Aaron Gerow
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Aaron Gerow
@dengerow.bsky.social

Prof of Film and Media Studies and East Asian Languages and Literatures at Yale. Scholar of Japanese and other East Asian film and media (TV, manga, etc.). Likes rakugo, cats, and cycling. Views are my own. イェール大学教授、日本と他の東アジア映画とメディアの研究者。落語、猫と自転車。 .. more

Aaron Gerow is an American historian of Japanese cinema, and a member of the faculty of Yale University where he holds a joint position between the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures and the Film Studies Programs. .. more

Sociology 22%
Economics 19%

It took a while to reach me in Japan, but I finally got my copy of Kani Releasing's Blu-ray release of the Nikkatsu Roman Poruno films of Yoshimitsu Morita (of Family Game fame): Top Stripper and Pink Cut. I had a great time revisiting Morita and writing an essay for the booklet.

The legendary Japanese filmmaker Hasegawa Kazuhiko died on Jan. 31 at age 80. He only directed 2 films—The Youth Killer and The Man Who Stole the Sun—but both are celebrated masterpieces that influenced a generation. He was also a member of Director's Company.
hochi.news/articles/202...
「太陽を盗んだ男」「青春の殺人者」の長谷川和彦監督死去 80歳  - スポーツ報知
映画「太陽を盗んだ男」で知られる映画監督・長谷川和彦(はせがわ・かずひこ)さんが1月31日午後、誤嚥(ごえん)性肺炎による多臓器不全のため都内の病院で死去したことが1日、明らかになった。80歳だった
hochi.news

Long running film mag Eiga geijutsu posts its annual best and worst list. Best 1 is Arai Haruhiko's Hoshi to tsuki wa ten no ana; Worst 1 is Lee Sang-il's Kokuho (which has an Oscar nomination). Other interesting films on list, but Arai is the mag's editor!
news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/bfe...
映画芸術が毎年恒例のベスト&ワースト発表、2025年は「国宝」がワースト1位に(映画ナタリー) - Yahoo!ニュース
季刊誌・映画芸術が毎年恒例の「日本映画ベスト&ワースト」を発表。2025年は荒井晴彦が監督し、綾野剛が主演を務めた「星と月は天の穴」がベストテンの1位に選ばれた。ワーストの1位には「国宝」が選出され
news.yahoo.co.jp

Thanks for the comment! I am finishing a paper on Yamazaki's Godzilla that cites you. Hopefully I'll submit it in a few days.

The Japanese film director Higashi Yoichi died on January 21, 2026, at the age of 91. Emerging from documentary film, he made award winning fiction films such as Third Base (1978), The River with no Bridge (1992) and Village of Dreams (1996).

トランプ政権はまたも無実な人の殺人を行い、またそれについての真っ赤な嘘をつく。トランプ政権を支持する日本人がわからない。 www.nytimes.com/live/2026/us...
Man Killed by Federal Agents in Minneapolis Was Holding a Phone, Not a Gun
www.nytimes.com

My article comparing Koreeda Hirokazu and Bong Joon-ho has been published in the Journal of Japanese and Korean Cinema.

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Two houses and two films: transecting Koreeda Hirokazu and Bong Joon-ho through allegory
Koreeda Hirokazu’s Shoplifters (2018) and Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite (2019) won the Cannes Film Festival in consecutive years and bear a number of elements in common, particularly a family in poverty ...
www.tandfonline.com

Reposted by Aaron Gerow

BREAKING: Todd Blanche’s aides directed federal investigators in Minnesota to shut down the investigation into the ICE officer’s fatal shooting of Renee Good—and instead probe the victim for possible criminal liability, according to reporting from @ms.now's Carol Leonnig and Ken Dilanian.
I wish this weren't true, but we now have take his threats about Greenland more seriously, and start to talk about the world-changing mistake if he chose to go to war with Europe - which would essentially guarantee the rest of this century is China's.

I can't believe the idiots who voted for Trump thinking he was against war. But then again, they probably also thought he would reduce inflation.
“No more foreign wars”

“Peace President”

Trump Bombs #Venezuela to distract from the Epstein files

Reposted by Aaron Gerow

“No more foreign wars”

“Peace President”

Trump Bombs #Venezuela to distract from the Epstein files

NYT editorial: Trump Is the Jan. 6 President

What is written here is important, but what is missing is the failure of the NYT and the mainstream media to emphasize every day the above truth in their coverage.

Explore this gift article from The New York Times. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/o...
Opinion | Trump Is the Jan. 6 President
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Aaron Gerow

47NEWS @47news.jp · Dec 29
川崎大師、仲見世通り商店街 参拝者や観光客でにぎわい とんとこ飴きり「トンットンッ」 包丁の音、心地よく
川崎大師、仲見世通り商店街 参拝者や観光客でにぎわい とんとこ飴きり「トンットンッ」 包丁の音、心地よく
 年の瀬を迎えた29日、県内でも有数の初詣客が足を運ぶ川崎大師平間寺(川崎市川崎区)の山門前の仲見世通り商店街では、赤や白のだるまを買い求めたり、甘酒で暖を取りながら散策したりする参拝者や観光客らでに ...
www.47news.jp

山形国際ドキュメンタリー映画祭の公式インタビューのためのクラウドファンディングが後数日で終わります。30人以上の監督のインタビューの日英翻訳の他に、出版コストなどに充てます。私も参加しています。
congrant.com/project/yidf...
YIDFF 2025に参加するゲストのインタビュー集を作りたい! | 認定NPO法人山形国際ドキュメンタリー映画祭
2年に一度開催している山形国際ドキュメンタリー映画祭では、今年10月に開催するYIDFF 2025に世界中から映像作家を招聘します。そこで作家たちへのインタビューを収録し、当映画祭の公式ウェブサイトへ日英で掲載することで、それぞれの作家の制作状況、信念、創造性、ドキュメンタリー映画への想いを記録し、また世界に発信したいと考えます。今、山形で、映画祭開催中だから聞き取れる作家たちの生の声、さらにはそ...
congrant.com

Reposted by Aaron Gerow

Why would anyone risk themselves to go on 60 Minutes after this? How can viewers ever trust CBS News to report fairly on topics this White House is sensitive about?

The Japanese film director Harada Masato (原田真人) died on December 8 at the age of 76. He made hit films like Climber's High as well as art films like Kamikaze Taxi. He appears as an actor in The Last Samurai.
www.sponichi.co.jp/entertainmen...
原田真人さん死去 76歳 映画監督 「クライマーズ・ハイ」「燃えよ剣」「ヘルドッグス」 - スポニチ Sponichi Annex 芸能
「クライマーズ・ハイ」など社会派の作品で知られる映画監督の原田真人(はらだ・まさと)さんが8日死去した。76歳。静岡県出身。葬儀は近親者で行う。後日、お別れ…
www.sponichi.co.jp

I try to avoid using AI as much as I can. But AI is still very much a brand that sells in Japan.

"AI is Destroying the University and Learning Itself"

www.currentaffairs.org/news/ai-is-d...
AI is Destroying the University and Learning Itself
Students use AI to write papers, professors use AI to grade them, degrees become meaningless, and tech companies make fortunes. Welcome to the death of higher education.
www.currentaffairs.org

The film Kokuho, the nearly three-hour film about two kabuki actors directed by Lee Sang-il, just broke the record for box office earnings for a Japanese live action film, hitting 17.4 billion yen or 111 million dollars.
www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/...
'Kokuho' breaks Japan's box office record for domestic live-action film | NHK WORLD-JAPAN News
The Japanese movie
www3.nhk.or.jp
Here’s how to opt out.
“Google seems to be opting you in to these features without your permission. Second, the company doesn't seem to have notified its users about this. As a Gmail user, I don't recall seeing any notifications about this change.”
Google's AI is now snooping on your emails - here's how to opt out
A new change quietly rolling out allows Google to access your private messages and attachments to train its AI models - likely without your knowledge. Opting out takes just moments.
www.zdnet.com
Yesterday, Trump defended the Saudi Crown Prince in the Oval Office.

He said he had “nothing” to do with the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.

But I reviewed a call while serving on Trump’s NSC that I believe would be of interest to the Khashoggi family and the American people.

Release the transcript.

Extremely sad to hear of the death of Nakadai Tatsuya, one of the great actors in cinema. I was honored to bring him to Yale in 2016 (photo), interview him on camera, and visit his acting school Mumeijuku. He was supremely devoted to the act of acting and will be sorely missed.

オリジナルの日本語バージョンはこちらです。

アニメ・シンポジウム『桃太郎 海の神兵』から『ペリリュー -楽園のゲルニカ-』まで 国産アニメーションは戦争をいかに描いたか

www.youtube.com/watch?app=de...
アニメ・シンポジウム『桃太郎 海の神兵』から『ペリリュー -楽園のゲルニカ-』まで 国産アニメーションは戦争をいかに描いたか
YouTube video by 東京国際映画祭
www.youtube.com

Video of the splendid symposium about how anime has depicted war that took place this week at TIFF 2025. This has English VO.
youtu.be/cBs-u1vuXik?...
Anime Symposium: From "Momotaro, Sacred Sailors" to "Peleliu: Guernica of Paradise" English Ver.
YouTube video by 東京国際映画祭
youtu.be

U of Virginia prof excoriates the university's agreement with the DOJ, which is very different from those signed by Columbia and Brown.

"U.Va. paid nothing, yet lost everything:
Two centuries of independence, undone with a stroke of the pen"
www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2025...
ACQUAVIVA: U.Va. paid nothing, yet lost everything
It seems disingenuous for the University to boast about its agreement having “no external monitoring,” since the University’s president is required to report compliance — and certify under penalty of ...
www.cavalierdaily.com

Perhaps one of the first No Kings rallies took place in Tokyo on the 18th, though it was called a No Tyranny rally. Several hundred gathered outside of Shinjuku Station. This is just the start. Hope you all attend your rallies in the States on October 18.

I interviewed Oki Hiroyuki for the YIDFF's magazine Documentary Box back in 1998. It is in both English and Japanese.
www.yidff.jp/docbox/11/bo...
YIDFF: Publications: DocBox: #11
www.yidff.jp

Shocked to hear of the death of Oki Hiroyuki, one of the pioneer queer filmmakers in Japan. He was only 61. Working in a variety of media and genres, from experimental and documentary film to performance art, Oki-san was a daring artist who made the body both the subject and the method of his art.