The Japan Society Review 52
Book, Stage, Movie, Arts and Events Review

Issue 52 Volume 9 Number 4 (August 2014)

Coming of Age Story
Chris Corker reviews Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage
Colourful Characters
We consider life, death and social issues in Keiichi Hara’s Colorful
In this issue of the Japan Society Review, we focus on fivebooks and a film. We begin with Murakami’s Colorless Tsukuru
Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage, another great successfrom the author focussing on isolation and disconnection.
We then move onto the theme of Japanese and international
relations with Sir Hugh Cortazzi’s review of British Courts andExtra-territoriality in Japan, 1859-1899. Remaining on thissubject, we offer a review by Ian Nish of two works centeredon China as the site of conflict between Japan and the Allied
Nations. Both books provide assessments of Japan’s moreaggressive foreign policy before and during the Second World
War and address the darker side of Japanese international
relations.

Contents
1) Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage
2) British Courts and Extra-territoriality in Japan, 1859-1899
3) The Battle for China: Essays on the Military History of the
Sino-Japanese War of 1937-45 and Clash of Empires inSouth China: The Allied Nations’ Proxy War with Japan,
1935-414) Sushi Slim
5) Colorful

Chris Corker moves on to look at Murakami Haruki’s Colorless
Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage. As ever, the questionis, can it possibly live up to the hype?
Our final review continues this consideration of social issues inJapan as Mike Sullivan examines Hara Keichii’s animated film,
Colorful, as part of a film festival on the theme of ‘youth’. With
sumptuous visuals and strong characters, Colorful considers
issues of bullying, hikikomori, dysfunctional families and suicide.
William Cottrell

Guest Editor
William Cottrell
Managing Editor
Isabel Barne
Reviewers
Ian Nish, Chris Corker & Mike Sullivan
Special Reviewer
Sir Hugh Cortazzi
New reviewswww.japansociety.org.uk/resources/reviews

them in this way throughout the book; but more thanColorless Tsukuru
Tazaki and His Years of that these colours come to represent Tsukuru’s lack ofconnection to any of them: ‘How great it would be, hePilgrimage

by Murakami Haruki
Harvill Secker, 2014
298 Pages
ISBN-10: 1846558336
Review by Chris Corker
It has been nearly three
years since Murakami’s lastbook 1Q84 was released in
English. Personally I found 1Q84 disappointing after
the hype, the characters unrelatable and the majority of
their motives confused and unbelievable. Murakami’s
new release Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of
Pilgrimage, another coming-of-age or ‘Bildunsroman‘
story, stands at a manageable 298 pages comparedwith the daunting 928 of its predecessor, and reads
more like a fleshed-out short story than a true novel.
This, however, does not detract from the books
appeal, instead giving the work a refreshing simplicity
and leanness that Murakami hasn’t adopted since his
early works such as A Wild Sheep Chase and Sputnik
Sweetheart, venturing away from the (pleasantly)
complex narratives of Kafka on the Shore and Wind-up
Bird Chronicle. Indeed, I was reminded even more soof his first two works, Hear the Wind Sing and Pinball,which are yet to be made widely available in the UK.
As with these two novellas, the characters in Tsukuru
float, dream-like, in and out of scene, making noapparent difference to the protagonist.
Tazaki Tsukuru, in many ways, is the antithesis of
the archetypal Murakami protagonist (Murakami
is certainly of the ‘write what you know’ breed ofnovelists), having no real interest in drinking, fine
food, or jazz – the general bread and butter of
Murakami’s focal characters. This is because the
Tsukuru we are presented with at the beginning of
the book – a student, living away from home in Tokyo– is depressed, feeling disconnected and, he admits
candidly, suicidal.
‘[...] Tsukuru had fallen into the bowels of death, on
untold day after another, lost in a dark stagnant void.’
Murakami’s characters are typically strong andresilient in the face of suffering, both real and surreal,
so readers may be surprised to see one of his creations
so downtrodden, and will doubtless infer somethingcrushingly traumatic in his past. And they would beright. Tsukuru’s four closest friends from childhood
have told him – without giving a reason – that they nolonger want to see him.
The four friends each have a colour in their name: Aka(Red), Ao (Blue), Shiro (white) and Kuro (black). These
colours become their nicknames and Tsukuru refers to2

often, thought, if I had a color in my name too. Theneverything would be perfect.’ Tsukuru, in Japanese,
is simply the verb ‘to make’. In his book The Art ofFiction, David Lodge states that: ‘In a novel names
are never neutral. They always signify, even if it is only
ordinariness.’ Ironically, the four friends, as Tsukuru
describes them, are merely transparent archetypes or
ciphers, the inhabitants of the Mystery Machine, minus
the dog; the characters really are that stereotypical.
We have the jock; the shy nerd; the sarcastic, smart
but plain girl; and the beautiful but mentally frail
porcelain doll. But in spite (or perhaps because) of
their prefabricated roles, the characters find happinessas a complete unit. Tsukuru, on the other hand, who
cannot be fit snugly into any pre-ordained category,sees his lack of definable character – lack of colour – asa fundamental flaw that has ruined this relationship,
and will continue to ruin any future relationships hehas. This causes him intense anxiety, only exacerbatedas those important to him, including a very close malefriend, Haida (Grey), for whom Tsukuru may have had
intimate feelings, leave him. He begins to see himself
as an ‘empty container’ who others can stand for awhile, but not long-term. This lack of connection that
Tsukuru feels is referred to often in the book, and The
Doors of Perception, in which Huxley calls humanbeings ‘Island universes’ is also referenced. Tsukuru
cannot know why his friends hate him – he is not privy
to that information, he cannot share their mind – and
it is this that nearly kills him.
It is later in Tsukuru’s life (he is in his mid-thirties), when
he feels that he has moved beyond, if not recovered
from, the pain of his friends abandonment, that hemeets Sara. Tsukuru feels differently about Sara thanhe has any woman so far; he begins to fall in love. After
telling Sara the story of his friends’ abandonment ofhim, however, she seems to confirm his suspicions that
there is something wrong with him, telling him that
he doesn’t seem ‘all there’ when they make love. Sheadvises him to go and find his friends – to whom hehasn’t spoken a word since the day they rejected him– and ask for an explanation. This is where Tsukuru’spilgrimage begins, leading him back to his hometownof Nagoya, all the way to Finland, and to a shatteringrevelation.
The journey that follows does have echoes of
Murakami’s other books: there are phallocentricelements and a threesome reminiscent of Hear theWind Sing; there are suggestions of a darker side to
every character, not necessarily controlled by the
conscious mind as in Kafka on the Shore and manyothers; there is a mental breakdown, similar to thatin Norwegian Wood; and a nostalgic yearning for thepast, combined with the unrequited love that has
become a Murakami staple. While the characters in
Issue 52 Volume 9 Number 4 (August 2014)

the novel are interesting in their transformation, noneof them is as intriguing as Gotanda, Mimi or The Sheep
Man in Dance, Dance, Dance and A Wild Sheep Chase,both of which have strong resemblances to Colorless
Tsuru Tazaki in terms of theme and style. Also, at times
the eroticism feels a little clunky. Murakami won anomination for the Bad Sex in Fiction Award in 2011and passages like: ‘These insistent caresses continued
until Tsukuru was inside the vagina of one of the girls,’
are unlikely to mend his reputation on that front. On
the whole, I found the translation crisp and clear,although a few phrases, and the innumerable split
infinitives, felt a little clunky and I was left wondering
if a man in his mid-thirties would really say: ‘I am too
telling the truth.’
In conclusion, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Yearsof Pilgrimage is an enjoyable book that harks back to
Murakami’s earlier years, and Tsukuru is a relatableprotagonist who can fit into the system but struggles
to truly belong in society. It is a book that begins in
an unfamiliar tone but soon employs the familiar
Murakami references – Jazz, classical music, food andthe Japanese ideal of beauty in mundane tasks – that
his faithful readers know so well.
Partway into the book, Tsukuru’s friend Haida museson the transience of talent:‘”Talent might be ephemeral,” Haida replied, “and there
aren’t many people who can sustain it their whole
lives. But talent makes a huge spiritual leap possible.
It’s an almost universal, independent phenomenon
that transcends the individual.”’The British
Courts and Extraterritoriality inJapan, 1859-1899
By Christopher
Roberts
Global Oriental, 2013
442 Pages, £98ISBN 9789004257566
Review by Sir HughCortazzi
Dr Christopher Roberts
is a British lawyer, whoformerly practised law
in Japan. He has contributed various portraits of British
judges and lawyers who practised in 19th century
Japan to the series Britain and Japan: BiographicalPortraits. In this meticulously researched book, hepresents a detailed account of the work of the British
courts operating in Japan under the terms of the 1858
Treaty.1
As Roberts points out, the extra-territorial provisionsof the Treaty were readily accepted by the Tokugawa
bakufu as their main concern at the time was to haveas little as possible to do with foreigners. If the foreign
consuls were responsible for their own nationals,
there was less likelihood of incidents occurring whichmight lead to foreign naval (or military) intervention.
In the absence of anything approaching a modern
legal system in Japan, the provisions were at that timea practical necessity.
The British at the time had no real knowledge of theway laws operated in Japan, but they must haverealised that the samurai had special privileges, that
regulations varied from fief to fief, that torture ofsuspects was common and that punishments weredrastic and cruel. They also knew that Christianity wasproscribed.

It’s fair to say that Murakami is maintaining his talent as
an author, and he may yet grow in popularity. Whether
his work will be viewed afterwards as transcending
the individual, as it has with so few authors, only time
will tell. §Issue 52 Volume 9 Number 4 (August 2014)

Following the Meiji Restoration of 1868, extraterritoriality was seen as an infringement on Japanesesovereignty and the Treaties were condemned
as unequal. The ending of extra-territoriality wasaccordingly seen as one of the main aims of Treaty
Revision.
As Roberts notes, however, extra-territoriality, while it
was regarded as a vital factor protecting the foreign
merchants in Japan, did not totally dominate thelife of the Treaty Ports. The merchants were there
to make money. Administering the extra-territorial
provisions of the Treaty, however, provided work for asignificant number of British officials and was hugely
time-consuming. It was hardly commensurate with
the numbers of British subjects resident in Japan3

during those years. In 1881, for instance, there were
only 1,127 British residents in Japan and 1,426 other
Westerners.
In the final years of the bakufu, Yokohama was, as I
have described it elsewhere, ‘a frontier town.’ Lifewas insecure. Apart from threats from two sworded
Japanese rōnin, fires were frequent and diseases
prevalent. Some of the merchants were unscrupulous
and arrogant towards Japanese whom they cameacross, while seamen from visiting ships often drank
too much and patronised the brothels. Howard Vyse,
the first consul in Kanagawa, advised residents togo about armed. He had no legal training and was
eventually removed. Alcock, the first Consul General,
inevitably improvised and the initial arrangements
were at best inadequate. As soon as Sir Harry Parkes
arrived as successor to Alcock, the arrangements
improved and a properly functioning consular court
system was set up.
In his book Roberts describes the court system andits operation in both criminal and civil cases. Most
criminal cases were of a fairly minor nature, although
there a small number of cases involving manslaughterand one of murder. This was the notorious Carew casewhen Ernest Satow as Minister commuted the death
sentence, which the court in Yokohama had imposedon Mrs Carew, who had been found guilty of poisoning
her husband.2 A consular jail was maintained in
Yokohama up to the coming into force of the revised
treaty in 1899.
Most of the civil cases involved commercial
transactions, but the majority of the work of thecourts was related to shipping. Some of these werecomplicated and contentious, not least that resulting
from the collision in November 1892 off Matsuyama
between the Japanese naval vessel Chishima and the
P&O Ravenna. As a result of the collision 74 out of 90
crew members on the Japanese ship were drowned.
Dr Roberts devotes chapter seven to the litigation
resulting from the accident. He comments (p. 284):‘The incident and the ensuing cases exemplify many
practical aspects of the operation of British extraterritoriality in Japan and how the two authorities
balanced mutual co-operation to make the system
work whilst defending their own interests amidst theemotion of the British community in Japan (and on
the China Coast) and equally nationalistic Japaneseelements.’
Roberts concludes that while sometimes the local
assessors (i.e. jury) were inclined to favour British
litigants, the courts worked hard to maintain the law
with fairness and objectivity. Difficulties often arosewhen men of other nationalities were involved. Other
Treaty powers,3 which also had extra-territorial rights,
lacked the resources and the will to exercise properly
consular jurisdiction in relation to their nationals in
4Japan. No detailed studies similar to that made byRoberts, seem to have been made for other Treaty
powers. Nor indeed has such a detailed study been
made of the operation of British consular courts inother countries in which Britain had extra-territorial
rights.
Extra-territorial rights continued in Japan for sometime after Japan had adopted comprehensive
criminal and civil codes and religious freedom had
been guaranteed. There were various reasons for thedelay including changes in the Japanese position. The
logjam was broken when the British finally recognizedthat unless they took steps to reach an agreement
the stalemate would continue and ill feelings would
deepen.
Extra-territorial rights are now largely past history,
but they are to some extent perpetuated under some
Status of Forces agreements and during militaryoccupations. British Commonwealth Forces taking
part in the allied occupation of Japan establishedmilitary courts, which could and did try Japanese who
were accused of offences against them e.g. stealing
property or taking part in black market activities
involving goods available to British Commonwealthpersonnel. I do not know of any study having been
made of this subject.
Christopher Roberts’ comprehensive and interesting
analysis of the work of the British Courts in 19th
century Japan is a valuable contribution to the historyof Anglo-Japanese relations and of the work of British
officials in Meiji Japan. It should also be of interest tolegal historians.
Notes
1. The 1858 Treaty refers to the Treaty of Amity andCommerce (日米修好通商条約), which is also known
as the Harris Treaty. It was signed between the UnitedStates and Japan on the deck of the USS Powhatan in
Edo Bay on 29 July 1858. The treaty opened the portsof Kanagawa, Kobe, Nagasaki, Niigata, and Yokohama
to trade and granted extraterritoriality to foreigners
along with a number of trading stipulations.
2. In 1897 Edith Carew was put on trial for the murder
by arsenic poisoning of her husband in Yokohama.
3. After having to sign the 1858 Treaty of Amity andCommerce with the USA, Japan soon signed similar
treaties, called the Ansei Treaties (安政条約) or theAnsei Five-Power Treaties (安政五カ国条約), with
Russia, France, Great Britain, and the Netherlands. §Issue 52 Volume 9 Number 4 (August 2014)

The Battle for
China: Essays on the
Military History of
the Sino-Japanese
War of 1937-45

military history, Macri reminds us of the international
dimension, namely that these campaigns took placeagainst the backdrop of a world war, or rather aEuropean war, in which the allies were deliberately
giving priority to the western front. From December
1941 the allies were opposed to Japan but were notprepared to make expeditions to assist China in her
resistance. Thus Professor Macri would argue that
China fought a proxy war against Japan on behalf ofBritain and the United States.

Edited by MarkPeattie, Edward Drea
& Hans van de Ven
Stanford University Press
2011
614 Pages, US$65.00
ISBN 97808047622069

Clash of Empires inSouth China: The
Allied Nations’ Proxy
War with Japan, 193541
by Franco David Macri
University of Kansas Press,
2012
465 pages, £38.50
ISBN-10: 0700618775
Review by Ian Nish
These two encyclopaedic works merit a more detailed
review than can be given here. They complement
each other but are different in their approach.
Professor Peattie and his associates assembled about
twenty experts on the war of 1937-45 in order toprovide “a military history of the Sino-Japanese war
based on Japanese, Chinese and Western sources[which] does not exist in English.” To remedy this,they managed to attract seven Japanese and seven
Chinese specialists who participated in a ‘scholarly
dialogue’ on this broad and controversial topic andhave contributed essays to this excellent conference
volume. Apart from expert analyses of the Chineseand Japanese armies in 1937, the studies concentrate
mainly on the war in the north and central beltof China, where Chinese industry and population
were larger and most of the major campaigns wereconducted. The volume takes the story down to
the Ichigō offensive [一号作戦] in the south in 1944
– the largest military operation in the history of theJapanese army, involving half a million troops.
Professor Macri’s book is a single-author work,
dealing mainly with Japan’s campaigns in South
China between 1939 and 1941 and ending with theJapanese capture of Hong Kong. While it is primarily aIssue 52 Volume 9 Number 4 (August 2014)

After Japan’s invasion of China in 1937, her armies
had remarkable successes, culminating in the captureof China’s headquarters at Hankow on the Yangtze
river and then Canton, the major city of the south, in
October 1938. The Chinese Nationalist government
moved its capital to Chongqing in the remote west but
there were doubts whether it could survive Japan’ssustained air attacks. Japan knew that her armies
were superior to China’s and had originally assumed
that the war would be a limited regional conflict witha favourable result for Japan. But she encountered
unexpectedly strong resistance. In a telling simile, theauthors observe that “by the end of 1938 Japaneseand Chinese military forces [were] like two exhausted
wrestlers, holding each other in check, each seeking
some alternative thrust... to weaken his grip (Peattie,
p. 233).”
A war of attrition resulted. Because of frustration andthe high cost of keeping a fighting force in the field,
Japan became desperate to end, or shorten, the China
war by way of some political settlement. She blamed
France and Britain for allowing their ports and river
systems (Hanoi, Rangoon, Hong Kong) to be used forthe transit of commodities through to Chinese cities.
In particular, supplies of munitions to the Chinesearmies regularly passed through these ports, thus
contributing to China’s military resistance. When the
Burma Road was temporarily closed and the Japanese
took over northern Indochina from Vichy France in
1940, Hong Kong became even more important for
the needs of China.
Macri carries the story through the campaigns southof the Yangtze River and concludes at the end of 1941
with the defence of Hong Kong and focusses on thesending of Canadian combat forces there in the fall.
While this served in many ways as a deterrent to Japan,
the writer believes that the decision to reinforce thecolony was both unnecessary and ignoble. Contrary
to the received wisdom that Canada agreed to takepart in this as a loyal Dominion, he concludes that she
was more inclined to follow the wishes of the US from
November 1940 onwards. Nonetheless Macri reaches
the optimistic conclusion that British/Canadian
resistance in the south encouraged Chinese armies intheir anti-Japanese struggle and contributed to Japan’s
feelings of failure. The fall of Hong Kong is followedby the Guomindang army’s victory in the third battle5

of Changsha, the key strategic point on routes to thesouth. Macri records that this Chinese victory was anotable success in the global war since the fighting
in Southeast Asia had seen many catastrophic allied
defeats.
Both books make an interesting point for historiansof Japan when they observe that on a numberof occasions Japanese naval commanders in the
China seas were more aggressive than their army
counterparts. The southward strike on Hong Kong was
to a large extent a naval affair and naval commanders
were by 1941 dissatisfied that their endeavours had
not been as successful as they had hoped and werecorrespondingly tough-minded. By contrast, thearmy commanders, doubtless aware of the guerrilla
warfare being waged by the Chinese people, gave theimpression of not being unreasonable to negotiate.
Of course much depended on the personalities of thecommanders concerned and the circumstances of the
moment. While it is clearly unwise to generalize oversuch a large front and with such large forces involved,
it is an unexpected conclusion and merits further
examination.
There is consensus between these authors that China’srole in the war has been underestimated in the English
language literature. Not only did many Chinese army
units fight well, the three victories at the battles of
Changsha being a testament to that, but the mere
survival of the Nationalist government at Chongqing,
despite intensive and persistent aerial bombing, madea real contribution to the anti-Japanese cause. And the
Nationalist and communist guerrilla groups held atbay many Japanese divisions which might otherwise
have been transferred to other trouble spots.
These splendid studies supply the evidence for areinterpretation of the Asia-Pacific war of which
the China war was the origin and later became thecentrepiece. They also have a global message fortoday: Do not assume that military victories will
guarantee long-term political solutions! §Sushi Slimby Sano Makiko

opened in 2009. The talented chef behind this restaurant
originally had her own catering business before being asked
to run the sashimi takeaway counter in Selfridges. Besides
her restaurant, catering business and giving sushi lessons,she has also taken the time to write a book to reveal someof the ‘secrets’ behind Japanese food. Sushi Slim came out
in 2013, it is a lovely looking book and a quick flick throughreveals many beautiful photos.

In the introduction Makiko explains her view that Japanesefood has the ability to boost both slimming and natural
beauty, furthermore she claims that it is also the perfect fast
food for busy people. As can be gathered from the title ofthe book, there is a focus on becoming slim through eating
Japanese cooking. For example, a facts and figures pageshows how Japanese people tend to apparently only eat
until they are 80% full, that the calorie intake in Japan isconsiderably lower than the global average and, in a typicalweek, we are told Japanese people will eat around 100
varieties of food in comparison to 30 in the UK. She goeson to explain about the different health benefits of specificingredients and to devise a meal plan.

Quadrille Publishing, 2013
128 pages, £12.99
ISBN 1849491755
Review by Mike Sullivan
In my opinion one of thebest Japanese restaurants
in West London is Suzu in
Hammersmith, which is run
by Sano Makiko and was
6Issue 52 Volume 9 Number 4 (August 2014)

Before actually going into the specifics of making sushi,
Makiko provides a very thorough explanation behind basic
things such as cooking rice correctly, cutting vegetables,
choosing fish and how to cut fish as well as elaborating on
key ingredients that can be found in a Japanese kitchen. The
rest of the book consists of step by step guides to making
different kinds of sushi as well as other simple yet delicious
dishes. This is aided by illustrative photos which make theinstructions easy to follow and also made me hungry!
For example, for hosomaki rolls her simple paragraphs
combined with clear photos make it seem very easy tomake this kind of sushi. The following pages show thedifferent kinds of ingredients that you can put in hosomaki
and look very delicious.

programmes and movies such as Doraemon andCrayon Shin-chan. In 2007 he wrote and directed
Summer Days with Coo, in 2010 he directed Colorfulwhich was based on a story by Mori Eto and last year
he completed his first live-action movie, Hajimari
no Michi, which was a biographical movie about
filmmaker Kinoshita Keisuke. Colorful won the award
for Excellent Animation of the Year at the 34th Japan
Academy Prizes, and at the 65th Mainichi Film Awards
it won the Animation Film Award.

Every kind of sushi is explained in this lovely book; however
it is just as enjoyable to browse the photos. They serve as areminder of how varied Japanese cuisine can be.§Colorful
Directed byHara Keiichi
Shown as partof the JapanFoundation UK’sannual touring film
programme
127 minutes, 2010
Review by Mike
Sullivan(Contains plot
spoilers)
This year’s Japan Foundation UK annual touring film
programme offered an expansive introduction to
Japanese cinema with the theme of ‘youth.’ A numberof different movies were shown around the UK andmany of the stories were of young men and women
struggling to make sense of their identity in today’s
world. The movie Colorful was screened at the ICA andincluded an introduction by the film’s director, Hara
Keiichi, as well as a Q&A afterwards.
Hara Keiichi is most well-known for directing TV
Issue 52 Volume 9 Number 4 (August 2014)

In direct contrast to its name the movie opens to arather colourless scene, a dreary train station where
shadowy figures either sit around or queue to get on
a train. They are all the recently deceased. We viewthe inside of the station in first person, representing
the view of someone who recently died and has novoice, their thoughts are shown as lines of text against
a black background. This voiceless person seems tobe aware that they died and have become resigned
to this, although it appears they no longer remember
their past life. Suddenly, a little boy pops up, who
seems relatively normal in comparison to the othershadowy figures. He announces that the protagonist
has won the lottery and will get another chance at life.
This doesn’t seem to get the reaction that the little
boy expected, our voiceless person seems unmovedby this and intent on joining the others departing
the train station. However, with no small dose of
exasperation and a bit of force the protagonist is led
by the boy, Purapura, to a lift which leads back to life.
The protagonist is told that it is the soul of one who
made a dreadful error but is being given the chance toreturn to life in order to realise its mistakes and atone
for them. It is told that a boy has just died and that
it will take its place. The protagonist opens its eyes
to find a grieving family consisting of parents and an
older brother – Makoto had attempted suicide threedays before and had just died. In astonishment thedoctors and family see him open his eyes.
Makoto is often visited by the little boy Purapura in orderto give him guidance as he knows nothing about thelife that he has taken over. However, as Purapura only
gives him snippets of information Makoto behaves as
he thinks he should, which surprises everyone aroundhim. He is grateful to his family, he announces his
intent to study hard at school and he directly tries to7

talk to those around him. All of these actions surprisepeople. One of his classmates becomes obsessed withhow he is not the same person. As we gradually findout from Purapura, before committing suicide the
Makoto from before had no friends at school, talked
to no one and at home tended to remain in his room.
The new Makoto is told that he has six months before
his new life will end and that he needs to remember
what he did wrong in his previous life before the six
months ends. During this time he learns about his
family, about the other children at his school andabout what had driven the previous Makoto to his
death. This movie has a number of elements which
touch upon a lot of different topics.
This ranges from dysfunctional families, Hikikomori(young people who live reclusive lives), bullying at
school, and of course the issue of suicide.
Unfortunately, the pacing of the movie is a little

uneven, and at 127 minutes a little too long, especiallyas some plot elements are quite simply too obvious.
The movie is addressing topics that need to be talked
about and should be applauded for this; however
some important discussion points are omitted, such as
how to address bullying, etc. Finally, there seems to bea suggestion from how Makoto has been represented
that what he really needed, more than anything else,
was to be kicked out of his rather selfish indulgent
shell. This was how I felt but unfortunately this alsomeans that he is at least partially being blamed for his
own situation.
Apart from the issues mentioned above, as well as thefilm’s length, the movie is full of beautiful scenery andincorporates real life footage that has been blended
with animation. This has been done really well andcan make your eyes doubt whether you are watchingan animated movie or a live-action movie. §Interested in writing for the Japan Society Review?
Please write to info@japansociety.org.uk with examples of your work and information about yourknowledge of and interest in Japan.

Issue 52 Volume 9 Number 4 (August 2014)