Jidai Matsuri | Discover Kyoto

The History Behind the Festival of Ages | Discover Kyoto

Donald Richie explains how the critics reacted negatively to Akira Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai" (1954) upon release:"Once 'Seven Samurai' (1954) was released, it had great box office success but evoked little critical enthusiasm even though Kurosawa had prepared a manifesto which said, in part, "jidai-geki faces a dead-end, there are no talented jidai-geki producers," and something must be done about it—the implication being that he had. The critics, while realizing that the film was indeed in the

Kon Ichikawa explains why the Japanese filmmakers made more historical/Samurai pictures than modern films:"Interviewer: Why have Japanese filmmakers been so interested in historical themes and period films?Ichikawa: I don’t think Japanese films lean particularly toward the jidai-geki, or costume drama. Some people are interested in episodes of a certain era, but I would not want to make the distinction between jidai-geki and gendai-geki [contemporary drama or story]. To me they are the same. If