settima

Japan

絵を描く子どもたち [E o kaku kodomotachi: jidōga o rikai suru tame ni / Children Who Draw] (Susumu Hani, 1956)

Mar

13

Youth Art Month

絵を描く子どもたち (1956)

A little girl painting. DP: Shizuo Komura.

An artistic child for Youth Art Month (USA)

 

Small children work with clay, paint, and other materials. Under the camera's watchful eye, we see their work come to life.

聖母観音大菩薩 [Seibo Kannon daibosatsu / Eros Eterna] (Kōji Wakamatsu, 1977)

Mar

7

immortality

聖母観音大菩薩 (1977)

The yao bikuni (Eiko Matsuda) rises from the ocean. DP: Hideo Itō.

An immortal character on the date Highlander (1986) was released.

– Dont raise your voice! I'll kill you if you make a sound.

– Would you please?

When a woman eats the flesh of a 人魚 (ningyo, litt. “human fish” but in Western context commenly translated as “mermaid”), she may become a 八百比丘尼 [yao bikuni], an 800 year* old Buddhist nun granted youth and longevity.

 

*The number 8 symbolises growth and prosperity. Larger numbers starting with 8 indicate that the amount is endless, comparable to saying “hundreds/thousands/millions of […]” in English. Therefore, 800 years can be understood as immortal.

猫と庄造と二人のをんな [Neko to Shōzō to futari no onna / A Cat, Shozo, and Two Women] (Shirō Toyoda, 1956)

Feb

20

Love Your Pet Day

猫と庄造と二人のをんな (1956)

Shōzō (Hisaya Morishige) on the beach with his beloved cat Lily. DP: Mitsuo Miura.

Someone owns a pet on Love Your Pet Day (UK)

“I'm sharing my husband with a cat. This is humiliating!”

– Nakajima

Shōzō is torn between his ex-wife and his current spouse, but really just wants to spend time with Lily, his cat.

野獣死すべし [Yajū shisubeshi / The Beast Shall Die] (Eizō Sugawa, 1959)

Feb

17

airline food

野獣死すべし (1959)

Kunihiko Date (Tatsuya Nakadai) enjoys an in-flight meal. DP: Fukuzō Koizumi.

暗黒街の美女 [Ankokugai no bijo / Underworld Beauty] (Seijun Suzuki, 1958)

Feb

3

oden

暗黒街の美女 (1958)

At a yatai specialised in oden, someone chops an ingredient (daikon?) in two with what looks like a nakiri. DP: Wataro Nakao.

他人の顔 [Tanin no kao / The Face of Another] (Hiroshi Teshigahara, 1966)

Jan

3

Tutankhamun's tomb

他人の顔 (1966)

Mr. Okuyama (Tatsuya Nakadai). DP: Hiroshi Segawa.

Bandages for that day in 1924 when Howard Carter came across Tutankhamun's sarcophagus.

“You'll feel better soon. Once you're used to the mask, you'll be a new man — one with no records, no past. A mind invisible to the world.”

– psychiatrist

浪華悲歌 [Naniwa erejī / Osaka Elegy] (Kenji Mizoguchi, 1936)

Dec

15

International Tea Day

浪華悲歌 (1936)

A woman in kimono sits at a low wooden tea cabinet. It holds a small tea pot and other utensils. The traditional setup is broken in the background with contemporary Western furniture. She's smoking. DP: Minoru Miki.

Something with tea for International Tea Day.

 

荒野のダッチワイフ [Kōya no dacchi waifu / Dutch Wife of the Wasteland] (Atsushi Yamatoya, 1967)

Dec

13

ice cream

荒野のダッチワイフ (1967)

A young woman in profile, almost a silhouette, eats ice cream. DP: Hajime Kai.

13号待避線より その護送車を狙え ['Jūsangō taihisen' yori: Sono gosōsha o nerae / Aim at the Police Van] (Seijun Suzuki, 1960)

Aug

5

Fujiya popcorn

13号待避線より その護送車を狙え (1960)

Teenage girls eating Fujiya popcorn while singing along to rock 'n roll on the jukebox in cool cool Shinjuku [新宿区]. DP: Shigeyoshi Mine.

狼やくざ 殺しは俺がやる [Ōkami yakuza: Koroshi wa ore ga yaru / Yakuza Wolf: I Perform Murder / The Lone Assassin] (Ryūichi Takamori, 1972)

Jul

13

lollipops

狼やくざ 殺しは俺がやる (1972)

One of the gang members, immaculately dressed in all-black and small like a child, walks along a seedy street holding an oversized rainbow lollipop. DP: Yoshio Nakajima.