"Nihonsei eiga" no yomikata (E+J)

[Ono Seiko and Aaron Gerow]

One recent publication in Japanese is the following:

"Nihonsei eiga" no yomikata: 1980-1999
ed. Muto Kiichi, et al.
Firumu Atosha, 1999
ISBN 4845999951
2000 yen

????????????1980-1999
??????
????????, 1999
ISBN 4845999951
2000 yen

Like many books of its kind, this tries to do a lot and ends up being a 
very uneven mess, but still interesting enough to merit buying.  As part 
of the Cine Lesson series from Film Art, it aims to teach readers some of 
the basics of educated film viewing; so it is basically a "who's who" and 
"what to watch for" book.  One section deals with 14 seminal films, 
another introduces 50 contemporary directors, and a third takes up 
various leading issues (such as politics, Asia, pink film, the business, 
etc.).  A final section gives an intro to Japanese film history (by 
former Film Center staffer Sazaki Yoriaki) for those Japanese who don't 
know their own cinema.  Some of the essays, like the one by Abe Kasho, 
are quite interesting, but others (by Mori Naoto or Kimura Tatsuya) are 
problematic.

Aaron Gerow