From nornes at umich.edu Sat Mar 21 22:47:49 2026 From: nornes at umich.edu (Markus Nornes) Date: Sat, 21 Mar 2026 22:47:49 -0400 Subject: [KineJapan] Shinsekai RIP Message-ID: Mike Arnold brought this sad news to my attention. What a drag. https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/6399ba6eeddeb27cac6e171146e55276d41a77fa?fbclid=IwdGRleAQsNmJleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA8xNzM4NDc2NDI2NzAzNzAAAR7KWBGOPFc3ZABYKa7fqO3KwkMVG5jhanOuU0hrpnn-tFL1ONZ0yY3LhW463Q_aem_SuJarwy-iIC7XzmjgRvqAA Read the article. It?s great. You?ll get a sense for what you missed if you never visited. Anyone have stories? M --- *Markus Nornes* *Professor of Asian Cinema* Department of Film, Television and Media, Department of Asian Languages and Cultures, Penny Stamps School of Art & Design *Homepage: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~nornes/ * *Department of Film, Television and Media* *6348 North Quad* *105 S. State Street**Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1285* -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From pslarson2 at gmail.com Sun Mar 22 15:16:08 2026 From: pslarson2 at gmail.com (Peter Larson) Date: Sun, 22 Mar 2026 15:16:08 -0400 Subject: [KineJapan] Shinsekai RIP In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: oh man, I always make a pilgrimage to the Kokusai whenever I visit Osaka, I have numerous pictures of those handpainted signs. I even braved going into the basement level pink theater, which was an experience all its own. While the theater was kind of what you'd expect, video projection of pink films, really not clean, lots of elderly men, some cross dressing... people doing stuff (stay away from the bathrooms). The drink machine section was the real attraction for me where there were som extremely interesting conversations to be had. One time I had drinks (Ozeki One Cup, baby!) with an elderly couple (the lady was not cross dressing) who had been coming to the kokusai for decades. They happily told me all about what would go on there back in the 1960s, when they started visiting. They didn't even dress it up, no graphic detail seemed to be spared, but it was still extremely endearing all the same to hear an obviously still very happy couple happily reminisce about the objectively wild things they did in their youth. Among all my other life regrets, I regret not showing up on a Monday for the sign change.The person working there invited me to show up and meet the guys who paint the signs. Shinsekai is hardly what it used to be, many of the cinemas, pink or not, are gone, and the earthy vibe that used to make it a great place to be is long gone. But still, if you go there late at night, the same crossdressing street walkers are hidden in corners, still making the rounds. With the closing of the Kokusai, I'm not sure they will have anywhere to go. Say what you will about these kinds of theaters, but there was a real community of people built up around them, just like any other communal space. With the loss of the Kokusai, that community might no longer exist. Pete On Sat, Mar 21, 2026 at 10:48?PM Markus Nornes via KineJapan < kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote: > Mike Arnold brought this sad news to my attention. What a drag. > > > https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/6399ba6eeddeb27cac6e171146e55276d41a77fa?fbclid=IwdGRleAQsNmJleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA8xNzM4NDc2NDI2NzAzNzAAAR7KWBGOPFc3ZABYKa7fqO3KwkMVG5jhanOuU0hrpnn-tFL1ONZ0yY3LhW463Q_aem_SuJarwy-iIC7XzmjgRvqAA > > Read the article. It?s great. You?ll get a sense for what you missed if > you never visited. Anyone have stories? > > M > > --- > > *Markus Nornes* > *Professor of Asian Cinema* > > Department of Film, Television and Media, Department of Asian Languages > and Cultures, Penny Stamps School of Art & Design > > > > > *Homepage: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~nornes/ > * > *Department of Film, Television and Media* > *6348 North Quad* > *105 S. State Street**Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1285* > > > _______________________________________________ > KineJapan mailing list > KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu > https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From nornes at umich.edu Sun Mar 22 17:00:48 2026 From: nornes at umich.edu (Markus Nornes) Date: Sun, 22 Mar 2026 17:00:48 -0400 Subject: [KineJapan] Shinsekai RIP In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Thanks Pete! I was never able to go inside, but this is the kind of story I often heard. Somewhere I have a photo book of the signs, which were absolutely retro and charming. Could you share any? Markus On Sun, Mar 22, 2026 at 3:16?PM Peter Larson wrote: > oh man, I always make a pilgrimage to the Kokusai whenever I visit Osaka, > I have numerous pictures of those handpainted signs. > > I even braved going into the basement level pink theater, which was an > experience all its own. While the theater was kind of what you'd expect, > video projection of pink films, really not clean, lots of elderly men, some > cross dressing... people doing stuff (stay away from the bathrooms). > > The drink machine section was the real attraction for me where there were > som extremely interesting conversations to be had. One time I had drinks > (Ozeki One Cup, baby!) with an elderly couple (the lady was not cross > dressing) who had been coming to the kokusai for decades. They happily told > me all about what would go on there back in the 1960s, when they started > visiting. They didn't even dress it up, no graphic detail seemed to be > spared, but it was still extremely endearing all the same to hear an > obviously still very happy couple happily reminisce about the objectively > wild things they did in their youth. > > Among all my other life regrets, I regret not showing up on a Monday for > the sign change.The person working there invited me to show up and meet the > guys who paint the signs. > > Shinsekai is hardly what it used to be, many of the cinemas, pink or not, > are gone, and the earthy vibe that used to make it a great place to be is > long gone. But still, if you go there late at night, the same crossdressing > street walkers are hidden in corners, still making the rounds. With the > closing of the Kokusai, I'm not sure they will have anywhere to go. > > Say what you will about these kinds of theaters, but there was a real > community of people built up around them, just like any other communal > space. With the loss of the Kokusai, that community might no longer exist. > > Pete > > On Sat, Mar 21, 2026 at 10:48?PM Markus Nornes via KineJapan < > kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote: > >> Mike Arnold brought this sad news to my attention. What a drag. >> >> >> https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/6399ba6eeddeb27cac6e171146e55276d41a77fa?fbclid=IwdGRleAQsNmJleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA8xNzM4NDc2NDI2NzAzNzAAAR7KWBGOPFc3ZABYKa7fqO3KwkMVG5jhanOuU0hrpnn-tFL1ONZ0yY3LhW463Q_aem_SuJarwy-iIC7XzmjgRvqAA >> >> Read the article. It?s great. You?ll get a sense for what you missed if >> you never visited. Anyone have stories? >> >> M >> >> --- >> >> *Markus Nornes* >> *Professor of Asian Cinema* >> >> Department of Film, Television and Media, Department of Asian Languages >> and Cultures, Penny Stamps School of Art & Design >> >> >> >> >> *Homepage: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~nornes/ >> * >> *Department of Film, Television and Media* >> *6348 North Quad* >> *105 S. State Street >> **Ann >> Arbor, MI 48109-1285 >> * >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> KineJapan mailing list >> KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu >> https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan >> > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: