Japanorama

Japanorama is a series of documentaries presented by Jonathan Ross, exploring various facets of popular culture and trends of modern-day Japan.

Japanorama
Title card of Japanorama
Created byHotsauce TV
Written byJack Barth
StarringJonathan Ross
Country of originUnited Kingdom
No. of series3
No. of episodes18
Production
Running time30 minutes
Release
Original networkBBC Choice
BBC Three
UKTV
Original release9 June 2002 (2002-06-09) –
23 April 2007 (2007-04-23)

Each episode has a theme, around which Ross presents cultural phenomenon, films, music, and art that exemplify facets of Japan. The series is colourful in both its creative use of subject matter, and its use of bright colours that helped accent the action on screen rather than distract from it. Subjects are separated by eye catches that often featured the artwork of Junko Mizuno. Ross hosted each episode in suits so bright and stylised they could have been stolen from an anime character.

Fans have praised the series for the care that both Ross and the BBC have placed in its production. Time was given to delve into each subject, and he was able to interview various figureheads of culture and industry, including Mamoru Oshii, Hayao Miyazaki, Takeshi Kitano, Takashi Miike, Takashi Murakami and Sonny Chiba.

The theme song of the show was Kiyoshi no zundoko bushi by Kiyoshi Hikawa.

Series and episode list

Japanorama consisted of three series, each with six episodes. The first series was shown on BBC Choice in 2002, while series 2 and 3 were shown on BBC Three in 2006[1] and 2007 respectively.[2]

Series 1
TitleEpisodeFirst aired
Science Fiction19 June 2002
Segments include:

TV: Ultraman and interview with the director
Film: Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1988) and interview with director Shinya Tsukamoto
Video games: Interview with Tetsuya Mizuguchi (CEO of United Game Artists)
Etiquette: How to enter a room
Anime: Astro Boy (1963), and Akira (1988)
Film: Ghost in the Shell, Avalon and interview with director Mamoru Oshii
Culture: Robot pets and robot people
Film: I.K.U. (2001), sci-fi porn feature inspired by Blade Runner

Youth216 June 2002
Segments include:

Film: Waterboys (2001), a high school comedy film about five boys who start a synchronized swimming team.
Conceptual Art: Cupheads
Etiquette: How to laugh
Music: J-Pop Idols (Hikaru Utada - "Traveling", Aya Matsuura - "Momoiro Kataomoi", Morning Musume - "Sōda! We're Alive", Licca - "Get Back")[lower-alpha 1]
Film: Love and Pop (1998) and interview with director Hideaki Anno
Video games: Super Mario, Resident Evil,[lower-alpha 2] Doko Demo Issyo, Jet Set Radio Future,[lower-alpha 3] Otostaz
Culture: "PostPet", this is how internet was meant to be
Interview: Hayao Miyazaki, director of many Japan's most popular animated films, such as My Neighbor Totoro (1988), Kiki's Delivery Service (1989), Princess Mononoke (1997), and Spirited Away (2001)
Film: Battle Royale (2000): a group of teenagers on an island are forced to kill each other[lower-alpha 4]

Sex323 June 2002
Segments include:

Film: Warm Water Under a Red Bridge (2001), a Shōhei Imamura last feature film.
TV: The Paradise TV network, a 24-hour erotic show
Film: In the Realm of the Senses (1976)
Film: A Woman Called Sada Abe (1975) and interview with Noboru Tanaka
Interview: The "Kings of Pink" - Serious adult film makers
Etiquette: Chopsticks
Anime: Looks at sex in various anime
Anime: Legend of the Overfiend (1989)
Culture: Figure, erotic cosplay with masks
Film: Tokyo Decadence (1992), about a SM girl for hire

Crime430 June 2002
Segments include:

Film: Tokyo Drifter (1966)
Film: Branded to Kill (1967)
Film: Brother (2000), interview with actor and director Takeshi Kitano
Etiquette: How to exchange business cards
Interview: Director Takashi Miike — Audition (1999), City of Lost Souls (2000), Ichi the Killer (2001)
Reality TV: "Crybaby". Which girl can produce the most tears? Interview with producer and winner
Music: Pizzicato Five, interview with Yasuharu Konishi
Anime: Defining the difference between anime and cartoons with The Professional: Golgo 13 (1983)

Swords56 July 2002
Segments include:

Manga: Lone Wolf and Cub, Interview with writer Kazuo Koike
Etiquette: How to bow
Film: Zatoichi Meets the One Armed Swordsman (1971)
Film: Samurai Fiction (1998), interview with director Nakano Hiroyuki
Anime: Ninja Scroll
Conceptual Art: Breadman
Film: Onibaba (1964)
Culture: Kano Sisters, celebrities known for nothing in particular
Music: SUPERCAR, WHITE SURF style 5 (2000).
Film: Seven Samurai (1954), Yojimbo (1961), hosts from Akira.

Horror613 July 2002
Segments include:

Interview: Architects and Godzilla actors
Etiquette: Numbers
Film: Kwaidan (1964)
Film: Scarecrow (2001)
Film: St.John's Wort (2001)
Film: Ring (1998) and Ring 2, interview with director Hideo Nakata
Anime: Barefoot Gen (1983), interview with writer Keiji Nakazawa
Interview: Junko Mizuno
Interview: Dir en grey and fans

Series 2
TitleEpisodeFirst aired
Kakkoii (Cool)17 September 2006
Segments include:

Architecture: Buildings in Omotesandō, Tokyo.
Interview: Pop and video artist Nagi Noda, creator of the Hanpanda.
Custom: Slurping when eating noodles.
Interview: Nigo, creator of A Bathing Ape.
Interview: Tadanobu Asano.
Technology: Robots, such as ASIMO, and an interview with robot builder Tatsuya Matsui.

Otaku (Nerd Culture)214 September 2006
Segments include:

Culture: Akihabara
Film: Densha Otoko
Interview: Toru Honda, "King of Otaku"
Culture: Garage kits and other anime model kits, as well as Wonder festival, an annual event dedicated to these things
Culture: Moe
Culture: Cosplay
Culture: Maid cafés
Custom: Lying and the Japanese saying that doing so would cause you to lose your tongue in the afterlife
Music: AKB48, an idol group catering to Otaku

Zoku (Tribes)321 September 2006
Segments include:

Culture: Harajuku, Tokyo and the subcultures who go there to show off — gothic lolitas, gyaru, rockabillys and the like.
Music: Junko, dancehall queen.
Custom: On graduation day, girls ask the boy they like for their second uniform button — the one closest to his heart.
Interview: Paul Smith
Culture: Yakuza and their style in clothes and tattoos.

Owarai (Comedy)428 September 2006
Segments include:

Culture: Manzai, stand-up comedy
Interview: TV comedian Hard Gay
TV: Oh! Mikey, TV comedy sketches
Film: Cop in a Wig
Anime: Cromartie High School
Film: The Glamorous Life of Sachiko Hanai

Bushido (Samurai Spirit)55 October 2006
Segments include:

Culture: Beetle sumo
Interview: Director Minoru Kawasaki about his films Calamari Wrestler, Executive Koala and Crab Goalkeeper
Technology: Sumo robots controlled by cell phones via Bluetooth
Film: The films with Chiaki Kuriyama

Kawaii (Cute)612 October 2006
Segments include:

Culture: Hello Kitty.
Music: Ichirou Mizuki, King of the Anime Singers.
Custom: The tradition to throw a fallen-out bottom tooth over your house to symbolise the new tooth growing straight up quickly. Upper teeth should be thrown under the house.
TV: Ga-Ra-Ku-Ta: Mr. Stain on Junk Alley and Funny Pets by Ryuji Masuda.
Culture: Gloomy Bear and an interview with its creator, Mori Chack.
Culture: Japanese dolls, in particular the Super Dollfie dolls.

Series 3
TitleEpisodeFirst aired
Gaijin (Outsiders)119 March 2007
Segments include:

Culture: Bosozoku (bikers)
Culture: Drift racing
Music: Electric Eel Shock hard rock band
Culture: Dekotora (Truckers decorating their trucks)
Manga: Afro Samurai, manga and anime series about a black samurai taking revenge
Culture: Yayoi Kusama, polka dot artist

Ai and Koi (Love and Romance)226 March 2007
Segments include:

Religion: Shinto shrines with fertility rites and penis festivals.
Culture: Host clubs where women go to meet well-paid male hosts for companionship. There are also onnabe hosts — women dressed as men and taking hormones to grow beards.
Culture: Takarazuka Revue, an all-female revue form of theatre.
Manga: Yaoi manga, comics featuring romance and sex between males.
Culture: Air sex, like air guitar but pretend sex instead of guitar play.
Culture: Businesses renting rooms with latex love dolls to men.

J-Art (Japanese Pop Art)32 April 2007
Segments include:

Culture: Takashi Murakami's "Superflat" style of subversive characters derived from Manga and Anime, turned into merchandise
Culture: Gesai #10, Tokyo fair for young artists, 2006
Culture: Toast Girl uses household items for performance art
Culture: Yoshitomo Nara and his paintings with dark childlike figures
Culture: Toy-art, collectible figures created in limited editions
Culture: Tomohiro Yasui creates paper figures of wrestling robots
Culture: Hard Gay's paintings and sculpture, showing a giant anus
Culture: Keiichi Tanaami has created colorful psychedelic art since the late 1960s.

Densetsu (Legends)49 April 2007
Segments include:
Sonny Chiba
29 October 2005

TV: 40 years of Ultraman, and the "Ukulele Ultraman" pop video
Anime: Gundam, Pokémon, Astro Boy
Culture: Illusionist Princess Tenko
Song: Haruka and Rena perform "Tarako, Tarako, Tarako"
Food: Ramen, noodles in broth with toppings
Interview: Martial arts actor Sonny Chiba,
about his film The Street Fighter and his acting in Kill Bill

Kaidan (Scary Stories)516 April 2007
Segments include:

Culture: kimodameshi (scary walks for children)
Entertainment: "Haunted Hospital" in Fuji-Q Highland, one of the scariest haunted houses, with live actors
Anime: Spirited Away (Oscar, 2001), Pom Poko (1994)
Culture: Obake, transforming monsters in Japanese folklore, including Kaminari, Bake Chochin and Karakasa Obake (one-legged umbrella)
Music: Interview with Demon Kogure, head of a religious heavy metal band who claims to have conquered Earth in 1999
Film: J-Horror films including Kwaidan (1964) with "The Woman of the Snow" and "Hoichi the Earless"; Kuroneko (1968) by Kaneto Shindo; Ring Trilogy (1998-2000) by Hideo Nakata and Norio Tsuruta;[lower-alpha 5] Ju-on: The Grudge (2003) by Takashi Shimizu
Manga: Interview with Junji Ito, creator of Uzumaki (The Spiral), Tomie and Gyo
Photography: Kaoru Izima takes pictures of fashion models as if they were dead
Film: Ero guro ("erotic grotesque") movies, many based on the horror novels by Rampo Edogawa, e.g. Japanese Hell (1999) and Blind Beast vs. Dwarf (2001) by Teruo Ishii and Sexual Parasite: Killer Pussy (2004) by Takao Nakano

Gyaru (Bad girls)623 April 2007
Segments include:

Culture: Kogals, Ganguro and Yamanba girls.
Dance: Para Para, synchronised group dancing performed to eurobeat music.
Interview: Maeda Ken, para para pop star behind the Maeken Trance Project.
Film: Azumi (2003).
Feature: Entertainer Reiko Ike, best known for her action/erotic roles in so-called "pink films".
Film: Kamikaze Girls (2004), Sakuran (2007) and interview with actress and pop idol Anna Tsuchiya.
Culture: Female wrestling.
Music: Female pop stars Namie Amuro, Ayumi Hamasaki and Kumi Koda. All-female bands Metal Chicks, The Feminine and eX-Girl.

See also
  • Japan TV, a similar programme by BBC Choice, 2001
  • Adam and Joe Go Tokyo, an eight-part 2003 series examining life in Tokyo, produced by Jonathan Ross
  • Asian Invasion, a 2006 mini-series with Jonathan Ross talking about the cinema of Japan, Hong Kong and Korea

Notes
  1. from album Deep River, T.W.O, 4th Ikimashoi! and GRADUATION, respectively.
  2. the Remake version of Resident Evil was not released in Europe (including United Kingdom where Japanorama was originally aired) until Friday the 13th of September 2002.
  3. released as a launch title for Xbox in Europe, alongside Halo: Combat Evolved.
  4. Since its release, Battle Royale has had an influence on The Hunger Games trilogy, and many battle royale video games.
  5. including Ring (1998), Ring 2 (1999) and Ring 0: Birthday (2000).

References
  1. "Press Office - BBC THREE Autumn 2006: Entertainment". BBC. 24 July 2006. Retrieved 15 March 2009.
  2. "Japanorama - TV.com". TV.com. Retrieved 15 March 2009.
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