Yoji Yamada, a 91-year-old film director who continues to make films.

Many works such as "It's Tough Being a Man" series and "Yellow Handkerchief of Happiness" have been released to the world.

There was an encounter that could be called the “original experience” of film making.

After the war, after returning to Japan from the former Manchuria (currently northeastern China), he spent his teenage days in Ube City, Yamaguchi Prefecture.

It is said that the woman he met during his difficult life was like a "Madonna".



(Interviewer: Announcer Fumie Ono (Hiroshima Station) Coverage: Announcer Rio Shimada (Yamaguchi Station), Announcer Tomoki Deyama (Hiroshima Station))

Repatriation experience superimposed on paintings

It was mid-January when we interviewed Mr. Yamada.

At Mr. Yamada's request, "There is a picture I really want to see right now," I interviewed him at a facility in Kita Ward, Tokyo.

The painting is this masterpiece, 3 meters high and 20 meters wide.

"1946" depicts the appearance of Japanese withdrawing from former Manchuria after the end of the war.

Hundreds of people who survived the turmoil and arrived at the port are depicted, such as a girl with her hair cut short to protect herself from sexual violence.

The Chinese painter Wang Xiqi, who was shocked by the reality of the repatriation, spent five years from conception to completion.

Mr. Yamada, who learned of the existence of this work, was eager to exhibit it in Tokyo.


Mr. Yamada, who stood in front of this painting for the first time, talked about his impressions.



(Yamada)


You draw each face very well.


It took a week or two from far north in Manchuria, and it was a freight train, mostly.

People who were put in it, fell down and died on the way, or got sick and died, but finally made it.

A place called Koro Island.


I really can't forget.




Mr. Yamada was born in Toyonaka City, Osaka Prefecture in 1931.

When he was two years old, he moved to old Manchuria because his father worked for the South Manchuria Railway, Manchuria.

It is said that the relatively wealthy life continued even during the war.

(Ono)


Mr. Yamada, you went to the continent when you were two years old.


(Yamada)


Yes.

Before and during the war, the Japanese who lived in Manchuria were, so to speak, a colony of Japan, so they had a relatively good life.

At that time, all the Chinese people were poor and poorly dressed. All the passengers are Japanese.

That was the feeling I had in Manchuria.


(Ono)


Did that change completely after the defeat?


(Yamada)


That's right.

That's why when you hear that you've lost the war, that you've lost the war, you suddenly get scared.


(Ono)


How old were you?


(Yamada)


I was in the second year of junior high school.


I heard about it.

The emperor's imperial edict for the defeat.

But I don't know because I hear it on a small radio.

However, when I came back to the classroom, I was told, "Today's work is over. The labor mobilization work is over. Go home."

I asked him why he had to go home so suddenly, and he said he didn't have to come to school for the time being.

That's what it means.


Then I suddenly got scared and decided to hurry home, so I hurriedly put my bag down. Rows of low tiled roof houses, full of flags.

Chinese flag.

That's right, they're standing together.

Hundreds are standing


And now we're kind of dumbfounded, thinking we've lost.


(Ono)


They put up a flag saying "We won!"


(Yamada)


Yes.

Moreover, I'm sure you knew that yesterday or the day before yesterday.

Everyone was ready with flags.

I was horrified, ah, I lost, I thought it was hard.


(Ono)


That scared me.


(Yamada)


In other words, it will be revenge.

Until now, maybe.

It was the Japanese who were unfairly bullied.




After that, my life until I withdrew to Japan was completely different from what I had been living up until then.




(Yamada)


Generally, my income will be completely gone, and I have no choice but to eat and sell.

Japanese people sell their kimonos, overcoats, suits, cameras, radios, etc. on the streets.


(Ono)


Who will buy it?


(Yamada)


People with money in China, or Russian officers.

while doing that.


I don't have any information as to when it will be lifted.

So I have no idea when it will be lifted.

It seems to be the end of the year, no, it seems to be March of next year, that kind of dubious.

Even the Japanese government is confused.


That's why I'm waiting with anxiety, I wonder if I'll be able to withdraw soon.

You will be hungry and you will have nothing to eat.


Occasionally I buy peanuts and my mother distributes them, count them.

to children.

Because if I don't eat peanuts, I'm still not getting enough calories, because I'm so poor.

I eat it as a necessary nutritional supplement, but um, counting the number, that's how precious it is, peanuts.

While thinking like that, I'm waiting for when to withdraw, when to withdraw.


When it finally comes time to leave tomorrow, we've sold most of the furniture and there's nothing left, but we still pack everything we need to bring in our rucksacks.

What should I bring?

When I was in the fourth grade of elementary school, I had two thick books of the complete collection of rakugo that my father bought for me.

This was my treasure.

So, when I put it in my rucksack, my father said, ``Who would take that?

It's heavy.


(Ono)


What did you do when you were told not to buy treasures?


(Yamada)


It can't be helped, so put it in the bookcase.


(Ono)


Did you give up?


(Yamada)


Give up.

There was a time when I was so sad that I cried.

In the difficult life after repatriation

In March 1947, I finally withdrew to Hakata Port, but the hard life continued.

Mr. Yamada's family started living in Ube City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, relying on relatives.

However, his father was unable to find a regular job, and Mr. Yamada earned money for his studies by cleaning up the factory that had been burnt down in the air raids and carrying the waste.

It is said that in the winter, he used to go to Senzaki on the Sea of ​​Japan side of Yamaguchi Prefecture to buy dried fish and other items on a freight train.


While leading such a life, there was an encounter that influenced Yamada's later life.

(Yamada)


When I was in junior high school, I bought chikuwa from a factory on the coast. Why don't you buy it?"

In other words, we sell it wholesale.

Even that kind of thing became a business.


Sometimes I have a lot left over.

When I thought that I was in trouble and thought that it would be a big loss even if I brought this home, I suddenly came up with an idea.


There used to be a station called Nishiube.

There was a racetrack near there.

There are a lot of stalls there, selling things like oden.

I had information that if I went there, they might buy it.

Okay, I thought I'd go there, so I rode my bicycle and entered an oden shop in one of the food stalls.

She was a middle-aged lady.


When I said, "Auntie, I'll give you a cheap chikuwa, can you buy it for me?", she looked at me and I must have looked young too.

He asked me, "Are you a junior high school student?"

"Why are you working?" "No, I'm a repatriate and my father has no income, so I'm working to pay for my school fees."


You say, "Oh, yes. Leave everyone behind."

"Is it okay to leave everyone?" "It's okay, okay."

"Starting tomorrow, if you're left unsold, come over anytime. My aunt will take it over,"


she said.


Say thank you.

On the way home, on my bicycle, I was in tears.


What do you say?

I still vividly remember the kindness of the lady at that time.


That's what human memory is.

That's why I feel like I can't escape from that kind of place.


That's why I sometimes wonder if that's my limit.

But it can't be helped.

It can't be helped even if it's a limit.

Because that's me


That's how I tell myself.

But to me, it's really like Madonna.


I don't remember his face, unfortunately.

I guess I didn't even have time to look at his face.

For me, she really remains in my image as a beautiful, beautiful aunt.

It may not have been a big deal to her, but she gave me a thought that would last my whole life, I wonder what it would be.


That kind of thing is what I got because I was poor and lived poorly as a repatriate, and it's my own history beyond good and bad.


(Ono)


Rather than the limit, it's the starting point...


(Yamada)


Yes.

Well, origin.


No, the limit is the limit.

But I don't think it can be helped anymore.

What Mr. Yamada wanted to draw

In 1950, Mr. Yamada left Ube and went to Tokyo.

He enters a university in Tokyo.

After graduating, I joined a film company and worked as an assistant director while also writing screenplays.

And he makes his directorial debut at the age of 30.



Next, we talked about a facility in Narita City, Chiba Prefecture.

It's Mr. Yamada's favorite place.

Projectors that are no longer used and materials related to movies are collected and preserved.

More than 160 projectors were collected.

Each of these has supported Japanese cinema.

(Ono)


Mr. Yamada, what kind of existence is the projector?


(Yamada)


No matter how hard you try to make a movie, in the end, if the cinematographer is sloppy, for example, if there is a problem with the brightness or a problem with the timing of switching, the whole movie will be ruined. .

So the job of a projectionist is very important to us.

After all, projectionists all have that kind of conscience, and they are our companions as artists.

(Ono)


Mr. Yamada said that the kind woman at the shop who took over all the chikuwa that smelled of ammonia was my "Madonna", and I think that was the starting point. But then, what is it that Mr. Yamada has wanted to draw over the years?


(Yamada)


How should I put it...


I don't really understand the path of the idea when I think about making a movie like this.

It's something that suddenly comes to mind, but there is a person like me who suddenly comes up with it.


How did I develop my sensibilities as a human being? Even if I check things like that myself, it won't do anything. But it was really hard to eat from adolescence to youth.

For me.


Life is equal to why we eat and how we live.

Or maybe it's my limit, and it's also a feature.


Among them, the lady at the oden stand in front of the station in Nishiube said, "If you have leftovers, take them anytime and I'll take them all." I mean, the old woman may have forgotten it, but how much joy and happiness it gave a boy.


To put it in an exaggerated way, the words that the old woman said with a feeling of "Ah, I'm glad I'm alive" are, for me, really living is not such a bad thing. It will be a word that gives a very big courage to a young boy.


No matter what kind of movie I make, I have that kind of feeling at the root.

I mean, it's hard to get away from it, and there's no way I can get away from it.



(Ono)


In Tora-san's movie, Tora-san did something for someone, and that person was very relieved, and Madonna said, "I'm really glad I met Tora-san."


(Yamada)


(laughs)


You say that.


(Ono)


You're saying that right (laughs)


(Yamada)


To put it simply, Tora-san's sense of values.

It's not status, honor, or money.

The biggest purpose of my life is to hear people say, "Thank you. Thanks to you, I've gotten better."

If the person who said that was a beautiful woman, it would be perfect.

But it could be a grandma, a boy, or a girl.


Tora is happy when he says "thank you".

I wonder if that's what it means to be that kind of person.

The important thing is to connect people

(Ono)


Mr. Yamada is often said to be a film director who portrays a family.

What does family mean to you, Mr. Yamada?


(Yamada)


Family.

Well....


In Tora-san's case, I wonder what everyone would say.

Oi-chan is just an uncle, so we are related by blood, but auntie is a stranger.


The president looks like a family member, but he's a complete stranger, and neither the priest of the temple nor any of those people are directly related by blood.

I don't really like the idea that blood ties are more important than anything else.


(Ono)


Why?


(Yamada)


More than that, people should connect with each other, people should love each other, and they should try to get along. Tora-san's family isn't people who come up with ideas for shapes.


Oi-chan, Oba-chan, and Tora-san cause a lot of trouble, and they sometimes cry, but they say, ``He doesn't have a real blood connection with us, so he can't sympathize with Tora that much. I'm not the one who thinks

I think Tora is also part of his family.

Or even President Octopus, who sometimes quarrels and says, "You're a stranger!"


(Ono)


If you don't come back, I'm really worried.


(Yamada)


yes.

That's why I'm very negative about the idea of ​​prioritizing blood ties above all else.

The important thing is to make an effort to live in harmony with each other.

Even if we have a fight, it's important to think about how to recover from it.

That's why I think everyone in Tora-san's family is pretty smart.

Because you can do something like that.


He said that the important thing is that people connect with each other, that they trust each other, and that it is strange to give priority to ethnic groups or blood ties in families. hey.

What to draw in the 90th new work

The latest work, "Hello, Mother", is scheduled to be released in September this year.

This is Yamada's 90th film.

It is said that the story of a family such as a son who has troubles at home and work, and a mother who lively sings about life in downtown Tokyo is said to be drawn.

(Ono)


Why did Mr. Yamada want to draw such a family now?


(Yamada)


It was fun.

I thought that a relationship in which the son worries about his work and the mother freely falls in love is appropriate for the present age.


(Ono)


That's true.


(Yamada)


Various things.

Especially when personnel issues are involved, even employees can get sick.

That's why my son has a lot of hard things.

Moreover, he doesn't get along well with his wife.


(Ono)


(Laughs)


I have conflicts as an office worker.


(Yamada)


Yes, yes, yes.

I don't get along well with my family and wife.

The company is no longer doing well.

Besides, my mother is in love.

what!

It's going to be a ruckus.


(Ono)


In this film, how do you perceive today's society, Mr. Yamada, and how are you trying to project it into the images?


(Yamada)


It's like the anguish of an office worker working at a large company.

The Mukaishima area where we were located this time was a very lively place 50 years ago, and there were many small shops, and everyone used to shop at those shops.

The owners of the stores and the customers are all on good terms with their neighbors. In other words, greengrocers, fishmongers, haberdashery shops, sweets shops, and so on are disappearing from Japan.

So, going to a store and asking, "What kind of fish is good now?" or "How should I cook this fish?" It must have disappeared from the country.

Right now, I am very much wondering if that is what it means to be a happy Japanese.



(Ono)


Mr. Yamada, what does happiness mean to you?


(Yamada)


The word "happiness" is a bit ambiguous. Since when did being able to buy whatever you want, wear luxurious clothes, and live in a luxurious house equal happiness? Although it has become a sense of values, I think we should really question it.


(Ono)


I ask young people how they should live now. So, what do you want to say?


(Yamada)


That's right... I can only say the same thing as Tora-san.


In other words, as long as you're alive, if you manage to survive, there will be moments when you think, "Oh, I'm glad I'm alive."

That's what happiness is.

Ah, right now, it may be a very short moment, but I think that happiness is to experience that joy several times. hey.

(Ono)


Mr. Yamada, what do you think movies can do?

The power of movies.


(Yamada)


Jukichi Uno, a master of the new theater, once told me this story.


In 1941, the Pacific War was about to start, and he said, "I thought I was going to die."

I could no longer do any plays, the theater company was disbanded, I was sure that soon I would be taken over by the soldiers, and that I would die somewhere on the battlefield.

very hopeless.

At that time, all young men with hearts were desperate, but he wanted to die.

But he said he wanted to see one movie before he died.


When I went out to the city of Shibuya and looked around, I saw a movie by Frank Capra called "Going to Smith City".

It was the last American movie shown in Japan.

American movies are actually banned because the war starts in December.


Thinking that this was the last American movie, he went inside and watched that movie.

It's a very good movie.

When I finished watching it, I thought I should stop dying and live a little longer.

Because he thought of suicide.


"Yamada-kun, movies have the power to revive people who thought they were going to die," he wanted to tell me.

"That's why I have to make it seriously," he said.


I think it would be great if you could make a movie like that.

It's like having the audience feel that being alive is a good thing.

There are many movies.

That includes everything from sad love stories to silly comedies, and I want to create something of the highest quality.



(Ono)


Do you want to make more?


(Yamada)


There are physical limits.

It's getting harder and harder to wake up in the morning, and I'm sure I'll be like that someday.

But there are so many movies I want to make.

Slapstick, nonsense and big comedy if you can.


(Ono)


Next, do you want to create slapstick, nonsense, and great comedy?


(Yamada)


It's difficult, but.

No one can do that.


(Ono)


Is that so?


(Yamada)


The audience really laughed.

Say, "Stop it, stop it."


(Ono)


The skin on my stomach is twisted.


(Yamada)


Oh yeah, I wish there was a movie where you can't hear the lines.

It would be a dream if I could do that.

I want to see it too


(Ono)


Mr. Yamada, then, are you still aiming for that?


(Yamada)


It's my dream.

It's an unfulfilled dream.



"Interview with Film Director Yoji Yamada"


Missed delivery on NHK Plus until the morning of February 18, 2023