#masao inoue

[roskirambles]

Honorable mention: A page of madness (Kurutta Ippeiji, 1926)

The rain. It hardly seems to stop for the people at the Assylum. A woman dancing to no music, stares directed to no one. And the janitor, whose wife is among the patients probably by his own hand, is told by his daughter that she is to be bethroted. But in a world that used to think all forms of mental ailment were contagious and inherited, this news may ruin these plans. As this failed caretaker grapples with his relationships, how to conceal this fact for his daughter's sake and the troublesome inmates, he starts losing his own grip between what's reality and what's dream.

Directed by Teinosuke Kinugasa and written by Nobel Prize winner Yasunari Kawabata(as well as Minoru Inuzuka and Banko Sawada), this film stands out not only because of it’s very survival from an era where most films have been lost to time, but for how forward thinking, bold and unsettling it is.

Unlike western movies from the silent era, Japanese pictures of the time didn't use intertitles to convey dialogue but instead had a narrator or benshi (弁士) to narrate along as to explain the events. The end result is that we have an entire channel of communication completely absent, but in this case we also see a film that has a more refined visual language than many of its westerm contemporaries, and can actually be understood farily well just through the imagery.

Well, mostly. As a movie that explores madness clearly borrowing a page from The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari, the imagery in display leaves a lot of questions with its dreamlike quality. To make matters worse, there's some parts of the print missing which makes some parts of the story harder to follow than they ought.

Even with all of those observations, however, what the film evokes is nothing short of masterful. A chiaroscuro dream that feels like a portrait of a broken family nucleus, guilt, and of course, madness.

[ogradyfilm]

Recently Viewed - The Art of the Benshi: Program IV

When I previously wrote about benshi—the live narrators that would contextualize (and, on occasion, totally reinterpret) the silent images onscreen in the nascent days of film exhibition in Japan—in my review of Masayuki Suo’s Talking the Pictures, I never imagined that I would eventually have the opportunity to actually see one perform in person; after all, the advent of the talkie essentially rendered the profession irrelevant and obsolete. There are, however, a dedicated few working tirelessly to preserve the increasingly rare art, several of whom recently showcased their talents at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

The selection of movies screened for the demonstration was as eclectic as it was remarkable: The Dull Sword, an animated short (featuring both hand-drawn frames and paper cutouts reminiscent of Lotte Reiniger’s The Adventures of Prince Achmed) about a bloodthirsty samurai constantly thwarted and humiliated by hubris; The Oath of the Sword, a newly rediscovered romantic melodrama starring a predominantly Asian-American cast; and The Vindictive Snake, a moody tale of ghostly vengeance (which owes an obvious thematic debt to Yotsuya Kaidan) set in the ramshackle sugar plantations of Hawaii and the seedy brothels of Okinawa. Surprisingly, amidst these obscure treasures, the true gem of the program was a widely available Hollywood classic: Charlie Chaplin’s The Immigrant; Kumiko Omori’s energetic delivery—replete with cartoonish voice acting and charmingly silly sound effects (a squeaky toy, for example, was utilized to approximate the noise of hiccups)—enriched and elevated the familiar plot and gags, adding a fresh layer to the comedic tone. Not to disrespect or underestimate the skills of her fellow benshi, of course; Ichiro Kataoka and Hideyuki Yamashiro each displayed his own distinctive style and flavor. Indeed, the trio’s cooperative rendition of Masao Inoue’s 1916 adaptation of Not Blood Relations (or what little remains of it, anyway; like far too many productions of that era, it currently exists only in fragmentary form) was an impressive feat of theatrical collaboration.

Purchasing the ticket for The Art of the Benshi (a $20 expense that feels pretty darn substantial in the aftermath of the SAG and WGA strikes) was an extremely spontaneous decision on my part—one that I second-guessed during every excruciating moment of my forty-minute-long subway ride to the venue. Fortunately, I needn’t have fretted; the most memorable cinematic experience of 2024 was well worth the relatively paltry price of admission.

[marikoyoshida]

Lady's Gong vol. 54 (レディースゴング54) - 2000.09.13

[gayest-persona-character]

Round 1!

Rules

Vote for who you think is more queer/gay (doesn't matter if you think they're bi, pan, gay, lesbian, etc. Who's the most not straight!)

I will allow propaganda in the form of asks or notes (tags and comments)

Be nice and respectful. Not everyone has the same headcanons.

Remember, this is mostly just for fun! We have a few submitted characters for this exact purpose, so don't take things too seriously. (It doesn't matter what the results are, most persona characters will be queer-coded in my heart)

The list of polls is as follows:

Labrys vs. Daisuke Todoroki

Principal Kobayakawa vs. Yukiko Amagi

Mayumi Yamano vs. Suguru Kamoshida

Bebe vs. Sho Minazuki

Isako Toriumi (Maya) vs. Ann Takamaki

Ichiryusai Madarame vs. Ichiko Ohya

Chihiro Fushimi vs. Ai Ebihara

Philemon vs.Shibusawa

Kou Ichijo vs. Fuuka Yamagishi

Munehisa Iwai vs. Miyabi Hanakouji

President Tanaka vs. Akihiko Sanada

Ryuji Sakamoto vs. Taro Namatame

Kanami Mashita vs. Haru Okumura

Nozomi Suemitsu vs. Angel and Julian

Ryotaro Dojima vs. Rio Iwasaki

Sadayo Kawakami vs. Maya Amano

Nagi vs. Saori Hasegawa

Cashier from Peace Diner vs. Junpei Iori

Chizuru Ishigami vs. Minoru Inoue

Chihaya Mifune vs. Mamoru Hayase

Misuzu Hiiragi vs. Lala Escargot

Setsuko Sonomura vs. Junko Kurosu

Eri Minami vs. Tae Takemi

Zen vs. Kenji Tomochika

Eriko Kirishima vs. Takeharu Kirijo

Mika vs. Metis

Junya Kaneshiro vs. Takuto Maruki

Moel Gas Station Attendant vs. Hanako Ohtani

Maya Okamura vs. Igor

Sayoko Uehara vs. Makoto Yuki

Lesbian Student from P3 vs. Mami Shibata

Shunsuke Fujii vs. Saki Konishi

Tatsuya Suou vs. Akinari Kashihara

Miho Ogishima vs. Kinshiro Morooka

Hisano Kuroda vs. Ayane Matsunaga

Kanji Tatsumi vs. Makoto Nijiima

Marie vs. Tatsuya Sudou

SIU Director vs. Reiji Kido

Baofu vs. Takahisa Kandori

Yuuki Mishima vs. Tamaki Uchida

Zenkichi Hasegawa vs. Yosuke Hanamura

Mitsuo Kubo vs. Aigis

Kei Nanjo vs. Margaret

Masao Inaba vs. Noriko Katayama

Yukino Mayuzumi vs. Saeko Takami

Tadashi Satomi vs. Chidori Yoshino

Yumi Ozawa vs. Gay Demons P2

Kasumi Yoshizawa vs. Yuka Ayase

Hidetoshi Odagiri vs. Mutatsu

Shinjiro Aragaki vs. Kazushi Miyamoto

Localized version of Naoya vs. Ren Amamiya

Coach Hiraguchi vs. Chie Satonaka

Shuji Ikutsuki vs. Shiho Suzui

Futaba Sakura vs. Naoto Shirogane

Jin Shirato vs. Hifumi Togo

Keisuke Hiraga vs. Eikichi Mishina

Maki Sonomura vs. Toranosuke Yoshida

Rise Kujikawa vs. Elizabeth

Goro Akechi vs. Yuko Nishiwaki

Noriko Kashiwagi vs. Ulala Serizawa

Yuko Himeno vs. Anna Yoshizaka

Hikari vs. Joker (IS)

Mitsuru Kirijo vs. Hidehiko Uesugi

Masayoshi Shido vs. Youichi Makimura

[shinsengumi-archives]

I posted 306 times in 2022

186 posts created (61%)

120 posts reblogged (39%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@talesofedo

@hakuouki-history

@tanuki-kimono

@shinsengumidreams

@pmk-love

I tagged 304 of my posts in 2022

Only 1% of my posts had no tags

#translated - 87 posts

#hijikata - 75 posts

#translated from japanese - 69 posts

#quote - 63 posts

#hijikata quote - 58 posts

#poem - 46 posts

#series - 44 posts

#fushigidono - 41 posts

#shinsengumi - 35 posts

#recommended - 28 posts

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

When did the shinsengumi start wearing western uniforms?

That would be on Pants Day 😂

On March 22, 1868, the Shinsengumi spent 13 ryō 2 bu on pants from Nakamuraya Sahei. A few days before, on March 17, they spent 6 ryo 2 bu on jackets.

nachtic:

Purchased jackets on March 17, 1868 (6 ryo 2 bu) Purchased pants on March 22, 1868 (13 ryo 2 bu) According to one theory, the price of 1 ryo at the end of the Edo period, converted from the price of rice, was said to be around 3000-4000 yen, so the jackets would be about 20000 yen and pants about 40000 yen. For comparison, the price of a school uniform now is around 30000 yen.

The only artifact I could find is Nagakura's waistcoat:

See the full post

42 notes - Posted July 2, 2022

#4

Living descendants of the Shinsengumi

From left to right: Hijikata Megumi (土方愛), Miyagawa Kiyoshi (宮川清志), Miyagawa Seizo (宮川清蔵), Matsudaira Yasuhisa (松平保久), Ano Noriko (阿野典子), Inoue Masao (井上雅雄) (Photo: Kawai Hidenao)

Descendants of Kondo Isami’s family

See the full post

45 notes - Posted March 27, 2022

#3

What did the Shinsengumi eat every day?

Such a trivial matter is unexpectedly difficult to figure out.

It's probably because there wasn't anyone in or around the squad trying to keep a record of their mundane everyday life aside from the big events. When I introduced "The food diary of a low-ranking samurai who was assigned to work alone at the end of the Edo period" last time, I looked it up again, but I couldn't find any information that seemed certain. 

That said, it’s not that there are no clues. Here are some of the things I noticed. 

Misozuke (miso pickles)

There is a letter from Souji Okita to Miyagawa Otogoro (the brother of Kondo Isami) dated November 12, Keio 3. The passage, "Above all, thank you very much for sending me this delicious misozuke." was an acknowledgment for receiving misozuke. 

This misozuke seems to have been made by Otogoro and brought to Kyoto by Hijikata Toshizo and Inoue Genzaburo, who went on a business trip to Edo. It must have been a favorite of Okita (or everyone including Kondo et al.), because they bothered to bring it all the way back from Edo. 

Unfortunately, there is no mention of what was pickled. Vegetables, fish, or something else... just imagine. 

(* Reference “Complete Letters of Hijikata Toshizo and Okita Souji”) 

Duck

See the full post

56 notes - Posted February 18, 2022

#2

The Ruins of Kondo Isami's Dojo

The Shieikan Dojo is the site of Kondo Isami's Tennen Rishin-ryu dojo in Shinjuku Ward.

Currently, only the pillar and the nearby Inari Shrine remain. In this article, we will take a look at the ruins of the Shieikan.

Directions

Address: 25 Ichigaya’yanagi-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo

How to get there: 3 minute walk from Ushigome Yanagimachi Station on the Oedo Line

See the full post

61 notes - Posted February 3, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

The Gold and Silver Expenditure and Receipt Book (金銀出入帳)

The "Gold and Silver Expenditure and Receipt Book" is a record of the Shinsengumi’s receipts and disbursements, covering the period from the 14th day of the 11th month, Keio 3 (1867) to the 1st day of the 3rd month, Keio 4 (1868). It is approximately ten pages in length and is written in a unique ink script. This record is thought to have been written down by Shinsengumi accountants, and is one of the most valuable official documents of the Shinsengumi for understanding their exact activities and financial situation.

A portion of this document was once published in "Shinsengumi Shimatsuki" (written by Shimozawa Kan in 1928). Until around 1937, it was in the possession of Kondo Isami’s relative, Miyagawa Takashi, who lived in Kamiishihara, Chofu, Tokyo. It’s now kept at Ryugenji Temple (6-chome, Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo), the site of Kondo Isami’s tomb, along with many other related documents once owned by the Miyagawa family.

The first part of this document is marked with "Start". It then describes the movement of money within the accounting division, and the four people whose names appear in the document, Yasutomi Saisuke, Kishijima Yoshitaro, Otani Isao, and Nakamura Gendo are of course Shinsengumi accountants.

The accountants were usually in charge of bookkeeping, but in times of war, such as the Battle of Toba-Fushimi, they were also assigned to the the logistics division (konida). Yasutomi and Kishijima worked as investigators (諸士調役) (also called "metsuke"), while Otani and Nakamura were treated as the same level as corporals. Some records refer to Otani as an accountant and Nakamura as an equivalent of an accountant.

(source: 新選組史料集)

Out of all the historical texts in 新選組史料集, the Shinsengumi’s account book seemed the most interesting to me, and I kept seeing quotes from it in the articles I’ve read.

It took a while to make sense of the archaic terms and Edo period accounting notation, but I think I’ve mostly figured it out. Here’s my translation: [link], and below are my translation notes and the full original text.

[Read the full translation here]

Translation Notes

一金...也 = formal notation used to clarify and confirm that the money will indeed be paid. Ignore this when translating. (source)

也 = classical modal particle used at the end of sentences to express an explanation or judgement. Ignore this when translating. (source)

右 = classical term of respect. Ignore this when translating. (source)

ニて (にて) = indicates the location where something took place. Ignore this when translating.

江 = river? (not sure why it’s added to some of the entries, but makes more sense to ignore this when translating)

同 = same 一同...也 = 一金...也 同人 = same person as the previous entry

両 = ryo (see: how much was 1 ryo worth?)

分 = bu (1/4 of a ryo)

朱 = shu (1/16 of a ryo)

代 = fee

渡 = transferred

相渡 = handover, transferring from one party to another

手宛 = salary

地役 = easement (the right to use someone else's land for a specific purpose) (source)

入用 = necessary uses

御用 = official duties

帰ル = returned

拾 = ten

廿 = twenty

卯 = year of the rabbit (1867 in this case)

See the full post

74 notes - Posted August 6, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[stickers-on-a-laptop]

wait has inoue ever like written more than two generations actually

kiva: SORT OF. i think this is the closest that i have seen? because maya, wataru, masao.

kabuto: we skip a generation because what are parents for the tendous, and kagami has daddy issues

jetman: we....saw ryuu's....family....once? i think? and....kaori has...parents. pretty sure. no one else that i remember

donbros: remember that time in donbros where it's canon that only haruka has any blood relatives apparently

changerion: i don't think we saw a speck of family

agito: this is only two generations

huh this might explain a few things there at least

gotta say the genetics part of this is really making me vibrate shit like we know it affects parents/kids and siblings but like apparently only within 2 generations? we haven't seen any grandparents. and no cousins. i assume it would get half siblings? what kind of blood related nonsense could you START with this??? genetic but only within two generations and direct bloodlines.

[dersiebentekontinent]

[jasvvy]

[keepingthespiritalive]

NOAH results for June 19, 2018

Pro-Wrestling NOAH “Navig. with Emerald Spirits 2018”, 6/19/2018 [Tue] 18:30 @ Aizu Wakamatsu City Bunka Center in Fukushima 302 Spectators (crowded)

(1) Cody Hall vs. Junta Miyawaki ◆Winner: Hall (4:50) following a Sitdown Side Chokeslam.

(2) Atsushi Kotoge, Hajime Ohara & Hitoshi Kumano vs. Maybach Taniguchi, Tadasuke & Masao Inoue ◆Winner: Kotoge (12:50) with the Kakumei Manto (Revolutionary…

[reelinplace]

[takagishingo]

noah made a separate special poster for the budokan show that features everyone who was there the last time they were at budokan. ogawa got front spot bc he’s the most senior 😭

[mengs-mullet]

[flickeralley]

#BornOnThisDay in 1881, Japanese silent film actor Masao Inoue, star of A PAGE OF MADNESS (1926), now available on MOD Blu-ray: http://bit.ly/2rk8Hdo.

Take our brief MOD survey for 10% off this title through July 2nd: https://goo.gl/forms/u7ytMVMcsx58HXkd2

[cptrs]

[stargazer-kea]

The Sea and Poison - 海と毒薬 - Umi to Dokuyaku (1986)

Directed by Kei Kumai

[dersiebentekontinent]