Follow-up: Takashi Shimizu et al.'s DARK TALES OF JAPAN

Yesterday, it was reported here on ScreenAnarchy that according to an article on another website, Anchor Bay Entertainment UK Ltd. is launching a new label, Anchor Bay Dark Asia, and that one of the titles confirmed for release under that label is, to quote from that article, "Dark Tales of Japan, a collection of six short horrors from the cream of Japanese terror directors including Hideo Nakata (Ring), Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Cure, Kairo) and Takashi Shimizu (The Grudge)." I believe that the work in question is, in fact, the TV movie Suiyô puremia: sekai saikyô J horâ SP Nihon no kowai yoru, which is comprised of an introduction and five episodes, one of which was directed by Shimizu (although none of them was directed by Nakata or Kurosawa - see below). Incidentally, while on the subject of Shimizu and TV movies, it's perhaps worth noting that neither his 2000 movie Ju-on (a.k.a. "Ju-on: The Curse") nor his 2000 movie Ju-on 2 (a.k.a. "Ju-on: The Curse 2") was a TV one, as has often been claimed; the former was a direct-to-video release, and the latter was a limited-tariff theatrical one (it premièred - on Saturday March 25, 2000 - at Box Higashi-Nakano, where it played for seven consecutive nights).

There's a trailer for Suiyô puremia: sekai saikyô J horâ SP Nihon no kowai yoru here on the page for the movie on the website of international sales agent Horizon Entertainment Ltd.. The trailer's onscreen Japanese title transliterates into roman script as "Nihon no kowai yoru" (see below); its onscreen English (sub)title is "Dark Tales of Japan".

Suiyô puremia: sekai saikyô J horâ SP Nihon no kowai yoru was a production of TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting System K.K. / K.K. Tôkyô Hôsô) and Takashige 'Taka' Ichise's Oz K.K. (K.K. Ozu), with the assistance of @Movie Japan K.K. (AttoMûbî Japan K.K.); Ichise was its producer. It premièred on the TBS show Suiyô puremia (translation: "Wednesday Première") on (Wednesday) September 22nd of last year. It was released on VHS (GNVS-1062) and DVD (GNBD-1058) by Geneon Entertainment K.K. (Jeneon Entateinmento K.K.) on April 1st of this year, under the titles "Nihon no kowai yoru" and "Nihon no kowai yoru: tokubetsu-ban" ("tokubetsu-ban" = special edition), respectively.

Here's a breakdown of the introduction and five episodes which comprise Suiyô puremia: sekai saikyô J horâ SP Nihon no kowai yoru; the Dark Tales of Japan episode titles and order are indicated in parenthesis:

Intorodakushon: "Kowai hanashi, kikitai desu ka?": directed by Yoshihiro Nakamura; teleplay by Yoshihiro Nakamura and Katsuhide Suzuki; starring Kayoko Shiraishi.

Episôdo 1: "Yokan" (Episode 5: "Presentiment"): directed by Masayuki Ochiai; teleplay by Masayuki Ochiai and Toshiya Ôno; starring Teruyuki Kagawa and Hijiri Kojima.

Episôdo 2: "Sukima" (Episode 2: "Crevices"): directed by Norio Tsuruta; teleplay by Naoya Takayama; starring Shunsuke Nakamura, Shigenori Yamazaki, and Kyûsaku Shimada.

Episôdo 3: "Kinpatsu kaidan" (Episode 4: "Blonde Kwaidan"): directed by Takashi Shimizu; teleplay by Takashi Shimizu; starring Tetta Sugimoto.

Episôdo 4: "Kumo-onna" (Episode 1: "The Spiderwoman"): directed by Yoshihiro Nakamura; teleplay by Yoshihiro Nakamura; starring Shôzô Endô, Yoshinori Okada, Miyako Yamaguchi, Yôko Maki, Anri Sugihara, and Kanako Fukaura.

Episôdo 5: "Ônamakubi" (Episode 3: "The Sacrifice Episode"): directed by Kôji Shiraishi; teleplay by Kôji Shiraishi and Naoyuki Yokota; starring Yû Yamada, Moro Morooka, and Megumi Asaoka.

BTW, the official website for Kôji Shiraishi's Noroi is now online here. Noroi, too, was produced by Takashige Ichise. Xanadeux K.K. (K.K. Zanadû) is scheduled to release it theatrically in Japan on August 20th.