remake of 'I was Born, but....???

Well, calling this a remake is definitly wrong. A more accurate description would be loosely (very loosely) based on one of the concepts of I Was Born, But... the shock between generations is present throughout Ozu's entire carrier. The only common ground here are the brother's strikes (which lasts alot longer and is way more important in Ohayo).

I agree that I didn't notice too many similarities between the two films.

I've just seen Good Morning, which I loved. I have the Eclipse series that I Was Born, But... is part of, but have yet to see it, so I can't comment on the relationship between the two films, although in his Film Guide, Leonard Maltin states the latter is indeed a remake of the former.

You're right that it's not a remake in the strictest sense, not like "Floating Weeds" was with "A Story of Floating Weeds". And you're right that Ozu was notorious (like Naruse and other early Japanese filmmakers, especially at Shochiku) for reusing material. So no, it's not as black-and-white as they make it seem when they call it a remake of "I Was Born, But…". Personally, however, I don't dispute it. They're similar enough. Both films feature two little kids, brothers, who are awakened to the realities of modern life (from a more dramatically and socioeconomically-driven angle in the original film, versus the comedic satire on technology in the remake). They adjust in their own way, by indulging in a bit of a child's tantrum, essentially going on strike against adulthood and life itself (it's interesting to note that in the comedy version, they ultimately get what they want -- life capitulates to them [for the time being], instead of their having to capitulate to life). Again, it's not a remake to the extent that "Floating Weeds" was -- no question about that -- but it certainly is loosely based on "I Was Born, But…". That much is obvious. So after that it's just a semantic issue regarding how you want to define the word "remake", which probably isn't worth dwelling on very long.

I have to diverge somewhat and say this is absolutely not a remake, in any way, of I was Born But. There are two young brothers in it (as with An Inn in Tokyo), but any common themes are common to almost all Ozu's work.

One thing nobody on these boards seems to have mentioned is what this film is actually about: the things we choose to say and not to say. The TV thing is not the point of the film, it's used to further the main theme. What Ozu is interested in is how most adult conversation is meaningless, or at least redundant (illustrated nicely by using the perspective of children). And how reluctant we can be to say the things that actually matter. The film is called Ohayu, after all (Good Morning) and at one point the older child says, "it's all 'good morning, how are you'" during the inter-generational argument about who speaks the most meaningless nonsense. Towards the end there's even this exchange:

'Important things are difficult to say'
'Whereas meaningless things are easy'

The children are a device used to highlight the inanity of the pleasantries and platitudes shared by the women of the community. They're constantly saying 'good morning', 'isn't the weather lovely' etc. The travelling salesmen repeats the same meaningless spiel several times. The father talks of the TV's chatter making you an idiot. Meanwhile important things go unsaid. The young teacher is unable to tell the girl he loves how he feels. Trouble results from one woman refusing to ask her mother about the missing money etc. It's why the film takes place in such a confined space, it's in order to increase the instances of casual contact.

And think about the professions referred to. The unemployed man finally gets a job and it's in sales. An unwelcome salesman visits the community. On the other hand we meet some of the boys teachers and the young man works as a translator. These are the only professions ever referred to. And they're jobs that are defined by either their unwanted, meaningless prattle (selling stuff) or the highly valuable imparting of knowledge (teaching stuff).

Add to that the harmful gossip, the boys' habit of meaningless chat and many, many subtleties and it's clear this is a film about what we say and what we don't say. And what the effect of that is.