December Film Show

Robocon / ロボコン








Date: 20th December 2008 , Saturday
Time: 15:00 PM, 119min
Venue: FINAS
Cast: NAGASAWA Masami, OGURI Jun, ITO Atsushi
Directed by FURUMAYA Tomoyuki (古厩　智之)

SYNOPSIS:

Satomi is aimlessly attending a vocational school and becomes a member of the robot club by chance. There are two robot clubs at her school. The first club’s members are handpicked elite and have regularly participated in the robot contest. The other one, which Satomi belongs to, is full of hacks and the club is about to close down. The second club participates in a local contest, but cannot even pass the first stage. However, their unique idea is praised and they are invited to attend the National Robot Contest...

Turtles are Surprisingly Fast Swimmers /
亀は意外と速く泳ぐ

Date: 6th December 2008, Saturday
Time: 15:00, 90min

Venue: FINAS

Cast: UENO Juri, AOI Yu, IWAMATSU Ryo, FUSE Eri

Directed by MIKI Satoshi (三木　聡)

SYNOPSIS:

Bored housewife Suzume leads a very mundane life. Her husband has been transferred to work in another city, leaving Suzume on her own. The most demanding job of the day is feeding her husband’s beloved pet turtle. Suzume is getting fed up of this daily grind, but the she sees a newspaper advertisement, which reads “Spy needed”. Suzume calls up and meets a married couple, Mr. and Mrs. Kugitani who run a “professional” spy business...

For more info, please visit http://www.jfkl.org.my/shows/film_body.php?id=101

Y(^0^)Y

Horn Trio New Year Concert

Date & Time: 9 January 2009, Friday
Time:8.30PM
Venue: Pentas 1, Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (KLPac)

Ticket: RM30, RM15 (JFKL Members, Students, disabled & Senior Citizens)

*Group booking - 20% off ticket prices for groups of 10 or more
available at KLPac box office 03-4047-9000

for more info, please visit http://www.jfkl.org.my/

Performing Arts

Bigeikoh by KUDAN Project

KUDAN Project is based in Nagoya, Japan, founded in 1998 by AMANO Tengai (playwright and director) and OGUMA Hideji (actor and producer). It consists of two actors (Mr. Oguma and Mr. Jitsunashi) and staff from various renowned theatre companies and freelance artists. By combining excellent techniques in different genres, they pursue wider possibility of theatrical expression. This time, KUDAN Project tours Bandung, Indonesia and Kuala Lumpur.

The details as below:-

• Date: 27, 28 & 29 November 2008
• Venue: Black Box Theatre at Akademi Seni Budaya dan Warisan Kebangsaan (ASWARA)
• Ticket: RM30, RM15 (Students, Senior Citizens, Disabled & JFKL Members)
• Reservation: Please call to JFKL Tel. 03-2284 6228 (Mon-Fri, 8:30am-4:30pm)

Visit http://www.jfkl.org.my/events/event_body.php?id=169 for more details.

The Waseda Brass Ensemble Concert

The Waseda Brass has been organized in 2000 by the members of the brass section who belonged to Waseda University Symphony Orchestra (Tokyo) in late 1970’s. They have performed twice in Penang (2006 & 2007), and this year they play both in Penang and Kuala Lumpur. This time, they will play a variety of music like western classical music, pop music, and even Japanese and Malaysian popular songs. This event is supported by The Japan Foundation, Kuala Lumpur.

• Date & Time: 23 (Sun) November 2008 @ 8:30pm
• Venue: Istana Budaya, Lambang Sari (Small Hall)
• Admission: Free

For further enquiry, please contact the Box-Office Istana Budaya

Tel: 03-4026 5558 / www.istanabudaya.gov.my

Visit http://www.jfkl.org.my/events/event_body.php?id=170 for more details.

Y(^O^)Y

The Weekend Japanese Film Show

Japanese Film Show

“Children on the Island”

Date: 2 February 2008 (Saturday)

Time: 4:30pm

Staff Director: Producer: Cast

ASAMA Yoshitaka MOTOMURA Takeshi TANAKA Yuko TAKEDA Tetsuya SASAKI Sumie KONNO Misako

“The Castle of Sand”

Date: 16 February 2008 (Saturday),

Time: at 4:30pm

Staff Director: Producer: Cast

NOMURA Yoshitaro HASHIMOTO Shinobu SATO Masayuki MISHIMA Yoshiharu TANBA Tetsuro MORITA Kensaku KATO Go KATO Yoshi

The film will be screened:
at Mini Auditorium, Malaysia Tourism Centre
Admission Free

For more Info and Details Visit http://www.jfkl.org.my/

Y(^0^)Y

Bunraku

Bunraku (Japanese: 文楽), also known as Ningyō jōruri (人形浄瑠璃), is a form of traditional Japanese puppet theater, founded in Osaka in 1684.

Three kinds of performers take part in a bunraku performance:

• Ningyōtsukai or Ningyōzukai - Puppeteers
• Tayū - the chanters
• Shamisen players
  

Occasionally other instruments such as taiko drums will be used.

The most accurate term for the traditional puppet theater in Japan is ningyō jōruri. The combination of chanting and shamisen playing is called jōruri and the Japanese word for puppet is ningyō. Puppet plays are believed to have their origins in the 10th or 11th century. Itinerant entertainers, many from Awaji Island in the Seto Inland Sea, presented plays in the nearby cities of Osaka and Kyoto.

Originally, Bunraku( Japanese puppet theater), is probably the most developed form of puppetry in the world. It is closer in style to Punch and Judy than Pinnochio as there are no strings and in its early days the puppeteers were hidden behind a curtain. The puppets are large - usually about one-half life size and the main characters are operated by three puppeteers. Many bunraku plays are historical and deal with the common Japanese theme of giri and ninjo which is the conflict between social obligations and human emotions. The greatest works by Japan's most famous playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653~1724) are bunraku plays, many of which are written around this kind of conflict.

Bunraku is a combination of puppetry, joruri and musical accompaniment provided by the three-stringed shamisen, began in the Edo Period (1600~1868) in Osaka. As example of kabuki before it, in the 1600's bunraku became the common man's equivalent of the noh, which only the aristocracy were allowed to study. It flourished from the end of the 17th century, thanks particularly to the popular collaboration of the chanter Takemoto Gidayu I with Chikamatsu. Chikamatsu's Love Suicides at Sonezaki (1703, Sonezaki Shinju) is equivalent in stature and theme to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The play, based on an actual recent love-suicide, was so popular that it caused an increase in this kind of suicide until the government made it illegal. The concept of basing a play on a recent event was revolutionary and really caught the imagination of the public. The most famous bunraku play is probably Chushingura: The Treasury of Loyal Retainers (Kanadehon Chushingura), a story of heroics, loyalty and revenge, which has also been made into a famous kabuki play and filmed many times.

The omozukai, or main puppeteer, manipulates the head and features and the right arm while the two lower ranked puppeteers operate the left arm and the legs (with a 10-year long apprenticeship on each before becoming an omozukai). The omozukai is visible to the audience which he is the star of the show. After that, there often colorfully dressed while the other operators are 'invisible'. But actually they are just cloaked in black robes and hoods. Puppets of female characters usually don't have legs as they are clad in full-length kimono.

Since the Meiji Period (1868~1912), when Western culture became increasingly popular, bunraku has been in decline and relies on government sponsorship and revenue from the National Theater in Tokyo and the National Bunraku Theater in Osaka. When the National Theater opened in 1966, it was the first permanent home bunraku had had in almost 150 years. Although there are occasional increases in popularity, the real problem lies in the fact that the craftsmen who create the puppets and costumes are dying out and the long apprenticeship necessary to take their place does not appeal to today's young generation.

A bunraku puppet's head. This particular puppet is a head used in Sanbaso performances

A 'musume' or maiden puppet head

A 'bunshichi' or warrior puppet head

The character Osono, from the play Hade Sugata Onna Maiginu, in a performance by the Tonda Traditional Puppet Troupe of Nagahama, Shiga Prefecture

A scene from Date Musume Koi no Hikanoko, in which Oshichi, the greengrocer's daughter, climbs a fire tower on a snowy night to sound a false alarm in order to save her lover. A performance at the Tonda Traditional Puppet Hall in Nagahama, Shiga Prefecture.

posted by:~yin~

The JULY Japanese FILM SHOW

***ADMISSION IS FREE***

WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLE

Presented by
The Japan Foundation, Kuala Lumpur & Embassy of Japan

In Cooperation with Malaysia Tourism Centre

Location : Mini Auditorium,Malaysia Tourism Centre (Formerly known as MATIC),109, Jalan Ampang, 50450, Kuala Lumpur (Tel: 2163 3664)

Transportation:

LRT - Dang Wangi or KLCC LRT

StationBus - Intrakota No 23,24C,34C Metro No 28

Cityliner No 174,175,176,182,183,185

KL Monorail - Bukit Nanas Station

Enquiry: The Japan Foundation, Kuala Lumpur (Tel:0321612104)(jpcc@jfkl.org.my)

Saturday, 21st July 2007 Starting 16:30
The School in the Woods / 森の学校

Directed by NISHIGAKI Yoshiharu (西垣 義春), 2002, 108min, Colour

Staff
Director:
NISHIGAKI Yoshiharu
Screenplay:
KATAOKA Akiyoshi
NISHIGAKI Yoshiharu
YAMAGUCHI Setsu
Executive Producer:
OGINO Hiroshi
SUZUKI Toyoji
Producers:
TOSHIMA Izumi
YAMADA Yuji
Photography:
SAKANE Shozo

Cast
Kawai Masao:
MIURA Haruma
三浦　春馬
Kawai Shizuko:
KANZAKI Ai
神崎　愛
Kawai Hideo:
SHINODA Saburo
篠田　三郎
Maeda Miyoko:
KOMINE Rena
小峰　玲奈

SYNOPSIS:
Near the Mount Sasayama in Tanba, around the time of the World War II. As usual, the excited voices of playing children reverberate around a quiet castle town surrounded by mountains. Though frequently scolded by the townsfolk, the children merely continue their mischievous pranks unabated. Their leader, Masao, is the third of six children, all of whom are boys. Even though Masao is the most naughty of them all, he occasionally develops a fever, and is often absent from school. He feels increasingly inferior to his high-performing brothers as he can’t follow the lessons at all because of his absence. While his teachers are concerned about his tardiness at school, his parents quietly support him. They feel that health is more important than anything, and that everyone develops in their own way.

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Saturday, 7th July 2007 Starting 16:30
The Shimanto River / 四万十川
Directed by ONCHI Hideo (恩地 日出夫), 1991, 111min, Colour

Staff
Director: ONCHI Hideo
Screenplay: FURUTA Kyu
Based on a novel by: SASAYAMA Kyuzo
Executive Producer: NABESHIMA Hisao
Producer: ISAKI Nobuaki
Photography: ANDO Shohei
Music: MOURI Kuroudo

Cast
Yamamoto Atsuyoshi:
YAMADA Teppei
山田　哲平
Asako, his sister:
TAKAHASHI Kaori
高橋　かおり
Sumi, mother:
HIGUCHI Kanako
樋口　可南子
Hideo, father:
KOBAYASHI Kaoru
小林　薫
Asano Chiyoko, Atsu’s friend:
KOJIMA Sachiko
小島　幸子


SYNOPSIS:
A boy named Atsuyoshi grows up along the Shimanto River , which is known as the last backwater of rural legend and superstition, catching eels and running along the forest paths. His family runs a grocery shop, but his father, Hideo, spends much of the time away from home as a construction laborer. One day, Hideo is sent to a hospital with a big injury.
Atsu helps the shop when possible, but he also attends school and play with his friend, Taichi. Atsu is disturbed by his father’s absence and his mother’s overwork. He depends on his elder sister Atsuko. When the sister announces she will leave school and go work in the city to make extra money, Atsu throws a fit.

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by Aeris ^_^

Kabuki

(歌舞伎, kabuki) is a form of traditional Japanese theatre . Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate make up worn by its performers. The individual kanji characters, from left to right, mean sing (歌), dance (舞), and skill (伎). Kabuki is sometimes translated as "the art of singing and dancing." These are, ateji, characters that do not reflect actual etymology. The word kabuki is believed to derive from the verb kabuku, meaning "to lean" or "to be out of the ordinary", so kabuki can be interpreted to mean "avant-garde" or "bizarre" theatre. The expression kabukimono (歌舞伎者) referred originally to wild urban gangs of young eccentrics who dressed outrageously and had strange hairstyles.

History

In the 17th century, this traditional art form was created by Okuni, a female shrine attendant. Although greatly influenced by the aristocratic noh, kabuki was largely popular entertainment for the masses. A large part of the popularity of the early, all female performances was due to their sensual nature. The performers were also prostitutes and male audiences often got out of control. As a result, women were banned from performing by the Tokugawa Shogunate. Ironically, the young male actors who took over kabuki also engaged in prostitution and audience disturbances continued to break out. Besides that, based on kyogen, the Shogunate clamped down and troupes composed of older actors were required to perform more formalized and strictly theatrical dramas. In addition, the changes were made to the traditional noh stage, such as adding a draw curtain and a hanamichi (catwalk) through the audience to allow dramatic entrances and exits.




Widely considered as Japan's greatest dramatist, Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653~1724) spent the mid-part of his career writing kabuki dramas, although his greatest works were bunraku puppet plays. When he returned to bunraku, fans went with him and kabuki actors began to incorporate elements of bunraku in an attempt to woo them back. Among the great kabuki dynasties, the Ichikawa Danjuro line is perhaps the best known and continues to this day. Ichikawa Danjuro II (1688~1758) premiered many great works and adapted puppet plays for the kabuki stage. Successors played a huge part in raising the status of kabuki in society. Other great acting dynasties include Onoe Kikugoro and Bando Tamasaburo.

The actors who play female roles are known as onnagata or oyama (such as National Living Treasure Nakamura Jakuemon, left, born in 1920). As kabuki gained a level of respectability, the importance of these roles increased. The first great onnagata was Yoshizawa Ayame I (1673~1729). Many of the great kabuki actors have built their reputations solely on these roles. The performances are not so much 'acting' in the Western sense as stylized representations of female beauty or virtue. While early onnagata were required to maintain their feminine persona and dress even in their private lives, this practice was abolished in the Meiji Restoration of 1868.

Kabuki is performed on a large, revolving stage and has such familiar stage devices as scenic backdrops and trapdoors for surprise entrances. Kamite (stage left) is often where you will see the important or high-ranking characters, while shimote (stage right) is occupied by lower-ranking characters. Actors perform kata (forms) as they have been performed throughout the generations. An example is mie or striking an attitude, often with one's eyes crossed and an exaggerated expression for dramatic effect.

In the mid-18th century, kabuki fell out of favor for a time, with bunraku taking its place as the premier form of stage entertainment among the lower social classes. This occurred partly because of the emergence of several skilled bunraku playwrights in that time. Little of note would occur in the development of kabuki until the end of the century, when it began to re-emerge.

Below are some images shown that a demostration of apply the make up.

posted by hooi yin ^.^