I just recently tracked down a copy of Fran Rubel Kuzui's 1988 film TOKYO POP on VHS, and I've sort of become obsessed with it.

As an American living and working in Japan, I have to say that Kuzui's film understands the whole "gaijin" thing way better than Sophia Coppola's LOST IN TRANSLATION (2003). Granted, Coppola's film is about temporary visitors in the Land of the Rising Sun, whereas Kuzui's features a character that is more in line with my experience. I was shocked when Carrie Hamilton's character verbalized her feelings about living abroad through dialogue that I've literally uttered word-for-word in daily conversation with fellow foreigners. I was taken aback at how delicately and accurately Kuzui's movie handles her complicated feelings of living among Japan's 98.5% native-born population--feelings that I've personally felt guilty about, wondering if I'm a racist or xenophobe or ethnocentrist or one of those horrible things that I'd never want to be associated with.

I think LOST IN TRANSLATION largely ignores the presence of the Japanese and is happy to paint them as the majority Other, allowing the audience to empathize with the two lost souls at the center of the piece. TOKYO POP tells a story from the perspective of the Other through a woman who does everything she can to make her way in a place that's just about as different from her home as can be.

All that said, I think LOST IN TRANSLATION is a superior film in just about every other regard, but I'd highly recommend tracking down TOKYO POP if you have the means, especially if you've ever lived and worked abroad.

Has anyone else seen this? Would you glean what I've just said from the movie without the "gaijin" experience?