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The Old Capital
is a novel by Japanese writer Yasunari Kawabata first published in 1962. It was one of three novels cited by the Nobel Committee in their decision to award Kawabata the 1968 Nobel Prize in Literature. ''The Old Capital'' was first translated into English in 1987 by J. Martin Holman. A revised edition of Holman's translation was published in February 2006. Plot Chieko Sada is the daughter of Takichiro and Shige, who operate a wholesale dry goods shop in the Nakagyo Ward of Kyoto. Now twenty, Chieko has known since she was in middle school that she was a foundling adopted by Takichiro and Shige. However, as told by Shige, they snatched Chieko when she was a baby "Under the cherry blossoms at night at Gion Shrine". The discrepancy on whether Chieko was a foundling or stolen is part of the plot and is revealed later in the story. Soon after a chance encounter at Yasaka Shrine, Chieko learns of a twin sister Naeko, who had remained in her home village in Kitayama working in the mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yasunari Kawabata
was a Japanese novelist and short story writer whose spare, lyrical, subtly shaded prose works won him the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1968, the first Japanese author to receive the award. His works have enjoyed broad international appeal and are still widely read. Early life Born into a well-established family in Osaka, Japan, Kawabata was orphaned by the time he was four, after which he lived with his grandparents. He had an older sister who was taken in by an aunt, and whom he met only once thereafter, in July 1909, when he was ten. She died when Kawabata was 11. Kawabata's grandmother died in September 1906, when he was seven, and his grandfather in May 1914, when he was fifteen. Having lost all close paternal relatives, Kawabata moved in with his mother's family, the Kurodas. However, in January 1916, he moved into a boarding house near the junior high school (comparable to a modern high school) to which he had formerly commuted by train. After graduating in March 1917 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thousand Cranes
is a novel by Japanese author Yasunari Kawabata which first appeared in serialised form between 1949 and 1951 and was published as a book in 1952. Plot The novel consists of five chapters, titled "Thousand Cranes", "The Grove in the Evening Sun", "Figured Shino", "Her Mother's Lipstick" and "Double Star". 28-year-old Tokyo office worker Kikuji attends the tea ceremony lesson of Miss Chikako Kurimoto, with whom his deceased father once had a short-lived affair. He still vividly remembers a large naevus on her chest, which he once saw as a child. Kikuji is impressed by the beauty of one of Miss Kurimoto's pupils, Yukiko Inamura, who carries a furoshiki which bears a pattern of the thousand cranes of the novel's title. The tea ceremony lesson is also attended by Mrs. Ota, a 45-year-old widow and long-time mistress of his father, and her daughter Fumiko. Miss Kurimoto speaks disparagingly of Mrs. Ota, while at the same trying to awaken Kikuji's interest in Miss Inamura. Kikuji and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Japanese Novels Adapted Into Films
Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspora, Japanese emigrants and their descendants around the world * Japanese citizens, nationals of Japan under Japanese nationality law ** Foreign-born Japanese, naturalized citizens of Japan * Japanese writing system, consisting of kanji and kana * Japanese cuisine, the food and food culture of Japan See also * List of Japanese people * * Japonica (other) * Japonicum * Japonicus * Japanese studies Japanese studies (Japanese: ) or Japan studies (sometimes Japanology in Europe), is a sub-field of area studies or East Asian studies involved in social sciences and humanities research on Japan. It incorporates fields such as the study of Japanese ... {{disambiguation Language and nationality disambiguation pages ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Japanese-language Novels
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 or Japanese- Ryukyuan language family. There have been many attempts to group the Japonic languages with other families such as the Ainu, Austroasiatic, Koreanic, and the now-discredited 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. Late Middle Japanese (1185–1600) saw extensive grammatical changes and the first appearance of European loanwords. The basis of the standard dialect moved f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1962 Novels
Year 196 ( CXCVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Dexter and Messalla (or, less frequently, year 949 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 196 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire * Emperor Septimius Severus attempts to assassinate Clodius Albinus but fails, causing Albinus to retaliate militarily. * Emperor Septimius Severus captures and sacks Byzantium; the city is rebuilt and regains its previous prosperity. * In order to assure the support of the Roman legion in Germany on his march to Rome, Clodius Albinus is declared Augustus by his army while crossing Gaul. * Hadrian's wall in Britain is partially destroyed. China * First year of the '' Jian'an era of the Chinese Han Dynasty. * Emperor Xian of ... [...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] |
Koto (film)
is a 1980 film directed by Kon Ichikawa starring Momoe Yamaguchi and Tomokazu Miura in an adaptation of Yasunari Kawabata's novel ''The Old Capital''. Momoe Yamaguchi and Masaya Oki made their last appearances in the film. It is a remake of the 1963 film ''Twin Sisters of Kyoto''. Cast * Momoe Yamaguchi as Chieko Sada/Myoko * Tomokazu Miura * Masaya Oki as Ryusuke Mizuki * Jun Hamamura * Akiji Kobayashi as Endō * Takeshi Katō (actor), Takeshi Katō as Yahei Mizuki * Keiko Kishi as Shige Sada Release ''Koto'' received a roadshow theatrical release in Japan on December 6, 1980 where it was distributed by Toho. It received a regular theatrical release in Japan on December 20, 1980. Reception Donald Richie writes in ''The Japanese Movie'' that "Ichikawa dramatizes alienation in his remake of Kawabata's ''Koto'', where twin sisters long-separated meet again and must face a dramatized estrangement." References Footnotes Sources * External links * * * 1980 films ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Academy Award For Best Foreign Language Film
The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a feature-length motion picture produced outside the United States with a predominantly non-English dialogue track.80th Academy Awards – Special Rules for the Best Foreign Language Film Award . . Retrieved November 2, 2007. When the first Academy Awards ceremony was held on May 16, 1929, to honor fil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Noboru Nakamura
was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. Biography After graduating from Tokyo Imperial University in 1936, Nakamura joined the Shochiku film studios, working as an assistant director for Torajirō Saitō and Yasujirō Shimazu. He debuted as director in 1941 with ''Life and Rhythm'', and finally received recognition with his 1951 film ''Home Sweet Home''. His most noted works include the Yasunari Kawabata adaptation ''Twin Sisters of Kyoto'' (1963), ''The Kii River'' (1966) and ''Portrait of Chieko'' (1968). Both ''Twin Sisters of Kyoto'' and ''Portrait of Chieko'' were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film His 1967 film ''Lost Spring'' was entered into the 17th Berlin International Film Festival. Legacy To celebrate Nakamura's 100th birthday, three of his films, ''Home Sweet Home'' (1951), '' When It Rains, It Pours'' (1957) and ''The Shape of Night'' (1964), were screened at the Tokyo Filmex in 2013. Filmography (selected) * ''Life and Rhythm' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Twin Sisters Of Kyoto
is a 1963 Japanese drama film directed by Noboru Nakamura and the first adaptation of the novel ''The Old Capital'' (1962) by Nobel prize-winning Japanese writer Yasunari Kawabata. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Plot 20-year-old Chieko is the daughter of Kyoto based kimono designer Takichiro. She doubts her parents' story that they stole her as a child and raised her as their own, convinced that she is an orphan. In Kitayama, she meets a young labourer woman, Naeko, who looks exactly like her. Chieko learns that they are twin sisters, and that their natural parents died long ago after abandoning Chieko. Hideo, the son of weaver Sosuke, a business associate of Takichiro, mistakes Naeko for Chieko and pleads with her to allow him to design an exclusive obi for her. Chieko clarifies Hideo's mistaking and asks him to make obis both for her and her sister. Although Chieko's parents offer to accept Naeko as their second daughter, Naeko return ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Feature Film
A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originally referred to the main, full-length film in a cinema program that included a short film and often a newsreel. Matinee programs, especially in the US and Canada, in general, also included cartoons, at least one weekly serial and, typically, a second feature-length film on weekends. The first narrative feature film was the 60-minute ''The Story of the Kelly Gang'' (1906, Australia). Other early feature films include ''Les Misérables'' (1909, U.S.), ''L'Inferno'', ''Defence of Sevastopol'' (1911), '' Oliver Twist'' (American version), '' Oliver Twist'' (British version), '' Richard III'', ''From the Manger to the Cross'', ''Cleopatra'' (1912), '' Quo Vadis?'' (1913), ''Cabiria'' (1914) and ''The Birth of a Nation'' (1915). Description The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Snow Country
is a novel by the Japanese author Yasunari Kawabata. The novel is considered a classic work of Japanese literature and was among the three novels the Nobel Committee cited in 1968, when Kawabata was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Writing process Gwenn Boardman Petersen uses ''Snow Country'' as an example of how he often composed his works. While writing that Japanese novelists often publish "their works in serial form and under various titles" she observes Kawabata is "further noted for his habit of rewriting, adding segments, and making changes in titles and content alike." The first segment, titled appeared in January 1935. Kawabata later wrote that he could not finish his manuscript by the submission deadline of this literary journal, and decided to keep writing and submit a second version of this segment, titled to the general-interest magazine several days later. Kawabata continued to write about the characters, and five more segments were published over the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
