conscious as I booked in at reception, soaking wet, and left a puddle where I had been standing. Not only that but the rain got into my luggage and soaked my neatly folded clothes in new and interesting ways. In this photo you can see it looks like I’ve been wearing a wet bra under my nice dry jumper.

I went to Kamakura on one of the rare days of good weather to look at the temples and the Daibutsu. The place was full of tourists, but luckily most things you want to photo are quite high up, so they don’t get in the way.

Being the contrary type, I preferred the temples that were a furthest from the centre. My feet didn’t appreciate the walk there, but the Zuisenji Temple was a welcome relief from the crowds. It’s also quite unlike the other temples in that the grounds are not sparse and neat, but featured dense gardens making every pathway seem a bit secret and exciting.

I based myself in Nippori, north of Ueno Park, which is just next to Yanaka. This is one of the quieter pockets of Tokyo which has escaped too much redevelopment. I took a walk recommended in my 1980 tour book to see how accurate it still was. And for most of the time, apart from a couple of shops which had closed, it was still pretty much spot on. It lead me from one temple to another, ending up at the Nezu Shrine with its small but pretty pathways of toriis.

I also found this cafe, which I absolutely loved. Not just because I really needed a sit down, but also for the decor and the food which were both very nice.

Talking of Yanaka, I visited a very nice (and brand new) Sake bar Chin-nen, and I spent a nice evening trying different types of sake and chatting to the manager, who spoke some English (and a little French, too). I asked him what the name meant and he admitted it didn't really mean anything.

A few years ago, on my other blog, I wrote about my attempts at locating a Japanese street I found on an old piece of film footage.

Ever since then, I've always wanted to go back and see if anything at all remains from that day to this. Looking on Google Street View suggested that there wasn't but I thought that, since I was in the neighbourhood, I'd go and have a look for myself.

And I was very pleased to find something: The air vents for the underground system. I'm sure that the actual grills have been replaced, but this is an example of something with the same function in the same place after seventy years which, in a city that reinvented itself as radically as Tokyo, seemed pretty special.

Finally, just because it's one of those things I thought I should do at least once, I went for a night out in Roppongi.

It was very expensive, as I knew it would be, costing about £60 which is an awful lot for a few drinks at a bar and some live music. Good job I didn't order food. But I think I chose well, going to see a Beatles tribute act at the club Abbey Road.

The staff were very friendly and several came to chat with me, although I was a little embarrassed to admit to each one that I'd never actually gone to Liverpool despite my love of The Beatles. Plus, my last drink was free which was a nice gesture.

So those are the highlights of my trip to Tokyo. I hope to write more about my return to Matsue soon.

Super Mario gives no shits about the rain.

Forthcoming dramas

It’s been a while since I sat down with a J-drama. In fact, it’s been a while since I even checked to see what was on. But recently, I looked on the jdramas blog to see when the next series of Cold Case is coming out (in the fall, apparently) and while I was there I decided to find out what new dramas are coming out in the next few weeks.

Out of these, I put together a list of what seems interesting to me. I’ll never watch them all, but I’ll try to keep an eye out for them.

Hanbun Aoi (starts: 2 April, NHK)

The only reason this caught my eye was because the main character was born in the same year that I was: 1971. It seems like one of those slice-of-life dramas: a single mother returns to her home town after life in Tokyo. Could be interesting. Unfortunately, it’s an asadora, which means a 15-minute episode every day. I never could get the hang of that kind of schedule.


Kodok no Gurume 7 (7 April, TV Tokyo)

Seven?! I haven’t watched this since season two. Luckily, there’s little in the way of storyline, as I recall, as a man goes to different establishments and eats food.


The Confidence Man JP (9 April, Fuji TV)

Well, it’s got a good cast (judging by the poster, mostly Nagasawa Masami's legs) and I usually enjoy scripts based around confidence tricks and betrayal, so those are two things it’s got going for it. Plus, it's from the writer of Suzuki Sensei, so fingers crossed for this one.


Signal – Chouki Mikaiketsu Jiken Sousahan (10 April, Fuji TV)

I’ve already watched, finished and thoroughly enjoyed the Korean original so I know this drama has a solid base to start from. And I do enjoy a story that plays around with time. If done properly, they can be a lot of fun. I’m kind of hoping, though, that the story of the Japanese version isn’t the same as the Korean one, otherwise there won’t be much reason for me to watch.


Mikaikestu no Onna – Keishichou Bunsho Sousakan (19 April)

I do enjoy police dramas, especially those that involve crimes that haven’t been solved in years. In fact, I’ve already mentioned two (Cold Case and Signal) so maybe a third is pushing it. Plus, in this series the unsolved crimes department is in a basement. Are all unsolved crimes departments in basements in Japan? Seems very unfair.


Yami no Bansosha Season 2 – Henshuuchou no Jouken (31 March, WOWOW)

Well, I was not expecting this. Three years after the first series, a second is finally released. Very happy to see Matsushita Nao and Furuta Arata back together again. Can they solve a murder where the only clue is an unpublished manga manuscript? I’m looking forward to this one.


Miss Sherlock (27 April, Hulu & HBO Asia)

The recent BBC version completely ran out of steam by the end of its fourth series, so a new angle on the old Sherlock might be nice. Then again, it might not.


Kuroidogoroshi (14 April, Fuji TV)

Just a one-off special, but I thought I’d mention it here. The writer, Mitani Kouki, is one of the greats of Japanese TV but even I have to admit it’s been a long time since his stuff has been essential viewing. However, this is a sequel to his adaptation of Murder On The Orient Express and this means a repeat performance from Nomura Mansai. Last time out, he stole the show.

Let’s hope someone has reigned in Mitani Kouki’s self-indulgent side and kept the script to what he does best: witty dialogue and murders.


And so, to recap...

Most likely to begin with a helicopter shot of Tokyo: Confidence Man JP
Most likely to contain a scene where footsteps echo ominously as someone approaches: Confidence Man JP
Will almost certainly not be as good as the original: Miss Sherlock
Will probably include an old couple who run a sweet shop: Hanbun Aoi
Will have excessive use of flashbacks: Hanbun Aoi
Will include a sympathetic murderer: Mikaikestu no Onna
The two main characters do not get on at first but learn to respect each other: possibly all of them

Japanese soundscapes

When you come back from travelling, you will probably have some photos and films, some souvenirs and some local foods to help you relive those memories.

But sounds are often overlooked. Possibly because they're not as easy to capture as a visual image and possibly because, when you're constantly seeing and tasting new things, it doesn't occur to you to stop and listen.

The website https://aporee.org/maps/ goes some of the way to solve that. It hosts a large number of soundscapes that have been uploaded by people, which are then pinned to a map of the world so you can browse by location.

There are fascinating clips from everywhere and it's easy to lose hours just going from one place to the next, but I'll be concentrating on those from Japan.

There's quite a large selection, taking in all the usual images people have about Japan, from Akihabara and a Sega arcade to temples. Quite a lot of temples, actually. While I was interested to hear unique and location specific sounds, I found that the more everyday sounds, like the chimes of a train crossing, are the ones that make me feel nostalgic. I mean, the sound of a shamisen being played on a beach in Okinawa Prefecture is very nice, but I don't get the same personal connection that I do with the sounds of a city street.

Nevertheless, this website gives you a chance to explore new things as well as the familiar. There's an eight minute recording from a temple in Hamamatsu and, oddly, a lengthy excerpt of John Cage’s “Lecture on Nothing” read aloud (in English) in Kyoto.

With the whole world to listen to there is, quite literally, something for everyone. I found that there’s a sound recording made at the end of the road where I live! An impressive collection.

Folk singers

For the purposes of this blog post the term “folk music” refers to the Western style of music and not actual indigenous Japanese folk music.

I recently bought a book on Japanese folk musician Mikami Kan. I’d never heard of him before I saw the book in a Tokyo record store, but since it was the only English language book about a Japanese topic, I picked it up and bought it there and then.

The book is excellent, and it talks about music, the creative process, friendship and his career through 1970s Japan. It does so in short, punchy paragraphs, most of which are only one sentence long.

On one page, in a paragraph with six sentences in it (possibly the longest in the book) he lists the acts who performed at the 3rd All Japan Folk Jamboree in 1971. When I saw this, I thought this would be a great place to start and learn more about the genre. These are the highlights of what I found.

First is Okabayashi Nobuyasu 岡林 信康. According to Wikipedia, this guy is “Japan’s Bob Dylan” and he is best know for his song “The Letter” which is very nice but I was blown away by the electrified blues of “Watashitachi no Nozomumono wa” performed live with the band Happy End.

and if you prefer something more acoustic, this full concert (audio only) from 1969 is beautiful.

Next is Takada Wataru 高田渡 with this gentle singalong, “Seikatsu no gara”

Then there is Endo Kenji 遠藤 賢司 (and you’re going to need those kanji if you want to search for him) who sadly died last October. He wrote the song Bob Lennon which was later used in the film 20th Century Boys.

Finally, a song from Masato Tomobe 友部正人. This song may date from 1983, so it's a bit later than the 70s vibe I've been searching for, but I like it all the same.

While looking through YouTube for these songs, I kept getting sidetracked by the suggestions automatically provided by YouTube. A few of these lead me down some very nice paths, especially to this copy of Misora by Sanchiko Kaneobu.

And, of course, I had to include Mikami Kan himself, didn't I?

Shinjuku, ten years on

There is a film project called Global Lives in which ordinary people from around the world have one twenty-four hour period of their lives recorded. The idea being that these will become important historical artefacts, giving future generations a chance to see how we really lived, worked, played etc.

Japan's entry concerned a woman called Rumi Nagashima, a mostly wheelchair-bound girl scout leader. It was filmed back in 2007 and, truth be told, not enough time has passed for this to feel like a glimpse of a lost world. In fact, it all looks quite unremarkable. It's all up on the Internet Archive for you to watch, along with many others.

Anyway, in October last year I visited Japan again and this time I spent a decent amount of time in Tokyo. Previously I was only there for four days and you really can't get a feel of a place in so little time. I'll do a post of things I did in a few days, but a recurring theme of my holiday was to revisit places that either I or someone else had been.

And so, when I found myself awake at two o'clock one morning, I took the chance to go to Shinjuku and photograph places I'd seen in Rumi Nagashima's film. To put things in some kind of context, it was late at night and she was trying to get the last train back after an evening out, and she needed to find the disabled access to Shinjuku Station.

So, for example, she heads towards the elevator to the station. As you can see, the artistic flooring (above) has been replaced by something more functional (below).

In the film, she was too late to actually use the elevator. If only she'd waited ten years, she would've found the elevator still open and operational.

Bits of Shinjuku.

More bits.

Sadly, the new album by Koda Kumi is not longer being advertised here.

Mostly the differences are minor, like a new logo on a shop front...

But this one bothered me. You see, I always thought that traffic cones were a temporary measure. Something used for a fixed period until a more permanent solution comes along. But in this photo, we can see that traffic cones have been used in the same area for about ten years. And what, exactly, are they doing?

Crossing a bridge. Kind of similar.

And once she's at the station, nothing much at all had changed.

As a piece of history, it seems quite faithful to reality. She talks to her mum about the TV news over breakfast, she works as a Girl Guide leader in the afternoon and goes out in the evening. While I expect they chose a day when she'd be doing something active, it doesn't seem particularly staged. In the nicest possible way: it's certainly dull enough to be real life.

Worth a look.

No subs, though.

Death On The Mountain (1961)

This film is tells a story about how a trip in the mountains ends in tragedy and how suspicions grow after an article about it is published in a magazine.

It’s a fairly short film that focuses only on the main event - the tragic but apparently accidental death of a mountaineer. There are no sub-plots or character development beyond that which moves the story along. This means that, every step of the way, you feel you’re getting closer to a solution even if the film itself isn’t that fast paced.

Perhaps the film’s greatest achievement is the introduction, halfway through, of a new main character. With only a few broad strokes, the actor manages to establish himself as likable and interesting.

This is especially important since the final third of the film concerns him and the apparent killer retracing the steps of the doomed mountaineering party to pay their respects. As they do, the new guy keeps making observations about how the events of that fateful day don’t make sense and the tension between them slowly increases.

But do all these small clues add up? And if they do, will the killer kill again?

This is an enjoyable film, written in a tight, economic style and with some beautiful photography of mountain ranges.

So where have I been?

Well, sleeping, mostly. It’s not been a great year for TV and apart from Running Man, the only series I’ve watched to completion since I last wrote were Twin Peaks, Doctor Who and Hyori’s Bed & Breakfast. Certainly not enough to sustain a blog about TV.

Also, in the past year or so, the J-drama community has become increasingly splintered and hard to follow. It’s been quite sad to watch, as one bookmark after another has been deleted from my browser.

Is this going to be the start of regular blogging? I have no idea. It’s just that I watched a film this morning, and wanted to write about it.