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Haunting 'Land of Hope' partly shot on location in Fukushima

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© 2012 AFP

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A tough situation, exaserbated by a do-nothing Govt/Tepco collusion.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Land of no hope actually. Hope disappeared through the ongoing lies. I read today of increased thyroid cancer in children in Fukushima where it's 'safe'...apparently.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

“Japanese peasants are shy, but they opened up to me.........

There are no peasants in Japan......

Yeah...this phrase kind of rubbed me the wrong way too. Sounds like he's looking down his nose at these people. But of course the translation could be suspect.

S

6 ( +6 / -0 )

zichi - some of the inaka field working people could be classified as modern peasants (the same way as fisherman still stay fisherman). I am sure the author meant no disrespect for the people that grow our food...

1 ( +1 / -0 )

The government has given up on these people, nothing has changed since they were put into temp housing.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Has to be a glitch in the translation. However, we are all peasants, in a way. Breathing the same air, eating the food with dubious testing and sourcing. The rest of the kit and kaboodle no one escape from here.

Hope the movie is successful and subtitled.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Can't stand this guy's films, and his comment about peasants just sums him up. I watched a 'making of' featurette on one of his films and he basically bullied the lead actress. No respect for him at all I'm afraid.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

i can see where the resentment comes from i dont know how the word got to be an insult, probably trickled down from noble circles a long time ago. It comes in fact from french paysan, thats like people of the country or people of the land, it doesnt mean 'stupid' at all, only if you choose to use it as an insult. A lot of words who can have more than one meaning like that i think

0 ( +0 / -0 )

When uncertain about the nuances of English meaning, the ultimate authority is the Oxford dictionary. According to Oxford peasant means 1. (esp. formerly or in poorer countries) a member of a class of farm labourers or small farmers dependent on subsistence farming 2. derogatory an ignorant, stupid or unsophisticated person.

So it's a bit old fashioned and not strictly untrue to speak of the persons depicted by the film as peasants. It is also not necessarily derogatory.

@ mrmalice: A word becomes derogatory (or to mean something other than its original use) by its alternate usage. When a term has appeared in text often enough, the good gate-keepers at Oxford allow it into the dictionary with that definition. An example in point: enormity means monstrous or extreme wickedness. The dictionary has a note about its "incorrect" use to reference size or scale even though that usage has been documented since the 1700s. They take their time at Oxford. Other dictionaries of English have their own standards & methods.

And if Thunderbird2 knows something about the filmmaker's attitude that we don't, he may well have meant it as an insult. Then again, he may have thought farmer and peasant to be interchangeable synonyms. I cannot speak for what is in Sion Sono's mind or heart.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

And if Thunderbird2 knows something about the filmmaker's attitude that we don't, he may well have meant it as an insult. Then again, he may have thought farmer and peasant to be interchangeable synonyms. I cannot speak for what is in Sion Sono's mind or heart.

All I was saying is that from what I saw of him in the 'Making of' extra on the "Love Exposure" DVD he comes across as an arrogant, bullying git... so if he meant 'peasants' in a pejorative sense it wouldn't surprise me. I mean he reduced the lead actress to tears by telling her she was a terrible actress... and this was on camera. I can only judge him by what I have seen.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I think Ranger's correct. Peasants are people who work other people's land submit part of their crops to the landlord as rent, or conversely get to keep part of their crops as payment. Farmers are usually called 農家 in Japanese and peasants are 農民. Peasantry in Japan was essentially extinguished by the US Occupation land reforms.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

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