Category: First Impressions
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๐RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Clickย HERE to readย all entries inย Chaย onย Mending Bodies. Hon Lai Chu (author), Jacqueline Leung (translator), Mending Bodies, Two Lines Press, 2025. 240 pgs. For those who haven’t read the original Chinese…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] โMagical Realism or Political Prophecy? Hon Lai Chuโsย ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ต๐๐๐๐๐ ย Reexaminedโ by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/hon-lai-chu-author-jacqueline-leung-translator-mending-bodies-two-lines-press-2025.-240-pgs.jpg?w=938)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Tรฉa Sernelj, The Confucian Revival in Taiwan: Xu Fuguan and His Theory of Chinese Aesthetics, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2021. 280 pgs. In The Confucian Revival in Taiwan: Xu…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] โBroad and Balanced: Tรฉa Serneljโs ๐โ๐ ๐ถ๐๐๐๐ข๐๐๐๐ ๐
๐๐ฃ๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ค๐๐โ by Hantian Zhang](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/tea-sernelj-the-confucian-revival-in-taiwan-xu-fuguan-and-his-theory-of-chinese-aesthetics-cambridge-scholars-publishing.png?w=1024)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Philip Yung (director), Papa, 2024. 131 min. Prologue: Watching Hong Kong films overseas is a transposing experience. When I leave a cinema in Toronto after watching a…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] โ๐๐๐๐: Time to Forgiveโ by Tin Yuet Tam](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/philip-yung-director-papa-2024.-131-min-1.jpg?w=923)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Shinya Tsukamoto ๅกๆฌๆไน, Tetsuo: The Iron Man ้็ท, 1989. 67 min. I leave the factory. Pass through a haze of cigarette smoke. Walk to the car. Slide…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] โViewing ๐๐๐ก๐ ๐ข๐: ๐โ๐ ๐ผ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ in an Old Pajama Factory in a Small Town Americaโ by Kristen Cantor](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/shinya-tsukamoto-tetsuo-the-iron-man-e98984e794b7.jpg?w=600)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Donald Keene, The First Modern Japanese: The Life of Ishikawa Takuboku, Columbia University Press, 2016. 288 pgs. At the age of fifteen, I first encountered the Chinese translation of…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] โA Poetโs Most Unvarnished Desires and Defeats: Donald Keeneโs ๐โ๐ ๐น๐๐๐ ๐ก ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฝ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐โ by Jiahe Chen](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/the-first-modern-japanese-the-life-of-ishikawa-takuboku-2.jpg?w=1000)
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๐ย RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Quan Manh Ha and Cab Tran (editors), The Colors of April: Fiction on the Vietnam Warโs Legacy 50 Years Later, Three Room Press, 2025. 306 pgs. The Colors of…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] โAn Empathetic Communion with the Pastโ๐โ๐ ๐ถ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ด๐๐๐๐: ๐น๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ ๐๐๐โ๐ ๐ฟ๐๐๐๐๐ฆ 50 ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฟ๐๐ก๐๐โ by Aaron Gerhart](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/the-colors-of-april-fiction-on-the-vietnam-wars-legacy-50-years-later--1.jpg?w=1000)
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๐ย RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ย RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Naomi Kawase, True Mothers, 2020. 140 min. Are human faces a resource? Are they a commodity? Can they be picked like grapes and harvested like grain? Can they be…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “The Face Of Integrity In Naomi Kawase’s ๐๐๐ข๐ ๐๐๐กโ๐๐๐ ” by Anders Kรธlle](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/true-mothers.jpg?w=708)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Susan Barker, Old Soul, Penguin, 2025. 352 pgs. In 2014, Susan Barker published The Incarnations, which The Independent described as โChinaโs Midnightโs Children.โ Like her previous two novels, it…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] โSusan Barkerโs ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ข๐: A Globetrotting Horror with an Asian Sense of Eternityโ by Kevin McGeary](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/old-soul-susan-barker.jpg?w=975)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Yuta Takahashi (author), Cat Anderson (translator), The Chibineko Kitchen, John Murray, 2024. 192 pgs. The Japanese iyashikeiโor healingโgenre has resonated deeply with readers worldwide, offering solace and comfort through…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Dining with the Departed: Yuta Takahashiโs ๐โ๐ ๐ถโ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐พ๐๐ก๐โ๐๐” by Aditi Yadav](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/the-chibineko-kitchen-john-murray-1.jpg?w=651)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Petersen Vargas (Director), Un/Happy for You, 2024. 110 min. If there is one recent romantic drama that has left an everlasting mark on me, it is Un/Happy for You,…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Love and Loss in Petersen Vargas’s ๐๐/๐ป๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ข” by Jhon Steven C. Espenido](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/petersen-vargas-director-unhappy-for-you-1.png?w=841)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Chie Hayakawa (director), Plan 75, 2022. 112 min. Perhaps storytelling is an indispensable part of being human? Perhaps we all need to tell ourselvesโand each otherโcertain stories to get…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “The Stories We Live By: Narrative, Meaning, and Existential Emptiness in Chie Hayakawa’s ๐๐๐๐ 75” by Anders Kรธlle](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/chie-hayakawa-plan-75.png?w=1024)
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๐ย RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ย RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS in.light.of.livingโSik.Faan (author), jck (illustrator), and daanngaazai (calligrapher), Pattern, Language, SettingโA Glossary of City Spaces in Hong Kong, Enlighten & Fish, 2021. 240 pgs. Pattern, Language, SettingโA Glossary of City…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “The Importance of Nomenclature in ๐๐๐ก๐ก๐๐๐, ๐ฟ๐๐๐๐ข๐๐๐, ๐๐๐ก๐ก๐๐๐โ๐ด ๐บ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐ ๐ถ๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ป๐๐๐ ๐พ๐๐๐” By Vanessa Winghei Yeung](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/in.light_.of_.livinge28094sik.faan-author-jck-illustrator-and-daanngaazai-calligrapher-pattern-language-setting-e28093-a-glossary-of-city-spaces-in-hong-kong.jpeg?w=1024)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS ๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Kลki Mitani (director), Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald, 1997. 103 min. Kลki Mitani has a particular knack for satirising the Japanese inclination to avoid confrontation. As the screenwriter…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] โJapanese Comedy Cinema at Its Finest: Kลki Mitaniโs ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ต๐๐๐, ๐๐. ๐๐๐ท๐๐๐๐๐โ by Jeremiah Dutch](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/mv5bodhimtlimzmtodk0my00ogjklwjjmwytythlyta3mzllzjq1xkeyxkfqcgc40._v1_.jpg?w=853)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Clickย HERE to readย all entries inย Chaย onย If I Do Not Reply. Tammy Lai-Ming Ho, If I Do Not Reply, Shearsman Books, 2024. 110 pgs. Tammy Lai-Ming Ho in Chicago, November 2024…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “The Art of Waking Up Words: Tammy Lai-Ming Ho’s ๐ผ๐ ๐ผ ๐ท๐ ๐๐๐ก ๐
๐๐๐๐ฆ” by Anders Kรธlle](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/if-i-do-not-reply_tammy-ho-1.jpg?w=907)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Marcus Fedder, My Shanghai Neighbours, Black Spring Press, 2023. 130 pgs. Having spent four years living in a Shanghai lane between 2012 and 2016 (when I left China), I…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] โResurrecting Longtang Memories: Marcus Fedderโs ๐๐ฆ ๐โ๐๐๐โ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐โ๐๐๐ข๐๐ โ by S.C. Gordon](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/my-shanghai-neighbours-1.jpg?w=985)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Umi Ishihara (director), Gravity and Radiance, 2021. 30 min. Images featured in this piece courtesy of the director. Gravity and Radiance, a 2021 experimental documentary by the London-based Japanese…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Transcendence and RedemptionโUmi Ishiharaโs ๐บ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐๐๐ ๐
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐” by Marsha McDonald](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/gravity-and-radiance-3.png?w=1024)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Rory B. Quintos (director), Anak, 2000. 135 min. Where would we be without our mothers? Watching Anak, one is immediately drawn into its poignant narrative, centred on the life…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “The Cost of Love and Sacrifice in Rory B. Quintosโs ๐ด๐๐๐” by Jhon Steven C. Espenido](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/the-child.webp?w=800)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on In the Mood for Love. Wong Kar-wai (director), In the Mood for Love, 2000. 98 min. I have been haunted by the same film for twenty-five…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “The Ghosts of Wong Kar-wai: On ๐ผ๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ฟ๐๐ฃ๐” by Anders Kรธlle](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/in-the-mood-for-love-wong-kar-wai-2020-4k-red-ds-os-195-_blur.webp?w=1024)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Jiaming Tang, Cinema Love, John Murray, 2024. 304 pgs. Cinema Love is the impressive debut novel by Chinese-American writer Jiaming Tang. The bookโs blurb and the opening chapters may…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] โGut-punching Melodrama: Jiaming Tangโs ๐ถ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฟ๐๐ฃ๐โ by Hongwei Bao](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/jiaming-tang-cinema-love-john-murray.jpg?w=975)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Clickย HERE to readย all entries inย Chaย onย Mina’s Matchbox. Yลko Ogawa (author), Stephen B. Snyder (translator), Minaโs Matchbox, Pantheon Books, 2024. 288 pages. In Yลko Ogawaโs previous novel, The Memory Police, set…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] โMemory-keeping: Yลko Ogawaโs ๐๐๐๐โ๐ ๐๐๐ก๐โ๐๐๐ฅโ by Jennifer Eagleton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/819ycgclrml._sl1500_.jpg?w=940)
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๐RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Wong Siu-pong (director), Obedience, 2024. 71 min. Although Wong Siu-pongโs latest observational documentary, Obedience, does not actively stir emotions in its audiences, it is laden with unspoken weight. Featuring…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] โA Placeโs Sorrowful Tomorrow: Wong Siu-pongโs ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐โ by Vanessa Winghei Yeung](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/obedience_wong.jpg?w=1024)
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๐RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Jose Lorenzo โPepeโ Diokno, Isang Himala, 2024. 145 min. Isang Himala (A Miracle), directed by Jose Lorenzo โPepeโ Diokno, is an adaptation on three levelsโof the screenplay by National…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] โThe Miracle of Adaptation in Pepe Dioknoโs ๐ผ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ป๐๐๐๐๐โ by Richell Isaiah Flores](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/jose-lorenzo-pepe-diokno-isang-himala-2024_2-2.jpg?w=1024)
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๐RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Stuart Heisler (director), Tokyo Joe, 1949. 89 min. Of all the gin joints in all the world, Humphrey Bogart had to walk into yet another one. Swap North Africa…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] โPlay it againโฆ Ito?: Stuart Heislerโs ๐๐๐๐ฆ๐ ๐ฝ๐๐โ by Jeremiah Dutch](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/tokyo-joe-old-japan-hollywood-movie-humphrey-bogart-film-shibuya-tokyo-japanese-history-9.webp?w=1024)
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๐RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Izumi Kyลka (author), Charles Shirล Inouye (translator and author of introduction and afterword), Japanese Gothic Tales, University of Hawaiโi Press, 1996. 202 pgs. Japan Gothic Tales comprises four short…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS]โThe Haunting World of Random Encounters in Izumi Kyลkaโs ๐ฝ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐บ๐๐กโ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ โ by Vanessa Winghei Yeung](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/japanese-gothic-tales-1.png?w=1024)
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๐RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Kogonada (director), Columbus, 2017. 100 min. Thereโs a profound sense of openness in Kogonadaโs Columbus (2017). The film invites us to step into its scenes, transforming them into spaces…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] โBeyond the Physicality of Places: Kogonadaโs ๐ถ๐๐๐ข๐๐๐ข๐ โ by V Clark](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/columbus-1.jpg?w=736)
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๐RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS John Wells (director), August: Osage County, 2013. 116 min. As Christmas draws near in the West, the East prepares for the arrival of Lunar New Year. To those unfamiliar…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Hereโs To Family Drama, In All Its Universalityโ๐ด๐ข๐๐ข๐ ๐ก: ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ถ๐๐ข๐๐ก๐ฆ” by Hai-Mo Hu](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/1.august-osagecountyensemblecastpic.jpg?w=1024)
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๐RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Yan Lianke (author), Carlos Rojas (translator), Sound and Silence: My Experience with China and Literature, Duke University Press, 2024. 192 pgs. In late April 2024, Literary Hub released an…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Yan Lianke: The Reader Comes First” by A. B. Freeman](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/feb5978a-5dfd-11ea-be3e-43af5536d789_image_hires_104029.jpeg?w=1024)
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๐RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Clickย HERE to readย all entriesย in Cha on The Life of Tu Fu. Eliot Weinberger, The Life of Tu Fu, New Directions, 2024. 64 pgs. A flying goose dropping out of…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “A Fictional Autobiography: Eliot Weinberger’s ๐โ๐ ๐ฟ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ข ๐น๐ข” by Juan Josรฉ Morales](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/screenshot-2024-11-29-at-17.39.54.png?w=1024)
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๐RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Sanaka Hiiragi (author), Jesse Kirkwood (translator), The Lantern of Lost Memories, Picador, 2024. 224 pgs. What if, when you die, someone greets you with drinks and snacks, briefing you…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] โBetween the Living and the Dead: Sanaka Hiiragiโs ๐โ๐ ๐ฟ๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐ก ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ โ by Aditi Yadav](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/sanaka-hiiragi.png?w=1024)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on All We Imagine as Light. Payal Kapadia (director), All We Imagine as Light, 2024. 118 min. Payal Kapadiaโs debut feature All We Imagine as Light is…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “A Poetic, Nocturnal Film: Payal Kapadia’s ๐ด๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ผ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฟ๐๐โ๐ก” by Oliver Farry](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/all-we-imagine-as-light.png?w=1024)
Cha 