Quoting from a 26 year old female shopper who was thinking about buying a pair for her father:

‘‘They seem a bit showy but they’re cool,’’ she said.

Samurai underwear seems to be the new rage in Japan. It is kind of weird, then again, the whole interest in the civil wars of the fiftieth and the sixtieth centuries kind of brings up the whole interest in these products. So, I guess we can call this the capitalization of the trend.

A Tokyo apparel company known as Rogin has 10 kinds of Samurai underwear. Heck, they even have those that are designed similarly as the ones Oda Nobunaga and Takeda Shingen wore! I must say, they must be in shock from how many they have sold considering they have a hard time keeping these products on shelves. I guess it really must fascinate the women that buy this since they do not come cheap. And I do stress the whole “do not” as it cost about $90 to $125 each.

Then again, the product is as good as you pay for it… right? Well, yeah it is. Since they have researched the whole designs by going to museums and the whatnot as you can see from the details. Anyways, do you see yourself buying one of these? How about your girlfriend buying it for you?
Via examiner

Last month I saw three classic films by the Japanese director Akira Kurosawa, all were recommendations of my cinemaphile friend Dada. First was Ran, which basically looked like an oriental and apparently grislier version of King Lear. Ran reminded me of and was watched solely (this is a strange motivation, I have to concede) for the battle scenes partly shown in a computer game I loved to play when I was in high school, Shogun Total War.

Secondly, there’s the tragicomic Kagemusha, the plot of which is centered on the double who impersonated the feudal warlord Takeda Shingen during the bloody Sengoku (or warring states) period in the 16th Century. Shingen and his Takeda clan had the most formidable army and was poised to take the shogunate from the other warlords shortly before his sudden death. There are memorable battle scenes, but it’s the suspense from the possibility that the double’s real identity is found out that really moves the story.

My favorite of the three, The Seven Samurai, is a 1954 black and white film about seven ronin (masterless samurai) who helped defended a peasant village against bandits. Over at the Book View Cafe Blog, science fiction writer Nancy Jane Moore writes that The Seven Samurai is the best film ever made. Of course, I won’t go as far as that but I sure do agree with her when she said that the film’s story was “put together impeccably. Yes, it moves slowly, but it needs to move slowly to build to the powerful ending.”

Oggi ho acquistato su Amazon la locandina del film “Heaven & Earth” di Haruki Kadokawa del 1992. Two warriors. Two dreams. One destiny.
E’ la storia di Uesugi Kenshin e di Takeda Shingen e della quarta battaglia di Kawanakajima, uno dei primi argomenti di questo blog.

Today’s slice of synth-fueled musical heaven comes from end of the ambitious and beautiful film, Ten to Chi to (“Heaven and Earth” in English). Filmed in the late 1980s, it chronicles and embellishes the historical feuding between the Japanese warlords Takeda Shingen and Uesugi Kenshin (Kagetora) during the 16th century. It was filmed in western Canada and features impressive full-army battles drawn out across gorgeous landscapes. If you can watch it on a big screen, it’s a real treat.

The synth music here is pretty simple and is used as a kind of love theme in the film (for Kagetora’s romance at least) and indicates the strong relationship between the rivaling warlords as they finally face off one-on-one. If you’re afraid this might spoil the film for you, don’t watch it. But it’s a really impressive scene: two guys in full samurai regalia, backed by entire armies, fighting with daito while riding on horseback! Pretty well choreographed too. The whole production was rather ambitious and the end effort is very intoxicating. I get goosebumps every time I watch Takeda Shingen splitting Kagetora’s army, being saluted by the spear-men.

At the moment I don’t think it’s in widespread DVD release, but I’d recommend trying to see it if you’re into historical film, military film, tasteful film scores (by Daisuke Hinata and Tetsuya Komuro), lush cinematography or just Japanese culture in general.

This is a story about Yukimura Sanada. If you ever read Samurai Deeper Kyo, then this character would be familiar. History wrote that Sanada Yukimura is once known for the best samurai. He’s like one in a million. Having good look and bright brain, he’s fearful in the battle field.

Sanada Yukimura works for Takeda Shingen (also known as Tiger Kai). His personality is described by Shimotsuki Kairi sensei as generous, positive and careless. It makes woman loves him and children smile for him. He’s young but already achieves such a high status.

I think I’m gonna read Sengoku Basara till it done, because the art is so beautiful.

I found this manga in hanami

My Rating:

Le regole stabiliscono ciò che è lecito o è vietato in quel particolare “spazio” che esse definiscono e l’abilità dei contendenti verrà tanto più apprezzata quanto più essi saranno in grado di fornire un interpretazione creativa delle regole stesse. Competere consiste in una ricerca della libertà nei limiti stabiliti. Ma c’è anche chi decide di limitare nettamente il proprio recinto scegliendo di rimanere fedele anche alle regole del proprio gioco interiore.
 
La rivalità tra due signori feudali giapponesi della seconda metà del sedicesimo secolo Uesegi Kenshin e Takeda Shingen è ormai leggendaria. Nel corso degli anni le armate dei due si scontrarono per 5 volte presso la località di Kawanakajima. Nonostante la loro rivalità quando Shingen morì nel 1573, Kenshin pianse a lungo il suo avversario e si ripromise di non attaccare mai più le terre di Takeda, e nel giro di tre anni le due province diventarono alleate.

Nel corso della “Quarta battaglia di Kawanakajima” Kenshin aveva adottato un ingegnoso espediente tattico: aveva fatto in modo che la prima linea del suo esercito, quella direttamente a contatto col nemico, ruotasse con le linee interne, in maniera da opporre forze riposate alla prima linea avversaria. Kenshin aveva dimostrato di sapere interpretare in maniera creativa le regole del combattimento. Ma c’è un altro episodio che ci fa vedere da un’altra angolazione il modo in cui Kenshin vedeva lo spazio delle regole.  Ad un certo punto un suo alleato aveva bloccato l’importazione di sale verso le province di Takeda. Il sale era fondamentale per la conservazione del cibo e per Shingen, che abitava terre di montagna, non sarebbe stato facile procurarsene dell’altro. Senonchè, anche se questo blocco avrebbe potuto mettere in ginocchio Shingen e le sue terre, Kenshin  ordinò di mandare al suo rivale sale in abbondanza. Fu lo stesso Kenshin a chiarire la regola a cui aveva scelto di dare la priorità, quando affermò che “Le guerre si vincono con le spade e con le lance, non con il riso e con il sale.”
L’immagine della battaglia di Kawanakajima è di Mainsaraku, qui su Flickr.

Film ini menceritakan tentang kisah seorang warlord besar dalam sejarah Jepang di era Ashikaga (Japan medieval) yang bernama Takeda Shingen. Sesaat sebelum kematiannya, Takeda telah menyiapkan orang pengganti (The Double) yang mirip dengan dirinya, dan saat itu Clan Takeda sedang berseteru melawan clan Oda(Nobunaga) dan clan Tokugawa(Ieyasu), persiapan si Shingen palsu ini dimaksudkan untuk menipu musuhnya agar tidak menyerang, hal itu akan terjadi kalau pihak musuh tidak mengetahui, atau ragu, dalam menyikapi benar tidaknya kematian Shingen yang asli. Daya tarik utama dari film ini adalah saat si Shingen palsu (Kagemusha), berusaha menggantikan peran dari Shingen yang asli. Sangat memukau, menyedihkan, mengharukan.

Untuk penggemar film-film epic, Kagemusha ini dianjurkan untuk ditonton, tapi jangan mengharapkan film-film Akira Kurosawa akan seglamour film2 Holywood. Film ini lebih menonjolkan kekuatan gambar, dan cenderung hening walau sepanjang filmnya banyak dijumpai pasukan samurai yang hilir-mudik. “Keheningan” khas Kurosawa menjadikan film ini lebih dramatis.

Menjadi orang lain ternyata tidaklah semudah menjadi diri sendiri, walau orang lain itu adalah raja dan anda hanya seorang proletar (rakyat jelata) …..

Takeda Shingen: Tokoh dalam film Kagemusha ini terkenal dengan slogan2 militer “Secepat Angin”Seanggun rimba belantara” Menjarah bagaikan api Kokoh bagaikan gunung.
Sekarang bandingkan dengan bait2 dari Sun Tsu ribuan tahun sebelumnya.

Dalam bergerak hendaknya secepat angin

Dalam gerakan lambat, hendaknya seanggun rimba belantara

Dalam menggerebek dan menjarah, mengganaslah seperti api.

Dalam bertahan, bertahanlah sekokoh gunung. Dan seterusnya