Kill Bill (the first movie) by Quentin Tarrantino has a wonderful duel in a snowy garden. The garden is meant to be in a Tokyo restaurant but was actually created on a soundstage in China. It's beautifully shot and the duel has many long static sequences. Very violent movie and the duel ends with that most Japanese of cinema conventions; final words uttered by a decapitated head!

yes, great film. may fav Tarrantino movie. I watched that sequence frame by frame.

Hi
try to find near by Japanese consulate . some Japanese consulate has a small liburaly , you can borrow books or vidio. when you contact japanese consulate ask JETRO phone number aslo. JETRO has wealth of information about Japan.
JETRO= Japan external trade organization.
you can get most information about Japan from Jetro. most time, you can get more informations than Japanese consulate.
your area's Japan american soceity, Japan soeity is aslo good place to ask .

if you can get contact to chamber of commerce of Kyoto, tourlist bureau of kyoto city may have information.
JETRO or Japanese consulate should have those information.
atlanta area JETro phone # 404 - 681- 0600 fax 404 - 681- 0713 . This is a good place to start serch.

good luck ...................... mike y

Never made it to the garden scene in Kill Bill. No doubt, the ceaselessly violent nature of the movie would have overshadowed any beauty to be found in the setting.

The Smithsonian Institution made a wonderful documentary about Japanese gardens entitled "Dream Window: Reflections on the Japanese Garden". It features the gardens of Saiho-ji, Shugaku-in, Katsura Villa, Tenryu-ji, and Sogetsu Hall among others, along with excellent commentary by a diverse group of Japanese artists. If you cant find it at your library, you can request that they purchase it. It is certainly a worthwhile purchase for anyone interested in JGs.

If I remember correctly, the movie "Lost in Translation" has a couple of garden scenes in it as well.

-christian

Here is a link that might be useful: Dream Window

I felt ÂThe Last Samurai had a lot of very nice scenes in it.

"Sanjuro" by Akira Kurasawa is in b/w but has some beautiful courtyard style gardens to pause the DVD to.

hi
The video christian mentioned is very good one. I enjoy it.
it is much defferent than movie. It is good investment to enjoy your life. .................. yama

I will look into JETRO, havent thought of contacting japanese society of kansas city.

Smithsonian Institution documentary is exactly what I was hoping find. definatly will look into ordering that. Lost in translation had a quick scene of I believe a wedding ceromony but not any really good shots of the garden.

Big fan of Kurosawa films, but I have not seen Sanjuro yet. put that on my next to rent list.

oh, and last samurai had some beautiful cinematography, too bad it lacked as a good story IMO. In one of the houses they had this cool weaved rope curtain Ive been wanting to recreate.

thanks for the recommendations everyone!

Hi
I know someonewho watchted "Last samurai" twice and had tear in eye . I won't tell who she is /hehehehe. I know she is reading this post.
JETRO is very help full place when you want to know about any information about Japan. ....... yama

If anyone finds a source where the film "Dream Window: Reflections on the Japanese Garden" is actually available would you be so kind as to post it here.
Thank You!
Greg

Hi christian

Do you know how to get it ? /how did you get yours ?

David : if you see this posing , will you tell how to get Japanese garden video you have ? yama

Hey Yama-san,

I was fortunate to discover the video at my library while searching for JG related books. Most people dont know, but you can request that your library purchase specific books or videos, and they will generally do it if they deem it educational or popular enough. My library ordered 'Japanese Touch for your Garden' at my request.

It appears that Smithsonian Productions is no longer active, but i did find an order form for the video on thier website. The only problem is that there is no address to send it to. Im sure if you contacted them by telephone, someone could direct you to a source for the video.

Smithsonian Productions

The Picture Palace is the only other place that i could find selling the video. They look to be a reputable dealer and have a secure ordering form, but i have never done business with them.

Here is a link that might be useful: Picture Palace

Thank you Christian
Greg, Micheal, and thisanthrope : now you can get at least one video of Japanese garden.
thisanthrope :
if you come up something from Jetoro information, Please inform to others.
christian. you did great work ! Thank you for your time and effort................ yama

I tried to order the film from Picture Palace and received an email back stating they no longer carried the film. Anyone know of other sites?

Greg

I called around and found that the video has been discontinued. You may have luck finding it at a discontinued/hard-to-find video supplier. Also check your library. Sorry for being a tease.

-christian

Hi thisanthrope
I found email address of city of kyoto tourist industry.
tokura@city.kyoto.jp
Mr tokura (miss ? mrs?) can help you .
let's me know if you get respond from kyoto city............ mike

Hi all
Please try to contact to City of Kyoto.

City of Kyoto industry and tourrisim
Teramachi Oike, Nakagyoku. Kyoto. Japan 604-8571
E mail tokura@city.kyto.jp ........ (Ms tokura)
Tel 01181- 75- 222-4133
fax 01181 75-213-2022

Thanks for contact information Yama-san. I have sent an email to Ms Tokura seeking information regarding films, documentories and general information regarding Japanese Gardens. I will let everyone know when I receive a reply.

Greg

Hi greg

:):):)))))))) king of 21 hell

yes, thank you mike. I will try the email first, I think the phone call could be expensive.

I have also talked to someone at the smithsonian through the contact # of the store website and they could not pull up any info on the "Dream Window: Reflections on the Japanese Garden". been out of stock for too long.

The most inspirational Japanese garden in our area is the giant walk through display at Mo. Botanical in St. Louis. (Shaw Gardens.) It is worth the 4 hr. drive, or at least a visit to the website. The garden itself is quite old, so the plants are extremely established and natural in form. It will show you specifically what grows well in our climate, as movies can show beautiful plants that will not tolerate our climate.

Oooh, Kurasawa! That got my interest.

While "Ran" was good, I love "Dreams"; a little short on dialogue, but the visuals are stunning, especially the Cherry Blossom sequence (see I finally got to a J-garden related topic...)

Not up there with Kurasawa but as I recall the "ahem" Karate Kid had a couple of nice garden scenes.....I echo the comments of The Last Samurai as well, nice photography.