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<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Dear James, Welcome,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>In a recent Midnight Eye review, I did question how far
'Mishima, A Life in Four Chapters' could be characterised as American (or
Japanese).</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><A
href="http://www.midnighteye.com/reviews/mishima-a-life-in-four-chapters.shtml">http://www.midnighteye.com/reviews/mishima-a-life-in-four-chapters.shtml</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>And on a recent thread here, I questioned whether Wenders
was the author of the Japanese interviews in 'Tokyo-Ga'. Following advice
on the thread at the time, I did email the Wenders office about the identity of
the interviewer, but I got no response.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>As for the voice-over in the rest of the film, I'd like to
suggest that it is in the same tradition as the voice-over of Sternberg in 'Saga
of Anatahan' (although 'pontificating' isn't the precise word I'd use to
describe Sternberg). But there is an opportunity to operate a control on
the Sternberg film, since it's Japanese version 'Anatahan', had a separate,
earlier Japanese release, presumably without the Sternberg commentary.
This film does make it JMDb</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><A
href="http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1953/cc001660.htm">http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1953/cc001660.htm</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>unlike, I think, any of the other films
mentioned.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Presumably this exists in some archive? Has anyone
seen the Japanese version ?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>As for documentaries, there's any amount of TV
documentaries on Japan, and I'm not sure where you'd draw the line.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>And, since you've got as close as Taiwan, there is the
legal point that Okinawa was not part of Japan from 1952 to
1970. I don't know whether there were any Okinawan takes on
Japan ?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>best,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Roger</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>----- Original Message ----- </FONT>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>From: "James King" <</FONT><A
href="mailto:jking@univmail.cis.mcmaster.ca"><FONT
face=Arial>jking@univmail.cis.mcmaster.ca</FONT></A><FONT
face=Arial>></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>To: <</FONT><A
href="mailto:kinejapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu"><FONT
face=Arial>kinejapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu</FONT></A><FONT
face=Arial>></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Sent: Thursday, March 25, 2010 11:59 PM</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Subject: Self-Introduction</FONT></DIV></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><BR></FONT></DIV><FONT face=Arial>> <BR>>
Hello,<BR>> <BR>> I am writing a book on American/European (also Indian
and Taiwanese)<BR>> treatments of post World War II Japan. This narrative
would do a wide<BR>> variety of films: e.g. Sayonara, A Bridge to the Sun,
The Sun,<BR>> Hiroshima, Mon Amour, The Teahouse of the August Moon, Mishima,
Lost in<BR>> Translation, Café Lumière, The Pillow Book, the documentaries
of<BR>> Wenders, Marker, Richie.<BR>> <BR>> In recent years, my
scholarship/writing has been related to Japan.<BR>> Five years ago I
published a novel Pure Inventions that is (in part)<BR>> set in Edo. In 2007,
Japanese Warrior Prints,1727-1960 was published by<BR>> Hotei (the book was
co-written with Yuriko Iwakiri). This spring my<BR>> history of the Japanese
landscape print will come out: Beyond The Great<BR>> Wave: The Japanese
Landscape Print, 1727-1960 (Bern: Peter Lang). <BR>> <BR>> Although
my project may not fit directly into the interests of most<BR>> members of
KineJapan, I would be interested to hear from anyone<BR>> interested in the
theoretical issues raised by this project. <BR>> <BR>> <BR>> James
King, F.R.S.C.<BR>> Distinguished University Professor<BR>> Department of
English and Cultural Studies<BR>> McMaster University</FONT></BODY></HTML>