‘Kanasando': Heartwarming homecoming inspires a change of heart
Actors playing characters far older and more decrepit than their real-life selves are common enough in film history. Yasujiro Ozu's favored actor Chishu Ryu made a career of it, playing middle-aged fathers from when he was in his 20s.
Still, seeing the 51-year-old Tadanobu Asano as the dementia-afflicted dad of an adult daughter in Toshiyuki Teruya's heartwarming 'Kanasando' was a shock. Asano rose to international stardom about two decades ago playing volatile, dangerous characters, a prime example being his psychotic gangster in Takashi Miike's 2001 horror 'Ichi the Killer.' His scheming samurai warlord in the hit FX series 'Shogun' also fits this mold.
In his latest feature, Teruya (whose stage name as a comedian and actor is Gori), is only acknowledging the sad fact that dementia can strike even vital types like Asano's character. A former construction company boss living on Iejima island in Okinawa Prefecture, Satoru (Asano) was once a heavy drinker, serial philanderer and possessor of a full head of hair. But when his estranged daughter Mika (Ruka Matsuda) sees him after a gap of seven years, he is in a hospital bed on palliative care and mistakes her for his now dead wife Machiko (Keiko Horiuchi).
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SoraNews24
24-04-2025
- SoraNews24
Enjoy the elegance of Edo at Shogun, Tokyo's new experiential cafe
Cultural crafts, performing arts and regional flavors combine in a tribute to one of the most important periods in Japanese history. Japanese history and culture can be fascinating, with unique aspects like teru teru bozu (a good weather talisman) and the noblewoman's fart-scapegoat role of the heoibikuni. However, if you're anything like me, museums can trigger a catatonic state only cured by copious amounts of ice cream. So, where possible, I try to find more interesting and interactive ways to discover more about Japanese culture. A wonderful example is the new and exciting experiential cafe that just opened in Tokyo called Shogun. ▼ Experience inner peace as you brew your own tea in a tea ceremony at Shogun 'Shogun' was a title given to Japan's highest-ranked military commander, who was the de-facto ruler of the country for a substantial part of Japan's recorded history. Over 400 years ago, Japan was unified, after over a century of warfare, and entered a 'peaceful' time, known as the Edo period (1603-1868). A benefit of this cessation of fighting was the development of culture, and many modern forms of Japan's cultural practices can be attributed to the Edo period. So it's no surprise that this new establishment also offers some traditional cultural experiences that the shogun would have once enjoyed. Of course, activities are not the only thing on the menu. Being a cafe, there's certainly food and drinks to enjoy, but there are even special 'tribute foods.' ▼ Both mochi (sticky rice cakes) and matcha were items often used as a tribute, particularly prized teas from areas like Uji in Kyoto. In the past, communities would often send their local specialities to the center of power as an offering, which also served to promote the local regions. At Shogun, rather than receiving the products, they have turned to selling them, but they also offer collaborative menu items to support local areas. The first featured area of the cafe is Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, where the unifier of Japan, Tokugawa Ieyasu, spent his youth. Given that his descendant and current head of the Tokugawa family Tokugawa Iehiro is working with the cafe, the chosen area is quite fitting. Hamamatsu's specialties are green tea and blood oranges, and are available at the cafe for a limited time only. ▼ Mochi (glutinous rice cake) with blood orange marmalade (800 yen [US$5.64]) The main menu includes fragrant teas and coffees from various regions, delicious daifuku (rice cake desserts), and artistic nerikiri (a type of 'wagashi', or 'Japanese dessert'). Visitor's will also find a shop offering beautifully crafted wagashi and seasonal traditional items. ▼ Seasonal sweets from 480 yen ▼ Kiriko glassware (intricately cut patterns in colored glass) from 33,000 yen Cultural practices, once enjoyed and studied by the samurai, are reimagined at Shogun to create modern and engaging experiences for visitors to enjoy. These activities come in two 90-minute courses: Martial and Performing Arts Course Iaido Sword Performance – the art of drawing a sword, cutting an opponent and returning the sword to the scabbard in smooth movements Noh Dance – the oldest theater art of classical Japanese dance/drama Kimono Dressing – visitors will have a chance to wear kimonos Arts and Culture Course If visitors want to take part in the courses they will have to prepare 16,500 yen and reserve beforehand through a DM to the Instagram account, linked below. Visitors should also keep in mind that the cafe is entirely cashless with payment being accepted by credit cards, QR codes, or transportation IC cards (Suica, Pasmo, etc.). Shogun, which opened its doors on April 22, is a great place to interact with Japanese culture, as well as to sample local delicacies without having to leave Tokyo. With the featured area changing from time to time, repeat visits are definitely on the table. If you're looking for a hands-on experience of traditional Japanese practices, followed up by sampling delicious treats that would have once been offered up to the most powerful man in the country, Shogun should certainly be on your list of places to visit. Store location Shogun Cafe & Experience Address: Tokyo-to, Minato-ku, Kita Aoyama 3-6-26 QCube Kita Aoyama 36-biru 1&2F 東京都港区北青山3-6-26 QCcube北青山36ビル 1・2F Open 10:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m. Website Related links: Shogun Cafe Instagram Source and images: PR Times ● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
Japan Times
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- Japan Times
Actor Hiroyuki Sanada among Time's 100 most influential people
Three Japanese people, including actor Hiroyuki Sanada, are among Time's 100 most influential people in the world, according to a list released by the U.S. magazine on Wednesday. The other two Japanese are musician Yoshiki and contemporary artist Yoshitomo Nara. Sanada, 64, known for his role in "Shogun," a Golden Globe-winning television drama series, is "a legend, an actor cut from almost mythic material," the magazine said. Yoshiki, a 59-year-old member of rock band X Japan, is "an artist whose brilliance has transcended borders and genres throughout his 40-plus-year career," the magazine said, adding that he "has continued to break boundaries — not just as a musician, but also as a cultural ambassador." Referring to Nara, 65, known for his drawings of girls with big heads and expressive eyes, the magazine said his work "carries messages that we need to hear, presented in a way we can digest with humor and clarity."
Japan Times
29-03-2025
- Japan Times
‘Ravens': Tadanobu Asano plays troubled photographer with scapegrace charm
Japanese films often take photographers as their protagonists. The popularity of photography here as an art and hobby gives filmmakers a large potential audience for a photographer-centered story, be it fictional or biographical. It helps if the subject has some sort of international cachet. One such person was war photographer Taizo Ichinose, depicted in the Sho Igarashi biopic 'One Step on a Mine, It's All Over' (1999). Tadanobu Asano starred as the intrepid-but-doomed Ichinose, who was killed by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia in 1973. In Mark Gill's visually lush, superbly acted 'Ravens,' Asano portrays another real-life photographer, Masahisa Fukase, whose controversial and experimental work was widely exhibited and celebrated before his death in 2012. Though the film traces Fukase's life from his professional beginnings to the accident that ended his career, it is not a straightforward biopic. A British director and scriptwriter whose one previous feature was a 2017 biopic of the singer Morrissey, Gill subverts the realism of his story by having Fukase interact with a stylized, human-sized raven, voiced by Spanish thespian Jose Luis Ferrer. Speaking in English and serving as a kind of nemesis, the raven is reminiscent of Ryuk, the feathered shinigami (death god) of the 'Death Note' franchise. At one point, the creature even urges Fukase to kill — a suggestion he resists — but more often delivers portentous pronouncements ('Art illuminates the world') in a hollow voice of doom. Also undermining Fukase at every turn is his photographer father, played with acerbic authority by Kanji Furutachi (who at 56 is only five years older than Asano). Determined to have his eldest son take over his commercial photography studio in Hokkaido, he constantly berates and belittles the young Fukase for his artistic ambitions and otherwise behaves like the stereotypical stuck-in-his-ways Japanese movie dad. The real mystery is why Fukase keeps coming back home despite the never-ending grief from his father. More complex and compelling, as well as more central to Fukase's art, is Yoko Wanibe (Kumi Takiuchi), a free spirit who becomes his model and wife, though their marriage is troubled and ends acrimoniously. As played by Takiuchi, who has immersed herself in the character and her milieu to deliver an on-point, finely shaded performance, Wanibe at first performs for Fukase's camera with an inspired abandon. And though she mocks his pretensions to art, saying he pushes a button 1,000 times to get one good photo, she also finds him amusing and interesting until she tires of what she sees as his monstrous selfishness. She comes to feel she is just an object for his lens — no different from the pigs and ravens he photographs to such acclaim. Asano plays Fukase with scapegrace charm, interspersed with disturbing flashes of self-destructive madness, but he is also a typical man of his time who regards his wife more as a muse than a woman with a mind and life of her own. That said, his photographs, as seen in 'Ravens' both in their making and their final form on a gallery wall, still carry a revelatory punch. They capture beauty in ugliness, life in the presence of death (including the photographer's own face as he tries to drown himself) with a unique style and undeniable genius. If Gill's big black bird never made an appearance, Fukase's art would still speak loud and clear.
