In the West, Japanese culture comes in the form of Power Rangers, Godzilla movies, and Sanrio products, but of course the indigenous pop culture is much richer. Rather than focus on what the rest of the world has already encountered, Mark Schilling provides an encyclopedic compendium of books, movies, music, comedians, and cultural scandals that have had the greatest impact in Japan. Thus, for the outsider, The Encyclopedia of Japanese Pop Culture is an insider's guide to post-war Japan. Not content to simply catalog his entries, Schilling provides real depth and analysis in his articles, opening up Japan's rich pop heritage to the world at large.

The Encyclopedia of Japanese Pop Culture

Humor & Entertainment

Schilling, Mark

Movies

Shambhala

This comprehensive look at Japanese cinema in the 1990s includes nearly four hundred reviews of individual films and a dozen interviews and profiles of leading directors and producers. Interpretive essays provide an overview of some of the key issues and themes of the decade, and provide background and context for the treatment of individual films and artists. In Mark Schilling's view, Japanese film is presently in a period of creative ferment, with a lively independent sector challenging the conventions of the industry mainstream. Younger filmmakers are rejecting the stale formulas that have long characterized major studio releases, reaching out to new influences from other media—television, comics, music videos, and even computer games—and from both the West and other Asian cultures. In the process they are creating fresh and exciting films that range from the meditative to the manic, offering hope that Japanese film will not only survive but thrive as it enters the new millennium.

Contemporary Japanese Film

Weatherhill

Japanese gangster films, with their stoic yet explosively violent heroes, have influenced everyone from Eastwood to Jarmusch. The Yakuza Movie Book is the first book to look at this genre in detail. It features more than 100 film critiques and "top 10" recommendations plus profiles and interviews of famous actors and directors like Kinji Fukasaku, Takashi Miike, Takeshi -Kitano, Sho Aikawa and Bunta Sugawara. With dozens of stills and striking movie posters, this is a book any film lover will savor as a viewer’s guide and definitive reference.
 Mark Schilling lives in Tokyo and has been reviewing Japanese films for the Japan Times since 1989. He is author of Contemporary Japanese Film and Encyclopedia of Japanese Pop Culture.
"It's an excellent starting point for those intrigued by the backdrop of Kill Bill." -- Empire
"Schilling... has produced a remarkable work on an enduring guilty pleasure, the first of its kind in English." -- Library Journal
"Schilling is in total command of his field...the first Westerner willing and able to perform this useful service to world movie studies, and the sense of complete immersion in a genre will appeal to all film lovers." -- The Daily Yomiuri
"This is prerequisite reading for any and all fans of Asian cinema." -- Asian Cult Cinema

The Yakuza Movie Book: A Guide to Japanese Gangster Films

Stone Bridge Press

Drawing inspiration from Hollywood and the French New Wave, Nikkatsu Action pictures blended East and West, movie-fuelled fantasies, and gritty realities of life in postwar Japan. More than 30 years later the Nikkatsu Action legacy lives on.

NO BORDERS, NO LIMITS: Nikkatsu Action Cinema (Cinema Classics (Paperback))

FAB Press

From popular genre films to cult avant-garde works, this book is an essential guide to Japan's vibrant cinema culture. It collects two decades of the best of Mark Schilling's film writing for Variety, Japan Times, and other publications. The book offers an in-depth look at hundreds of landmark Japanese movies as well as undeservedly neglected ones. The essays and detailed analyses are interwoven with more than sixty interviews showcasing Japan's most talented directors and stars. This book enables students, teachers, and lovers of Japanese cinema to make new discoveries while learning more about their favorite films. Mark Schilling set off for Japan in 1975 to immerse himself in the culture, learn the language, and haunt the theaters. He has been there ever since. In 1989 he became a regular film reviewer for The Japan Times, and has written on Japanese film for publications including Variety, Screen International, Premier, Newsweek, Wall Street Journal, Japan Quarterly, Winds, Cinemaya, and Kinema Jumpo.

Art, Cult and Commerce: Japanese Cinema Since 2000

Arts & Photography

Individual Artists

Awai Books