interview and portraits by NORITOSHI HIRAKAWA Sarah Bull, translation KANETO SHINDO, who was born in Hiroshima on April 28, 1912, will soon be 100 years old. Having directed over 40 films — and still active: his latest movie, Postcard, was released in 2010 — Shindo is a living legend in the history of Japanese cinema. He is considered a master of black-and-white cinema, but is best known for his portrayal of universal emotion and his unsparing treatment of human tragedy and personal loss, particularly in such films as Children of Hiroshima (1952), which chronicles the city’s apocalyptic reduction to rubble, and Lucky Dragon N°5 (1958), based on a true story of the fishermen who died from radiation poisoning after the US test on Bikini Island. Given today’s politics, it’s timely that one of his most important films, The Naked Island (1960), is to be released on DVD internationally this year, and for us to rediscover the power of his apocalyptic films….