Issue 47 (October 2013, Volume 8, Number 5)

October’s issue is themed around family and our reviewers explore recent books and films that deal with familial relationships; their joys, troubles and complications.

A particular highlight of the issue is Hirokazu Kore-eda’s new film Like Father, Like Son. For long-time fans of the director this latest release further consolidates his reputation; making spare, unadorned films that explore deeply complex human emotions. The film will resonate with everyone who sees it and I encourage readers to go while it is still in UK cinemas.

Parent-child relationships are also at the heart of other reviews in the issue, from an unlikely bond in the backwoods of rural Japan, to a son reconciling himself with his father’s legacy.

For fans of historical fiction, Lesley Downer’s Across a Bridge of Dreams offers a fast-paced ride through the years immediately following the Meiji restoration. There are plenty of heroic battles for those inclined to epics, tempered with poetic descriptions of Japanese cities on the cusp of modernisation. Fans of the charismatic Saigo Takamori will also enjoy Downer’s fictional counter-part, General Kitaoka.

We round off the issue with a theatrical flourish as Sir Hugh Cortazzi re-lives the life and times of the enigmatic Professor Risley - entrepreneur, innovator and acrobat.

• Like Father Like Son – Review and Director Q & A
  
  
• The Woodsman and the Rain
  
  
• My Father in his Suitcase, In search of E.J.H.Corner the Relentless Botanist
  
  
• From up on Poppy Hill (コクリコ坂から)
  
  
• Across A Bridge of Dreams
  
  
• Professor Risley and The Imperial Japanese Troupe

Contributors