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More on だけ
Quick follow-up on my newsletter from last month about the particle だけ (dake). I mostly discussed the non-“only” meaning of the word, which can be replaced with くらい…
The Tycoon / 傷だらけの山河 / Kizudarake no sanga (1964)
Obscure Japanese Film #144 Ayako Wakao and So Yamamura Having delivered a mega-hit for Daiei studios with Shinobi no mono (1962) and also...
Love at Least 生きてるだけで、愛 (2018) Director: Kosai Sekine
Love at Least offers a nuanced depiction of living with depression with three great performances from its lead cast. Love at Least 生きてるだけで、愛 (2018) Director: Kosai Sekine
のだ
A subtle but important tip for written Japanese - How to Japanese - August 2023
Dorodarake no junjo / 泥だらけの純情 (‘Mud-Spattered Purity’/ ‘Trampled Innocence’, 1963)
Obscure Japanese Film #230 Sayuri Yoshinaga and Mitsuo Hamada Jiro (Mitsuo Hamada) is a teenage yakuza who rescues high school girl Mami (Sayuri Yoshinaga) from being harassed in the street by a…
![Featured image for Just Remembering (ちょっと思い出しただけ, Daigo Matsui, 2021) [Fantasia 2022]](https://cdn.aniblogtracker.com/live/20220723/1658536740.40271.70023.jpg)
Just Remembering (ちょっと思い出しただけ, Daigo Matsui, 2021) [Fantasia 2022]
Former lovers are confronted by reminders of their failed romance amid the loneliness of the coronavirus pandemic in Daigo Matsui’s melancholy drama.
New Moomin 11/52 - Moominvalley Is Full of Holes (ムーミン谷は穴だらけ) (1972) (English subtitles)
After an argument with the Muskrat, My digs a massive hole in Moominvalley in an attempt to figure out how holes are useful. All of a sudden, a…
いただき
The newsletter is out, and the podcast is online: This month I wrote about いただき (itadaki). Yes, just いただき. I had this bizarre internal sense that いただき was…
からだの美
Yōko Ogawa’s 2023 collection からだの美 brings together sixteen short essays on the theme of bodies and physicality. The three primary topics are sports, performing arts, and animals. The…
New Moomin 47/52 - Slip Out Of the Land of Ice (氷の国をぬけだせ) (1972) (English subtitles)
Winter is starting to arrive in Moominvalley, and Moomin and pals go ice-skating in the morning. However, after an accident, they find themselves in a strange icy wonderland,…
久しぶりだね
It’s been a while. A little under 2 years in fact. But that’s life, it has a tendency to keep moving forward. Even when you aren’t ready for…
けど vs から #learnjapanese
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Douseiseikatsu 3 Watashi ha Anata dake no mono (同棲生活3 わたしは貴方だけのもの)
Douseiseikatsu 3 Watashi ha Anata dake no mono (同棲生活3 わたしは貴方だけのもの) is the third volume of Miyuki and Yuuko doing absolutely nothing and I’m pleased as punch about it.…
Douseiseikatsu 3 Watashi ha Anata dake no mono (同棲生活3 わたしは貴方だけのもの)
Douseiseikatsu 3 Watashi ha Anata dake no mono (同棲生活3 わたしは貴方だけのもの) is the third volume of Miyuki and Yuuko doing absolutely nothing and I’m pleased as punch about it.…
Yuri Manga: Ichido Dake Demo, Koukaishiteimasu., Volume 1(一度だけでも、後悔してます。) Guest Review by Mariko S.
Welcome to Guest Review Wednesday here on Okazu! Today we welcome back reviewer Mariko S. as she takes a look at a book that was mentioned in last…
Sensei, Would You Sit Beside Me? (先生、私の隣に座っていただけませんか？, Takahiro Horie, 2021)
A mangaka and her cheating husband become locked in a cat and mouse game of ambiguous revenge in Takahiro Horie’s deliciously cynical anti-rom-com
you da ようだ - Meaning in Japanese
What you da means in Japanese.
How to Japanese Podcast – Episode 42 – のだ
I remember vividly learning how to use んだ in Japanese. My third year teacher did a section on storytelling/explaining, and she had us tell different stories over and…
Tomodachi (ともだち, Yukihiro Sawada, 1974)
A little girl suffering from asthma caused by industrial pollution is rejected by her classmates in Yukihiro Sawada’s environmentally conscious educational film
Between Us (藍に響け, Yasuo Okuaki, 2021)
A sullen young woman learns how to connect through the power of taiko in Yasuo Okuaki’s intense manga adaptation
Beast Alley (けものみち, Eizo Sugawa, 1965)
A hotel maid is dragged into conspiracy after murdering her bedridden husband in Eizo Sugawa’s incredibly dark post-war noir.
Princess Mononoke (もののけ姫, Hayao Miyazaki, 1997)
A young man from an exiled clan tries to make peace between the natural world and the industrial in Hayao Miyazaki’s landmark 1997 animation
Skeleton Flowers (かそけきサンカヨウ, Rikiya Imaizumi, 2021)
A pair of preoccupied teens learn to work through their difficulties with maturity and empathy in Rikiya Imaizumi’s wholesome coming-of-age drama
Luminous Moss (ひかりごけ, Kei Kumai, 1992)
A writer finds himself exploring an ethical dilemma after being guided to a cave containing luminous moss in Kei Kumai’s surreal psychological drama.
Yukidoke to Agapanthus, Volume 1 (雪解けとアガパンサス)
This is one of the few books I had picked up at Gamers while in Japan, because 1) I had not seen it before and 2) it came…
The Dawning Sky (明け行く空, Torajiro Saito, 1929)
A female pastor is unexpectedly reunited with the child she was forced to abandon in Torajiro Saito’s tearjerking familial melodrama.
"Can you say が (ga) instead of けど (kedo)?" #learnjapanese
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![Featured image for Episode #72 (S10E1) – Princess Mononoke [ もののけ姫] (1997)](https://cdn.aniblogtracker.com/live/20240131/1706688971.78398.116105.jpg)
Episode #72 (S10E1) – Princess Mononoke [ もののけ姫] (1997)
We kick off Season 10 with one of the most internationally renowned animated films of all time. Derick McDuff of the Underrated network returns to discuss Studio Ghibli’s…
Just Only Love 愛がなんだ (2019) Dir: Rikiya Imaizumi
Just Only Love 愛がなんだ 「Ai ga Nanda」 Running Time: 123 mins. Release Date: April 19th, 2019 Director: Rikiya Imaizumi Writer: Rikiya Imaizumi, Kaori Sawai (Screenplay), Mitsuyo Kakuta (Original No…
The Man Who Died Seven Times / 七回死んだ男
After Evelyn Hardcastle died seven and a half times, dying seven times just doesn’t seem that impressive… The protagonist of The Man Who Di...
Kaketa Tsuki to Donuts, Volume 3 (欠けた月とドーナッツ)
What is love? How do we fall in love? What does that even mean? How do we make space in lives that are full already, for other people?…
Kaketa Tsuki to Donuts, Volume 1 (欠けた月とドーナッツ)
Uuno Hinako always looks good. Her dress and makeup are always spot on, her hair is always done. She’s always got a smile on her face at work,…
Oni to Yoake Yuzikiyo (鬼と夜明け 夕月夜)
While shopping in random bookstores in Japan at the end of last year I kept seeing book,s with girls in school uniforms wielding swords. I did that thing…
Kaketa Tsuki to Donuts, Volume 2 (欠けた月とドーナッツ)
In Volume 1, we met Hinako, a woman who is crumbling under pressure to conform to society’s requirements for a “good” life and Asahi, a woman who has…
Kaketa Tsuki to Donuts, Volume 4 (欠けた月とドーナッツ)
Let’s start with the most important thing in Kaketa Tsuki to Donuts, Volume 4 (欠けた月とドーナッツ) – this was the perfect, most exactly correct ending to this series that…
My Wonderful Yellow Car (吹けよ春風, Senkichi Taniguchi, 1953)
A kind-hearted taxi driver becomes our guide to the post-war society in a cheerful omnibus movie co-scripted by Akira Kurosawa and directed by Senkichi Taniguchi
My Sorry Life (愛のくだらない, Kozue Nomoto, 2020)
A self-absorbed TV producer gets a wake up call when her boyfriend announces he’s pregnant in Kozue Nomoto’s ironic dramedy
Rainbow Over the Pacific (夜明けの二人, Yoshitaro Nomura, 1968)
An unserious man begins to grow up while chasing love in Hawaii in a cheerful if ultimately downbeat musical celebration of the centenary of Japanese migration to Hawaii.
The Nighthawk’s First Love (よだかの片想い, Yuka Yasukawa, 2021)
A young woman begins to regain a sense of self-confidence in the face of social prejudice when invited to consult on a film in Yuka Yasukawa’s adaptation of…
Difference Between ともだち (friend) vs ゆうじん (friend) #learnjapanese
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Pickles and Komian Club (丸八やたら漬け, Koichi Sato, 2021)
Koichi Sato’s elegiac documentary mourns the loss of the traditional amidst the modern as a 135-year-old pickle store is forced to close by changing times and a global…
The Light of Spring (ひかりのどけき, Fumito Fujikawa, 2022)
Pushed to breaking point by the pressures of the contemporary society amid the coronavirus pandemic, an ordinary family undergoes a trial separation in Fumito Fumikawa’s neorealist drama
All the Long Nights (夜明けのすべて, Sho Miyake, 2024)
Mismatched colleagues struggling amid contemporary corporate culture find unexpected solidarity in Sho Miyake’s gentle human drama.
Nobody Can Pass Judgment on Me / 誰も僕を裁けない
I’m fairly certain the title of the book is meant to be a defense against reading erotica in public… Anyway, Nobody Can Pass Judgment on Me...
Aisarete mo Iindayo, Volume 1 ( 愛されてもいいんだよ)
In Amano Shuninta’s Aisarete mo Iindayo, Volume 1 ( 愛されてもいいんだよ) we meet Kimura Rin, an office worker who is being sexually harassed by a superior at work. She has…
Too Young to Die (死ぬにはまだ早い, Kiyoshi Nishimura, 1969)
An adulterous couple begin to reassess their relationship when caught up in a hostage situation in Nishimura’s tense interpersonal drama
It’s All Right, My Friend (だいじょうぶマイフレンド, Ryu Murakami, 1983)
Bandmates help a stranded alien recover his ability to fly to Ryu Murakami’s forgotten surreal countercultural blockbuster.
Break Down That Wall / その壁を砕け / Sono kabe o kudake (1959)
Obscure Japanese Film #108 Izumi Ashikawa and Yuji Odaka in foreground Saburo (Yuji Odaka) is a young Tokyo garage mechanic who has been w...
![Featured image for Follow the Light (光を追いかけて, Yoichi Narita, 2021) [Fantasia 2021]](https://cdn.aniblogtracker.com/live/20220102/1641087514.28387.55755.jpg)
Follow the Light (光を追いかけて, Yoichi Narita, 2021) [Fantasia 2021]
An alienated young man resentful of his forced relocation to the countryside bonds with an intense classmate in Yoichi Narita’s gentle coming of age drama
Anata no Yoru ga Aketera (あなたの夜が明けたら)
Anata no Yoru ga Aketera (あなたの夜が明けたら), translated on the cover as After Sunrise, Haru Harukawa Collection is a collection of shorts by, obviously Harukawa Haru. Some of these…