Movies: Dying traditions

Oshima’s magisterial epic, centering on the ambivalent surviving heir of the Sakurada clan, uses ritual and the microcosm of the traditional family to trace the rise and fall of militaristic Japan across several decades....

In Kabuki style, the film tells the story of a remote mountain village where the scarcity of food leads to a voluntary but socially-enforced policy in which relatives carry 70-year-old family members up Narayama mountain to die. Granny Orin is approa...

Nestled behind high mountains and dark forests lies Triberg, the birthplace of the cuckoo clock. For centuries, this cult item has been handcrafted right here, attracting tourists from all over the world. Ever since the boom of the 1980s has faded, t...