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Issue 54 (December 2014, Volume 9, Number 6)

Issue 54 (December 2014, Volume 9, Number 6)

In this issue of The Japan Society Review we cross genres, reviewing a film, two books, a performance and conducting an interview with a violinist.

Our first review of Issue 54 is of Lee Sang-il’s remake of Clint Eastwood’s critically acclaimed film Unforgiven. Sang-il’s version sets the narrative in the era of the Edo Shogunate, as Chris Corker assesses the balance Unforgiven strikes between faithfulness to the source material, and artistic decisions to leave out parts of Eastwood’s original.

Sir Hugh Cortazzi then reviews Rana Mitter’s China’s War with Japan, 1937-1945: the Struggle for Survival, a meticulously researched history of a particularly cruel and brutal chapter in Sino-Japanese relations. Mitter considers the period from a Chinese perspective in a brutally honest and insightful manner; there are no heroes in the story, only different types of villains.

Moving on from Mitter’s book we consider a collection of detective stories penned by Edogawa Rampo. Chris Corker examines how Edogawa’s style and interests, particularly the influence of English detective literary traditions as well as a fascination with the macabre and grotesque, affect his latest work.

The final offering in this issue takes the form of an interview and review by Mike Sullivan. Linking the two together is violinist Komachi Midori, and Sullivan asks firstly about her debut album as well as her life and development as a classical musician. He then moves on to review her collaboration with other perfomers as part of the group VISUALISE! at Swiss Church London.


Contents

Contributors

Guest Editor
William Cottrell
Managing Editor
Isabel Barne
Special Reviewer
Sir Hugh Cortazzi

Reviewers
Chris Corker and Mike Sullivan

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