Slideshow
SHITAMACHI: Tales of Downtown Tokyo
Through Thursday, November 7
Shitamachi – “downtown” Tokyo or (literally) “low town” – is the low-lying eastern side of the city, including such famous districts as Ginza, Ueno, and Asakusa (Tokyo’s one-time “42nd Street”). Beginning with the feudal Edo period, Shitamachi also referred to the area and culture of the lower classes, and, even as physical boundaries have become increasingly blurry, it still suggests class struggle, brash characters (like Tora-san or Mifune’s yakuza in Kurosawa’s Drunken Angel), a particular cityscape (pachinko parlors, black markets, cramped bars, and narrow, raucous shopping streets), popular entertainment (rakugo — Japanese “sit down" comedy — and kabuki), and even cuisine (yakitori and ramen, inexpensive food consumed at train stations) — capturing the imagination of moviemakers from the silent era to the present. This series includes 25 rare films (many in 35mm) imported from Japan — several of them featuring subtitles created especially for our screenings.
Programmed by Aiko Masubuchi
Co-presented by The Japan Foundation
Special thanks to Eric Nyari (Cineric, Inc.); Yoko Yamamoto (Dokuritsu Pro Meigaza Hozonkai); Justin DiPietro (IFC); Brian Belovarac, Emily Woodburne, Ben Crossley-Marra (Janus Films); Kenji Matsumoto, Koji Nozaki (The Japan Foundation); Alo Joekalda (National Film Archive of Japan); Kazuko Misawa (N.E.W.S. Corporation); Mami Furukawa (Nikkatsu Corporation); Shion Komatsu, Yuhka Matoi, Hitomi Hosoda (Shochiku Co., Ltd.); Aya Takagawa (Wowow); Eri Nakagawa (Toho); Amber Noé, Kelly Li, Michie Yamakawa, Mimiko Goldstein, and Keiko Kimura.
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Dedicated to the memory of Makoto Wada (1936-2019)
View Makoto’s work and legacy |
Japan Foundation Shitamachi Festival Survey
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Tokyo Story screenings added by popular demand starting Friday, November 8.
Reviews
Read more about the SHITAMACHI festival in Mike Hale's New York Times feature.
Films in this Series
Screenings Added By Popular Demand
Through Thursday, November 14
12:40 & 8:15 ONLY