Learning Japanese with Akira Kurosawa

• Also try: our page on the Japanese language | How to Speak Japanese | Akira Kurosawa

Why Watch Akira Kurosawa Films When Studying Japanese?

Akira Kurosawa

1. Akira Kurosawa is a legend of Japanese cinema. His 1950 film, Rashomon, won Best Foreign Language Film at the 24th Academy Awards and largely introduced Japanese cinema to Western audiences.
2. Listening to native speakers is helpful because it lets you hear Japanese in a more natural context than in the classroom.
3. Watching Japanese films can provide this immersive experience.
4. Listening to Japanese in a dramatic setting can provide an emotional and contextual background absent in textbooks.

About the Language in Akira Kurosawa Films

Toshiro Mifune

1. Japanese is a multi-faceted language. The language in these films will not match up exactly with the Japanese you've learned from textbooks.
2. Japanese can vary from speaker to speaker; a young girl may use different words to express the same sentiment as an older gentleman.

Before You Start Watching the Films

1. The dialogue in these films is spoken by native Japanese actors. As such, beginners may find it difficult to understand without subtitles.
2. Intermediate and advanced students of Japanese should be able to follow at least portions of the film without the assistance of subtitles.

Rashomon Japanese Activities

• Below is Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon. You can also watch it at Google Video, here.

1. Start the video, then press pause. It will take a few moments to load fully.
2. If you like, watch the film in its entirety, so that when you go back and study the phrases, you won't be distracted by the story.
3. This version is presented with English subtitles.

Rashomon Activity 1

1. Watch from 02:15 to 03:38
2. In this sequence, one villager is talking to himself and repeats a variation of "I don't understand," "Sore wa wakané"
   • This phrasing is an example of something that is said only by an older man.
   • A young girl, for example, might say "Sore wa wakanai"
     

     Throne of Blood Image courtesy of Creative Commons - RoninKengo on Flickr
3. See if you can make out the phrase "Sore wa wakané".
4. Having one word or phrase said repeatedly by different people helps you absorb its meaning.

Rashomon Activity 2

1. Watch from 19:34 to 20:10.
2. Try to understand Tajomaru's speech. Listen repeatedly, if necessary.
3. Pay particular attention to the inflection of his voice and notice the words he stresses and the words he speaks quickly.
4. Keep in mind that an actor may speak differently in a film than a modern Japanese person might in Tokyo.

Rashomon Activity 3

1. Watch from 31:16 to 32:01
2. Notice how Masako speaks differently than a man would.
3. Listen to the final part of Masako's speech, when the subtitles say "I will go with the survivor."
4. See if you can break down what she is saying before and after each pause.

Akira Kurosawa Clips and Trailers

Yojimbo Trailer

• Watch the trailer for Yojimbo with subtitles.

Yojimbo Activity 1

Yojimbo Image courtesy of Creative Commons - p373 on Flickr

1. Many of Akira Kurosawa's films are about samurais and samurai life. If you will be watching more of his films, you will want to familiarize yourself with this vocabulary and style of speaking
2. Look for the words "sword", "hell", and "bodyguard".
3. Listen to the way Yojimbo speaks and how it is different from the dialogue spoken by the other characters.
4. Keep in mind that, even upon this film's release, Japanese people in Tokyo spoke quite differently than the actors on screen.

Yojimbo Activity 2

1. As in Ikiru, it is important to pay attention to the use of numbers.
2. Pay attention to when numbers are spoken, and see if you can understand how they are used in context.

Reading Lessons in Akira Kurosawa Films

1. In learning a language, films are most important for hearing spoken dialogue, but the credits can also teach you about written Japanese.
2. The opening credits for these films have both kanji and hiragana characters.
3. For the versions with subtitles, check out the subtitles for the credits as well. This way you see what the kanji and hiragana mean.
4. Notice how the credits are in columns. This is an older method for written Japanese (which is still in use). To read these columns, go from top to bottom, then right to left.

Further Study of Japanese Films

Branded to Kill

  Note: The following links are to IMDb, which has pop-ups.

• If you enjoyed using these films to practice speaking Japanese, here are some suggestions for further viewing:
  • Yoji Yamada's Twilight Samurai (2002)
  • Seijun Suzuki's Branded to Kill (1967)
  • Yasujiro Ozu's Tokyo Story (1953)
  • Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away (2001)
  • Katsuhito Ishii's The Taste of Tea (2004)

• Some of these films are distributed through The Criterion Collection, and all are available through Amazon.com and Netflix.

Understanding Kurosawa's Cinema

1. Check out Mahalo's Guide to Akira Kurosawa.
2. Read these essays on Rashomon, one from Stephen Prince, the other by Kurosawa himself.
3. Read this profile of Akira Kurosawa from TIME Asia by Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou.

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