Tsukinoki Takashi's wonderful "I Am Nipponjin" a film released in August of last year and just released on R2 DVD this year, is a thoroughly enjoyable film that is unique in that it views Japan society through the eyes of an American foreign exchange student who goes there to learn more about the country but instead teaches the Japanese a little something about themselves and what it means to be "nipponjin" (Japanese).
The heroine of this story is wide-eyed and idealistic, "sansei" (third generation Japanese-American) Amy Watanabe. Amy is a "half" (mixed Japanese/Caucasian) who is the only daughter of a Japanese farmer (cameo by Fujioka Hiroshi) and his American wife living in California. Her beloved grandfather (Koyama Shigeru) immigrated to California after WWII to find a better life, eventually establishing a local Japanese Kendo School. He was never able to go back but has always remained nostalgic of his homeland and instilled this love of Japan in his granddaughter, Amy.
Even though Amy has never been to Japan, she loves the country and culture of her grandfather, so much so that she became an accomplished Kendo student and volunteers her spare time teaching Japanese language at a local elementary school.
As fate would have it, Amy's chance to go to Japan comes in the form of a foreign exchange program that will enable her to go to there to finish her university studies in Japanese culture. She contacts her distant relative "Uncle Ken" (Morita Kensaku) who had said that she can stay with him whenever she is in Japan and thus begins the comedic and sometimes sobering story of "cultural shock" as Amy soon discovers that the Japan of her dreams is quite different from the real Japan.
"I Am Nipponjin" is a nice look at the cultural differences between America and Japan but done in a way that doesn't take sides or say that one way is better than the other. It asks the timely question of what it means to be "Japanese" and how the Japanese (as well as Americans) are viewed from each others side. Unlike recent films like "Lost In Translation", what makes "I Am.." refreshingly different is that it has an American teaching the Japanese a little something about the meaning of having "Yamato Damashi" (Japanese Pride) and "Nihon No Wa" (Japanese Harmony).
The movie is often critical of today's Japanese society whose indifference and disinterest in their own culture shocks Amy who thought that pride in one's own country was the same as it is was in America (she is ironically the only one in her university class who knows the words to the Japanese National anthem "Kimi Ga Yo").
There a various moments in the film where Tsukinoki also tackles some of the misconceptions Americans and Japanese have for each other and how other countries view them as well. There is one great scene where a Chinese exchange student chides Amy for the American tendency to "force their views" on others and her naiveness of thinking that the Japanese are as "polite and accommodating" as she believes while ignoring their past brutality during WWII.
The movie sometimes becomes overly preachy and ham-fisted in its portrayals of Japanese youth as "self absorbed, self indulgent and self centered brats". However, the film's strength is in its ability to show that one does not have to be a "native born" Japanese to appreciate and love Japanese culture and that sometimes it is helpful for a country to see how they are perceived through the eyes of other countries and foreigners in order to better understand themselves.
"JJ" Japanese Magazine idol and Seattle-born model Christina Morimoto is absolutely fetching as Amy. Looking very much like "Smallville's" Kristin Kruek, Morimoto is very cute in this movie (in a Lindsay Lohan/Hilary Duff/Anne Hathaway sort of way) and brings the right balance of innocence and naiveté to the role. While her acting at times may be a bit stilted and unpolished, her screen persona and charisma definitely win the hearts of the audience.
Actor-turned-politician Morita Kensaku is also great as "Uncle Ken" and brings the right amount of humor to his role. The supporting cast is stellar with the likes of Ano Mayumi, Ono Machiko, Ozeki Shinji, Saito Akira, Iwamoto Kyosei and Asaka Mitsuyo in various secondary roles. Watanabe Ken's son, Watanabe Dai plays Amy's love interest in the movie while Fuse Hiroshi is a standout as the "gaijin" bashing storeowner who eventually starts to warm up to the strange American foreigner. There's also great cameos by Sakai Noriko, Kyomoto Masaki, Fujioka Hiroshi and screen veteran, Koyama Shigeru.
Kudos go to screenwriters Ryuzo Nishiyama and Morita Kensaku and director Tsukinoki for crafting such a balanced, fair and very perceptive story on Japanese/American cultural differences and for using comedy and lighthearted drama as a means to tackle such touchy subjects as nationalism and cultural pride without becoming a "I Love Japan" propaganda movie.
"I Am Nipponjin" shows that sometimes we take our own culture for granted and that it takes a foreigner to point out both the good and bad of a nation's cultural identity. Love for one's country does not have to be limited to its own native born citizens.
The heroine of this story is wide-eyed and idealistic, "sansei" (third generation Japanese-American) Amy Watanabe. Amy is a "half" (mixed Japanese/Caucasian) who is the only daughter of a Japanese farmer (cameo by Fujioka Hiroshi) and his American wife living in California. Her beloved grandfather (Koyama Shigeru) immigrated to California after WWII to find a better life, eventually establishing a local Japanese Kendo School. He was never able to go back but has always remained nostalgic of his homeland and instilled this love of Japan in his granddaughter, Amy.
Even though Amy has never been to Japan, she loves the country and culture of her grandfather, so much so that she became an accomplished Kendo student and volunteers her spare time teaching Japanese language at a local elementary school.
As fate would have it, Amy's chance to go to Japan comes in the form of a foreign exchange program that will enable her to go to there to finish her university studies in Japanese culture. She contacts her distant relative "Uncle Ken" (Morita Kensaku) who had said that she can stay with him whenever she is in Japan and thus begins the comedic and sometimes sobering story of "cultural shock" as Amy soon discovers that the Japan of her dreams is quite different from the real Japan.
"I Am Nipponjin" is a nice look at the cultural differences between America and Japan but done in a way that doesn't take sides or say that one way is better than the other. It asks the timely question of what it means to be "Japanese" and how the Japanese (as well as Americans) are viewed from each others side. Unlike recent films like "Lost In Translation", what makes "I Am.." refreshingly different is that it has an American teaching the Japanese a little something about the meaning of having "Yamato Damashi" (Japanese Pride) and "Nihon No Wa" (Japanese Harmony).
The movie is often critical of today's Japanese society whose indifference and disinterest in their own culture shocks Amy who thought that pride in one's own country was the same as it is was in America (she is ironically the only one in her university class who knows the words to the Japanese National anthem "Kimi Ga Yo").
There a various moments in the film where Tsukinoki also tackles some of the misconceptions Americans and Japanese have for each other and how other countries view them as well. There is one great scene where a Chinese exchange student chides Amy for the American tendency to "force their views" on others and her naiveness of thinking that the Japanese are as "polite and accommodating" as she believes while ignoring their past brutality during WWII.
The movie sometimes becomes overly preachy and ham-fisted in its portrayals of Japanese youth as "self absorbed, self indulgent and self centered brats". However, the film's strength is in its ability to show that one does not have to be a "native born" Japanese to appreciate and love Japanese culture and that sometimes it is helpful for a country to see how they are perceived through the eyes of other countries and foreigners in order to better understand themselves.
"JJ" Japanese Magazine idol and Seattle-born model Christina Morimoto is absolutely fetching as Amy. Looking very much like "Smallville's" Kristin Kruek, Morimoto is very cute in this movie (in a Lindsay Lohan/Hilary Duff/Anne Hathaway sort of way) and brings the right balance of innocence and naiveté to the role. While her acting at times may be a bit stilted and unpolished, her screen persona and charisma definitely win the hearts of the audience.
Actor-turned-politician Morita Kensaku is also great as "Uncle Ken" and brings the right amount of humor to his role. The supporting cast is stellar with the likes of Ano Mayumi, Ono Machiko, Ozeki Shinji, Saito Akira, Iwamoto Kyosei and Asaka Mitsuyo in various secondary roles. Watanabe Ken's son, Watanabe Dai plays Amy's love interest in the movie while Fuse Hiroshi is a standout as the "gaijin" bashing storeowner who eventually starts to warm up to the strange American foreigner. There's also great cameos by Sakai Noriko, Kyomoto Masaki, Fujioka Hiroshi and screen veteran, Koyama Shigeru.
Kudos go to screenwriters Ryuzo Nishiyama and Morita Kensaku and director Tsukinoki for crafting such a balanced, fair and very perceptive story on Japanese/American cultural differences and for using comedy and lighthearted drama as a means to tackle such touchy subjects as nationalism and cultural pride without becoming a "I Love Japan" propaganda movie.
"I Am Nipponjin" shows that sometimes we take our own culture for granted and that it takes a foreigner to point out both the good and bad of a nation's cultural identity. Love for one's country does not have to be limited to its own native born citizens.
