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New Books for You to Read
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• Tokyo Scope: The Japanese Cult Film Companion
• Asian Beauty
• Living in Color: The Art of Hideo Date
Tokyo Scope: The Japanese Cult Film Companion
Patrick Macias
Cadence Books
This one-stop guide to Japan’s best cult films is all you need for nights of mind-boggling entertainment. With reviews of giant monster movies, Sonny Chiba’s best, yakuza classics, perverse “pink” films and even some panic and disaster masterpieces — this book covers all the bases. Author Patrick Macias, the man who brought us Japan Edge: The Insiders’ Guide to Japanese Pop Subculture, fills Tokyo Scope to the brim with informative interviews — like the one with horror director Kiyoshi Kurosawa entitled “How to Scare the Shit Out of People,” profiles, re-printed articles and special sections like “Sonny Chiba’s Best Screen Kills” because “ . . . the odds are you want to see him beat the crap out of jokers who may, or may not, deserve the very teeth in their skulls.” Macias both digs into the inner subtexts of these films and appreciates them for the pure, ridiculous exploitation that they are. The section on banned films will send any die-hard Japan-phile’s heart a-flutter — like Godzilla director Ishiro Honda’s Half-Human, which was banned because of bestiality overtones. Enough to make any nerd salivate.
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Asian Beauty
By Margaret Kimura
Harper Resource
I don’t know how to put on make-up — so Kimura’s full-color beauty bible could be really helpful. She outlines basics, everything from what a powder brush or a flat-head eyeshadow brush is and why exactly I would want one. Kimura who grew up in Southern California, “where beauty is synonymous with long blonde hair and blue eyes,” says it took her many years of experimentation to lead her to who she is today and to respect the diverse aspects of APA beauty. The focus on beautiful APA women and the honest, important tips on how to bring out their best features is great — yet lines like: “There is so much Asian women can do to play up their exotic almond shaped eyes,” irk me somewhat. Regardless of my quasi-feminist hang-ups, this book is really beautifully photographed and covers everything from skin-care to cultivating inner beauty — an aspect that Kimura says is the most important.
Living in Color: The Art of Hideo Date
Edited by Karin Higa
Heyday Books
This gorgeous book draws attention to the unique artistic identity of Hideo Date, a Japanese American painter who came of age in the Los Angeles enclave of Little Tokyo during the 1930s. Karin Higa, director of curatorial exhibitions at the Japanese Amerpcan National Museum, delves into the duality of Date’s cross-cultural existence: the synthesis of the Japanese nihonga painting style with Western synchronism; his life as an artist and as a low-wage laborer; his connection to the Japanese American immigrant community and his life in the pre-War, bohemian art scene of L.A. While in internment camps, Date continuedüto be dedicated to a life of art — teaching painting and life-drawing classes throughout his incarceration. The book illustrates how the war and internment shattered the art community that Date blossomed from and prevented him from being exhibited widely. Along with being a wonderful collection of Date’s prints — appreciated for their study of line and color — the book is an inspiration to anyone who is interested in art and APA history.
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