What is the secret of the Japanese rock garden
The mystery of the disappearing fifteenth stone is, perhaps, the first thing the European has associated with the traditional Japanese “dry” garden. However, neither the "invisible" stone, nor "Mount Fuji",…

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Hiroyuki Sanada
Hiroyuki Sanada (Hiroyuki Sanada) - Japanese actor, in demand not only in the homeland, but also in Hollywood. Known for the films "The Shadow Samurai", "The Last Samurai", "Rush Hour…

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BORN EARLIER, Sensei
Who do you think this is? “Born before” preserves the wisdom of generations and transfers it to others. They go to him for advice. He is respected and loved. This…

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found himself

Yakuza Eyga

Yakuza Eyga (Jap. ヤ ク ザ 映 画, literally – gangster cinema) is a Japanese cinema genre dedicated to the yakuza, at different times allowing either heroization or absolute denial of these characters. In the 1960s and the first half of the 1970s, the genre absolutely dominated the film distribution of this country.

The formation of the genre
In the era of silent cinema, films about bakuto, the forerunners of modern yakuza, became widespread in Japan. Most often, the plots were dedicated to fictional or real historical characters, to noble lone robbers who came to the defense of peasants oppressed by the authorities. For example, at least 8 films were dedicated to the semi-legendary hero from the time of the Tokugawa clan Tyuji Continue reading

Ken Watanabe

Ken was born on October 21, 1959 in a small mountain village in Niigata Prefecture. Ken’s parents were teachers, but their two children preferred cinema: Ken’s sister, Yuki Watanabe, also an actress. Ken Watanabe was born in Japan. Domestic stars over 50 without makeup (photo) For some time, Watanabe learned to play the trumpet, but due to lack of musical abilities, he did not succeed. In 1982, he chose theatrical activity for himself and, without any professional education and courses, joined the theater troupe En. In the same year, he first played the main role of a samurai in the television movie “Mibu no koiuta”, and in 1984 he first appeared in a feature film (“Children of Mac Arthur”) in the same role. Since then, the role of the samurai for several years has become the main one in the actor’s movie life. Continue reading

Toshiro Mifune

Here is the scenario for a movie someone should make. If they can get Toshiro Mifune for it, he’d be terrific as the lead:

September, 1945. The war has just ended and Japan is in ruins. A young man, twenty five years old, discharged from the defeated Imperial Air Force leaves the rural air base in Kyushu where he had been stationed. What next? Where should he go? Born and raised in Manchuria, he had never lived in Japan. Although Japanese, he was a stranger in an alien land. His parents were dead, he had no relatives he knew about, no home to return to, no one to take him in. Back in middle school he had helped out around his father’s studio in china, and as a flier he’d done some aerial photography during the war. Maybe he could find work as a photographer in Tokyo. Continue reading

Japanese Restaurant Menu
The theater, as you know, begins with a hanger, and restaurants in Japan with osinagaki, the menu. Externally, menus often resemble, without exaggeration, works of art. There are oshinagaki, which…

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Why Japan has left-hand traffic
This question is, of course, burning. It becomes especially relevant when, after a short stay in Japan, you suddenly find yourself thinking that you can’t part with the Japanese in…

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BONSAI: UNIVERSE IN TREE
In the East, trees, herbs, and flowers are worshiped as living beings. They conduct confidential conversations with them, as with close friends. They are idolized. Monuments are erected to beloved…

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