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The Burmese Harp (1956 Film)
is a 1956 Japanese drama film directed by Kon Ichikawa. Based on a children's novel of the same name written by Michio Takeyama, it tells the story of Japanese soldiers who fought in the Burma Campaign during World War II. A member of the group goes missing after the war, and the soldiers hope to uncover whether their friend survived, and if he is the same person as a Buddhist monk they see playing a harp. The film was among the first to show the losses of the war from a Japanese soldier's perspective. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film of 1956. In 1985, Ichikawa remade ''The Burmese Harp'' in color with a new cast, and the remake was a major box office success, becoming the number one Japanese film on the domestic market in 1985 and the second largest Japanese box office hit up to that time. Plot Private Mizushima, a Japanese soldier, becomes the harp (or ''saung'') player of Captain Inouye's group, composed of soldiers who fight a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kon Ichikawa
was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. His work displays a vast range in genre and style, from the anti-war films '' The Burmese Harp'' (1956) and '' Fires on the Plain'' (1959), to the documentary ''Tokyo Olympiad'' (1965), which won two BAFTA Film Awards, and the 19th-century revenge drama ''An Actor's Revenge'' (1963). His film ''Odd Obsession'' (1959) won the Jury Prize at the 1960 Cannes Film Festival. Early life and career Ichikawa was born in Ise, Mie Prefecture as Giichi Ichikawa (市川儀一). His father died when he was four years old, and the family kimono shop went bankrupt, so he went to live with his sister. He was given the name "Kon" by an uncle who thought the characters in the kanji 崑 signified good luck, because the two halves of the Chinese character look the same when it is split in half vertically. As a child he loved drawing and his ambition was to become an artist. He also loved films and was a fan of "chambara" or samurai films. In his teens ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Indian Army
The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which could also have their own armies. As quoted in the Imperial Gazetteer of India, "The British Government has undertaken to protect the dominions of the Native princes from invasion and even from rebellion within: its army is organized for the defence not merely of British India, but of all possessions under the suzerainty of the King-Emperor." The Indian Army was an important part of the British Empire's forces, both in India and abroad, particularly during the First World War and the Second World War. The term ''Indian Army'' appears to have been first used informally, as a collective description of the Presidency armies, which collectively comprised the Bengal Army, the Madras Army and the Bombay Army, of the Presidencies of British India ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theatrical Property
A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct from the actors, scenery, costumes, and electrical equipment. Term The earliest known use of the term "properties" in English to refer to stage accessories is in the 1425 CE morality play, ''The Castle of Perseverance ''The Castle of Perseverance'' is a c. 15th-century morality play and the earliest known full-length (3,649 lines) vernacular play in existence. Along with ''Mankind'' and ''Wisdom'', ''The Castle of Perseverance'' is preserved in the Macro Manus ...''. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' finds the first usage of "props" in 1841, while the singular form of "prop" appeared in 1911. During the Renaissance in Europe, small acting troupes functioned as cooperatives, pooling resources and dividing any income. Many performers p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Izu Peninsula
The is a large mountainous peninsula with a deeply indented coastline to the west of Tokyo on the Pacific coast of the island of Honshu, Japan. Formerly known as Izu Province, Izu peninsula is now a part of Shizuoka Prefecture. The peninsula has an area of and its estimated population in 2005 was 473,942 people. The peninsula’s populated areas are located primarily on the north and east. Geology Tectonically, the Izu peninsula results from the Philippine Sea Plate colliding with the Okhotsk Plate at the Nankai Trough. The Philippine Sea Plate, the Amurian Plate, and the Okhotsk Plate meet at Mount Fuji, a triple junction. The peninsula itself lies on the Philippine Sea Plate. The southern portion of the peninsula is composed largely of breccia, and the central and northern portions consist of numerous highly eroded volcanoes. The Amagi Mountain Range dominates the center of the peninsula with Mount Amagi () and Mount Atami () in the east and Mount Daruma () in the west ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hakone
is a town in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the town had a population of 11,293 and a population density of 122 persons per km². The total area of the town is . The town is a popular tourist destination due to its many hot springs and views of Mount Fuji. Geography Hakone is located in the mountains in the far west of the prefecture, on the eastern side of Hakone Pass. Most of the town is within the borders of the volcanically active Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park, centered on Lake Ashi. Surrounding municipalities Kanagawa Prefecture *Odawara *Yugawara * Minami-ashigara Shizuoka Prefecture' *Gotemba * Susono *Mishima * Oyama *Kannami Climate Hakone has a Humid subtropical climate (Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Hakone is 13.3 °C. The average annual rainfall is 2221 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 24.0 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie channel, movie-oriented pay television, pay-TV television network, network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown Atlanta, Midtown business district of Atlanta, Georgia. The channel's programming consists mainly of Golden age (metaphor), classic theatrically released feature films from the Turner Entertainment film library – which comprises films from Warner Bros. (covering films released before 1950), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (covering films released before May 1986), and the North American distribution rights to films from RKO Pictures. However, Turner Classic Movies also licenses films from other studios and occasionally shows more recent films. The channel is available in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Malta (as Turner Classic Movies), Latin America, France, Greece, Cyprus, Spain, the Nordic countrie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fairy Tale
A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic (paranormal), magic, incantation, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful beings. In most cultures, there is no clear line separating myth from folk or fairy tale; all these together form the literature of preliterate societies. Fairy tales may be distinguished from other folk narratives such as legends (which generally involve belief in the veracity of the events described) and explicit moral tales, including beast fables. In less technical contexts, the term is also used to describe something blessed with unusual happiness, as in "fairy-tale ending" (a happy ending) or "fairy-tale romance (love), romance". Colloquially, the term "fairy tale" or "fairy story" can also mean any far-fetched story or tall tale; it is used especially of any story that not only is not true, but could not possibly be true ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kō Nishimura
was a Japanese actor who appeared in supporting roles in such films as Akira Kurosawa's ''The Bad Sleep Well'' and '' Yojimbo'', Kihachi Okamoto's ''Sword of Doom'', Yoshitaro Nomura's ''Zero Focus'', and Kon Ichikawa's '' The Burmese Harp'' (where he was credited as Akira Nishimura). Nishimura made his film debut in the Shin Saburi film ''Fusetsu Nijyunen'' in 1951. He won the Blue Ribbon Awards for best supporting actor in 1964 for Unholy Desire directed by Shohei Imamura. In 1982, he won the Best Actor award in the Mainichi Film Awards for his performances in ''Matagi''. In Japan, Nishimura is well known for playing the role of the title character in the long-running television jidaigeki series Mito Kōmon from 1983 to 1992. He also portrayed the voice of the "Mamo/Howard Lockewood" in the original Japanese version of anime film ''The Mystery of Mamo'' in 1978. Filmography Film *'' The Burmese Harp'' (1956) *'' Sun in the Last Days of the Shogunate'' (1957) *'' Umi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taketoshi Naito
was a Japanese actor. He appeared in more than 70 films between 1953 and 2003. He died of lymphoma on 21 August 2012. Selected filmography Film * ''Mahiru no ankoku'' (1956) * ''An Actress'' (1956) - Akio Satomi * '' The Burmese Harp'' (1956) - Pvt. Kobayashi * '' Lucky Dragon No. 5'' (1959) - Announcer * ''The Scent of Incense'' (1964) - Murata * ''The Snow Woman'' (1968) * '' Coup d'Etat'' (1973) - Army officer * ''Shogun Assassin'' (1980) * ''The Battle of Port Arthur'' (1980) - Narrator * ''Chōchin'' (1987) * '' Luminous Moss'' (1992) - Novelist * ''Kamikaze Taxi'' (1995) - Domon * ''My Secret Cache'' (1997) - Morita * '' After Life'' (1998) - Ichiro Watanabe * ''Samurai Fiction'' (1998) - Kanzen Inukai Television * ''Minamoto no Yoshitsune'' (1966) - Hitachibō Kaison * ''Ōgon no Hibi'' (1978) - Akechi Mitsuhide * ''Tokugawa Ieyasu'' (1983) - Honda Masanobu * ''Sanga Moyu'' (1984) - Taketora Matsui * ''Musashibō Benkei'' (1986) - Hōjō Tokimasa * ''Takeda Shingen'' (198 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shoji Yasui
A is a door, window or room divider used in traditional Japanese architecture, consisting of translucent (or transparent) sheets on a lattice frame. Where light transmission is not needed, the similar but opaque ''fusuma'' is used (oshiire/closet doors, for instance). Shoji usually slide, but may occasionally be hung or hinged, especially in more rustic styles. Shoji are very lightweight, so they are easily slid aside, or taken off their tracks and stored in a closet, opening the room to other rooms or the outside. Fully traditional buildings may have only one large room, under a roof supported by a post-and-lintel frame, with few or no permanent interior or exterior walls; the space is flexibly subdivided as needed by the removable sliding wall panels. The posts are generally placed one ''tatami''-length (about 2 m or 6 ft) apart, and the shoji slide in two parallel wood-groove tracks between them. In modern construction, the shoji often do not form the exterior s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nihongo
is spoken natively by about 128 million people, primarily by Japanese people and primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language. Japanese belongs to the Japonic languages, Japonic or Japanese-Ryukyuan languages, Ryukyuan language family. There have been many Classification of the Japonic languages, attempts to group the Japonic languages with other families such as the Ainu languages, Ainu, Austroasiatic languages, Austroasiatic, Koreanic languages, Koreanic, and the now-discredited Altaic languages, Altaic, but none of these proposals has gained widespread acceptance. Little is known of the language's prehistory, or when it first appeared in Japan. Chinese documents from the 3rd century AD recorded a few Japanese words, but substantial Old Japanese texts did not appear until the 8th century. From the Heian period (794–1185), there was a massive influx of Sino-Japanese vocabulary into the language, affecting the phonology of Early Middle Japanese. Lat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parrot
Parrots, also known as psittacines (), are birds of the roughly 398 species in 92 genera comprising the order Psittaciformes (), found mostly in tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three superfamilies: the Psittacoidea ("true" parrots), the Cacatuoidea (cockatoos), and the Strigopoidea (New Zealand parrots). One-third of all parrot species are threatened by extinction, with higher aggregate extinction risk ( IUCN Red List Index) than any other comparable bird group. Parrots have a generally pantropical distribution with several species inhabiting temperate regions in the Southern Hemisphere, as well. The greatest diversity of parrots is in South America and Australasia. Characteristic features of parrots include a strong, curved bill, an upright stance, strong legs, and clawed zygodactyl feet. Many parrots are vividly coloured, and some are multi-coloured. Most parrots exhibit little or no sexual dimorphism in the visual spectrum. They form the most ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
