[KineJapan] RIP Roger Macy

[Maria Jose Gonzalez]

 Dear Alex,
I am late in joining the tributes to Roger.I was very saddened to read your message.Although I never met him, we often corresponded via e-mail and had many fruitful conversations, mainly about Japanese Cinema, of course, but also about Japan in general.I often marvelled at his uncommon elan when researching any matter and his capacity to observe all the hidden bits and corners, which he enthusiastically shared.His contributions to any Japanese cinema discussion will be sorely missed.
María José González    On Sunday, 26 October 2025 at 09:22:39 PM GMT+9, Alexander Jacoby via KineJapan <kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote:  
 
 Dear all,
It's been heartening to read all these tributes to Roger; it's good to hear how much he meant to many members of the KineJapan community. I often think that the reason it's worth any of us devoting our academic lives to Japanese film is because, at heart, we are enthusiasts, and Roger was a true enthusiast.
One of the tributes asked if there were any plans to commemorate his legacy. Many of his writings are still online at Midnight Eye and Senses of Cinema, and form one part of it; and I wonder (not with especially high hopes) if the BFI could be persuaded to screen Kaguyahime in tribute, the rediscovery of which, as Jasper points out, was his doing. But much of his legacy is more indirect - the sharply phrased query in a conference which led me, and no doubt others, to rethink a critical observation or correct a matter of fact - he is present, I'm sure, to varying degrees in the work that many of us have produced.
I think that his son and daughter would be touched to read the warm tributes on the thread, and wonder if anyone would have any objection if I were to forward them to Colin.
As ever,

ALEX


On Sat, 25 Oct 2025 at 04:04, Aaron Gerow <aaron.gerow at yale.edu> wrote:

Thanks Alex for conveying the news. I don’t think I can replicate all the wonderful stories others are relating, but I can add that I myself had many pleasurable moments meeting Roger and seeing him in action at conferences, in London, and evenThanks Alex for conveying the news. I don’t think I can replicate all the wonderful stories others are relating, but I can add that I myself had many pleasurable moments meeting Roger and seeing him in action at conferences, in London, and even once when he came to Yale to do research in the Close Up papers we have. 
I should note that Rober is a member of the Editorial Collective at Kinema Club. When we were thinking of who could best represent this peculiar organization, we immediately thought of Roger. In many ways, he represents what Kinema Club/KineJapan should be: free and open to anyone, academic or fan, to speak about Japanese film and media, while encouraging a deep and continuing engagement with the cinema and its lovers. 
You will be missed, Roger.
Aaron Gerow


10/24/25 午後8:01、Alexander Jacoby via KineJapan <kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu>のメール:
Dear all,
I thought members of KineJapan might wish to be informed of the death of Roger Macy, who often posed queries and engaged in discussion about Japanese film via this mailing list. His son, who I don't know personally, contacted me the other day by text to share the news.
Roger was a true enthusiast, whose interest in Japanese film and Japan in general stemmed in part from family matters; his daughter had settled and married in the country. He took his enthusiasm seriously and engaged in his own private research into Japanese cinema. His opinions about the films he watched and discussed were sometimes eccentric, even at times infuriating, but always stimulating, and he was a source of entertaining and knowledgeable conversation.
Although he had no academic post, he regularly travelled to conferences and lectures on film and Japan-related themes, and voyaged across Britain, to Paris and to the Cinema Ritrovato Festival in Bologna to see rare movies. Alas, this year he was not able to go to Bologna. When I visited him last month in the nursing home to which his final illness confined him, he was still lamenting that fact, as well as the failing eyesight which now prevented him from watching films.
To many people on this list he will have been a name rather than a face, and others will have known him only slightly. For anybody who knew him well, the funeral will be on Saturday 8th November in London; I'm happy to share details if messaged off-list.
Best wishes,

Alexander Jacoby(Senior Lecturer in Japanese Studies, Oxford Brookes University)alexanderjacoby at brookes.ac.uk_______________________________________________
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