China and Japan in a culture clash
(Houston Chronicle )
Updated: 2005-12-02 15:08

Relations between China and Japan, the two powerhouses of East Asia, are at a low ebb. Despite deepening economic ties with Japan, China still harbors bitter feelings toward Japan dating to the period before and during World War II, when Japan invaded large parts of China and dealt brutally with the Chinese people.

The film, which will be released Dec. 9 in the United States (Dec. 23 in Houston), is an international production. Its American director, Rob Marshall, is known for the 2002 Oscar-winning movie Chicago. In addition to Zhang Ziyi, the movie stars Japanese actor Ken Watanabe (The Last Samurai), Chinese actress Gong Li and Malaysian martial-arts star Michelle Yeoh, an ethnic Chinese who's playing the role of mentor to the movie's protagonist.

"It's a bit awkward that the main character, Sayuri, isn't played by a Japanese actress when the movie primarily focuses on Japanese culture," a woman who identified herself only as Kai told Japan Today Online.

"I think Hollywood people don't care whether they (the actresses) are Japanese or Chinese," said Chiaki Miyazaki, a 46-year-old Kyoto native who's a music producer. "When I was in the United States, American people thought Japanese, Chinese and Korean are all the same."

One of China's best-known film directors, Chen Kaige, who did the 1993 Farewell, My Concubine, questioned in a speech in the Japanese city of Kobe Nov. 9 why Japanese actresses weren't found for the leading roles.

"I just don't understand why," Chen said. "Geisha is a centuries-old Japanese tradition and cannot possibly be portrayed by Chinese actresses. The geisha have a sophisticated way of walking, holding a fan, smiling and looking at people."

Many modern Japanese women hardly know how to wear kimonos or walk in traditional wooden sandals, said Tsukiko Doi, a restaurant owner in Kyoto.

The release of the movie in China has been postponed to at least Feb. 10 because censors are haggling with producers about whether a sex scene can be cut in length, China Radio International reported this week.