[KineJapan] Films on Catholicism/Christianity in Japanese cinema

[Michael Kerpan]

Kyle --

Oba's Bells of Nagasaki (Nagasaki no Kane) from 1950 might be of interest.
It is the story of Takasshi Nagai, a Catholic physician who did a lot of
emergency work after the atomic bombing.  (He wass  called the Saint of
Urakami eventually). Another book by Nagai was made into a movie by
Kinoshita in 1983 (Leaving These Children Behind) -- but I've never seen
this, so know nothing much about it.

Michael Kerpan
Boston, MA

On Wed, Feb 16, 2022 at 5:22 PM Roger Macy via KineJapan <
kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote:

> Dear Kyle,
>
> Welcome to KineJapan.
>
> Your subject is potentially very broad, so it is wise to limit your thesis
> to a few films. I haven’t seen *Violent Virgin* – I would never have
> thought to go to Wakamatsu as a source on Catholicism so I’ll be interested
> in what you make of it.
>
> It’s perfectly logical to concentrate on Shinoda’s version of *Silence*,
> as the Japanese-made one, but the problem there is that Shinoda’s was
> emphatically made outside of a Catholic world, whereas Scorsese’s was very
> much made within the strictures of his Church (although there is an
> Anglican bishop in the story), and made much more to the later wishes of
> the deceased ENDŌ Shūsaku who had latterly also brought himself more
> within the Church’s strictures. I make a stab at that in my review here
> <https://www.japansociety.org.uk/review?review=515>.
>
> At Kineclub XVIII at Yale, March ’19, KAMIYA Makiko gave a presentation on
> ‘Christianism’ in some Japanese films.  The panel was related to MAKINO
> Masahiro’s *Gate of Flesh* ‘48, but other films were cited. That
> presentation may now be available online or written up elsewhere.
>
> How far do you want to go back ? The one Japanese feature film made with
> specific backing of the Catholic church was Junkyō kesshi ~ Nihon
> nijū-roku seijin, *26 Martyrs of **Japan*, 1931, directed by IKEDA
> Tomiyasu. I have a lot of unpublished work on that and rejected bids on
> presentations (be warned!) . There is considerable published literature on
> it but little in english. What languages can you read ? I have my rough
> translations on them.
>
> Roger
>
>
> On Wednesday, 16 February 2022, 21:13:01 GMT, Kyle LaChance via KineJapan <
> kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote:
>
>
> Hello, I am a 2nd year Master's student writing my thesis on the
> utilization and presentation of Catholicism historiographically in Japanese
> animation and cinema. Currently I have identified 3 anime and 4 live-action
> cinematic works which I will list below. Are there other key works that I
> might be missing?
>
> Anime:
> *Trinity Blood*
> *Blue Exorcist*
> *Seven Deadly Sins*
>
> Live-Action:
> *Vengeance is Mine*
> *Silence *by Shinoda Masahiro
> *Sea and Poison*
> *Violent Virgin*
>
> I appreciate any help and apologize for any inconvenience.
>
> All the best,
>
> --
> Kyle LaChance
> Second Year in the Masters in International and Regional Studies
> International Institute and Center for Japanese Studies
>
>
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