Taiwanese film director set to shoot "KANO" about 1931 Koshien baseball finals

[torasan]

Movie over "Field of Dreams", Here Comes Taiwan's Magical and Heroic Baseball Movie [set for location shooting in Taiwan in September 2012
for 2013 release date in Japan and Taipei]

http://plogspot101.blogspot.tw/2011/12/movie-over-field-of-dreams-here-comes.html


webposted by a 'KANO 1931 Fan''


A Taiwanese film director , 40-something Wei Te-sheng, is producing a film about baseball, and it will focus on a time in Taiwan and Japan history, in 1931, when Taiwan was an economic and military colony of Imperial Japan, which ruled the island south of Okinawa from 1895-1945 and helped introduce baseball to young talents islandwide. The director is Umin Boya, an Aboriginal actor and TV star.


Wei's plan for the baseball movie -- set in 1931 in Taiwan and Japan -- CUE THE MUSIC, CUE THE COSTUMES -- is to tell the story of a young but mighty baseball team
from Japan Imperial Brainwashed Colony Taiwan that was invited to play in the annual summer baseball tournament for high school kids in KOSHIEN in Imperial war-hungry imperialistic Japan.

And since Taiwan was then a part of Imperial Japan, with people forced to take Japanese names and speak Japanese in school, and bow to the Emperor in Japan and all that imperial brainwashing bullshit, the Chiayi Norin Gakko team consisting of Japanese boys, Han Chinese boys (Formosans) and Aboriginal boys, took a boat to Japan -- there were no 747s in those days -- and played in the popular Koshien baseball tournament.

And miraculously, the teenage ''rednecks'' from Taiwan fooled all the experts and came second in the final tally. Second! This was so magical and amazing for the people in Taiwan that the game became a part of island lore.

So Wei, after making "Cape No. 7" and "Seediq Bale" -- both top-grossing films with Asia-wide audiences in love with his work -- is developing his baseball movie idea into a full-fledged production, with local actors from Taiwan and Japan starring in it. The release date? Nobody knows for sure when the movie will finsh shooting and editing, but expect to appear in theaters in 2013 Decemeber
in time for Taiwan's New Years/Christmas vacation movie box office rush!

Since 1931, Chiayi City -- where this blogger just happens to live! -- has long been a stronghold of Taiwan baseball since the Japanese-rule period of 1895-1945. Chiayi's ''Kano'' baseball team
''miraculously'' won second place at the Japan national high school
tournament in 1931 in the legendary Koshien Stadium in Kobe where more
than 600 high schools ''around Japan'' competed. And since Taiwan was
then part of Japan, the Chiayi multi-ethnic team of Taiwanese, Japanese and Aborigne teenagers competed and came in second place.

Kano is the nickname of "Kagi Norin Gakko" == KANO == in Japanese, using the first two letters of KAGI and the first two letters of NORIN, and in Japanese the school name means Chiayi Agricultural School, or the Chiayi Aggies. KANO was the shorthand in nihongo in those days. Today the school is now National Chiayi University is a full-fledged university with schools of business, liberal arts, animal science, agriculture and music.



So expect a powerful and moving baseball drama, pitting the Taiwanese and Aborigine and Japanese island
boys agauinst the mainland Japanese boys, playing ball on a hot summer day in Kobe,
Japan, and mix in a drama involving the coaches, the teachers, the fans, and
probably a girlfriend or two! This could be Wei's and Boya's ''next big thing'' -- get ready!

Producer Wei and Director Umin Boya like challenges and they loves history and they loves Taiwan, so get
ready for the baseball movie of your life, if you like baseball. Even if you don't care
for the game, the backstory of the movie will knock your baseball socks off!

NOTE:



Dear Mr Blogger,


Generally, the new film is about Koshien Japan National High School Baseball Championship ( kōkō yakyū). Before World War II, Taiwan and Korea were all part of the Japanese Empire at the time. National Chiayi University, formerly named Chiayi Agriculture and Forestry School (CAFS, a alumni baseball OB team of 42 to Japan. )which in representative of Taiwan won the first mastery prize at the annual final game in 1931.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_school_baseball_in_Japan
if you need more information about Umin or Mr. Wei,
please let us know(via Umin's FB).Thanks a lot.