Kiyoshi Kurosawa

The concept of family is a fascinating facet, connecting unique individuals with common interests. Whether these individuals are united by blood, by work, or by common interests, they make up different kinds of families. When peering into traditional Japanese households, three pieces of works stood out – Tampopo, Out, and Tokyo Sonata. Tampopo is a 1988 comedy film directed by Juzo Itami, which follow several characters and different forms and aspects of family. Out is a 1997 novel by Natsuo Kirino that follows four women who work the night shift at a bento box factory. Tokyo Sonata is a 2008 film directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa focuses on the internal and external interactions of the Sasaki family. In the traditional Japanese household, it starts…

1) Chushingura fascinated both nobles and commoners in Japan. Why do you think it appealed to two such different classes? (Name a commoner who appears in the play) The appeal of Chushingura can be explained by looking to the contemporary happenings at the time that the play came out. It was not that long ago that the 46 retainers of Lord Asano Naganori of Ako took the head of the Lord Kira Yoshinaka in an honor killing over the death of their master. At the time they were hailed as heroes by…

mothers from the beginning of the film get a park built to replace the cesspool. The memorial continues, with Watanabe’s coworkers criticizing him and insisting he had little to do with the creation of the park. As the night progresses, they begin to change their minds as evidence starts to pile up in favor of Watanabe, and within a few hours, everyone is drunk and praising his courage. The memorial ends with everyone exclaiming that they too will defy the bureaucratic machine, follow in…

The Documentary known as “Jiro Dreams of Sushi” Directed by David Gelb is about a Sushi Chief, that goes by the name Jiro Ono. This Documentary provides a lot of things I have learned, that have also changed my perspective to how I see art, and a craft that you or any one may have a passion for. As you read this, I hope you can find some things and facts that interest you, as much as they interest me. Also understand how I feel about the reasoning behind this assignment, and what I think about…

Hobbesian theme underscores the harshness of reality. Furthermore it implicitly recognizes the tribal nature of humanity. This note will use the previously mentioned themes as the initial material to frame another discussion on the 2016 post-electoral climate in the United States in the hopes of better understanding it. Building on the analysis of storylines written by Eduardo Bonilla-Silvia in his Racism Without Racists and the idea 1950 Kurosawa film Rasho-Mon, this manuscript will analyze…

Kuroko walked back into his living room to see that the other five guys had not moved much. The only obvious difference was that Kise was not sitting next to Murasakibara. He quickly found that they did not notice him and he relaxed a little. Born with a very low, mostly undetectable presence had left Kuroko accustomed to being unnoticed. He found that though it was considered a curse, his low presence came quite in handy at times. He spotted Akashi still lying down on the side of the couch he…

The bunraku and kabuki play Double Suicide in Amijima was adapted into a film titled Double Suicide in 1969. The film is a very interesting and artistic mix of modern film technique and illusions to the bunraku genre of traditional Japanese theater. Throughout the film, darkly-clothed stagehands and puppeteers, or kuroko, can be seen with their faces covered. In bunraku, kuroko cover their faces to not distract the audience while maneuvering the puppets; however, the lead puppeteer with decades…

Red Beard In the movie “Red Beard” we are interdicted to Dr. Noboru Yasumoto. A young doctor whom refused to become an intern for Dr. Kyojo Niide “Red Beard”. Having trained in Dutch medicinal training, Yasumoto believed he doesn’t belong to an old and poor clinic. But, through the film, he begins to realize what it means to be a doctor and the flaws that the Japanese government had for the people in Koishikawa. The film shows the social injustice the people of Koishikawa faced in everyday…

Different genres utilize the camera and its subjects differently, and Kurosawa notes these differences throughout Rashomon. Tajomaru’s story is intentionally very comedic. He is an over-the-top character, coming off as slightly unhinged at times, but never ultimately unreliable. Throughout Tajomaru’s retell of events, the camera is very subjective. The audience is seeing the action almost entirely how Tajomaru is seeing it. In fact, the audience is so closely connected to Tajomaru’s point of…

This week’s myth was on research showing that dreams have symbolic meaning. This psychological belief goes all the way back to Freud, who stated that dream interpretation was not universal, even though he treated it like it was. I was most surprised to learn that this belief actually stems from the late 1800s to the early 1900s. I knew it wasn’t a new belief, but I did not know that belief was over a hundred years old. This myth has persisted because we believe in a subconscious self, and we…