[KineJapan] "Why do Japanese actresses give such good performances?"

[Japanese Cinema Discussion Forum via KineJapan]

I seem to remember this being a Donald Richie quote. It certainly is the kind of thing Richie would have said, although I can't remember the source.




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From: KineJapan <kinejapan-bounces at lists.osu.edu> on behalf of Japanese Cinema Discussion Forum via KineJapan <kinejapan at lists.osu.edu>
Sent: 11 September 2017 10:04:16
To: kinejapan at lists.osu.edu
Subject: [KineJapan] "Why do Japanese actresses give such good performances?"

Dear all,

Hisashiburi, etc, etc!

I'm wondering if anyone might be able to help me out by identifying a puzzling sourceless quotation that I might like to use in an article introducing a forthcoming season of films about Japanese actresses at the British Film Institute.

The quotation, as I remember it, is that either a famous Japanese actress, or a famous director, was asked something along of the lines of: "Why are Japanese actresses so good?" And the reply was something like, "Because Japanese women have to spend their whole lives acting." Several people I've talked to confirm that they think they've heard the line, but no one can remember where it comes from and where it's cited. I felt pretty sure that it was in one of the older books, e.g., an early Richie or a Mellen, but the closest I've found either googling or looking through my library is Ian Buruma, but he's making a general comment about Japanese society, not specifically about women, and it's his own point, not something ascribed to a Japanese commentator.

It would be especially interesting if it had been an actress who had come out with the line - less interesting if I'm misremembering and it was a foreign critic who said it.

Thanks in advance for any leads,

ALEX JACOBY
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