Related
Japan ’s rich literary history has been an numberless reservoir of aspiration for moviemakers . From manga to historical journals to striking epics to present-day science fabrication masterpiece , works written by Nipponese authors span the spectrum . The number of popular films , both live - action andanimated , derived from Nipponese books is much larger than many audiences may realize .
The films on this list spotlight 10 book adaptions from Nipponese source . Some are English - language remakes , while others are Japanese through and through , showcasingthe culture and land . capricious , terrifying , and titillating , the picture show below research the common themes and histories that touch on all of us .
Never Let Me Go
Japanese - hold British source Kazuo Ishiguro indite thisdystopian skill fictionbook in 2005 . Ishiguro is considered a lord of the music genre , and this record book tells the story of a teenage girl who soon realizes she ’s been cursed with a terrible fate : she ’s a member of a clone class created to provide fresh , healthy organs for those who necessitate them .
Never Let Me Gowas made into an English - language movie in 2010 , and it stars Andrew Garfield , Kiera Knightley , and Carey Mulligan as students at the remote British Hailsham boarding school day , where they contend with their position as human duplication who will be used for electronic organ harvesting .
Battle Royale
Koushun Takami wrote the 1999 novel that was the basis for the religious cult horror film and manga series of the same name . Battle Royaletakes position in an alternative reality , where Japan is go by an authoritarian government . In this world , mediate shoal students are pull to campaign to the death in a sort of endurance of the fit .
The Nipponese film adjustment come out the next yr , which employs humour and gore to severalise its story . Due to the grade of violence depicted in the movie , as well as the implied age of the characters , it was banned in several countries . Still , it spawn several aper and even forged a new literary genre based around graphic symbol who are apprise to take each other out until one victor remains .
Paprika
In 1993 , Yasutaka Tsutsui released this book about a succeeding domain where psychiatrists are imbed themselves in their patient role ' dreams to heal their mental health yield . Psychiatrist Atsuko Chiba make an alter - ego , Paprika , with her patient . thing take a turn , though , when a new dreaming analytic thinking machine is steal from the facility that employs Atsuko .
Paprikawas released in manga form in 2003 , and then an animated feature land in dramatic art three years after , in 2006 . The movie pick up outside critical plaudits , both for its style and soundtrack .
The Woman In The Dunes
Kobo Abe compose the 1962 novel that was the basis for the controversial 1964 filmWoman in the Dunes . Considered one of the best Modernist Japanese generator of all time , Abe ’s novels focalise on absurd and macabre theme . This book tells the floor of a man who visits a remote fishing village to get insects . When he misses the last busbar back to town , he stay overnight , but he find himself give suck into a strange love affair with a local widow .
The motion picture , directed by avant - garde filmmaker Hiroshi Teshigahara , is part of the Japanese New Wave canyon . Teshigahara hire artistic and observational storytelling equipment here , which gain him widespread plaudits , include the Special Jury Prize at the 1964 Cannes Film Festival and an Oscar nominating address .
Silence
Written in 1966 by Shusaku Endo , Silencetells the story of a Portuguese Jesuit priest who travel to Japan in the 17th century , a time of expectant prosecution for Christians . The novel , partially told through fictionalized diary entries , details the non-Christian priest ’s struggles for acceptance , peace , and intellect .
The novel has actually been conform into movies three time , first in 1971 , then in 1996 , and finally in 2016 byMartin Scorsese . Scorsese ’s adjustment is the best - known , and it stars Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver as a pair of unseasoned priests who travel to Japan to find their wise man , played by Liam Neeson .
The Burmese Harp
The 1956 filmThe Burmese Harp , which was nominate for an Oscar , is based on the 1946 nipper ’s book by Michio Takeyama . The book and the movie both focalize on Japanese soldier who oppose in the Burma Campaign during WWII .
As dog-tired Japanese soldiers get quick to return home after the war is over , they attempt to account for a missing soldier named Shoji , who is fuck for playing the mouth organ . It turns out Shoji has slip the garb of a Buddhist Thelonious Sphere Monk for give back to his company undetected . Along the agency , he learns a spate about passing , otherworldliness , and the barbarism of war .
Audition
consider one of the most grisly repulsion movies of all time , this 1999 distortion pic about a youthful charwoman with crimson inclination is ground on a 1997 novel by Japanese horror master Ryu Murakami , know for other study likeCoin Locker BabiesandPiercing .
Both the book and the picture are about a widower who is try out women in rules of order to find a new wife . The man , Aoyama , falls in love with Yamasaki Asami , neglect all the warning mansion that she may not be as static as she seems . diving event into modern Nipponese geological dating , heteronormative relationships , and the great power of lustfulness , Auditionis a brutal go - de - force .
The Pillow Book
Written by a Japanese court lady for Empress Consort Teishi named Sei Shōnagon during the Heian Period , sometime between 990s and early 1000s , The Pillow Bookis a personal journal of sorts , full of disconnected musings , poems , and insights into Medieval Japan .
British director Peter Greenaway ’s 1995 film of the same name is a loose adaptation , focalise on the erotic and creative implications of the reference material as a fomite to tell a tale of passion between a Japanese fair sex and an ex-wife - patriate played by Ewan McGregor . Nagiko has been obsessed with the written word of honor from a untried age , and as a dissatisfied adult , she search a lover who will take her desires to a fresh layer by publish verse form on her naked torso .
Kiki’s Delivery Service
An illustrated 1985 children ’s script spell by Eiko Kadono and illustrated by Akiko Hayashi , it was land to the big - CRT screen by Nipponese vivification superstar Hayao Miyazaki in 1989.Kiki ’s Delivery Serviceis establish upon the living of a young , resourceful witch who , after moving to a new town , uses her fly broom handle to launch a delivery business .
A coming - of - old age level with a twist , Kiki ’s Delivery Servicewas an early hit for Miyazaki and his animation speculation , Studio Ghibli .
Manhunt
Chinese military action conductor John Woo , known for legion noir classics in his homeland , as well as English - terminology thrillers likeFace OffandMission Impossible : II , was at the helm of the 2017 adaptation of a Nipponese offense novel by Juko Nishimura . slaying , intrigue , and deception mark this storey that includes Japanese , Chinese , and Korean actor .
The novel was adapt once before , in 1976 , and Woo decide to update it for record Chinese movie star Ken Takakura , featured in the former interpretation .
NEXT:5 Book Adaptation Series We ’re count Forward To In 2020 ( 5 We ’re Not )
