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Japanese Inventions
This is a list of Japanese inventions and discoveries. The Japanese have made contributions across a number of scientific and technological domains. In particular, the country has played a crucial role in the digital revolution since the 20th century, with many modern revolutionary and widespread technologies in fields such as electronics and robotics introduced by Japanese inventors and entrepreneurs. Arts ;Comic book :Adam L. Kern has suggested that '' kibyoshi'', picture books from the late 18th century, may have been the world's first comic books. These graphical narratives share with modern manga humorous, satirical, and romantic themes. Some works were mass-produced as serials using woodblock printing. ; Folding hand fan :In ancient Japan, the first hand fans were oval and rigid fans, influenced greatly by Chinese fans. The earliest visual depiction of fans in Japan dates back to the 6th century AD, with burial tomb paintings showed drawings of fans. The folding fan was in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north toward the East China Sea, Philippine Sea, and Taiwan in the south. Japan is a part of the Ring of Fire, and spans Japanese archipelago, an archipelago of List of islands of Japan, 6852 islands covering ; the five main islands are Hokkaido, Honshu (the "mainland"), Shikoku, Kyushu, and Okinawa Island, Okinawa. Tokyo is the Capital of Japan, nation's capital and largest city, followed by Yokohama, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Fukuoka, Kobe, and Kyoto. Japan is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eleventh most populous country in the world, as well as one of the List of countries and dependencies by population density, most densely populated and Urbanization by country, urbanized. About three-fourths of Geography of Japan, the c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Revolving Stage
A revolving stage is a mechanically controlled platform within a theatre that can be rotated in order to speed up the changing of a scene within a show. A fully revolving set was an innovation constructed by the hydraulics engineer Tommaso Francini for an elaborately produced pageant, ''Le ballet de la délivrance de Renaud'', which was presented for Marie de Medici in January 1617 at the Palais du Louvre and noted with admiration by contemporaries. Such a stage is also commonly referred to as a turntable. Kabuki theatre development Background Kabuki theatre began in Japan around 1603 when Okuni, a Shinto priestess of the Izumi shrine, traveled with a group of priestesses to Kyoto to become performers. Okuni and her nuns danced sensualized versions of Buddhist and Shinto ritual dances, using the shows as a shop window for their services at night. They originally performed in the dry river bed of the River Kamo on a makeshift wooden stage, but as Okuni’s shows gained popular ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Super Robot
Mecha anime and manga, known in Japan as and , are anime and manga that feature robots (mecha) in battle. The genre is broken down into two subcategories; "super robot", featuring super-sized, implausible robots, and "real robot", where robots are governed by realistic physics and technological limitations. Mecha series cover a wide variety of genres, from action to comedy to drama, and the genre has expanded into other media, such as video game adaptations. Mecha has also contributed to the popularity of scale model robots. History The 1940 short manga featured a powered, piloted, mechanical octopus. The 1943 Yokoyama Ryūichi's propaganda manga featured a sword-wielding, steam-powered, giant humanoid mecha. The first series in the mecha genre was Mitsuteru Yokoyama's 1956 manga ''Tetsujin 28-go'' (which was later animated in 1963 and also released abroad as '' Gigantor''). Yokoyama was inspired to become a manga creator by Osamu Tezuka, and began serializing the manga in ''S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clint Eastwood
Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the " Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "'' Dollars Trilogy''" of Spaghetti Westerns during the mid-1960s and as antihero cop Harry Callahan in the five '' Dirty Harry'' films throughout the 1970s and 1980s. These roles, among others, have made Eastwood an enduring cultural icon of masculinity. Elected in 1986, Eastwood served for two years as the mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. An Academy Award nominee for Best Actor, Eastwood won Best Director and Best Picture for his Western film '' Unforgiven'' (1992) and his sports drama '' Million Dollar Baby'' (2004). His greatest commercial successes are the adventure comedy '' Every Which Way but Loose'' (1978) and its action comedy sequel '' Any Which Way You Can'' (1980). Other popular Eastwood films include the Westerns ''H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dollars Trilogy
''Dollars Trilogy'' ( it, link=no, Trilogia del dollaro), also known as the ''Man with No Name Trilogy'' ( it, link=no, Trilogia dell'Uomo senza nome) or the ''Blood Money Trilogy'', is an Italian film series consisting of three Spaghetti Western films directed by Sergio Leone. The films are titled ''A Fistful of Dollars'' (1964), ''For a Few Dollars More'' (1965) and ''The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'' (1966). Their English versions were distributed by United Artists, while the Italian ones were distributed by Unidis and PEA. The series has become known for establishing the Spaghetti Western genre, and inspiring the creation of many more Spaghetti Western films. The three films are consistently listed among the best rated Western films in history. Although not Leone's intention, the three films came to be considered a trilogy following the exploits of the same so-called " Man with No Name" (portrayed by Clint Eastwood, wearing the same clothes and acting with the same manneris ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spaghetti Western
The Spaghetti Western is a broad subgenre of Western films produced in Europe. It emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's film-making style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most of these Westerns were produced and directed by Italians. Leone's films and other core Spaghetti Westerns are often described as having eschewed, criticized, or even "demythologized" many of the conventions of traditional U.S. Westerns. This was partly intentional and partly the context of a different cultural background. Terminology According to veteran Spaghetti Western actor Aldo Sambrell, the phrase "Spaghetti Western" was coined by Spanish journalist Alfonso Sánchez in reference to the Italian food spaghetti. Spaghetti Westerns are also known as Italian Westerns or, primarily in Japan, Macaroni Westerns. In Italy, the genre is typically referred to as western all'italiana (Italian-style Western). Italo-Western is also used, especi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sergio Leone
Sergio Leone (; 3 January 1929 – 30 April 1989) was an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter credited as the pioneer of the Spaghetti Western genre and widely regarded as one of the most influential directors in the history of cinema. Leone's film-making style includes juxtaposing extreme close-up shots with lengthy long shots. His movies include the '' Dollars Trilogy'' of Westerns featuring Clint Eastwood: ''A Fistful of Dollars'' (1964), '' For a Few Dollars More'' (1965), and '' The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'' (1966); and the ''Once Upon a Time'' films: '' Once Upon a Time in the West'' (1968), ''Duck, You Sucker!'' (1971), and ''Once Upon a Time in America'' (1984). Early life Born on 3 January 1929 in Rome, Leone was the son of the cinema pioneer Vincenzo Leone (known as director Roberto Roberti or Leone Roberto Roberti) and silent film actress Edvige Valcarenghi (Bice Valerian). During his schooldays, Leone was a classmate of his later musical col ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toshirō Mifune
was a Japanese actor who appeared in over 150 feature films. He is best known for his 16-film collaboration (1948–1965) with Akira Kurosawa in such works as ''Rashomon'', ''Seven Samurai'', ''The Hidden Fortress'', ''Throne of Blood'', and '' Yojimbo''. He also portrayed Miyamoto Musashi in Hiroshi Inagaki's '' Samurai Trilogy'' and one earlier Inagaki film, Lord Toranaga in the NBC television miniseries ''Shōgun'', and Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto in three different films. Early life Toshiro Mifune was born on April 1, 1920 in Seitō, Japanese-occupied Shandong (present-day Qingdao, China), the eldest son of Tokuzo and Sen Mifune. His father Tokuzo was a trade merchant and photographer who ran a photography business in Qingdao and Yingkou, and was originally the son of a medical doctor from Kawauchi, Akita Prefecture. His mother Sen was the daughter of a ''hatamoto'', a high-ranking samurai official. Toshiro's parents, who were working as Methodist missionaries, were some of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yojimbo (film)
is a 1961 Japanese samurai film co-written, produced, edited, and directed by Akira Kurosawa. The film stars Toshiro Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Yoko Tsukasa, Isuzu Yamada, Daisuke Katō, Takashi Shimura, Kamatari Fujiwara, and Atsushi Watanabe. In the film, a rōnin arrives in a small town where competing crime lords vie for supremacy. The two bosses each try to hire the newcomer as a bodyguard. Based on the success of ''Yojimbo'', Kurosawa's next film, ''Sanjuro'' (1962), was altered to incorporate the lead character of this film. In both films, the character wears a rather dilapidated dark kimono bearing the same family ''mon''. The film was released and produced by Toho on April 25, 1961. ''Yojimbo'' received highly positive reviews, and, over the years, became widely regarded as one of the best films by Kurosawa and one of the greatest films ever made. The film grossed an estimated $2.5 million worldwide with a budget of ¥90.87 million. It was unofficially remade by Se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Akira Kurosawa
was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed thirty films in a career spanning over five decades. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. Kurosawa displayed a bold, dynamic style, strongly influenced by Western cinema yet distinct from it; he was involved with all aspects of film production. Kurosawa entered the Japanese film industry in 1936, following a brief stint as a painter. After years of working on numerous films as an assistant director and scriptwriter, he made his debut as a director during World War II with the popular action film '' Sanshiro Sugata''. After the war, the critically acclaimed '' Drunken Angel'' (1948), in which Kurosawa cast the then little-known actor Toshiro Mifune in a starring role, cemented the director's reputation as one of the most important young filmmakers in Japan. The two men would go on to collaborate on another fifteen films. ''Rashomon'' (1950), which premiered ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stock Character
A stock character, also known as a character archetype, is a fictional character in a work of art such as a novel, play, or a film whom audiences recognize from frequent recurrences in a particular literary tradition. There is a wide range of stock characters, covering men and women of various ages, social classes and demeanors. They are archetypal characters distinguished by their simplification and flatness. As a result, they tend to be easy targets for parody and to be criticized as clichés. The presence of a particular array of stock characters is a key component of many genres, and they often help to identify a genre or subgenre. For example, a story with a knight-errant and a witch is probably a fairy tale or fantasy. There are several purposes to using stock characters. Stock characters are a time- and effort-saving shortcut for story creators, as authors can populate their tale with existing well-known character types. Another benefit is that stock characters help to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Man With No Name
The Man with No Name ( it, Uomo senza nome) is the antihero character portrayed by Clint Eastwood in Sergio Leone's "''Dollars Trilogy''" of Italian Spaghetti Western films: ''A Fistful of Dollars'' (1964), ''For a Few Dollars More'' (1965), and ''The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'' (1966). He is recognizable by his poncho, brown hat, tan cowboy boots, fondness for cigarillos, and the fact that he rarely talks. The "Man with No Name" concept was invented by the American distributor United Artists, looking for a strong angle to sell the films as a trilogy. Eastwood's character does indeed have a name and a different one in each film: "Joe", "Manco" and "Blondie", respectively. When Clint Eastwood was honored with the American Film Institute's Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996, Jim Carrey gave the introductory speech and said: The Man with No Name' had no name, so we could fill in our own." In 2008, ''Empire'' chose the Man with No Name as the 33rd greatest movie character of al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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