Drawing on venerable painting traditions such as sumi-e (black and white ink brush painting), yamato-e (style landscape painting Japanese) and emaki-mono (narrative image scrolls), Japanese cinema was characterized by a pictorial elegance unique in the world. The penchant for long shots and long takes has given many films a stately, quiet, contemplative pace that has attracted many young film critics and directors. The creation of atmosphere, tone, was also a unique property of Japanese cinema. Combined with many theatrical elements, the films presented themselves as the product of a culture that seemed distant from the one waging a ferocious war on the world. The stylistic experiments of Kurosawa (one of the rare directors who were as comfortable with dynamic editing as he was with long takes) and Ozu (a virtually unique filmmaker, but not sui generis, with his graphic juxtapositions, narrative ellipses , dramatic deemphasis, and singular thematic interest) was born from a prolific, varied and exciting cinematic period. (Credit p.