Mar. 20, 2016 marks the start of the Japan-America Society of Washington DC (JASWDC)’s third annual CineMatsuri, a DC film festival showcasing Japanese films. Kicking off the National Cherry Blossom Festival, CineMatsuri will feature five recent films of different genres to display the depth and diversity of modern Japanese filmmaking.
The star of the show is most definitely Persona Non Grata, a historical drama starring Toshiaki Karasawa, a film and theatre actor known, among many credits, as the Japanese voice of Woody in the Toy Story films. Karasawa plays Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara, who took advantage of his career in Lithuania to issue transit visas to Jews seeking refuge from Nazi Germany. Known as the “Japanese Schindler” or “Sempo” (an alternate reading of his name), Sugihara risked the safety of his career and his family cooperating with Polish intelligence under the shadow of the Soviet Union. For ten days, he handwrote more visas per day than were normally produced in a month, and it is estimated that over 40,000 Jews are alive today as a result of his courage. In 1985, Israel named him as one of the Righteous Among the Nations, and he remains the only Japanese person to be honored as such. Persona Non Grata will be shown four times over the course of the festival.
The original title of Flying Colors was Birigyaru, or Girl at the Bottom. Actor and talent Kasumi Arimura’s character, Sayaka, follows the gyaru subculture, a type of Japanese street fashion originating in the 1970s and characterized by the bleached or dyed hair and dramatic makeup. Though she is a second-year (out of three) high school student, she maintains the academic level of a fourth grader, transfers schools frequently over disciplinary issues, and shows little to no prospects for higher education. Desperate for her daughter to succeed, Sayaka’s mother enrolls her in a cram school to prepare her for her university entrance exams, where the school director takes a special interest in getting her into the prestigious Keio University.
Despite its title, Snow on the Blades is not about skating. The movie follows Kingo Shimura, a young man in service to the chief minister to the shogun. Under Kingo’s watch, the minister is murdered, and as chief of the guard, the blame falls to him and he is tasked with tracking down the assassins. Over the course of thirteen years, Kingo sees the shift from traditional dress to suit-and-tie as Japan adapts to western influences around him, a man consumed by his pursuit of a seemingly futile goal. Snow on the Blades wonderfully showcases the struggle between personal morals and the bushido, or samurai code.
After the death of his grandfather, 24-year-old Koen Shirakata leaves his job at a bookstore to become an abbot of Eifuku-ji, the 57th of 88 Shinto shrines on the Shikoku Junrei, a famous pilgrimage route. I Am a Monk is inspired by the writings of Missei Shirakawa, whose real life trials and tribulations in the world of Buddhism lead him to become the face of his community.
The final film, The Emperor in August, is based off of Kazuhoshi Hando’s nonfiction novel, Japan’s Longest Day. It chronicles the struggle of the Japanese governing bodies as they debate the best course of action regarding the Postwar Declaration issued after the end of World War II. The General, Emperor, and Prime Minister cannot reach a decision, and the Chief Secretary must sit idly by and watch them butt heads. There remains a group of commissioned officers who are against Japan surrendering, and Major Kenji Hatanaka leads the insurgents in a move to occupy the palace and a radio station set to broadcast the first words Emperor Hirohito has ever spoken to his people.
The films will be shown at four locations around the DC-Metro area, and showtimes and tickets can be found here. While the Cherry Blossom Festival is sponsored by the city itself, the JASWDC will host the Sakura Matsuri street festival on Saturday, April 16, as a celebration of all the aspects of Japanese culture that these films convey.
