Pure Japanese

''Pure Japanese'' is a 2022 Japanese action film directed by Daishi Matsunaga and starring Dean Fujioka. This is also Fujioka's first created and produced film. Daisuke Tateishi (Fujioka), an eccentric man with no social skills and a devotion to Japanese culture, is now in charge of sound effects for ninja shows, despite his outstanding physical abilities. One day he saves a high school girl named Ayumi (Aju Makita). She and her grandfather Ryuzo (Tetsu Watanabe) are being harassed by yakuza gangsters. When Ayumi asks for his help, Tateishi releases the violent impulses he has kept sealed away due to past trauma.

The event that led to the creation of ''Pure Japanese'' was that Fujioka starred in the 2018 drama ''The Count of Monte Cristo: Great Revenge''. He had been performing abroad, but as he looked at Japan objectively, he began to wonder, "What defines Japanese people?" To this question, he hypothesized using the concepts of "Nihongo-Bito" (Japanese language-people) and "Japanese language OS," resulting in a script with violence and religion as themes. The shooting took place in September 2020 in the Nikko region of Tochigi, as well as at the theme park Nikko Edomura. The film was re-edited many times to make it a more multi-layered story.

''Pure Japanese'' was released in Japan on January 28, 2022. It was screened in the Nippon Visions section of the 22nd Nippon Connection Japanese Film Festival in Germany in May 2022. It was also released on Amazon Prime Video worldwide on July 17, 2022. It received mixed reviews; ''The Japan Times'' felt the film was "likely to be misunderstood," and ''Asian Movie Pulse'' rated it as having "quite a lot of positive points."

Plot

Daisuke Tateishi, a man employed at the Nikko Oedomura theme park, has a daily routine of secretly engaging in unscientific training at a shrine. He is an eccentric individual with limited social skills and a devotion to Japanese culture, causing people to keep their distance. Traumatized by a past accident on a film set where he was involved, Tateishi, despite his exceptional physical abilities, handles sound effects for ninja shows instead of performing action sequences.

A farewell party for Tateishi's colleague is held at a pub, but elsewhere in the pub are Ayumi, a high school girl who works there under a false age, as well as Jinnai, Saeki, and other members of the local yakuza known as Nagayama-Gumi. The yakuza are colluding with Kurosaki, a prefectural assembly member, in a plot to sell the land where Ayumi resides with her grandfather Ryuzo to a Chinese broker. The yakuza approach Ayumi, requesting her assistance in persuading Ryuzo.

Meanwhile, Saeki attempts to use a widely available tool called the "P(ure) J(apanese) kit" to measure the purity of Japanese people. However, his result turns out to be a mediocre 50%. He proceeds to force the nearby ninja actors to take the test as well, but Tateishi refuses. Later, Tateishi saves Ayumi from getting entangled with Saeki, and one day she hands him a PJ kit. When he uses it at home, the number comes out as 100%.

Tateishi participates in the ninja show as a replacement for a former colleague. However, he fails miserably when Ayumi comes to watch the show. Due to his trauma, he has imposed limitations on violence, rendering him unable to perform.

As the harassment against Ayumi's home persists, Ryuzo gets injured and hospitalized. Tateishi reveals to Ayumi that Kurosaki is responsible. They storm into Kurosaki's office, but he feigns innocence. Overwhelmed by anger, Tateishi destroys the office, receiving affirmation from Ayumi for his violence for the first time.

However, the police arrive at Oedomura to question Tateishi regarding the destruction of Kurosaki's office. Additionally, rumors about his past reach his boss, resulting in his dismissal. Meanwhile, following Ryuzo's death, the yakuza make a forcible attempt to seize the land from Ayumi. Taking advantage of an opportunity, she escapes and seeks Tateishi's help. With heavy machinery being brought onto Ayumi's property and excavation starting forcibly, Tateishi storms in and releases the violent impulses he had suppressed until that moment.

Cast

Cast list sourced from ''Cinema Today'':

Production

Development

When the release of ''Pure Japanese'' was announced, Dean Fujioka, the creator, producer, and lead actor of the film, said the following: "After completing my role in the 2018 drama ''The Count of Monte-Cristo: Great Revenge'' (Fuji TV), in the vortex of bizarre energy that had condensed throughout the filming process, I, a living person, was left behind―――. What steps should I take to progress? After much thought, I decided to create and produce original video works." Although many of his previous projects didn't materialize, ''Pure Japanese'' was the first project that combined entertainment and economic viability, while also carrying a clear meaning of "why he created this for the world."

Having spent considerable time performing abroad, Fujioka also started working in Japan, his birthplace and upbringing, in 2011. As he observed Japan from an objective standpoint, he started questioning, "What defines Japanese people?" This led him to hypothesize that those who use the "operating system" named the Japanese language are the "Nihongo-Bito" (Japanese language-people), and that the Japanese language OS controls the thoughts and actions of the "Nihongo-Bito." Furthermore, he delved into the thought of "If the Japanese language OS treats individual lives merely as vehicles, delivering Language OS DNAs to the future, where will this demigod-like language OS take the Nihongo-Bito?" ''Pure Japanese'' depicted this idea as "a case study of Japanese language users" with the theme of "violence" as one aspect of culture.

"Religion" also became a theme in the film. He had producer Shinji Ogawa introduce director Daishi Matsunaga and suggested that Matsunaga read a book on the relationship between religion and violence before commencing filming. In an interview with Rooftop, Matsunaga explained the following regarding this aspect: "For those who believe in religious teachings, believing and fighting is a just cause. ... Everyone insists on the right thing, so that's where collisions and violence arise. ... Is Tateishi truly a madman when violence hasn't been eradicated from the world?" Additionally, the plot of the main character being crushed by absurdity and his life being disappeared like a sacrificial offering had been the one Fujioka had envisioned from the beginning. Concurrently, he also desired more opportunities to showcase the stylistic beauty inherent in Japanese action, and thus he made it one of his missions to shed light on the existence of action stars and stunt-men in the creation of this film.

Matsunaga spent a lot of time discussing with Fujioka about his ideas, and together with Ogawa and screenwriter Tatsuo Kobayashi, they stayed overnight for around five days to write the script. Throughout this process, Matsunaga added his personal touch. According to an interview with Joshi SPA!, in creating the script, they placed great importance on a kind of "Japanese context" of how Japan turned into its present social structure. In doing so, the idea of interweaving various cultures, such as using the words of Ludwig Wittgenstein, Yukio Mishima, and Yoshida Shoin, was increasingly generated.

Casting

In July 2021, Dean Fujioka and Aju Makita were announced as the principal cast members in the film. Regarding his inclusion in the cast as well, Fujioka said in an interview with Oricon: "It's the sense that I used 'Dean Fujioka as an Actor' in the realization of this film project." Also, when asked about co-starring with Makita in an interview with Fujiteleview!!, he answered, "I hoped for the relationship between Tateishi and Ayumi to be the distance like Léon and Mathilda in the film ''Léon''. ... I'm glad that the 'actress' Aju Makita infused this film with something like the echo of the soul she had at that time."

In October 2021, it was revealed that professional wrestler Yukio Sakaguchi, along with Tetsuya Bessho, Tetsu Watanabe, Daichi Kaneko, Jun Murakami, Kyusaku Shimada, and others, joined the cast. In an interview with Rooftop, Matsunaga said of Sakaguchi: "Since Dean-san had built up his body for this film, I thought it would be fitting for the actor playing the role of Jinnai to possess physical strength. The visual impact a real fighter has, that 'this person's strength is true,' is very convincing in images, so I felt that Sakaguchi-san could bring that out." Fujioka also mentioned at the film's completion preview in January 2022, "I believe Sakaguchi-san's appearance played a major role in the film's success."

Filming

The shooting of the film took place in September 2020 in the Nikko region of Tochigi, and some scenes were filmed at the Nikko Edomura theme park as well. This theme park was a place where Japanese elements that have been lost or are no longer present were artificially purified and displayed, like a museum exhibiting taxidermy of extinct animals. Moreover, it was a location that hosted Ninja shows, so the film crew chose there.

Fujioka was practicing the action scenes about three months before the shoot because they differed significantly from the Ninja shows in style. He created the basic flow of them at the action team's studio first. After going to Nikko, he practiced the choreography of the shows a few times with the actual Ninja performers at Nikko Edomura.

The climactic action scenes were initially developed by Fujioka and action choreographer Eiji Morisaki. However, due to minor alterations in the filming location on the day of filming, slight modifications were made to the action sequences. Fujioka had a strong desire for meticulous detail in the action scenes, but time constraints prevented the realization of an ideal schedule.

Post-production

During the post-production phase, Matsunaga and the engineers took the lead, while Fujioka, as the project's creator, oversaw the entire production. Considering how it would look not only to the Nihongo-Bito (the Japanese language users) but also to those who are unfamiliar with the language or have no particular interest in Japan, the film underwent multiple rounds of re-editing, script changes, and story rearrangements. They thought up Fujioka's English monologue after finishing editing. In an interview with MOVIE Collection, Fujioka expressed, "I believed that as long as I could carry out my original intention, the expression could be changed if there was a better way to do it. The shooting script and the completed work became, therefore, totally different. While the script was of sufficient quality for filming the material, we persisted in elevating it to a more multi-layered narrative." The entire journey, from the conception to the completion of the film, spanned over three years.

Release

The teaser and main visuals for ''Pure Japanese'', created by photographer RK, were unveiled on August 19 and October 7, 2021, respectively. Following its theatrical release in Japan on January 28, 2022, distributed by Amuse Inc., the film was screened in the Nippon Visions section of the 22nd Nippon Connection Japanese Film Festival in Germany from May 24 to 29, 2022. In addition, it became available for worldwide distribution on Amazon Prime Video on July 17, 2022.

Music

The soundtrack, composed by Hiroko Sebu, was released exclusively for digital distribution, containing all 16 tracks.

Home media

For home media, the film was released on Blu-ray and DVD by Amuse Soft on November 16, 2022. Both formats include English subtitles and special features such as trailers and audio commentary. Additionally, the Blu-ray, a deluxe edition, also offers some content, including the making-of ''Pure Japanese'', a video capturing the stage greeting to thank for the film's release, and a photo book.

Reception

James Hadfield of ''The Japan Times'' gave the film three stars out of five, saying that "''Pure Japanese'' is likely to be misunderstood ― all the more so, given that it's played totally straight. ... "It's closer to the self-reflexive cinema that Takashi Miike and Sion Sono used to do so well, giving audiences a bit of the old ultra-violence while forcing them to question what they're watching." Hideyuki Nakazawa of ''Cinema Today'' gave the film three stars out of five. He felt that it "reeks of a bad cult" and described it as "a controversial work that reflects a Japanese man who seeks identity in the unscientific illusion of 'pure Japanese' and goes mad quietly, and a collapsing Japanese society." Another ''Cinema Today'''s film critic, Hibiki Kurei, also gave it three stars out of five, saying that "Fujioka's eccentric sense as a creator, who previously directed '' I am Ichihashi: Journal of a Murderer'', is apparent at a glance, as the modern ninja he plays, who is completely crazy with a disturbing atmosphere similar to a mysterious man in the film ''The Man from the Sea''. Therefore, in the development where Tateishi confronts the Chinese broker and the yakuza, the absurdity of trying to justify his way of life explodes while he looks like a hero who saves the world."

Don Anelli of ''Asian Movie Pulse'' said that the use of a traditional story setting by screenwriter Tatsuo Kobayashi "works incredibly well as a standalone effort. ... There's a series of fun brawls and confrontations that take place here which have a nice energy contained and come across nicely when Daisuke gains a fury and intensity to fight back." Also, he said that the film has some minor issues, such as "the general overfamiliarity present with the storyline by Kobayashi" and "the low-budget qualities," but it "has quite a lot of positive points to like about it which are only somewhat hindered by a minor set of flaws that may not even apply to most viewers."

References

External links

Official website

*{{IMDb title, 21817596

2022 films
2020s Japanese films
2020s Japanese-language films
2022 action films
2022 action drama films
Japanese action films
Japanese films about revenge
Japanese martial arts films
Films set in Japan
Films set in Tochigi Prefecture
Films shot in Tochigi Prefecture