しあわせ

There’s always some Japanese films at this festival.

This year it’s running from the 30th of April until the 4th of May, and these films are showing:
Dai Nipponjin
Vexille and an
Anime All Nighter (9 hours, 4 films, including Tekkonkinkreet and The Girl who Leapt Through Time)

All films are showing at the Apollo Cinema Regent Street.
Films are £10, the all-nighter is £25, booking details are here

There are goody bags with the Anime All Nighter, and before every screening T-shirts and DVDs are usually thrown into (at?) the audience.

I’d really like to see The Girl who Leapt Through Time but I don’t think I can do an all-nighter anymore. Maybe it’ll get a DVD release. . .

PolarC (aka BigHeadedMan, aka Chika-san) is dj at a club night in Life, Old Street on the 11 May. Interesting music is guaranteed. Chika-san had this to say in her flyer –
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Just a headsup for anyone in the UK that on Radio 4 tonight there is a programme about Anime, Karaoke (badly mispronounced as karyoki as usual.), Sushi and all things Japanese. Children’s Magazine Show Go 4 It is broadcasting a Japanese special at 7.15.
UK listeners can also listen at the CBBC Radio Player. Although I think both these links will probably expire within a week. People outside the UK may have to find a way to present a UK IP address in order to listen to the show.

From the 11th March until the 6th April There are two Japanese plays for children at the Unicorn Theatre London. Both these plays are being seen for the first time in the UK

The plays are
Hello Maru-chan UK Premiere
for a younger audience.
From the stills on their site this looks an exciting design. The puppets used seem to have been made in collaboration with the director of the opening ceremony of Sydney’s 2000 Olympic Games, Peter Wilson.

The Twin Stars World Premiere
For older children.
This is from a story by Kenji Miyazawa. (Not the Tanabata story as the title would suggest) It sounds as if it’s worth a look.

On the 22 March (Easter Saturday) there is a special one day event where Southwark residents can see these plays for free and everyone else can participate in workshops and see The Dojo Drummers.

I missed the screening of Sakuran at the ICA last week and that prompted me to check the listings.
(Sakuran is on DVD with English subs in Japan so I’ll probably get it there before any release in the UK)

There are two films screening in the next months.
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