Japanese Films on DVD/Blu-ray

[ryannichols7]

Kadokawa is continuing their UHD releases with 戦国自衛隊 (G.I. Samurai) [1979] starring Sonny Chiba. they're even having a cover art contest on Twitter with their announcement

if I'm not mistaken, Kadokawa is the only Japanese studio that's put out UHDs so far. their track record with putting English subtitles on Blurays is...not great (Floating Weeds annoyingly doesn't have them) but The Inugami Family UHD did have them. hopefully this continues a trend and we do get more English-friendly UHDs from them - I would love to see titles like Floating Weeds, Irezumi (getting released in France!), Ugetsu, and of course Rashomon on the format.

glad to see that some Japanese studios do care about restoring and releasing their output on the highest quality format...

[therewillbeblus]

I could be wrong, but I feel like a lot of Sonny Chiba films were dubbed for U.S. grindhouse audiences, which would make including at least an English dub a no-brainer if it's available

The Inugami Family looks like a cool movie, thanks for inadvertently putting it on my radar!

[ryannichols7]

annoyingly I found their listing and English subtitles aren't listed on the G.I. Samurai disc...I hope that isn't a trend. for those that don't read Japanese, 英語字幕 are the characters you're looking for on any JP listing.

I could be wrong, but I feel like a lot of Sonny Chiba films were dubbed for U.S. grindhouse audiences, which would make including at least an English dub a no-brainer if it's available

The Inugami Family looks like a cool movie, thanks for inadvertently putting it on my radar!

I think it would definitely be something up Arrow's alley, and I honestly do see them releasing this (apparently Kadokawa did some of the Gamera films on UHD...I wonder if Arrow will?), but unfortunately it seems nothing English friendly is on this disc at all.

I've never seen The Inugami Family but I think I'm gonna pull the trigger and pay up for it, I love a lavish package and since I study Japanese, it'll be a big help (the Shochiku Ozu discs that come with the screenplay have been a godsend to me). I'm sure I'll pay the price if Arrow or Third Window import it later, but I can't imagine it would be a UHD if it came to the west. I'm probably one of Kon Ichikawa's biggest fans so I owe it to myself and you to spread the word!

going through their site, I couldn't help but notice Manji has a Bluray (of course without English subs), now that's one I can see Arrow bringing to the west soon. and I really hope they do, it's probably my favorite of Masumura's films I've seen so far!

[L.A.]

Tange Sazen: The Million Ryo Pot (Sadao Yamanaka, 1935) coming to Blu-ray in January. Long version with newly discovered scenes if I understand correctly.

[Calvin]

Tange Sazen: The Million Ryo Pot (Sadao Yamanaka, 1935) coming to Blu-ray in January. Long version with newly discovered scenes if I understand correctly.

It appears to be one of a wave of releases to mark Nikkatsu's 110th anniversary. They'll also be releasing the Daisuke Ito silent A Diary of Chuji's Travels, Yamanaka's Kōchiyama Sōshun, Umetsugu Inoue's The Man Who Calls the Storm, Tomotaka Tasaka's A Slope in the Sun, Ko Nakahira's Mud-Spattered Purity and Kirio Urayama's Foundry Town. Most of them I'm not familiar with but the Ito silents are very exciting considering the dearth of Japanese silents on Blu-Ray.

[Michael Kerpan]

Not just a dearth on Bluray -- not much ever appeared on DVD either....

[andyli]

Tange Sazen: The Million Ryo Pot (Sadao Yamanaka, 1935) coming to Blu-ray in January. Long version with newly discovered scenes if I understand correctly.

It appears to be one of a wave of releases to mark Nikkatsu's 110th anniversary. They'll also be releasing the Daisuke Ito silent A Diary of Chuji's Travels, Yamanaka's Kōchiyama Sōshun, Umetsugu Inoue's The Man Who Calls the Storm, Tomotaka Tasaka's A Slope in the Sun, Ko Nakahira's Mud-Spattered Purity and Kirio Urayama's Foundry Town. Most of them I'm not familiar with but the Ito silents are very exciting considering the dearth of Japanese silents on Blu-Ray.

And the 4k-restored Profound Desires of the Gods (link not up yet), as well as two Kinuyo Tanaka films (out of the six Carlotta is putting out for sure) on blu-ray. That's a total of 10 blu-ray releases, in addition to DVD releases of 10 other works. This is a pretty huge announcement for fans of Japanese cinema.

[feihong]

The Fuji Television/Pony Canyon blu rays of Hideo Gosha's Goyokin and Tenchu (Hitokiri) arrived today! There are no English subtitles on either disc––though subs for both films can be found pretty easily online. These movies have had scant release on home video in the past; for a long time Tenchu just wasn't available at all. But how do the discs measure up?

The films look really good. Both films boast a very solid image, with visible grain and a very stable image. I'm not sure the grain is quite as clear as it could be, but there are a lot of sharp edges in the focal range of the shots, and there aren't any artifacts of DNR that I can see. There is good color separation (the 35mm print of Goyokin I saw had significant color degradation, and never looked this good--in fact, the color is really wonderful throughout both releases). There is depth of field. Even smoke and haze and soft-focus looks rendered pretty well. Neither film looks restored––there are noticeable but not distracting pops and scratches throughout both movies. The only footage in the films that doesn't look quite up to snuff is some footage in Goyokin where there are post-processing effects (the opening credits, and the flashback of the massacre). Both films look to be taken from robust sources. Tenchu in particular looks far better with the increased sharpness and color separation. The early, rain-soaked assassination scene pivotal to the film is finally, finally really visible, with all the rim-lit features of the faces and bodies in the scene finally visible.

I think Ruriko Asaoka is a ppprrrreeeeeettttyyyy good actress in a lot of good movies––including I Hate But Love, Danger Pays, and Confessions Among Actresses––and not great in not-great-movies, like Velvet Hustler, Red Handkerchief, and Safari 5000, but I feel like Goyokin shows her off in the most flattering light possible, giving her a rich and varied character which feels truer to her nature than some of her roles in more ostensibly "serious" films. Gosha has had that effect for many actresses over the years, offering them better, more varied and more interesting parts than in their more well-known roles for other filmmakers; I think Shima Iwashita shines brightest under Gosha's direction in a host of films––moreso than in her more famous films for her director husband, or her high-profile roles in things like Snow Country. And I can't rightly say that Keiko Kishi doesn't have great credits under other directors all through the 50s, but her later role in Hunter in the Dark is pretty earthy and intense, and a surprising role to give to an older actress. And after the samurai movies, from the 80s onward, Gosha focuses on giving actresses rich, rangy, melodramatic roles. All this is to say, though, that I was blown away by her in Goyokin once again, the way I was when I first saw the movie, on Bootleg VHS, way back in the day.

Recently I heard that The Violent Street was maybe getting a blu ray release with English subtitles. I'm hoping for that soon. But it would be great––especially since Criterion seems uninterested in pursuing their Gosha films further––if releases similar to these could be done for Bandit vs. Samurai Squadron and Hunter in the Dark. That would really be lovely. The light and color you see in these movies is especially exquisite in hi-def.

[ryannichols7]

Tange Sazen: The Million Ryo Pot (Sadao Yamanaka, 1935) coming to Blu-ray in January. Long version with newly discovered scenes if I understand correctly.

It appears to be one of a wave of releases to mark Nikkatsu's 110th anniversary. They'll also be releasing the Daisuke Ito silent A Diary of Chuji's Travels, Yamanaka's Kōchiyama Sōshun, Umetsugu Inoue's The Man Who Calls the Storm, Tomotaka Tasaka's A Slope in the Sun, Ko Nakahira's Mud-Spattered Purity and Kirio Urayama's Foundry Town. Most of them I'm not familiar with but the Ito silents are very exciting considering the dearth of Japanese silents on Blu-Ray.

And the 4k-restored Profound Desires of the Gods (link not up yet), as well as two Kinuyo Tanaka films (out of the six Carlotta is putting out for sure) on blu-ray. That's a total of 10 blu-ray releases, in addition to DVD releases of 10 other works. This is a pretty huge announcement for fans of Japanese cinema.

Profound Desires is listed at Rakuten with a 02 December release date. the Amazon listing doesn't yet list one. subtitles are unconfirmed in either listing - some of the above titles do confirm them (and do have English!) but it remains to be seen whether this will. the question of course, will be whether Criterion or one of the UK labels brings this movie out in the West, as its probably easily the most marketable title out of any of these and already had a much older BD release from MOC. I think if I can get the disc at the right price I'll spring for it, rather than risk waiting awhile for someone to bring it over

amazingly, they also restored Seijun Suzuki's Branded to Kill and it won an award at Venice. I can't find a listing for any disc release yet, but i'd have to imagine this is coming as well. this one is a no brainer, the Arrow is OOP and the Criterion is an old master with fairly light extras. I'd be surprised if it gets released in the west

[esl]

Tange Sazen: The Million Ryo Pot (Sadao Yamanaka, 1935) coming to Blu-ray in January. Long version with newly discovered scenes if I understand correctly.

It appears to be one of a wave of releases to mark Nikkatsu's 110th anniversary. They'll also be releasing the Daisuke Ito silent A Diary of Chuji's Travels, Yamanaka's Kōchiyama Sōshun, Umetsugu Inoue's The Man Who Calls the Storm, Tomotaka Tasaka's A Slope in the Sun, Ko Nakahira's Mud-Spattered Purity and Kirio Urayama's Foundry Town. Most of them I'm not familiar with but the Ito silents are very exciting considering the dearth of Japanese silents on Blu-Ray.

Foundry Town (aka Cupola, Where the Furnaces Glow) was the first film Urayama directed. It's wonderfully shot in B&W wide screen. I have a region 2 DVD but no English subs. A must-see film for those that like Japanese cinema from that time period. Don't know that Nakahira, but Inue and Tasaka films are early and typical Yûjirô Ishihara films. I have seen them both while living in Japan but that was over 12 years ago.

[Michael Kerpan]

I just wonder if Amazon Japan will ever restore the ability of American customers to order blu-rays from them....

[L.A.]

So the Daisuke Ito silents have English subtitles apparently(?). Not sure of the rest.

[zedz]

So the Daisuke Ito silents have English subtitles apparently(?). Not sure of the rest.

I'd love to know for sure, but the Yesasia listing specifies no subtitles.
Here.

[L.A.]

^ Blu-ray.com lists subs (probably not always accurate) but also Google translation says something about them here. Hopefully someone can clarify.

[Calvin]

Interestingly, it seems to suggest that the subs will be burned in and not optional.

[L.A.]

So the Daisuke Ito silents have English subtitles apparently(?). Not sure of the rest.

I'd love to know for sure, but the Yesasia listing specifies no subtitles.
Here.

Sooooo… received the disc today and checked:

• Chuji's Travel Diary has burned-in English subs
• An Unforgettable Grudge has couple intertitle parts with no subs but probably not that bad because it’s only a 15-minute fragment

[mrb404]

Fumihiko Sori's 2002 adaptation of Taiyō Matsumoto's manga Ping Pong will be released on Blu-ray on June 30th in France by Spectrum Films.
The release is already available for order and will include English subtitles.

[ryannichols7]

Fumihiko Sori's 2002 adaptation of Taiyō Matsumoto's manga Ping Pong will be released on Blu-ray on June 30th in France by Spectrum Films.
The release is already available for order and will include English subtitles.

really hope they get an interview with Supercar, who did the score. one of my all time favorite bands

[yoshimori]

Good to hear about the French release. The Japanese blu - exactly the same cover - from ten years ago also has English subtitles and is still in print.

[feihong]

More Nobuhiko Obayashi movies have been surfacing on the internet in hi-def transfers, making me wonder if blu rays are maybe forthcoming. There are now hi-def versions out there of Turning Point, April Fish, and just recently Beijing Watermelon appeared. Beijing Watermelon is one of Obayashi's best movies, one which intriguingly anticipates the indie Japanese film movement of the 90s. The film has a similar style and approach to later films by Takeshi Kitano and Shinji Aoyama, and it has unique subject matter it's hard to imagine featuring in a Japanese movie before it. Basically, it's about a greengrocer who encounters a Chinese foreign exchange student who wants to haggle over the produce in his shop. At first the grocer's interactions with the Chinese student are brusque and dismissive, but when he sees the student collapse from malnourishment, his heart begins to thaw, and he starts to try and communicate better with the Chinese student, and offer him better prices. Eventually, this leads to the grocer providing groceries at cost for all the Chinese foreign exchange students in his neighborhood, and coming to appreciate them. As this happens, the grocer suddenly becomes aware of the bigotry against these students in his own community––bigotry visited upon them by people he cares about. The film is more complex than many of Obayashi's more famous movies (though in other films Obayashi also proves himself capable of dealing in serious complexity). It's not as aggressive as other Obayashi movies in seeking out that kind of slick, Kadowkawa-style shellacked beauty; the film is messier, dirtier, and the compositions are deep-focus and convoluted. It's an interesting picture; hope the very good transfer now out there means a blu ray is coming!

[Calvin]

I think April Fish was made available in HD on VoD platforms in Japan at the same time as the DVD release in late 2021, so I assume that's where that one is sourced from

Sent from my SM-S918B using Tapatalk

[Michael Kerpan]

I've always wanted to see Beijiing Watermelon -- so I hope it gets a subbed release.

[andyli]

Toho's releasing Floating Clouds, Life of Oharu and Humanity and Paper Balloons, all three 4k-restored and set for September.

[artfilmfan]

Toho's releasing Floating Clouds, Life of Oharu and Humanity and Paper Balloons, all three 4k-restored and set for September.

These releases don’t seem to have English subtitles. Here’s hoping for a Criterion release of Floating Clouds.

[Matt]

I have zero hope of Criterion ever considering a Naruse film again.

And this reminds me that we’re still waiting on the Kinuyo Tanaka films that played theaters well over a year ago. Maybe it’s more complicated than I think since the films come from four different Japanese studios.