North Korea in Japanese Cinema since 1990

[Aaron Gerow]

On 2007.6.7, at 02:17  AM, J.sharp wrote:

> Finally, outside of film, if you can read Japanese (and not at a
> particularly sophisticated level either) there's a fascinating book 
> called
> Kim Jong Il's Chef (Kim Jong Il no ryourinin), which as the title 
> suggests,
> is an account by a top sushi chef invited over to Pyongyang to work in 
> a new
> hotel over there, and ends up personal chef to the great dictator 
> himself -
> unfortunately they wouldnt let him leave afterwards! The chef in 
> question,
> Kenji Fujimoto has made something of a career for himself after his 
> return
> talking bout his experiences.

Speaking of such experiences, there is a book called Gojira ga mita 
Kita Chosen by Satsuma Kenpachiro, one of the actors who has donned the 
Gojira rubber suit for Toho. When Kim Jong-il decided he wanted to make 
a kaiju eiga (Pulgasari), he invited Satsuma and some others to North 
Korea to help out. The book is about his experiences, but I think it is 
now out of print and only available on the used market. But we have it 
at Yale if you want to try ILL.


Aaron Gerow
Assistant Professor
Film Studies Program/East Asian Languages and Literatures
Yale University
53 Wall Street, Room 316
PO Box 208363
New Haven, CT 06520-8363
USA
Phone: 1-203-432-7082
Fax: 1-203-432-6764
e-mail: aaron.gerow at yale.edu