Mitokomon, a photo from Tokyo, Kanto

Photographer's Note

I was watching Japanese television in my hotel room late at night. Flicking through the J-doramas, music chart shows, the weather, a programme about a woman who drives a taxi, some confusing manga, and some crazy games shows, I found this period drama set in old Edo Tokyo.

I'm not sure what was going on but it played out like an episode of 'The Shield', 'Dragnet' or 'NYPD Blue'. Some Samurai went into a town, found out there was some trouble, kicked ass and took names, and then left all happy that crime had been punished and justice served.

I took this just as the Samurai were squaring off against a band of Ninja-types.
"You are under arrest!" the man is saying (I'd imagine... he said it in Japanese and even if I could remember what he said I wouldn't have understood it...).

Needless to say a fight broke out and much entertainment was had.

Among the games shows of injury, music videos of beautiful nymphettes, and the tear-jerking J-doramas, I was a little surprised to see this programme.

I guess that films and TV series set in ancient Japan are still as popular as ever.

Anyone who has seen Kitano's "Zatoichi" can testify to the quality of these modern takes on Kurosawa's kind of work ("Seven Samurai" and "Kagemusha", for example).

Zatoichi - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0363226/
Kagemusha - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080979/
Seven Samurai - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047478/

UPDATE: Thanks to comments I can identify the programme as "Mitokomon". ^_^

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Critiques | Translate

Koyama (609) 2006-07-07 12:49 [Comment]

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Seino (45) 2006-07-07 20:29

This is the most famous Jidai-geki (period play) "Mitokomon" in Japan. A man on the right is yelling at bad people the famous byword which all Japanese know.

"Be still , be still. Look at this family crest. The man who's standing here is Shogun's uncle, the great lord Mitsukuni Mito. Bow your heads, down your knees!"

dragonslayero (3592) 2006-08-22 16:27

Hello Richard

Maybe not a particular photo, but as a snapshot of Japanese television it is proparbly of great value.
Very much grain due to the relative "bad" resolution of the television. But nonetheless good colours are relatively good focus.
I'm a big fan of the older "samurai movies", I've got some 40-50 DVD's.
Some are good with a very correct view on the historical facts, others are obviously more "stories" and fiction. Take Zatoichi for example.
As for more historically correct movies I would say Hiroshi Inagaki's "Samurai Trilogy" is the best.
(Consists of Three movies: "Musashi Miyamoto", "Duel at Ichijoji Temple" and "Duel at Ganryu Island")
Then again in my opinion all Japanese by Akira Kurosawa-sensei and movies with Toshiro Mifune-sensei are very correct and very good.
As an extra fact: My late Sensei Yoshio Sugino of Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto Ryu was hired as an instructor to Toshiro Mifune in the "Samurai Trilogy"
Please check this photo
Thank you for sharing.

Odd Jarle