Intro

[Aaron Gerow]

>1.  The UK is very poor at distributing Japanese movies on video - you can
>only buy a few Kurosawa (but not Red Beard), and some Ozu and some Kitano.
>Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Actually, I have ordered some videos from the UK precisely because there 
are some titles which are not available in the States on VHS, including 
some Nikkatsu Roman Poruno and recent films.  You can try some place like 
Choices Direct (http://www.choicesdirect.co.uk/contents.htm).

>3.  I was wondering if Donald Richie is planning to update his Kurosawa
>book - does anyone know what he is up to at the moment.

As Mark has mentioned before, Richie is finishing up (or finished?) a 
book on the best films of Japanese film history.  I last saw him when he 
came to Meigaku a few months ago to talk to a small group of us about his 
early years in Japan and the beginnings of foreign scholarship of 
Japanese film.  A bit weaker these days, but still very active.  By the 
way, a retro of Richie's films will be held in October someplace--I have 
to check where (my memory is not what it was).

Aaron Gerow
Yokohama National University
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