Osamu Dazai and Masuji Ibuse

Ibuse-san wa akunin desu. [Ibuse is an evil man.] Osamu Dazai Osamu Dazai is considered one of the greatest 20th century Japanese writers. I’ve read the two of his novels that New Directions published in ...

Nagisa Oshima and Other Japanese New Wave Films

There have been two retrospectives of Oshima recently in New York, as well as a brief New Wave overview at the Japan Society. Most of these films aren’t readily available, and for Oshima at least, ...

Shohei Imamura 1926-2006

Imamura deserves much more space than I can give him here, and one should start at this overview, with some great quotes: I am interested in the relationship of the lower part of the human ...

Hiroshi Teshigahara: The Face of Another

Keiho Oguri: Sting of Death

Susan Sontag

Shohei Imamura, Pigs and Battleships