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The Japan Foundation Film Series, Part 4
The Best of Japanese Horror
A Special Three-day Film Showings with English Subtitles
　http://www.jpf.go.jp/e/culture/topics/movie/fsp3.html
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6 stories…
The Tale of Oiwa’s Ghost — KATO Tai
Yotsuya Kwaidan — MISUMI Kenji
Seance — KUROSAWA Kiyoshi
The Living Koheiji — NAKAGAWA Nobuo
Onibaba — SHINDO Kaneto
Kwaidan — KOBAYASHI Masaki

For more than 20 years, the Japan Foundation has been showing subtitled
Japanese films overseas as part of its efforts to introduce Japanese culture
to the world. Last year the Japan Foundation began offering these
English-subtitled prints to foreign residents of Japan so that they would
have the opportunity to experience the wealth of Japanese cinema. The first
series shown was “Masters of Japanese Cinema,” which was held in June
2004, followed by “When Masters were Young?The 1960s” in March 2005 and
“Flashback/Flashforward: Staging the Past” in June 2005. Our newest series
is titled “The Best of Japanese Horror.” You will find not only horror
films based on Japanese traditional ghost stories, but also films that
depict subtle feelings and an eerie atmosphere as props for portraying human
drama
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* Screenings of English Subtitled Prints
* A single ticket (per screenings): 600yen at the door only.
* 9/17 (Sat) 17:40 Talk : Admission Free
* Venue: The Japan Foundation Forum
Akasaka Twin Tower 1F, 2-17-22 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo
* Nearst station : Tameike-Sanno station
(Ginza and Namboku subway lines), Exit 12
Info. (till 9/16)
TOKYO FILMeX Tel:03-3560-6394 (11:00-17:30 weekday only)
Info. (9/16-9/18 only)
The Japan Foundation Folum Tel:03-5562-4096
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Presented by The Japan Foundation,
With the special cooperation of TOKYO FILMeX Organizing Committee,
With the cooperation of Kadokawa Pictures,Inc., Toei Co,Ltd., Toho Co,Ltd.,
Twins Japan, Mirovision Inc.
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Yotsuya Kwaidan
1959/84 min./Color/Wide
Oume, the daughter of a wealthy feudal family, falls in love with Iemon, an
unemployed samurai. Iemon already has a wife, Oiwa. Oume uses Iemon’s
friend Naosuke to remove Oiwa by poisoning her and. . . . Film star HASEGAWA
Kazuo’s first appearance in a horror film, it depicts the hero Iemon in a
sympathetic, tragic light compared to other films based on the same tale.
This is a love story in which the hero avenges his murdered wife. MISUMI
Kenji is known mostly for his superb execution at period/samurai films.
Among his other films are such popular series as the Zatoichi and Nemuri
Kyoshiro films.
Director: MISUMI Kenji
Based on the play Tokaido Yotsuya Kwaidan by: TSURUYA Namboku
Screenwriter: YAHIRO Fuji
Cinematographer: MAKITA Yukimasa
Art Director: OHTA Seiichi
Music: SUZUKI Seiichi
Cast: HASEGAWA Kazuo, NAKATA Yasuko, URAJI Yoko, KONDO Mieko, TAKAMATSU
Hideo
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The Tale of Oiwa’s Ghost
1961/94 min./B/W/Wide
KATO Tai rearranged the famous 19th-century play by TSURUYA Namboku, but in
this film the hero mistreats his devoted wife driven by his blind ambition.
The thirst for a successful career and better life destroys him in the end.
WAKAYAMA Tomisaburo gives a powerful performance as Iemon, the antihero of
the film, who is a violent, egoistic brute rather than a tragic hero. The
passion of each of the main characters is spotlighted in turn, and as a
whole tells a story of human karma. Kato, well known for such films as Long
Sought Mother and By a Man’s Face Shall You Know Him, presents a stoutly
built human drama inhabited by characters tossed around by their difficult
lives.
Director, Screenwriter: KATO Tai
Based on the play Tokaido Yotsuya Kwaidan by: TSURUYA Namboku
Cinematographer: FURUYA Shin
Art Director: KATSURA Choshiro
Music: TAKAHASHI Han
Cast: WAKAYAMA Tomisaburo, FUJISHIRO Yoshiko, SAKURAMACHI Hiroko, KONOE
Jushiro, FUSHIMI Sentaro
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Kwaidan
1964/163 min./Color/Wide
An omnibus film based on four short ghost stories by KOIZUMI Yakumo
(Lafcadio Hearn). In Black Hair, an impoverished samurai abandons his wife
in Kyoto for a position under a new master far away from home and . . . In
Snow-Woman, a young woodcutter meets a snow-fairy during a night of heavy
snow storm and later . . . In Hoichi, the Earless, an expert biwa player was
enchanted by the ghosts of Heike warriors and . . . In a Teacup depicts a
samurai who sees the face of a leering man in every teacup he uses and . . .
The film uses expansive sets and benefits from ethereal music featuring
Japanese instruments. It received a special jury award at 1965 Cannes Film
Festival.
Director: KOBAYASHI Masaki
Based on the novel Kwaidan by: KOIZUMI Yakumo
Screenwriter: MIZUKI Yoko
Cinematographer: MIYAJIMA Yoshio
Art Director: TODA Shigemasa
Music: TAKEMITSU Toru
Cast: ARATAMA Michiyo, MIKUNI Rentaro, NAKADAI Tasuya, KISHI Keiko, NAKAMURA
Katsuo, TANBA Tetsuro, SHIMURA Takashi
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Onibaba
1964/100 min./B/W/CinemaScope
Set in war-torn medieval times, a woman and her son’s wife make a living by
killing off defeated and fleeing warriors and selling their armor. A man who
came back from the fighting tells them that the woman’s son was killed. The
widowed young woman starts having an affair with the man who brought the
news. The older woman becomes obsessed by jealousy and the fear that the
younger woman would leave her, and scares the couple wearing a demonic mask.
Partially based on the legends of onibaba (demon-hag), the film tells a
dynamic story of unrestrained desires and instincts. The prolific SHINDO
Kaneto, known for The Island and The Owl, highlights the earthy strengths of
women.
Director, Screenwriter: SHINDO Kaneto
Cinematographer: KURODA Kiyomi
Art Director: SHINDO Kaneto, MATSUMOTO Hiroshi
Music: HAYASHI Hikaru
Cast: OTOWA Nobuko, YOSHIMURA Jitsuko, SATO Kei, TONOYAMA Taiji, UNO Jukichi
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The Living Koheiji
1982/78 min./Color/Standard
Set in Edo period. Koheiji, an actor, and Takuro, a musician, and his wife,
Ochika, grew up together and are traveling performers. Koheiji’s obsession
for his friend’s wife grows until he finally demands that Takuro give up
Ochika so that Koheiji might have her. Incensed, Takuro beats up Koheiji,
believing that he murdered him. Then Koheiji begins to haunt Takuro and
Ochika. The film is inspired by a novel based on an Edo-period play that
features the ghost of an actor. This is the last film made by NAKAGAWA
Nobuo, master of such films as The Ghost Story of Yotsuya and Hell.
Director, Screenwriter: NAKAGAWA Nobuo
Based on a Play: SUZUKI Senzaburo
Cinematographer: HIGUCHI Ikio
Art Director: NISHIOKA Yoshinobu, KAMON Ryoichi
Cast: FUJIMA Fumihiko, ISHIBASHI Shoji, MIYASHITA Junko
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Seance
1999/97 min./Color
Junko, the wife of sound engineer Katsuhiko, has a very keen sixth sense.
Invited to help police find a kidnapped girl, Junko could not used her
extra-sensory powers to solve the case. The couple later finds the girl in a
most unexpected place?inside Katsuhiko’s equipment container. Junko comes
up
with an idea and . . . Kiyoshi Kurosawa, who directed Cure (1997) and Pulse
(2000) presents a drama in which a couple’s peaceful routine is suddenly
caught up in the wheels of fortune. The film’s restrained, quiet mood
somehow increases the scariness of the unknown hidden in the ordinary.
Director: KUROSAWA Kiyoshi
Based on a Novel by: Marc McShane
Screenwriter: OISHI Tetsuya, KUROSAWA Kiyoshi
Cinematographer: SHIBANUSHI Takahide
Art Director: MARUO Tomoyuki
Music: ASHIYA Gary
Cast: YAKUSHO Koji, FUBUKI Jun, ISHIDA Hikari, KISHIBE Ittoku, AIKAWA Sho
◆KUROSAWA Kiyoshi Profile
Kurosawa was born in 1955. He debuted with Kandagawa Wars (1983), which was
followed by The Excitement of the Do-Re-Mi-Fa Girl (1985) and Sweet Home
(1989). The Guard from the Underground (1992), the Katte ni Shiyagare
series, and the Revenge series have the unique imprints of this director.
Such films as Cure (1997) and License to Live (1998) received acclaim at
film festivals abroad. In 1999, Kurosawa completed two major works, Charisma
and Barren Illusions. In 2001, his Pulse received the FIPRESI Award at the
Cannes Film Festival and in 2003 Bright Future competed for the Palm d’Or
in Cannes. Another film, Doppelganger, was released in the same year. His
latest works, Mushitachi no Ie (2005) and Loft (2005) are scheduled to be
released later this year. Kurosawa has written several books, including Eizo
no Karisuma (Charisma of Images), Eiga wa Osoroshii (Movies are Scary) and
Kurosawa Kiyoshi no Kyofu no Eiga-shi (Kurosawa Kiyoshi’s History of Horror
Films). His Pulse was commercially released in the United States this
summer, and has been remade in Hollywood.
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*door open; 15mins. before
9/16 (Fri)
19：00 ? The Tale of Oiwa’s Ghost, (1961/KATO Tai/94min./35mm)
9/17 (Sat)
14：00 ? Yotsuya Kwaidan, (1959/MISUMI Kenji/84min./35mm)
16：00 ? Seance, (1999/KUROSAWA Kiyoshi/97min./35mm)
17：40 ? Talk by:KUROSAWA Kiyoshi *Admission Free
19：00 ? The Living Koheiji, (1982/NAKAGAWA Nobuo/78min./16mm)
9/18 (Sun)
13：30 ? Onibaba, (1964/SHINDO Kaneto/100min./35mm)
16：00 ? Kwaidan, (1964/KOBAYASHI Masaki/183min./35mm)
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For detail:
TOKYO FILMeX office
TEL: 03-3560-6394
e-mail: info@filmex.jp