Japan's tradition of silent movie 'narrators' survives and thrives

Live 'benshi' performers still pull in crowds

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Akiko Sasaki at work: A former TV anchor and roving reporter, she is now one of Japan's foremost benshi narrators for silent films. (Courtesy of Akiko Sasaki)

PETER TASKER, Contributing writer

TOKYO -- This year marks both the 60th anniversary of the death of the great Japanese film director Yasujiro Ozu and the 120th anniversary of his birth. I was lucky enough to attend one of several celebratory events -- a showing of two short silent films that he made in the late 1920s.

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