Coming Soon-- Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

This movie may already be showing in the United States, but it's coming to our theater September 19th. It is based on one of Little Brother and Big Sister's favorite books. It will be in 3D.

The top word in red is kumori,"cloud". The word in white is toki doki, "sometimes". Underneath it, the word "meatball" is written in katakana, the script for foreign words.

Check www.kumori-tokidoki.jp

Kids Web Japan-- katakana

Little Brother and I picked up this ad when we went to see Night Museum 2. We enjoyed the movie. It was pretty crowded. It was in English with Japanese subtitles. People laughed a lot especially at the scene with the guard, Brandon, and the scenes with Hank Zakaria.

In Theaters Now

Movie theaters here have pamphlets to advertise movies. This one is for Madagascar 2. It is now showing at Toho cinemas. Check here.

The pamphlet has a recipe and an idea for a cookie that looks like Alex.

Movies! Movies! Movies!

Today, Big Sister and I watched the Academy Awards ceremony. Big Sister was home because her school was having entrance exams for new students.

The young man on this handbill was a presenter at the Academy Awards ceremony. I got this movie handbill when I went to the movies last week. All the flyers for High School Musical 3 were gone. I'll post it if I can get it.

Twilight will be in Japan starting April 4, 2009. The big word under the girl's chin is "twilight" in katakana. Katakana is the script used for foreign words and names. The word under the title is written in kanji. The meaning is "first love".

Kids Web Japan--kanji

Kids Web Japan--katakana

Kids Web Japan--hiragana

This movie is already in theaters. These animated characters have been around a long time. They still star in new movies. The blue character's name is Doraemon. He is a cat robot with super gadgets. He can travel through time. He takes his friends along. The creator's name is Fujiko F. Fujio.

Children's Movies Coming Soon to Tokyo

School is not out yet, but they're advertising summer movies. I picked up these flyers at the theater when I went to see "August Rush". Perhaps you recognize these movies?

For those of you in Japan check the website for Toho Cinema. They have a Mama's Club Theater where moms and their babies and small children will be more comfortable. Most children's movies from outside Japan are dubbed in Japanese.

Made in Japan: Children's Movies Coming This Summer

Gake no ue no ponyo, "Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea", looks like a cute movie about a fish named Ponyo who was riding on a jellyfish when her head got stuck in a jar. A little boy rescued her. Ponyo wants to be human. It was written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki.

I'm sure you recognize this one.

This movie, Ge Ge Ge no Kitarou (long o), is based on a Japanese TV program. It was originally a comic book, Hakaba Kitarō, (Graveyard Kitaro) by Shigeru Mizuki. It is a story with a cast of unusual creatures/characters. Have you heard of it? If not, you probably will again someday! It may show up in a theater near you!

For those of you in Japan check Toho Cinema.

Naruto

Coming August 2. This is a favorite at our house. Too bad we'll be in the States and miss the theater showing. Some things are better on the big screen!!

Road Show: Indiana Jones

When a new movie comes to theaters here, they call it "road show" with Japanese pronunciation. This movie is now showing in theaters in Tokyo. We're planning to go see it. We bought the DVD of the first Indiana Jones movie today. Little Brother and Big Sister haven't seen any of them. The copies of the first movie, "Raiders of the Lost Ark", have been rented out at our local video store for a long time.

We bought the movie at a music store and got this free gift. It is a plastic envelop folder for papers. The picture on the front is from the new movie. The scanner cut off "2008".

Here's the back of the DVD we bought. The front of the DVD is in English. Click to enlarge to see the Japanese. The DVDs that are sold in the U.S. do not work on our players here. We can't buy DVDs in the States and then play them here. I'm not sure why.*

DVDs sold here have both English and Japanese; dubbed or with subtitles. By pushing a button, you make your choice from a menu before you start the movie. It's great for a bilingual family or students of English or Japanese! (Little Brother and Big Sister and Papa prefer to see English movies in English.)

*Vicki, posted this in the comments:

The reason is "region encoding" which allows movie studios to control who gets to see their movies, where and when.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD_region_codes

You can get "region free" DVD players which will allow you to view your American DVDs in Japan.

Going to the Movies

Movie tickets are sold at some convenience stores and department stores. This is what movie tickets look like. As you can see, we went to see Ratatouille or remi no oishii restoran in Japanese (Remy's Delicious Restaurant.) The one on the right was Little Brother's (he's 11). Big Sister is 15 and had to pay adult admission.

When you go to the theater, you still have to stand in line to reserve a seat even if you have bought a ticket. You can choose your seats if you get there early. The white ticket stub is taken from you, and you are given another ticket with your seat number on it. You get to keep the part with the scene from the movie.

Years ago there were fewer theaters than there are now. You had to stand in line for hours. They even sold standing room only tickets. Some people had to stand during the whole movie!