Japan tries to sell itself as the land of cherry blossoms and Mount Fuji, but some of its best natural highs can be found on its ski slopes, as the world discovered at the 1972 Hokkaido and 1996 Nagano Winter Olympics.
I've skied in Hokkaido, Nagano and various points in between, though my ambition far outstrips my ability. I stare glassy-eyed at sports-bar ski videos, futilely trying to pick up pointers. In other words, Eiichiro Hasumi's skiing pic "Giniro no Season (The Silver Season)" ought to be just my sort of movie. And it is, sort of, when Hasumi's three ski-bum heroes tear a nearly vertical, unmarked trail, effortlessly attacking knee-deep powder and blasting fearlessly through the trees.
After this display of extreme skiing, the blond-streaked Yuji (Tetsuji Tama-yama) zips down snow-covered roofs, the frizzy-haired Juro (Munetaka Aoki) tries unsuccessfully to schuss across an unfrozen river and the spiky-haired Gin (Eita) paraskis over the bunny-slope masses, tossing out fliers for the trio's handyman business. It all looks like great, illicit fun, especially when the local business folk loudly condemn the boys for disturbing the resort's wa (harmony) or simply behaving like idiots.