> known for it's xenophobia Broad brushes like these are usually dangerous to paint with. Japan has it's xenophobic streaks but is also one of the most cosmopo

> known for it's xenophobia Broad brushes like these are usually dangerous to paint with. Japan has it's xenophobic streaks but is also one of the most cosmopolitan cultures around. For similar reasons, lines like the following in the article piqued my annoyance as well: how very un-Japanese it seemed: in the broadness of its satire, in the zaniness of its switches from one genre to another, in the almost violent simplicity of its message and story Author's certainly entitled to his own reaction but I don't find these traits uncommon in Japanese cinema (and literature). I'm not contesting the whole 'Kurosawa is the least Japanese of Japanese directors' trope but that reputation was largely earned for his later career. Imho Kurosawa in the 50's was as Japanese as anyone, and that's especially true with Ikiru, a film that fits perfectly alongside the better contemporary efforts from directors like Kinoshita and Ichikawa.