Drama
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Episode #55 – Shall We Dance? (シャル ウィ ダンス？)
In this episode, Perry is joined once again by Patrick Terry to discuss Masayuki Suo's underrated 1996 film, Shall We Dance? We talk about the socioeconomic commentary in the contexts of Japan in the mid-90s, the film's criticism of the salaryman system, Koji Yakusho's chameleon-like performance, and a lot more!
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Episode #54 – Night and Fog in Japan (日本の夜と霧)
In the final episode of the season, Kota of the Against Japanism podcast brings his extensive knowledge of Japanese politics and the Japanese left-wing to bear in this discussion of Nagisa Oshima's Night and Fog in Japan.
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Episode #53 – The Yellow Handkerchief (幸福の黄色いハンカチ)
In the penultimate episode of the season, Perry is joined by Japanese film buff Nathaniel de Bel to discuss the classic Japanese film, The Yellow Handkerchief starring the late, great Ken Takakura.
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Episode #52 – Kikujiro (菊次郎の夏)
We've got another Kitano film this episode, featuring new guest Dan Clarke of the SuperMakerUniverse YouTube channel. We discuss Kitano's coming-of-age comedy film, Kikujiro.
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Episode #48 – Hana-bi (花火)
Filmmaker LowRes makes his debut appearance on Japan On Film to talk about Hana-bi, one of the movies that helped cement Takeshi Kitano's reputation as one of the finest modern Japanese directors.
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SPECIAL – An Interview with Takeshi Fukunaga
Takeshi Fukunaga's latest movie, AINU MOSIR, is a beautiful coming-of-age story featuring Kanto, a young boy who lives in the Ainu village of Akan and struggles with his cultural identity. I spoke with the director about his influences, inspiration, ideas of cultural identity. and more.
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Episode #36 – Tokyo Story (東京物語)
Perry is joined by Singapore-based scholar Richard Davis, who is very knowledgeable about early Japanese cinema. In this episode, they explore Yasujiru Ozu’s classic Tokyo Story.
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Episode #28 – The Twilight Samurai (黄昏清兵衛)
Perry is joined by Konner and Michael from The KMP Podcast to discuss the first film in Yoji Yamada’s samurai trilogy. Get ready for a more realistic look at the end of the samurai era as they talk about some of the history of the samurai at that time and how some of the ideas and themes are reflected in contemporary Japan.
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Episode #27 – Throne of Blood (蜘蛛巣城)
Japanese-style Shakespeare takes the stage in this episode. Perry is joined by Aaron Shelton of the Kame House Party podcast to talk about Throne of Blood, Akira Kurosawa’s 1957 adaptation of Macbeth. While not our favorite Kurosawa film, this conversation definitely goes into some interesting and unexpected areas!
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Episode #21 – Letters From Iwo Jima (硫黄島からの手紙)
A more nuanced view of Japanese soldiers in World War II is the focus of Clint Eastwood’s 2006 Letters From Iwo Jima and why it’s one of the most powerful anti-war films ever made.
