{Inter} Cultural Japan

Earlier this month the Akutagawa Prize for new writers of literary fiction was awarded to Aoyama Nanae for Being Alone. Here she is interviewed by the Japan Times (registration required).

Kadokawa’s latest overblown epic film, Aoki Okami (Blue Wolf), about Genghis Khan, is found “somewhat empty and soulless” by Daily Yomiuri’s Aaron Gerow. Although there are huge scenes of battles and the Khan’s coronation event, the emphasis seems more on family drama, even “about fatherhood in a country like Japan, where the father is often absent from home.” Now showing in theaters around Japan. Also read Hoga Central’s story of the background of the movie.

While art markets worldwide are soaring (and in Asia the Chinese one is setting new records), Japan’s restrictive and rather traditional market is not sharing in the boom, writes Lucy Birmingham Fujii at Bloomberg.com. Of course, established artists as Kusama Yayoi, Nara Yoshitomo and Murakami Takashi can demand good prices, but generally prices in Japan tend to be lower than abroad. She mentiones the example of a piece by neo-nihonga painter Tenmouya Hisashi, bought in Japan for 1.5 million yen and sold in New York three months later for 4 times that price. In other words: now is a good time to buy!