Japan has one of the oldest and largest film industries in the world. Films have been produced in Japan since 1897, when the first foreign cameramen arrived; in 2011, Japan produced 411 feature films which earned 54.9% of a total box office of $2.338 billion; in 2021, it was the fourth in number of feature films produced. But hey, all these numbers are not the most interesting. If you know Japanese cinema, it’s undoubtedly for the films of the Ghibli studio, the animated films and series that rocked your youth. Maybe today you watch anime on a VOD platform like Crunchyroll or Netflix.
Either way, you are here to learn the Japanese language. This vocabulary lesson on cinema is a very broad subject for which I have selected 25 words. I know the movie lexicon is vast and a second part will come at the end of season two. It will contain terms that are more technical and used almost exclusively in a professional environment. For today, start by learning the basics.
Remember, in the course on institutions, we have already seen the word 映画館 .エイガカン which means "the cinema" in the sense of "the building of the films". You will not find it in this list since we have already seen it but I wanted to remind you. Do not hesitate to revise this course elsewhere if you have some memory lapses.
There are a few words in this list that you have no doubt already come across during this second season. Even if you already know them, it will do you good to see them again.
If you’re ready, we can begin.
映画 .
エイガ
. the film, the cinema
サイレント映画館 .
サイレントエイガカン
. the silent cinema (the building)
映画図書館 .
エイガトショカン
. the film library
映画スタジオ .
エイガスタジオ
. the film studio
トレーラー
. the trailer
映画監督 .
エイガカントク
. the filmmaker, the film director
助監督 .
ジョカントク
. the assistant director
短編映画 .
タンペンエイガ
. the short movie
ショートムービー
. the short movie (from English)
長編映画 .
チョウヘンエイガ
. the feature film
フィーチャーフィルム
. the feature film (from English)
上映 .
ジョウエイ
. the screen projection
映画の長さ .
エイガのながさ
. the length of the movie
サウンドトラック / サントラ
. the soundtrack
映画のポスター .
エイガのポスター
. the movie poster, the cinema poster, the film poster
ブロックバスター
. the blockbuster
シネマルーム
. the cinema room
フィルム
. the film
映画スター .
エイガスター
. the cinema star
ホームシネマ
. the home cinema (from British English)
スナックバー
. the snack-bar
ポップコーン
. the pop-corn
It’s over. A very nice little vocabulary course, maybe you will find it a little more complicated than the others but you have to overcome this difficulty. There are many kanji that we have already seen, others that are new as always. Of course, you will find most of these words in the example sentences of the lessons and in the exercises...
I have nothing more to add for this course so I wish you good learning. Learn your kanji well, practice writing, stay motivated and disciplined, and we'll see you next class.
Introduction