The China Lover

The subject of the novel, or maybe it should be called a historical-fiction book based on real life events, is Yoshiko Yamaguchi who was also known as Shirley Yamaguchi, Li Xianglan, and Ri Kouran. Yoshiko was born in Manchuria in 1920 to Japanese parents.

Following the Sino-Japanese War. The Japanese had set up a puppet Manchurian government. By the late 1930’s, she’d grown into a very pretty and talented young woman who soon caught the eyes of the Japanese working there. Yamaguchi wanted more than anything else to be a singer and a movie star.  The Japanese believed they had struck gold with this talented young woman, because she was fluent in both Mandarin and Japanese. Her movie career began and her career seemed to be fast tracked. But there was a problem.

Yamaguchi, was asked to pose as a Chinese girl by her Japanese handlers. Though born in China, and raised in China, she was Japanese. She was even given a Chinese name, Li Xianglan, to attract the Chinese audiences.

The agent makes a pitch to the director

As I said above, she wanted to be a star. But her films were in actuality propaganda pieces. Yes, even in 1940, the terms ‘win the hearts and minds‘ was in full use; nearly 30 years before this term was used by the United States in their efforts in Viet Nam. The roles she played under the name of Li Xianglan were all about Chinese girls falling in love with Japanese men. This was part of the propaganda plan that the Japanese used to help the Chinese to begin thinking of the Japanese occupation as beneficial and paternalistic.

But there was a lot of pressure on her. She found it difficult to live under an assumed identity. She chafed about having to act Chinese when she was really Japanese. As the pressure mounted, Yamaguchi realized she’d never be a star in  her own right. She also realized that she was a political instrument, though she hadn’t realized it at first. She threatened to quit. She was told to forget those notions and get back to work. When again she threatened to quit, she was told no chance. Back to work and shut up.

making nice to the military

But the Chinese were not fooled. When one particular role showed Ri Kouran as a Chinese woman was being beaten, belittled and abused by the Japanese character, a huge controversy arose.  The Chinese resentment about the Japanese rapidly and publicly increased. When Japan was ultimately defeated in WWII, the Japanese plans for China were publicly reviled as simple global aggression. Li Xianglan/ Ri Kouran/Yoshiko Yamaguchi was arrested by the Chinese and charged with treason and collaborating with the Japanese. She was on trial for her life. She ultimately revealed that she was in fact a Japanese and not a Chinese National and was cleared.

A promo image for the TV Series

But that’s not even close to the end of her story. After the war, Ri Kouran relocated back to Japan and relaunched another film career. She caught the attention of Hollywood and came to the USA and starred in a few films. She even did a Broadway musical in New York. She would later marry the famed Japanese-American architect Isamu Noguchi.

A scene from within a movie from a scene in the TV drama

When that marriage floundered in the middle 1950’s they divorced and Yamaguchi went back to Japan. Once more she launched another career, this time as a TV News anchor and talk show host. She became successful in this phase as a crusading TV journalist. This lead to her marriage to a Japanese diplomat Hiroshi Otaka.

Ri Kouran at a live performance meeting an old friend from the audience

In 1974, she was elected to the Japanese Parliament and she served for 18 years (3 terms). This was certainly a thrilling life. One that a film writer or novelist did not create. nor even dream of creating, yet, Yoshiko Yamaguchi actually lived it.

Buruma’s novel is this same story told through the eyes and ears of three different and separate men who came into contact with her at various stages of her life. Buruma’s book has a ctreative and interesting structure to it. One woman’s story as told over a 50 year period,  by three separate men is not something you read very often.

But the story of Yoshiko still has more to it. A Japanese tv mini-series called Ri Kouran was produced and aired in February 2007. All of the images, other than book jackets and another TV production, are of Aya Ueto and are from the DVD made from the Japanese TV series production.

Meisa as Kawashima with Ri Kouran as a supporting character

There was In fact, a second tv series involving Yamaguchi that was produced and that aired in 2008. It was called Dansou no reijin. Meisa  Kuroki starred as Yoshiko Kawashima, a woman in the military during the Japanese occupation who befriended Ri Kouran.

Ueto looks gorgeous in the period costumes, and I simply could not resist sharing them. The Youtube below is a music video of the Ueto song Namida no Niji which will show you some small segments from the Ri Kouran TV show mixed with the new music.

While watching Jersey Shore last week on MTV, I caught the trailer for The Social Network. The movie is the story about the founders of Facebook and releases to theaters on October 1st. While watching the trailer, I saw someone who I thought was Brenda Song who I am a big fan of. When I went to check the cast list, I was surprised to see that she is indeed in the movie along with a few other Asian hotties: Malese Jow, Crystal Hoang, Yoko Okumura, and Tessa Sugay.

I was set on going to seeing The Social Network after watching the trailer. Knowing that these beauties are also in the movie is an added bonus. I hope the reviews are good once the movie critics publish their reviews for it.

Links:
The Social Network Official Site | IMDB
Brenda Song @ Beauty Boutique
Malese Jow @ Twitter
Crystal Hoang @ Model Mayhem
Yoko Okumura @ Wix
Tessa Sugay @ IMDB

Basically, over the life of the series, which ran this year from mid-April through June 24th, we will learn some in depth info about the five lead characters. We watch as they struggle with their problems like: their aversion to commitments, their lack of confidence, their unwillingness to either express the truth or to face it.

If that sounds kind of grim and disturbing to you, you can rest assured that the series is not completely or only about bumps in the road, it only seems that way. The cast is youthful, attractive, and their problems/issues are not too remote for most of us to identify with or relate to. As they’ve agreed to meet for the first time in the opening Episode, I’ll give you a little thumbnail sketch about each of them to help you decide if you’d like to watch this series.

Eita as Nakaji

Keisuke Nakajima is played by Eita who is in real life is 28 and has been working steadily in TV series and films in Japan for some time. He’s well liked and you’d have to say that his career is burgeoning as he’s gone from supporting roles to lead roles.

Nakaji and Haru

Here he is called Nakaji. The info he’s put out to the group is that he is a photographer. In reality, he’s a photographer’s assistant, in short a low level assistant in the skin magazine trade. He works on gravure idol photo-shoots. Throughout this entire series, he has a continuous and endless case of one bad hair day after another. As the series begins we learn that he has been involved with and is in love with a married woman.

Haru Mizuno is played by the award winning actress Juri Ueno. She walked off with an award for her role as a high-strung student trying to become concert pianist in Nodame Cantabile in 2006. She then followed with another award for her performance as a gay woman in the 2008 series Last Friends.

Juri Ueno as Haru

Haru has told the group that she is a teacher at a private high school. Her reality is that she’s a provisional teacher who is still on probation and she hasn’t gotten her full teaching license yet. Her character is attractive but has no self confidence at all. As a result, she’s never had a boy friend and has already past her 24th birthday.

Jae-Joong Hero is not only a Korean actor, but in his role in the series, he portrays a Korean living and working in Tokyo. He tells the group he is a Doctor, and that (Doctor) becomes his character’s name. In truth, he is a salesman for a medical supplies firm, and his track record is not too good.

Jaejoong aka 'Doctor'

He’s going to fall head-over-heels for Haru. The relationship has a good many stumbles, and week to week it seems that she loves me, she loves me not is the rule rather than the exception. That’s because Haru also really likes Nakaji. And because she can’t decide.

Megumi Seki appears as Peach. She’s tall and attractive with a willowy figure. Beyond that she’s an aggressive and sexually active woman. She’s only a sales girl in a women’s clothing shop but she’s implied to the group that she manages the store.

Megumi Seki as Peach

She will be attracted to two of the three male leads, and when we meet her, she is already pregnant by another lover. She easily bonds with Haru, and they become the supporting friend for each other.

The last of the main characters is Kaoru Ichihara or ‘Leenda’, played by Tetsuji Tamayama. He has told the group that he is an editor of a prestigious magazine, but in reality he is just an assistant editor who is being sexually harassed by his female boss who constantly promises better assignments and promotions in return for sleeping with her.

Tetsuji as Leenda

As you will see, he is the fifth wheel as well as the odd man out. Yet he outwardly appears as the most stable of the main characters while inwardly he hasn’t yet learned to face up to his reality. He too has his secret which will emerge in the coming weeks.

I’ve watched the whole series which you can find with either hard or soft subtitles. You’ll have to google to find them,  At times, I became angry at the characters for their indecisiveness, their inability to be honest even to themselves, and for letting their fears control them. Yet despite the anger, you do get caught up in rooting for them.

The series as a whole is far from upbeat, and despite the somewhat happy endings achieved by some of the characters. the series does not end with you pleased about the results for each of them. But the production hasn’t skimped on cost savings measures, and it is a visually attractive series. I won’t go as far as saying this is a must see, but it is diverting, and I did stay with it to completion.

For two video trailers go to:
http://asianmediawiki.com/Sunao_ni_Narenakute

I haven’t looked at photos of Minase in a very long time which is a shame because she is such a cutie, plus she is in one of my all time favorite photos for a gravure model. Just recently, I became reacquainted with her when I saw this post. So if you are like me and haven’t checked out Minase in a while, here’s your chance to do so.

Stats:
Birthdate: February 25, 1985
Birthplace: Gifu Prefecture, Japan
Measurements: 88-58-88(cm) / 34½-23-34½-(inch)
Height: 1.65 m (5′5”)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown
Blood type: O

Links:
Minase Yashiro @ Beauty Boutique
Wikipedia
[YS WEB] Vol.358 Minase Yashiro [QUEEN OF THE SEA COLLECTION!!!!] @ Really Cute Asians

Shinzanmono

I think shinzanmono means something along the lines of ‘new neighborhood people or person’, which is what Detective Kaga Kyoichiro is in Ningyo-cho. Kaga was just tranferred to the Nihonbashi precinct, is placed in charge of the case. With virtually all of the residents of the neighborhood’s main shopping street, harboring one secret or another, they will all emerge as suspects, Detective Kaga must use his keen sense of deductive reasoning to uncover the truth about these people as well as solve the case..

Much of that is from the synopsis provided on the d-addicts.com website. But it really doesn’t do the series justice. Calling it a detective show is truly an over-simplification. Unlike American detective shows where the detective solves a new crime each week, this series focuses on just the one case. We, much like Detective Kaga, are in the dark. Though we witnessed the murder in the opening episode, and have seen snippets of it, in flashbacks, in every episode that followed, we still have no idea. This is a literal, “Who done it?”

Detective Kaga is portrayed by Hiroshi Abe. He brings a quiet calm to the role, and from his simple white shirt without a tie, and black suit…he appears to be completely style-less. In that regard, he is similar to the classic American detective, Lieutenant Columbo, who was played in that classic series by Peter Falk. But unlike Columbo, who actively worked at being shambling, forgetful, and messy to deceive the suspects, Kaga is none of the above. At worst he is edging in the direction of being unkempt but hasn’t arrived at that station yet.

He is direct yet quite polite and courteous, sharp as a tack when it comes to smarts because he is sharp-eyed and listens to everything that is being said, and extraordinarily giving in the sense of calming and reassuring both victims and suspects to gain their confidence.

Though the series broadcast run has concluded, I’ve seen just the first five episodes as I must wait for the subtitles to become available. But from what I have seen, I can decidedly recommend the series. So let’s give you a leg up by introducing some of the characters to get you started.

Mieko Harada as the victim Mineko Mitsui

But first, who and what was the victim Mineko Mitsui all about? She’s a 40 something divorced woman, living alone in a small flat, who is also estranged from her 20 something year old son.

From what we can see in the flashbacks, she’s attempting to get her life back on track, and has moved into this neighborhood because she has discovered that this is where her son lives. She’s made quite a few friends in Ningyo-cho, and apparently was well liked. Mieko Harada had the role.

Meisa Kuroki as Ami Aoyama

The beautiful Meisa Kuroki has the part of Ami Aoyama. She’s a part-time freelance writer/reporter/stringer for some local magazines and newspapers. She also works as a part-time waitress to supplement her meager earnings from writing.

We come to discover that she is the girl friend of the murdered woman’s son. While appearing in each episode, she is also the narrator at the beginning of each episode.

Anne (just a single professional name on stage) plays the role of Nao Kawakama in Episode One. She’s a headstrong girl who can’t get along with her Mom who runs an upscale cookie shop in the neighborhood. Nao wants to go to Paris and study hair design. She also lies to the police under questioning about an insurance salesman who is a suspect. That’s her right above this paragraph.

In Episode Two, we meet Yui Natsukawa (above left) who plays the restaurant owner Yoriko. Her husband is cheating on her with various bar girls. Detective Kaga is on the trail and he questions one of the girls, Asami, played by Mao Miyaji (above right) about this suspect. We will meet Asami again in the 4th Episode.

Yuki Shibamoto as Maki

In Three we get to know more about Maki Yanagisawa played by the lovely Yuki Shibamoto. Maki had met and befriended the murdered woman. Maki also was fighting with her Mother and went missing soon after the police arrived to question her. In this episode. Gravure Idol Yuko Ogura also had a small role as a men’s shop manager. She sells Detective Kaga some ties and undershorts.

Yuko Ogura as The Sales Mgr at a men's Shop. She loves how Det. Kaga looks with the ties she's selling

Four introduces a curmudgeon of a watch repairman played by veteran Japanese actor Yoshio Harada. His surliness stems from his unhappiness and disillusionment because his daughter ran off and married (against his wishes) a young man whom he considered to be biker-trash.

The daughter is played by Haru and she and her father will not reconcile until she delivers a newborn son. Her husband is now working at a watch manufacturing plant. As for the watch repairman, he’s a suspect because he is known to have frequented the same park as the murdered woman Mineko. And both of them were seen in this park at the same time on the day she was murdered.

Miyuki as portrayed by Mahiro Konno

In Five, we meet Miyuki who is employed at the favorite bake shop of Detective Kaga, Ami Aoyama, as well as the murdered woman. Miyuki is played by Mahiro Konno. Her character is pregnant and was befriended by Mineko, who watched over the pregnant girl, as any parent might; only she wasn’t Miyuki’s mother. We also find out that Ami Aoyama met and talked with Miyuki about Mineko in this chapter.

That’s as far as I can go up to now. It’s very interesting to watch as each Episode introduces a new character, and as we get to know them, we find that Detective Kaga will help them as people who are in need of a helping hand, and yet as he helps them, we must consider that each of them is possibly the murderer.

This excellent production has charm, wit, humor, superior writing, and lots of style. The characters are fresh, and while their family problems are universal and not new, we can enjoy how Kaga works his magic and uncovers their secrets one by one.

Through five weeks, I still have no idea who killed Mineko. And neither does Detective Kaga, and therein lies the charm and magic of this wonderful series. You just have to return the following week, because solving the case has become as important to us as it is to Kaga. Okay, make that almost as important.

When I saw this bit of news this morning, I couldn’t believe it. But not only does Anri Suzuki have a doctorate in history, but as a way to apologize for the Japanese invasion of China, she has been offering free sex sessions to the Chinese students who are studying in Japan. While focused on the Japanese invasion of China, Anri was shocked to learn about her country’s past, so she’s atoning for those past wrongdoings by offering sexual compensation.

If I was a Chinese student studying there, I would take her up on this offer in a heartbeat. You’d be silly not to. But I hope that this bit of news brings some attention to the readers here who are also unaware of the Japanese invasion of China, which is a history that doesn’t get much attention and when the Japanese government has repeatedly try to deny and remove from textbooks.

Links:
Free sex for China to apologize @ Korea Times
Anri Suzuki @ Softcore Sanctuary
Second Sino-Japanese War @ Wikipedia | Nanking Massacre @ Wikipedia

If it means that I could now watch someone like Mika Kayama (formerly known as Arisa Oda) or Yuma Asami in 3-D, then I would have to seriously consider a new television purchase. But S1 has two new 3-D releases of Mika and Yuma to coincide with the release of Sony’s 3-D Bravia television in Japan on June 19th.

I can easily see 3-D pornography fueling the sales of new 3-D televisions. Porn has fueled sales and spurred development in other technological areas, and I still don’t see movies and games that are in 3-D as being enough of a driving force to get someone to go out and drop a load on a new electronic purchase. But if more JAV releases start to come out in 3-D, it could really get people to buy a new TV and help drive down costs so that they become mainstream. And if you want to continue this discussion within the forum, there’s also a thread you can visit by clicking here.

Mika Kayama @ Softcore Sanctuary
Yuma Asami @ Softcore Sanctuary
How to Lure 3-D TV Customers @ Kotaku | Porn stars in 3-D Lure Customers to New Sony & Panasonic TVs @ Businessweek via News On Japan

I usually don’t watch shows such as Dancing with the Stars, but I would check it out from time to time if I am flipping through television channels and it happens to be on. And if I would have known early on that Nicole was competing on the show, I would have watched the show from the beginning of this season. Good thing that the episodes are available online to watch.

But the times that I was able to catch Nicole on the show live, she was simply amazing. She may have had a slight advantage over her competition with her background as a professional dancer, but congratulations goes out to her and to her partner Derek Hough for winning this season’s competition on May 25th.

Nicole is of Filipino, Hawaiian & Russian descent, was born in Honolulu, and is best known as the lead singer for the Pussycat Dolls. Below is a sample video that I found to give a preview for those who have never watched the show before. And speaking of Hawai’i, you should also check out Carrie Ann Inaba who serves as one of the judges on Dancing with the Stars, was also born in Honolulu, and is a mature beauty as well.

Links:
Nicole Scherzinger Official Site
Wikipedia | Dancing with the Stars site

The lead role of Rensuke Hazuki is played by the Japanese superstar, Takuya Kimura. He’s the CEO of the Regolith Corporation. Under his guidance, Regolith is about to pass the Mastpole Company, and become the number one brand name in interior design.

Simply described, he is in the furniture business and he’s very smart about it. So he’s successful, rich, and ambitious for more, much more.

Takuya Kimura and Chi Ling Lin

But he’s not content with just leading domestically (in Japan). He has bigger goals in mind. Namely – China. So he sets out to launch his brand with Shanghai as the location for the flagship store in China.

His right hand man is Cai Feng Jian who is played by Shota Matsuda. Though born in Tokyo, his character is a second generation Chinese. He and Hazuki met in college, and he has worked his way up through the ranks to his current position alongside Hazuki. His fluency in Chinese and his knowledge of the local laws will be invaluable to Hazuki. But Cai Feng is an operator himself. Through two episodes, he looks like he’s working for Rensuke , and he looks like he’s out to do whatever it takes for himself as well.

Then there are three key women. Aren’t there always Key Women?

Ryoko Shinohara as Maemi Ninomiya

Hazuki’s lead designer is Maemi Ninomiya. This role is played by the charismatic Ryoko Shinohara. She’s great at what she does, and she has known Hazuki since their school days. She has a huge crush on him, only he doesn’t know it. Because of her talent, and because she’s great at working with people, she has gotten a good deal of respect from Hazuki. In fact, she’s the only person employed at Regolith who is permitted to express an opinion, even if contradictory, to Hazuki.

Keiko Kitagawa as Yuzuki Ohnuki

Keiko Kitagawa plays a model called Yuzuki Ohnuki, who has set her sights on Hazuki. She’s proud, she’s tough, and she’s passionate about getting what she wants. She’s also the daughter of the head of Mastpole. She’s is often seen on the phone with Cai Feng…plotting something.

Chi Ling Lin as Xiu Mei Liu

L

There’s one more woman to be mentioned. She is Chi Ling Lin, a beautiful Taiwanese actress who I just saw in the John Woo epic Red Cliff 2. She starred opposite Tony Leung in that one. Here she plays a worker, Xiu Mei Liu, in the Shanghai furniture factory just taken over by Hazuki’s Regolith Corporation. She’s front and center in the workers protest against Regolith, because the plans are to take down the Chinese Furniture factory and put up a new Regolith factory. The Chinese workers are protesting as they fear they’ll lose their jobs.

Somewhere in the protests, Xiu Mei Liu meets Hazuki. His plan is to turn things upside down and make Liu the poster girl for his brand Regolith. It’s the carrot at the end of the stick concept. He hopes to soften her stance by making her a center piece for the new brand. She buys into his deal especially when he promises to re-employ all the factory workers.

Do you see where this is going? A Chinese girl, a beautiful Japanese model, and the steadfast designer all are suddenly thrust together, and none of their lives, including Hazuki’s will ever be the same afterwards.

Seems like a great concept – Kimura and three sexy ladies. Couldn’t ask for more. In Episode One, we meet the players, and things look good. In Episode Two, we find out that there’s nothing Rensuke won’t do, up to and including reneging on his promise about the factory workers and attempting to pimp out Xiu Mei to a Hotel Chain Owner who is opening a hotel in Tokyo and Rensuke wants the furniture contract. But Xiu Mei will have none of it.

I’ve seen the first two episodes and wow! Is Kimura playing against his usual good guy type? Is he really this scuzzy?  What’s going to happen to those lovely ladies all of whom are encircling him?

The images you see, are all from the first two chapters which I thoroughly enjoyed. And I can’t wait to find out what happens next.

Beast Stalker is a 2008 release and about the worst thing I can say about it is that the title is a bit misleading. Dante Lam previously co-directed, with Gordon Chan, the excellent Beast Cops in 1998. That film was nearly unanimously acclaimed, so using ‘Beast’ in this title might be an attempted marketing ploy for knowledgeable film folks.

Nevertheless it has all the style and chops that Lam is noted for – gritty and tense situations which are amped up by a jittery hand held camera, strong characters who are both good and bad, and some very fine use of lighting and slow motion.

The story is a bit hum-drum as it starts: A well connected criminal is convicted and being driven to prison. His gang engineers a way to spring him out of that car. Then a massive multi-car crash occurs involving a number of vehicles. One car is the one in pursuit with Sgt. Tong (Nicholas Tse, Hong Kong’s version of Johnny Depp). Another is the car driven by Prosecuting Attorney (what we call an A.D.A. in the States), The third car is the one driven by Hung (a hoodlum for hire played by Nick Cheung). And of course, the first car with the convicted but escaped criminal.

These characters will all connect in the heart of the movie. Without revealing too much, there is a fatality in the crash…but the victim was shot not killed by the impact.

Hong played by Nick Cheung

Hong is hired by the criminal’s gang to kidnap the daughter of the ADA -

Nicholas Tse as Det. Sgt. Tong

Sgt. Tong is distraught because he was the one who fired the shots -
ADA Gao, (played by the striking  Jingchu Zhang) is asked to ‘lose’ crucial evidence -

It is a story that as we get deeper and deeper into it, we discover that every character is multi-faceted. No one is all good or all bad. Lam handles the action very well, and a few of the action set pieces are exceptional.

Some of this film is truly edge of your seat thrilling. Some of this you’ve seen before – you know – the villain that gets up again and again. And for all the shots fired, hardly anyone is hit by bullets. Despite these facts, or should I said factors, the film doesn’t disappoint when it comes to tension, thrills, and drama.

There are a few surprises and revelations which may or may not propel the story forward, but instead, they provide you with some added depth to a few of the characters. And believe me there’s nothing wrong with expanding a character, especially in these days of card-board villains, shallow female roles, and tough as well as thoughtless heroes..

My overall impression is that this is a well-made actioner, that does keep you involved, and doesn’t need to resort to an over-kill of blood, gore, and body-parts.