Japanese Video Tapes in London (was KEIZOKU)

[drainer@mpinet.net]

  From my experience in the U.S., it seems as the Asian rental film market
is mainly composed of bootlegs and (of course) the demand is mostly from
within the culture. There is a Japanese Market where I am originally from
(currently 100 miles away) that clearly only rents bootlegged tapes of tv
shows, movies ,et al... but I am sure the authorities do not care, because
as you have mentioned, they're only corrupting Japanese (everything in there
is written in Kanji/hiragana, so the appeal for foreigners is nil...)
  In the Chinatown area stores like that have been abundant, with the only
difference being more 'professional bootlegs (fake box, etc..) Sadly the
only way to attain mass authentic material may be through those resources.

-df


----- Original Message -----
From: "Stephen Cremin" <asianfilmlibrary at mac.com>
To: <KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, March 20, 2001 9:33 AM
Subject: Re: Japanese Video Tapes in London (was KEIZOKU)


> Its a local government thing.  Depends where you live.  In the 1980s there
> was a wonderful Japanese video library at the Japan Centre which for a
while
> even occupied its own store.  All tapes were original and included a wide
> selection of Japanese films and international cinema with Japanese
> subtitles.  But the Video Recordings Act (1984?) requires that all videos
be
> classified for age rating and potentially censored; for the Japan Centre
to
> submit over 1000 tapes at anywhere from US$1000 to US$2000 each or more
> depending on length would have cost a couple of million dollars.  Police
> turned a blind eye to Chinatown: just one raid I'm aware of in 1980s, but
> then they were pretty legally compliant anyway.  Problem is that at the
cost
> of certification they were only prepared to subtitle sex, action and
> comedies with the bigger stars since then they'd get their money back from
> rentals.  I remember having to hire DAYS OF BEING WILD in the summer of
1991
> from a little old lady who walked around Chinatown with a carrier bag full
> of tapes: presumably triad operated.  The police of Westminster Council
> eventially shut down the Japan Centre's operations around ten years ago
> after a couple of swoops on them.  Their problem was that they had too
many
> non-Japanese members and were too visible.  Other rental libraries,
notably
> Books Nippon near St Pauls (and hence in another council's jurisdiction)
> were allowed to continue under strict guidelines that only Japanese
passport
> holders could rent tapes and that they mustn't make a profit.  I don't
know
> how legit Book Nippon is, but police generally turn a blind eye to
copyright
> infringements in other rental shops ... just as long as they're only
> corrupting fellow Japanese.  Video regulations were tightened in the 1990s
> and now renting a tape - even last night's soap opera - can result in a
five
> figure fine and a prison sentence if it hasn't been certified.  The
> certification board (BBFC) have improved a lot in recent years and now do
> their job much faster and with more openness but the prohibitive costs of
> classification effectively mean that its a censoring organisation.
Japanese
> Embassy in recent months have put two video recorders with monitors in
their
> public library in central London, but the only tapes you can view are
> origami documentaries and guides to Nara.  A great wasted opportunity
since
> I presume its off-limits to Video Recordings Act, etc, being an Embassy
(?).
>  So I haven't belonged to a Japanese video rental shop now for around ten
> years.  But the Koreans are very professional in their operations -
although
> very well hidden - and welcome non-Koreans.  Within a week of a film's
> rental release in Seoul, they'll be available in London converted to PAL
in
> large numbers.  They even have the odd Japanese film now with Korean subs.
>
> Stephen
>