[KineJapan] KineJapan Digest, Vol 93, Issue 2

Tue Feb 3 15:20:19 EST 2026

Congratulations, Anne, on this marvelous book!! I can't wait to get a copy!

Yours,

Julia

On Tue, Feb 3, 2026 at 3:05 PM <kinejapan-request at mailman.yale.edu> wrote:

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> Today's Topics:
>
>    1. new book announcement (Anne McKnight)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Tue, 3 Feb 2026 12:03:14 -0800
> From: Anne McKnight <annekmcknight at gmail.com>
> To: kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu
> Subject: [KineJapan] new book announcement
> Message-ID: <E59AB9DC-CA2E-48D3-B418-07DDE5D1D66D at gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> hi all~
>
> I think many of you have known about this, or have helped tweak in one way
> or another, but here is an official announcement that my book on/by
> Kurosawa his coming out today from U of Minnesota Press. Here?s a link...
>
> Here?s the back copy, for reference?below.
>
> If you are inclined to buy a copy, I would be grateful if you (and/or your
> library) purchased directly from the publisher or from Bookshop or your
> local indie bookstore. U Minnesota Press is based in Mineapolis, and any
> sales of this book would also contribute to all the good work they do. Not
> to mention Japanese literary and media studies, this also includes fields
> of film and media in general, Indigenous Studies, eco-criticism, social
> justice and liberation, Black Studies, various other theory-head stuff, and
> on and on. Bookshop.org is a B corporation, a network that supports
> independent bookstores; you can select one to get a cut of your purchase.
>
> I was lucky this project came up after Olga Solovieva?s book <
> https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-russian-kurosawa-9780192866004>
> on the Russian Kurosawa and Ryan Cook?s massively interesting translation
> of the Ozu book, as well as Okada Hidenori?s amazing exhibition <
> https://www.nfaj.go.jp/english/exhibition/akirakurosawascreenwriter2022/>
> at the National Film Archive on Kurosawa?s relation to
> writing/screenwriting. And of course, the groundwork laid earlier by
> Mitsuhiro Yoshimoto?s book and the Criterion subtitles, and on and on.
>
> For my own part, I was glad to see the genres of the taidan and zadankai
> make it into English-language print. And as strange a moment as it is to
> see such a ?postwar? book enter the world of today, it is a strong
> reminder, as programs and ?foreign? languages are cut, and our national
> government?s cocktail persists of xenophobia, white supremacy rebranded as
> ?Western civilization" and neglect, that we do llive in a world. The list
> of 100 films included in the book shows a different range of inspiration
> and interest than Hollywood, and stretches to include works like Pather
> Panchali, Where Is the Friend?s House?, A Summer at Grandpa?s, Midnight
> Cowboy, and Capricious Young Man.
>
> Many questions remain!?in viewing, research and processing, but meanwhile,
> here is some info you may use to see for yourself.
>
> Anne
>
>
> [link to U MN Press page]
>
> https://www.upress.umn.edu/9781517903299/long-take/?
> Long Take
> upress.umn.edu
>
>
> About the Author
> Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998) was a Japanese filmmaker, widely considered one
> of the most important and influential in the history of cinema. He directed
> thirty films, including Drunken Angel (1948),
>  Rashomon (1950), Seven Samurai (1954), The Hidden Fortress (1958), and
> Kagemusha (1980).
>
> Anne McKnight is associate professor of Japanese and comparative
> literature at the University of California, Riverside. She is author of
> Nakagami, Japan: Buraku and the Writing of Ethnicity, also published by the
> University of Minnesota Press.
>
> Reviews
> "Unobtrusively creative, Long Take is a tour de force synthesizing much of
> the best scholarship on Akira Kurosawa into an illuminating reconsideration
> of the director as both artist and critic. This is a must-read for anyone
> interested in Kurosawa, cinema, or Japanese cultural production of the
> twentieth century."--Kerim Yasar, author of Electrified Voices: How the
> Telephone, Phonograph, and Radio Shaped Modern Japan, 1868-1945
>
> "In today's world, the films of Akira Kurosawa are more relevant and
> significant than ever. Long Take, accompanied by Anne McKnight's insightful
> essay, serves as an excellent introduction to the filmmaker, and for those
> already familiar with his work, the book offers fresh perspectives and
> valuable insights that deepen appreciation for Kurosawa's
> films."--Mitsuhiro Yoshimoto, author of Kurosawa: Film Studies and Japanese
> Cinema
> "Translator McKnight does an excellent job clarifying the particulars of
> the Japanese film industry and cultural norms."--Kirkus Reviews
>
>
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