An actor, a barn, and Jesus walk into postwar Japan — no punchline, just poetry.
A 2001 Japanese language film directed by Shinji Aoyama, starring Hidetoshi Nishijima. The film screened at Locarno International Film Festival in 2009. Directed by Shinji Aoyama, this installment of NHK’s "Recitation Travelogue" series features actor Hidetoshi Nishijima performing Jun Ishikawa’s postwar classic "Jesus in the Barn". Blending literature, performance, and cinema, the program reimagines Ishikawa’s demanding text through evocative modern landscapes.
Acting
Nishijima's voice becomes the landscape itself.
Direction
Aoyama turns recitation into visual architecture.
Cinematography
Modern Japan haunts Ishikawa's wartime prose.
Director
Shinji Aoyama
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Jun Ishikawa's 1947 novella was controversial for its unflinching portrayal of Japanese wartime guilt and Christian symbolism in a devastated nation.
The NHK 'Recitation Travelogue' series deliberately pairs actors with challenging texts in unexpected locations, treating literature as living, breathing cinema.
No ratings yet
Sign in to join the discussion — comments are spoiler-gated to your watch progress.
Discussion starters
JP
