Russell Abraham

OK, a bit of disclosure here, I lived in Japan many years ago and both spoke and read Japanese (poorly), but enough to always get a compliment from a shopkeeper or man in the street. Japan is a place of the seen and unseen. The Japanese are very Zen and reveal little. Their lives are often both superficial and profound. In cinema, there is always a strong element of the unsaid in Japan. The shokudo owner and cook know as Master, is the soulful character that the series revolves around. His customers are people of the water trade and general insomniacs. Bar tenders, drag queens, people who work as entertainers, average joes and janes of Tokyo nightlife. Each has a story and each story resonates in the heart of modern Japan, a country that sits astride the 12th and the 21st centuries. We dont know where master got the large scar that runs down his care worn cheek, but it probably was not from playing video games. He is humble, passionate, caring and silent. His expression says it all. I love this series because of its sympathetic portrayal of the underside of Japanese society and how much it communicates with so little time and space. Each episode has the beauty of a Japanese minature or a Haiku peom. We are heading off to Japan in a few weeks and I thought this was a good reintroduction to the Land of the Rising Sun.

Ouch! Too close to home. Fascism can be just around the corner. Excellent story and very well portrayed. The Germans thought they were the most civilized people in Europe in 1930. Hitler and his thugs proved that even civilized people can become monsters. Brazil has clearly gone through the same struggle. Can this happen here? We have to ask ourselves that question every single day. Liberty is quite fragile and constantly under assault by people who should know better.