Polestar June 2016

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POLESTAR

Volume 13 Issue 14 June 2016 Photo courtesy of Colette English


Photo courtesy of Kelsey Woodford


Dear Hokkaido ALTs,

Whether as a reprieve between classes, a quick shot of the mother tongue, or just an excuse to ignore the crashing implosion of your home country’s body politic, we’re glad you’ve clicked open this edition of Polestar. We hope you like what you see and consider helping us to make it better. Anyone can submit work to Polestar. Facebook message or email us at editor@hajet.org with any ideas, questions, or concerns. Thanks to the writers and photographers who made this issue memorable!

Jack Powers, Editor Isabelle Legault, Designer

Next submission deadline: June 30th


. s e r P e h t From o d i a k k o H , a y e H

Ferfie Brownoff President | HAJET

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t is currently June. The weather outside is (probably) more or less gorgeous. All kinds of flowers have been blooming. I currently have 2 tents, 2 sleeping bags, and an entire island at my disposal. Yet, as I write this, I have yet to go camping. I’ve seen photos from a number of HAJETizens who’ve jumped head first into it already still, I’m late to the game. I thought about this as I was going over things with Nikolai for the summer meeting. We had talked about how it’s a bit of special event as there’s no enkai or hotels that need bookings. Instead, HAJET preps the food and Lake Toya’s Nakatoya Campground will take us all in with loving arms. But I’ll be damned if I allow that to be the first camping that I do this year. My weekends have filled up quite a bit faster than I had anticipated, but I really don’t care. I will get out into Hokkaido and camp the hell out of it and I will do it soon. If that means camping out at Lake Chimikeppu on a school night, and zipping back to town early the next morning - as a friend in town has invited me to do - then I guess that’s exactly what it means.

I apologize for this stream of consciousness rambling, but I just want to make sure that complacency doesn’t take hold. I’m no stranger to long winters; and yet, every year, I always kind of forget things about the endings/beginnings of seasons. At the onset of winter, it’s mostly remembering how to break properly on ice. But in the spring and summer, it’s more to do with the conveniences afforded by the natural environment. Longer and warmer days mean it’s easier and more convenient to do things outside. I, for one, don’t want to be sitting here in November thinking “Damn, I wish camped more this year,” or “Gah, I should’ve gone to that Geopark in the summer,” or “Ah crap, I shoulda bought more peanut butter in Kitami when the roads weren’t so shitty.” Alls I’m saying is that, in recognition of the fact that Japan represents a temporary part of my life, I want to make sure that I don’t get caught up in routine and miss out on stuff while I’ve got the chance. So, now that the camping-in-comfort getting is good, I’m going to do as much of it as I can. If anyone else wants to enjoy camping, together with me, then let’s!


Photo courtesy of Ferfie Brownoff


Thoughts from the

First Year Rep. Why Japanese people?! Jon Curry First Year Representative | HAJET

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ey kids! Let’s talk about my “Why Japanese people?” moment of the month. DISCLAIMER: today’s topic is going to be more serious than usual, so buckle up. About a month ago, I noticed something odd in my town. Generally, my yakuba co-workers neglect to let me know about events or changes until the last minute, but usually I’m provided with a least a brief explanation. Anyways, these things tend to be irrelevant to me in the end. This time, however, was a bit more out of the ordinary. As I walked into the genkan, I was greeted by a neon rainbow of about forty pairs of sporty shoes, bookended by “中国人” (chuugokujin) in big bold print (along with some other kanji that were unfamiliar to me). I made my way upstairs, passing a lively conference room and assumed my usual post. I decided to wait and see if anyone would offer an explanation about our obvious visitors. As I expected, no one mentioned a thing. Not until after I returned from my lunch break, that is. I followed my usual routine and walked over to the nearby Seicomart to snag a bento and some apple tea. The typically quiet Seico was packed with unfamiliar faces - all of which looked just as surprised to see someone sporting an afro in northeastern Hokkaido. I figured these must be our Chinese visitors, and not knowing whether they could speak English or Japanese, I gave them a friendly smile and nod, which they kindly reciprocated. Upon returning to the office, I saw a couple of my coworkers exchanging discomforted looks with hushed voices. I so desperately wanted to give them the benefit

of the doubt, to not assume that they were complaining about the lovely Chinese folks. Sadly (and quite frankly, obviously) that was exactly what they were doing. Their biggest complaint? That our visitors “smelled bad,” to put their words lightly. Apparently it was so strong that they felt the need to open as many windows as they could. Mind you, I have a fairly strong sense of smell, and while it did indeed smell different than normal in town hall, never would I have described it using the word kusai. For me, it was the same sensation as going to another family’s house, or having a lot of visitors at yours; even if everyone practices good hygiene, you can still smell the difference. Now, I know that this sort of thing is by no means unusual. Some of the kindest people I’ve met - sorry to put you on blast, but yes, this means you, former Tokyo host mom - have openly harbored pretty bitter feelings towards non-Japanese folks, especially those of Chinese and Korean descent. And I’m sure most of us are aware of the severe tensions and complicated histories between each respective nation. So why bring this up? I wanted to share this coming from the perspective of an ALT, and why this sort of attitude is so deeply problematic. More so than the obvious fact that xenophobia and racism are terrible, my position as a teacher led me to a tragic realization. These respected members of the community, charged with the upkeep and well-being of our town, who so casually flaunt their hateful feelings, are parents. I work with their children, and every last one of them are friendly, curious, and have all the potential in the world. But they are also highly impressionable, and that’s the part that worries me the most. If my co-workers so openly make racist


remarks in the workplace, I can only imagine what their kids hear them say in the freedom of their own homes. I also noticed a few more things about our visitors. First, the group is entirely comprised of women ranging from their early 30s to mid 40s. Second, they seem to be learning basic Japanese, given how I hear them reciting aisatsu phrases throughout the day. And third, they all seem to be on a consistent schedule, studying in town hall and taking lunch breaks at the same time. Are they here for some retreat? Are they future attendees of the annual 100 kilometer marathon? How long will they be staying? Are our clearly reluctant public officials using this as an opportunity for good publicity to help keep our town from fading into the void that is the inaka? As curious as I am, I know that even straight answers would come with unsolicited insults about Chinese people; I’m not particularly interested in indulging my co-workers in that regard. As ALTs, we are charged with fostering open mindedness and curiosity, acting as a bridge between Japan and a world that these kids would otherwise never have the chance to experience. As global citizens, it is our duty to learn about and respect cultures other than our own, in an effort to heal the scars of historical wounds and move forward together in a healthy way. Those with the greatest potential in this regard are the children of the world, whether they be the youngsters we teach or our nieces and nephews in our home countries. This job has driven this point home for me, which is why this specific but not at all uncommon “why Japanese people� moment was deeply disheartening. I'm sure that many of you have had similar experiences. As usual, I don't have a good answer for how we can remedy these sorts of situations. All I can say is that I intend to do my best to discourage these hateful attitudes, whether it be by denying my coworkers solidarity in their hate, or by actively reprimanding students for the occasional offhand racist comment and explaining why they shouldn't say such things. I urge you to do the same. Let's enjoy not being racist jerkfaces together!


Emerging artists in Hokkaido Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art 北海道いまを生きるアーテイストたち ともにいること、ともにあること Jack Powers Editor | POLESTAR

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aybe you’ve figured out by now that this place isn’t quite like the rest of Japan. Doubtful you needed the recent international uproar and the ensuing, fumbling descriptions of Hokkaido to remind you. “The bear-inhabited northern island,” is how the New York Times laconically put it. There are many surmises one could make about Hokkaido based on these secondthird-hand understandings of the island. Some of them would be true. There are indeed bears, scenic beauty, and all the rest. But many seem to be keen on jumping from the images of “natural wonderland” to the implications of “cultural wasteland.” In this edition, we will study some of the tides of Hokkaido’s native culture and how the island’s significance for mainland Japanese is created and processed through art. Given Hokkaido’s special history, nature, and language, it’s no surprise the media set or created around the island tends to be a bit different from mainstream Japanese culture. First, we’ll enter the rarified, still pretty stuffy world of paintings and visual art. The Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, a short scoot from Odori Park in Sapporo, takes direct aim at the impression of the island as an artistic backwater with its extensive collection of Hokkaido-based artworks. Moreover, this month, the museum features an exhibition on contemporary Hokkaido artists. The ages of the artists on display range from those in their 30’s to their 50’s, and each work offers an interesting lens into the island and its art. In straight lines and deep, dark colors, the first set of paintings are almost completely filled with gloomy depictions of winter but for a single figure in the

foreground as the focus. The figure, usually a child, lightens each piece and suggests mirth amidst desolation. Sound familiar? Look close and it becomes apparent that the canvases themselves are studded in floral patterns. The centerpiece of the exhibit could rightly be deemed the collection of small figures ornamented around a large central space by Keizaka Masayo. The figures appear at first to resemble light-hearted schoolchildren. However, their faces are all covered, some by books, some by masks, and all sorts of other means. The title of the work asks, “Who am I? Who are You? (私はだ れ?あなたはだれ?).” Apart from easy platitudes, the profound message it was going for I couldn’t find. Too bad, all the signs and descriptions are in Japanese. The most interesting works on display were Takano Rieko’s series of small sketches collectively titled “Rain (あめ).” The Otaru-born artist’s stark abstract layers of torn apart landscapes with subdued colors marked a significant break from Haruka’s largely conventional paintings. Storm clouds and tight, mean rain mark the only concrete images in each of the sketches. The crude shapes in the center are virtually swallowed by the surrounding torrent. The sketches seem to imbue strong emotion amidst hopelessness against nature. The exhibit is definitely sparse for its 800 yen entrance fee. Anyone looking for evidence of a distinctly Hokkaido artistic scene will be largely disappointed, though a few of the standout pieces (mainly Rieko’s) do offer tantalizing deconstructions of Hokkaido life. To underscore the point, the other current rotating exhibit on display features all paintings from 1920’s and 30’s Paris, as if that was a requirement in order to be an art museum. Still, the museum is worth a visit on a lazy day in Sapporo. But for genuinely original Hokkaido artworks, keep looking.


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Event 7.22-7.24

Kushiro Kiri Festival Kelsey Woodford Eastern Representative | HAJET

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he 32nd Kushiro Kiri Festival will be three days long. Although the schedule is yet to be confirmed, there will be laser show projected onto the fog, a seaside market, special guests, and general festival activities. Kiri means “fog,” so the festival might sound strange but actually it makes a lot of sense. Kushiro and some of the surrounding areas have significantly less “sunshine hours” during summer than other parts of Hokkaido. “Sunshine hours” are a measure of the cloudiness of a location and do not measure the total energy delivered by sunlight. Kushiro and other eastern Hokkaido cities like Nemuro have far more recorded “sunshine hours” in winter than in summer, despite the shorter daytime hours. Summer gives way to the fog. It makes sense that Kushiro, home to Japan’s largest marshland, would have a lot of fog in the warmer months. Sea fog is also very common in these areas. The waters around Hokkaido are full of kelp. Ninety percent of Japan’s kelp harvest comes from Hokkaido, and Kushiro is one of Hokkaido’s main municipalities with kelp grounds. Recently a discovery was made: under stress such as intense sunlight or strong evaporation, kelp releases iodine particles, which become the nuclei (the center particle which water can cling to) for water vapour and thus kelp becomes another contributing factor to coastal fog. If you are familiar with the website Tofugu (www.tofugu. com) you may have read the article titled “Getting Started with Hokkaido Dialect” by Verity Lane, a previous eastern Hokkaido resident. Verity’s article includes two words only understood by those in the foggiest Hokkaido regions; “Jiri” (じり) a variation of “Kiri” 霧 / きり meaning fog, and “Gasu” (ガス)which comes from the English word “Gas”. “Gasu” (ガス)describes a lighter, rolling fog. Verity writes “きり” is a standard fog, but “じり” is a heavy fog with visible droplets in the

air. It gets under your umbrella and inside your clothes. There is nothing you can do to stop “じり” from soaking you through.” You can see evidence of the influence of fog in popular media, such as the Ghibli film, “When Marnie Was There”. Said to be set in eastern Hokkaido, the film features a marshy landscape and foggy nights. Fog might impair your visibility, but it’s not so bad after all. Kushiro is definitely taking the lead, embracing it, and making the most of it. As for The Kushiro Kiri (Fog) Festival, Anna Martin recalls the event last year; “I went to the Kiri Festival last year. The festival is down by the port, where there is a central stage area ringed by food stalls. Last year it wasn't foggy, sadly, so outside of the main festival arena there were guys spraying fake fog around, and we had to run out of the way because it was pretty choking stuff! Then we went into the central space where they had music and a laser show. The fake fog at this point was high enough to catch the lasers and to be less horrible to breathe. The lasers were pretty spectacular. No one danced, though! It was strange to be watching this show with loud dance music and literally no one dancing. Odd. But it's fun music, a festival atmosphere, lots of food and drink, all good stuff.” The festival runs for 3 days. Starting at midday and running through until 9pm on Friday July 22nd, 10am until 9.30pm on Saturday the 23rd, and 10am until 2pm on Sunday the 24th. If your interest in fog has not yet peaked, Kushiro has a few other portside festivals later in the year. The Port Festival in August has more food stalls and places to sit and chat and hang out, and the spectacular fireworks of the Donpaku Festival in September are definitely worth seeing. But with the laser light show, the Kiri Festival is worth checking out this July. Photos courtesy of Caleb Hagan


Sakanaction Margaret Pickard Member | HAJET

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ooking for another bizarrely-named Japanese band to add to your playlist? Then stop, take a seat, and

look no further than Sakanaction. Though it doesn’t take the wince-worthy cake (looking at you, Kis-My-Ft2), its translation as “Fish Action” was enough to cause me to pause the first time I heard of it. Lead singer and mastermind Ichiro Yamaguchi, an Otaru-native and avid fisher, imagined the group as a

fish gracefully staying its own course in the changing currents of the music industry. Sakanaction’s success is due in large part to its confidence in pursuing its own style. It happily blurs genre lines, landing somewhere in between rock and electronica, and utilizes entrancing visuals for their music videos. I was never much of a music video connoisseur until I first watched “Music”, the anthem song from my time studying abroad in Nagoya in 2013. It was a rabbit hole from there: the rose petals and catchy synthesizer from “Music”, the dancing geisha and members rocking out in kimono


in “Yoru no Odoriko”, the bizarre puppets from “Bach no Senritsu”. Every one of their songs is a story, each flavored by a unique sound. In truth, I didn’t know Sakanaction was a Hokkaido band until I was placed in the frozen north for JET. I waited patiently for any hint of a concert, and was stupidly elated when Sakanaction announced a new tour for 2015-2016, including a night in their hometown of Otaru. The night came and went in a blur of sweat and intricate lighting, pulling people up from their seats and changing the concert hall into a place reminiscent of the

Sapporo night clubs Yamaguchi used to DJ. Elements from the music videos I had obsessively watched were incorporated into the live performance. I just about lost it when the dancing geisha from “Yoru no Odoriko” came out, and I was a sentimental mess when they finished with “Music”, falling rose petals projected on the walls around me. Sakanaction has multiple performances coming up, including at Summer Sonic in Tokyo and Osaka in August. Get yourself to one of their performances, and I 99.9% guarantee you will be glad you did.

HIP LAND MUSIC CORPORATION INC.


Horror anime of

HOKKAIDO Katelyn Mitchell Musical Director | HAJET

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henever someone asks me to name an anime about or set in Hokkaido, the name that comes immediately to my lips is Silver Spoon. I don’t think I’m alone in this – author Arakawa Hiromu’s story about a city boy attending a remote agricultural high school has attained significant notoriety, and it’s not hard to see why. Its depiction of Hokkaido as idyllic, pastoral and full of friendly animals matches many non-residents’ mental image of the prefecture. Within Hokkaido itself, Silver Spoon is embraced because it brings attention to agricultural products and traffic to a number of locations featured significantly in the show, such as Obihirio’s ban’ei racetrack.

However, as I delved into the world of “Hokkaido anime” in preparation to write this article, I was surprised to learn that Silver Spoon is the exception rather than the rule. The animated Hokkaido is not prominently a place of friendly pigs and spunky farm girls, but an isolated, forbidding landscape home to the supernatural, the extraterrestrial, and the horrific. Hokkaido is to anime and manga as Maine is to the works of Stephen King – the frigid, isolated northern land where evil lurks. The number of anime set in Hokkaido is still small, but the set is large enough to identify a pattern. Before Silver Spoon, Hokkaido served as the setting for 2000’s Saikano, 2001’s Figure 17, 2004’s Diamond Daydreams, and 2005’s Noein. While Diamond Daydreams was a slow-paced romance, the other three can all be classified

within the science fiction/horror genre. Each featured a Hokkaido which had been altered into something strange and sinister: the site of an alien landing, the location of secret government weapons testing, a world where time itself has shattered. After several years of Silver Spoon’s stranglehold, 2015 saw Hokkaido’s triumphant return to form as the home of horror. Two murder mystery anime utilizing Hokkaido as a setting were released: Beautiful Bones – Sakurako’s Investigation and Boku Dake ga Inai Machi. The former is a series of short mysteries centering around skeleton enthusiast Sakurako and the human bones she frequently unearths in various places around the prefecture. The latter, which translates to “A Town Where Only I’m Not There” – retitled for Western release as Erased – stars a man who uses time travel to return to his Hokkaido childhood and prevent the murders of several classmates. Erased especially is a lovely example of just what makes Hokkaido such a great place for horror. It stars Satoru, a wannabe manga artist living in Tokyo. When his mother is killed, he is sent back to his elementary school days in rural Hokkaido. Though initially delighted to once again spend his days frolicking in the snow with his friends, Satoru soon realizes the reason why he was sent back: several of his classmates are the targets of a depraved serial murderer. During his original childhood, the wrong man was accused, leaving the real killer free to stalk Satoru and eventually murder his mother. Armed with the knowledge of the future, Satoru sets out to befriend the victims and identify the real killer.


Boku Dake ga Inai Machi (Erased) A-1 Pictures

The pace of the show is breakneck, with Satoru constantly reminded of how few days he has to save the victims. The tone is unashamedly dark, and it uses its Hokkaido setting to the fullest to embrace this darkness. Scenes of time-traveled Satoru in Hokkaido utilize dark, muted colors in direct contrast to the bright lights and warm color palette of “present” Satoru’s Tokyo home. The past segments are set entirely in the winter, and the characters constantly reiterate how the snow isolates them from each other and their small town from the rest of the world. Isolated, friendless former murder victim Kayo is frequently shown standing alone in the dark amidst frequently falling snow, providing the viewer with a heightened sense of doom as they are reminded that her isolation is what caused her to be selected for death. Without giving away too many spoilers, I can also say that the murderer and other villainous characters utilize Hokkaido’s frigid nature for evil ends, with unheated sheds and frozen lakes serving as torture/murder weapons just as deadly as knives or guns. Watching Erased as a Hokkaido resident was truly a unique – and more than a little chilling, no pun intended

Beautiful Bones: Sakurako’s Investigation Troyca

– experience. I saw the prefecture I loved reflected in the fresh, clean expanses of beautifully drawn snow and the smiling faces of ice-skating, fluidly animated students. But I also saw a land full of strange, lurking evil. I was reminded of the danger of sub-zero temperatures, insufficient layers and slippery ice in a terrifying, immediate way that no Sapporo Orientation seminar ever achieved. I witnessed the juxtaposition of expanse and claustrophobia in small, snowbound towns and was once again grateful for my town’s relatively clear roads. And when the murderer was at last revealed… well, let’s just say I spent the next couple days giving my kids extra high fives and reassuring them that they are all wonderful people. Hokkaido is our home. Hokkaido is a prefecture full of bountiful agriculture and stunning natural beauty. Hokkaido is a place that we have all fallen in love with, in our own ways. Watching Erased or Noien or Beautiful Bones or any of the other delightfully creepy Hokkaido anime didn’t change that for me. Instead, it just made me prouder than ever to live in Japan’s – “home of horror”. Move over, Mr. King – Castle Rock, Maine’s got nothing on Hokkaido!


Ke lse yF as t

Hokkaido on film Chris Santos Member | HAJET

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he end of the world!” exclaims the heroine of My Man (Kumakiri, 2014). No wonder she’s referring to Hokkaido, as the sentiment largely reflects both the wider Japanese attitude towards the island and the its representation on film. Often depicted as isolated, harsh and several steps removed from society. Hokkaido is often the “first last resort” for any protagonist wanting to escape from, or that is cast out of, Japanese society. Naturally then, when Clint Eastwood`s Unforgiven (1992) was remade in Japan under the same name (Lee, 2013), the setting was shifted from the “Wild West” of America to the founding days of Sapporo. Hokkaido still embodies Japan`s untamed “Frontier,” complete with a natural setting of stark beauty that often echoes a character’s internal struggles. In Railroad Man (Furuhata, 1999), Otomasu is a

stationmaster at the literal end of the line, surrounded by a village that`s dying and the closure of the station forthcoming. The image of a lone stationmaster clad in black, waiting at an empty station for the train while surrounded by snow pervades the film. When Marnie Was There (Yonebayashi, 2014) is Studio Ghibli`s lone foray into the wilds of Hokkaido. The animation contrasts the bustling Sapporo with the deep Kushiro/ Nemuro countryside. Our protagonist, Anna, is consistently featured against the empty marshlands of the region, reflecting her deep loneliness. In My Man the two protagonists take their incestuous relationship to the very edge of Japan--Monbetsu on the Okhotsk coast. Only when forced to return to the heart of Japanese society, Tokyo, does their relationship truly begin to crack like the drift ice they left behind. Several of Japan`s most beloved and long running film series featured Hokkaido in various ways. The comedy/ action movie series Truck Guys (Suzuki, 1976) featured


Hokkaido in their third outing as they race along Hokkaido`s Hidaka coastline in highly decorated trucks. The quintessential Japanese family movie series It`s Tough Being a Man more commonly referred to as the Tora-san series, visited Hokkaido on eight different occasions in its 42 installments. Most notably in the 38th movie, Tora-san Goes North (Yamada, 1987), set in and around Shiretoko, in which the lovable vagabond Tora-san tries to repair a father-daughter relationship. The Abashiri Bangaichi series ran for 18 episodes between 1965 and 1972. Its first movie A Man from Abashiri Prison (Ishii, 1965) is credited with being the first hit of the yakuza genre, featuring two opposing yakuza making a daring escape from the prison whilst chained to one another. Not to be left out, Godzilla has appeared twice of note on Japan`s northernmost island. In Godzilla 2000 (Okawara, 1999) Godzilla appears near Nemuro, and in Godzilla Vs. King Ghidorah (Omori, 1991) Godzilla laid waste to Odori Park and made short work of the Sapporo Television Tower (since rebuilt). A common theme of films set in Hokkaido is the lavish attention laid upon the landscape. Dramatically distinct from most of the Japanese archipelago, Hokkaido`s picturesque scenery is almost fetishised in its otherness. The snowy prefecture, with an abundance of land, freezing temperatures, and indigenous Ainu people couldn't be more different from the normative representation of Japan. Hokkaido is shorthand for difference in the Japanese filmic psyche, the edge of the dominion and an exotic curiosity. This makes Hokkaido a perfect location for representations of isolation and escapism, a place to be cast out from civilisation, or a wild place to be explored. The untamed nature of Hokkaido is often its chief tourism attraction, and several films have bolstered visitors to the prefecture, sometimes inadvertently. Love Letter (Iwai, 1995), set around Otaru, was one of the first Japanese movies to be shown in South Korean theatres since WWII and prompted an unexpected influx of Korean tourists to Otaru and beyond. Far By Chris Santos BA, MA Japanese Film The article very much represents initial research into film in Hokkaido, should you have anything to contribute, please contact Chris.

more subversive was the release of If You are the One (Feng, 2008) a Chinese romantic comedy about love blossoming on a trip to Shiretoko. The film has been regarded as a key factor in the increased number of Chinese tourists to Hokkaido in recent years. Despite all of these feature films, including several that were Japan`s submission to the Oscars, when looking at the overall landscape of Japanese cinema, one feels that the far north has been a bit left behind. Perhaps this is simply skewered by the Hokkaido bias I exude. Akira Kurosawa filmed two of his lesser-regarded features, Dreams (1990) and The Idiot (1951) entirely in Hokkaido. Nagaisa Oshima`s Boy (1969) climaxes in Wakkanai. Yet other Japanese auteurs have seemingly left the prefecture alone; Ozu, Mizoguchi, Miyazaki, Kitano, Miike and other powerhouses of Japanese cinema have never featured Hokkaido as a major part of any of their pictures. This itself is no crime, but the frequency of its absence is the point of interest here. The last of Japan’s islands to be colonized, Hokkaido will likely remain the most un-Japanese area of Japan, and this may go some way to explain both Hokkaido’s unique representation and its under-utilization by Japan’s film makers. For example; during a large part of Japan’s history with film, the most popular genre was the samurai movie, and simply by the time Hokkaido was colonised the samurai were well past their romantic heyday. Hokkaido became a convenient ‘other’ for Japanese film makers, a Japanese representation of ‘the end of the world’. Hokkaido’s place within the filmic history of Japan remains up for debate and discussion, however what we are left with is a large amount of interesting and thought-provoking movies that allow us to appreciate Hokkaido’s natural beauty while grappling with the island’s role in the Japanese psyche. The map and film list is by no means inclusive; it contains confirmed film locations as of publication. Special thanks to Simon Daily and The Northern Museum of Visual Culture.

Map on the next page


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Title

Director

A Distant Cry From Spring | Haruka naru yama no yobigoe (1980) A Drop of the Gravevine | Budou no Namida (2014) A Man From Abashiri Prison | Abashiri Bangaichi (1965) Angel in the Box | Gin No Enzeru (2004) Antarctica | Nankyoku Monogatari (1981) Bashing | Basshingu (2005) Boy | Shōnen (1969) Bread of Happiness | Shiawase no Pan (2012) Detective Conan: Magician of the Silver Sky | Meitantei Konan: Gin Yoku no Majishan (2004) Dog Flute | Inubue (1978) Dreams | Yume (1990) Echo of Silence | Kotoba no Nai Fuyu (2005) Freezing Point | Hyoten (1966) Gamera 2: Attack of Legion | Gamera Tsū: Region Shūrai (1996) Godzilla 2000 | Gojira Nisen: Mireniamu (1999) Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah | Gojira tai Kingu Gidora (1991) If You Are The One | Fēichéng Wùrao (2008) Into the Faraway Sky | Tôku no Sora ni Kieta (2007) JinJin | JinJin (2013) Love Letter | Rabu Retâ (1995) Manhunt | Kimi Yo Fundo No Kawa o Watare (1976) My Man | Watashi no Otoko (2014) Railroad Man | Poppoya (1999) Silver Spoon | Gin no Saji Shiruba Supun (2014) Sketches of Kaitan City | Kaitanshi Jokei (2010) Smilers | Sumairu Seiya no Kiseki (2007) Station | Eki (1981) The Detective is in the Bar 2: Major Crossing at Susukino | Tantei wa Bar ni Iru (2011) The Human Condition III: A Soldier`s Prayer | Ningen no Jôken: Kanketsu Hen (1961) The Idiot | Hyoten (1951) The Light Shines Only There | Soko Nomi Nite Hikari (2014) The Monster X Strikes Back/Attacks the G8 Summit | Girara no Gyakushū: Tōyako Samitto Kiki Ippatsu (2008) The Rambling Guitarist | Guitar o Motta Wataridori (1959) The Yellow Hankerchief | Shiawase no Kiiroi Hankachi (1977) Tokyo Drifter | Tōkyō Nagaremono (1966) Tora-san Goes North | Otoko wa Tsurai yo: Shiretoko Bojō (1987) Tora-san`s Forget Me Not | Otoko wa Tsurai yo: Torajirō Wasurenagusa (1973) Triple Cross | Itsuka Giragira Suru Hi (1992) Truck Guys: Bokyo Ichibanboshi | Torakku Yarō: Bokyo Ichibanboshi (1976) Unforgiven | Yurusarezaru Mono (2013) When Marnie Was There | Omoide no Mānī (2014) Year One in the North | Kita no Zeronen (2005) Yellow Fangs| Rimeinzu: Utsukushiki Yuusha-tachi (1990) Zeiram | Zeiramu (1991)

Yoji Yamada Yukiko Mishima Teruo Ishiiand Suzui Takayuki Koreyoshi Kurahara Masahiro Kobayashi Nagisa Oshima Yukiko Mishima Yasuichiro Yamamoto Sadao Nakajima Akira Kurasawa Atsuro Watabe Satsuo Yamamoto Shusuke Kaneko Takao Okawara Kazuki Ōmori Feng Xiaogang Isao Yukisada Daiki Yamada Shunji Iwai Junya Sato Kazuyoshi Kumakiri Yasuo Furuhata Keisuke Yoshida Kazuyoshi Kumakiri Takanori Jinnai Yasuo Furuhata Hajime Hashimoto Masaki Kobayashi Akira Kurosawa Mipo Oh Minoru Kawasaki Buichi Saito Yōji Yamada Seijun Suzuki Yōji Yamada Yōji Yamada Kinji Fukasaku Noribumi Suzuki Sang-il Lee Hiromasa Yonebayashi Isao Yukisada Sonny Chiba Keita Amemiya


Map courtesy of Chris Santos Images courtesy of Kelsey Fast

Locations 1 Nakashibetsu

12 Yunni

23 Furano

34 Yubari/Okhotsk

2 Sorachi District

13 Asahikawa

24 Obihiro

35 Hakodate

1 Abashiri 3 Nakashibetsu

1 Nakashibetsu 14 Sapporo

1 Nakashibetsu 25 Hakodate

1 Nakashibetsu 36 Shiretoko/Sapporo

4 Bihoro

15 Nemuro

26 Tomakomai

37 Abashiri

5 Wakkanai

16 Sapporo Odori Park

27 Mashike

38 Muroran/Sapporo

6 Tomakomai

17 Kitami/Shiretoko

28 Sapporo Susukino

39 Shizunai

7 Otaru/Wakkanai

18 Asahikawa

29 Rishiri and Rebun

40 Sapporo

8 Lake Toya

19 Kenbuchi

30 Sapporo/Kushiro

41 Nemuro/Sapporo

9 Hakodate

20 Otaru

31 Hakodate

42 Urakawa/Yubari

10 Sarobetsu

21 Urakawa

32 Sapporo

43 Haboro

11 Memambetsu

22 Monbetsu

33 Hakodate

44 Mikasa


Photo courtesy of Colette English


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