Tokyo Loco Locations

After my previous post about Gaspar Noé's Enter the Void (Soudain le vide) being selected for competition in Cannes, I downloaded some high-res images from the film's official site. When I inspected one of them, reproduced below, I thought to myself "I recognize that dump".

It's the crumbling husk of an old love hotel in Shinjuku's Kabukichô district called Hotel Rakuen ("paradise"). It's walking distance from the place where the Nippon Connection "virtual bar" event was held (see my April 21 entry). I was able to dial it up on Google Maps and grab a street view of the location (second image). As you can see, very little set dressing needed to be done! If you click on the image you can explore ura-Kabukichô's streets of shame on your own. I previously posted about this functionality last summer, highlighting a few movie-related spots.





Many of the productions shot in Tokyo or other major Japanese cities (e.g. Osaka in Ridley Scott's Black Rain) by directors who haven't actually lived in Japan end up honing in on very fetishistic and/or clichéd locations -- I don't even need to list them. To be fair, many Japanese terebi dorama themselves are guilty of this. Are we worried with a filmmaker like Noé? I don't think so. He could shoot a whole film on Takeshita-dôri or the Shibuya intersection and it would feel relevant because of what his characters go through.

Talking at length with writer-director Max Mannix, whose movie Rain Fall opened yesterday, it was interesting to hear how the original rokehan ("location hunting") outing took him to places like Shiodome and various Mori buildings -- silly spots for an assassin like John Rain to be seen hanging around. The finished film presents Tokyo in an altogether different style. Rain Fall offers a unique mix of back alleys, docks, tiny bars, a luxurious Westernized mansion, a dilapidated safe house and a high-tech control room, not to mention some stunning aerial shots.

Update: Reader Raku posts some links in the comments that reveal the above hotel location was also used in Map of the Sounds of Tokyo. Another blow to Tokyo location originality. Both films are in competition at Cannes. lulz.

Japan-Related Films In Cannes: Nouvelle Tsunami Goes Tubular!

The film world has been anxiously waiting for the Cannes film festival to announce their full lineup today, and here it is. While there are no Japanese directors with work vying for the Palme d'Or, there are two Japan-related films in competition.

First is Gaspar Noé's hotly anticipated, Tokyo-set drug-induced downward spiral Enter the Void, which is part of what I've coined the Nouvelle Tsunami (see collected posts here). People I know who've seen the promo reel were blown out of the water. Trivia: Noé had production offices at Toho Studios while shooting here. See some images courtesy of Wildgrounds here.

Next is Spanish filmmaker Isabel Coixet, whose awkwardly-titled Map of the Sounds of Tokyo is also (obviously) set here. It stars Babel's Kikuchi Rinko as a contract killer who moonlights at Tokyo's famed Tsukiji fish market. A rich businessman hires her to knock off a wine-importing Spaniard whom he blames for his daughter's suicide.

Also fantastic to see Kore-eda Hirokazu's Air Doll (Kûki Ningyô,『空気人形』) make it into the Un Certain Regard category (the section in which Tokyo Sonata won the Jury Prize last year for those keeping track). I wrote a brief article about the film back in February before the export title of Air Doll was set -- Blow Up Doll would've been better, no? See some delightful making-of footage here. Fortissimo Films is selling the film at the marché.

Along with the rest of the great filmmakers, Asian and otherwise, with work set to screen this looks to be a banner edition.

Update: Twitch tells us that the official site for Enter the Void is now open.

Hadaka Hoopla

As readers of this blog know I do very little "wacky Japan" stuff, unless perhaps it relates to a film but I just couldn't resist posting the above image -- officially my favourite video grab of the year.

It comes courtesy of this story on Japan Probe about SMAP member Kusanagi Tsuyoshi's run in with the law this morning. First to break the news in English was Ryuganji's new Twitter feed (follow the feed on his blog until the kinks are worked out).

In the US when celebrities like Matthew McConaughey get involved in similar victimless antics it's endearing -- here it becomes the media equivalent of DEFCON 2. Kusanagi's retort to cops certainly endeared me to him -- working for J.J. would drive anybody stark raving nude, surely. Also goes to show that not only baka gaijin have cornered the market on these stunts.

Never said it before but thanks to Japan Probe for often linking to my relevant film news posts over the past couple of years.

Nippon Connection / Skip City / Cannes / Sono

Very little time for the blog as of late.

Nippon Connection has come to an end for another year. The Virtual Bar event (see my April 18th and 19th tweets and April 10 entry) went fairly well technically but you've got to overcome this "shyness" and lack of interest (?) on the Frankfurt end if you want it to really work next year. A few good questions and showing the Shinjuku guests the NC environment made it worth the effort, though. Nice to check in with old friends Jasper, Alex, Marion and Holger, in any case (and the lovely Christina). I predicted either Detroit Metal City or Still Walking would take the top prize and it was the former. It's a crowd pleaser.


Almost through the scores of Japanese indie feature entries for Skip City (trace back from April 10). There are a couple potential geniuses, some talented filmmakers who could have very successful careers in mainstream cinema and a couple real wild cards. It's going to be an interesting jury meeting. I hope to write about some of what I saw that doesn't make the final cut, if it's permitted.


Screen's special Japan supplement for Cannes is almost complete. In writing a talent profile on Sono Sion I found out Gaga will be selling a new film of his at market. No, not Lords of Chaos (which hasn't gone into production yet, by the way) but a local feature with a working export title of Be Sure To Share and Japanese title Chanto Tsutaeru /『ちゃんと伝える』. It's a straight father-son drama set in Sono's hometown of Toyokawa, starring actor and A Long Walk director Okuda Eiji and Akira from Exile. Set for domestic release this fall.


Also look for an upcoming Screen article highlighting some of the new J-cinema being sold in Cannes.

Maria Ozawa Takes Over Taiwan / Invitation Only Trailer in 720P

My man in Taiwan tells me it's a Maria Ozawa media gang bang (sorry) in Taipei right now, where the press conference for Invitation Only will take place at noon today. Lovely Miss Ozawa was apparently met with a phalanx of cameras at the airport and is busy appearing on variety shows and in major newspapers and magazines (including an upcoming cover of FHM).

The movie opens against Fast & Furious this weekend but there's no question which film Maria worshippers will buy tickets for. Invitation Only will hit around 40+ screens in a Hollywood-scale release for the territory through distributor Warner Brothers. R-rated, no cuts.

There is now a 720P trailer for this very slick-looking film available. Maybe it's been linked to already on other sites but as the search term "Maria Ozawa" brings more hits to this blog than any other in its 9-year history (because of my previous post on her and the movie about a year ago) I might as well throw more logs on the fire.

There's also a 480P version that's easier on the bandwidth.

And to those of you in Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq that have been finding your way here looking for Ozawa content and Japanese pornography, be careful -- I don't know what the laws in those countries are but I'd imagine they're not too lenient. My man thinks it may be S.E. Asian workers based in those places missing their DVD stashes back home.

And for true Asian movie and Maria aficionados: What two Indonesian titles and Mainland Chinese title is Maria somehow mentioned/visible?

Inflight Entertainment: The New Way to See J-Cinema?

I've mentioned before that only a handful of the films that I've subtitled have ever gotten an English-friendly DVD release -- that's just the way it's worked out. In recent months I've had a few people contact me asking about where they can get DVDs of a couple titles, particularly Flavor of Happinesss (Shiawase no Kaori, 『しあわせのかおり』, see collected posts here). How do they know they want to buy it if they haven't seen it? Because they have seen it -- in an airplane.

As I reported previously, Hong Kong's Emphasis Media picked up rights in Cannes last year. Looking at their site, they have a growing library of Japanese titles. When they say "Worldwide except Japan" I assume they mean world inflight entertainment rights. I don't believe Emphasis releases their own DVDs but do they sub-license to HK video companies, or just stick to the global seat-back viewing market? Interestingly, it says the company was founded in 1972 in Tokyo, providing Japan Airlines with content. I see they have rights to K-20: Legend of the Mask (collected posts), too.

I'd guess selling to the world's airlines probably generates more money from Japanese titles than traditional sales do -- at least for smaller films.

Taiwan's AV-Jet is another Asian buyer of Japanese titles (only the Chinese language page works but you can see the poster images). They just picked up Sanpei The Fisher Boy (collected posts) when I was in Hong Kong.

On a flight to Toronto for the film festival last September, I was surprised by how current and varied the titles were (good or not is another question) on Air Canada. Worst lineup of films, Japanese or otherwise, I've ever seen? All Nippon Airways, and that was even in business class to Thailand (thank you air miles).

If anybody has their own in-flight J-cinema experience I'd like to hear about it.

I Am Twit

As you can see in the sidebar (and on my Twitter page), I have succumbed.

At first I ignored the trend, then I resisted, then I became busier than I ever have in my life this year, then I liked the idea of dropping comments about films and being cryptic in 140 characters, then I joined.

Nippon Connection's Virtual Bar / Skip City / Cannes

It's been a busy week.

Scoped out the location for the the "Virtual Bar" event being held at Nippon Connection as part of its Nippon Culture programme. For those of you going to be at NC, keep your eyes peeled. If the coat hanger antennae is angled just so and the drinks are mixed right, you'll be able to talk to Japanese directors live from our location in Shinjuku. In addition to Alex' invite list of luminaries, I'll hopefully be bringing a special guest of my own to answer fans' questions.

I'm still getting through all of the submissions for this year's Skip City International D-Cinema Festival (see my March 12 entry). There's a way to go yet, but I think a potential genius has emerged -- one with links to This World Of Ours' Nakajima Ryô (collected posts here).

Also working on my feature articles for our Cannes special Japan issue, which will include director & actor talent profiles, a Departures "case study", overviews of this year's CoFesta/TIFF/TIFFCOM and more. Read it on the Croisette while you eat a croissant.

Finally, it was good to hit a low-budget izakaya with Don Ryuganji and Nick Maboroshii the other day.

Japanese Film Industry Stories for April 8 and 9

Just a few stories up on Screen regarding the Japanese film business (don't forget, Asian news is free):

Both Fuji TV's upcoming thriller-romance Amalfi and the Nodame Cantabile feature films (two parts), which go into production this June, have been pre-sold to several territories in Asia. The hit Nodame Cantabile TV series has a considerable fanbase in the continent. Sales story here. Background on Nodame films here and Amalfi there.

As you may know, Japan will get Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (titled Transformer: Revenge here) first in the world on June 20th. If you live in Ôsaka, Kawasaki or Shôbu you'll be able to see it in Imax' recently developed digital projection format. Story here.

Broadband video portals Yahoo! Dôga and Usen-operated GyaO will merge into one mega portal. Story here.


Finally, Screen's new editor Conor Dignam came to Hong Kong and made a short video report at the market, for those of you who are curious about what it looks like and what people had to say.

Sakura Sanctuary

Today I came down from that mountain called Work and we rode about 20 minutes to a massive park in our ward to enjoy lunch and a few hours of hanami. It was an absolutely beautiful day. By the end of it we were covered in fallen petals and it was time to come home...

Wouter Barendrecht (1965-2009)

As everyone in the film world now knows, Fortissimo Films co-chairman Wouter Barendrecht has passed away. It was a mere two weeks ago in Hong Kong that I and everyone else could see Mr. Barendrecht gleefully collecting a well-deserved Asian Film Award (for Tokyo Sonata), working hard at the market and living it up at the parties.

In addition to the official statement on Fortissimo's site, my editor Liz Shackleton and our Screen Asia team gathered tributes from key people in the industry who had some great things to say about the man -- read them here.

I think this quote from an article in the Bangkok Post sums up why he had such talent and success in introducing and producing films:

Only films that are honest to their local cultures will go far internationally. You can't make a film that has international fame by ignoring your own culture.

Update: In a testament to how important a figure Wouter Barendrecht was in Asian and independent cinema, there are hundreds of tributes to him here.

11 Year-Old Guitar Dynamette Rocks Akasaka Blitz for Crows Zero 2

Friday was a busy day of finalizing subtitles in Ginza and settai at a good Chinese restaurant in Shimbashi. Sandwiched between was a big event at the Akasaka Blitz to promote Crows Zero 2 (produced by TBS, who opened AB about a year ago next to their office tower). The lobby was loaded with loot related to the film -- soundtracks, posters, t-shirts and more. Famed Crows mangaka Takahashi Hiroshi was even there to autograph books and action figure boxes. Needless to say there was a mix of punks, rockabillies, yankee, film geeks and kankeisha who filled up the venue in no time as Crows star Yabe Kyôsuke took the stage as MC.

The ear-splitting live lineup included DOES, 10-Feet, ODD-BOWZ, The Street Beats and more. To cut to the chase, everybody was knocked out by 11-year-old "Guitar Shôjo" Namiki Ruri (並木瑠璃). I know I'm late coming to the game, but I had no idea when I saw the film a few weeks ago that this little dynamo was responsible for one of the loudest, grungiest pieces of axe work on the soundtrack. She rose to stardom after debuting on comedian Sanma's Super Karakuri TV variety show (on TBS, natch):



I had to leave before The Street Beats took the stage unfortunately but it was a good 90-minute blast of punk rock to gear fans up for the movie, which opens next Saturday. I was working on a podcast about seeing the press screening at Toho but never had time to finish it, alas. I enjoyed the first Crows -- part two is generally more of the same but I think it edges it out part one in terms of mayhem and character work (less of Kuroki Meisa's ditz, too). Miike uses faces like a manga artist uses a pen.

Nippon Connection / New York Asian Film Festival

It's that month of the year again, when the mighty Nippon Connection (April 15-19) gears up for another edition in the German city of Frankfurt. All of the information you need on screenings, events and guests can be found here. As I've said before, if you have even the slightest interest in Japanese cinema or culture this will be the J-highlight of your year. I was invited last year and had a blast (see all of my posts that mention NC here).

Won't be making the trip this time but I hope to be helping out with a special, newly-created initiative on the Tokyo end of things during the festival's run. More on that soon.


Over in NYC, my friends at the New York Asian Film Festival (June 19-July 5) are gradually announcing titles that will screen at their famed event. Anime News Network has the latest press release, which highlights some of the great Japanese titles you'll be able to see there, including a couple of films I've had some contact with -- K-20: Legend of the Mask (collected posts) and Children of the Dark (collected posts). The latter was one of my Midnight Eye Top 10 of 2008, as were All Around Us and The Clone Returns Home. You'll also get to experience Sono Sion's 4-hour opus Love Exposure.

If you haven't lost the shirt off your back during these harsh economic times, go to both!

Hideo Nakata Talks About His Hollywood Documentary

Back in February I mentioned that I'd be doing another interview with Nakata Hideo about his latest film, Foreign Filmmakers' Guide to Hollywood (Hollywood Kantoku Gakunyûmon, 『ハリウッド監督学入門』), which is now playing at Theatre Image Forum. Most of the film is in English, so for those of you based in Tokyo or who will be visiting, check it out.

So, the interview is now available for your enjoyment over at Twitch.

The above pictured chirashi was produced by distributor Bitters End to promote the film here. Splashed all over it are quotes from various supporters -- directors, producers, writers, actors and even yours truly. You can see the list online here.


The blog "redesign" isn't a redesign at all but simply a prefab template while I work out some webspace issues. It does, however, allow for larger images than the previous format.