ABSTRACT

Japanese Cinema includes twenty-four chapters on key films of Japanese cinema, from the silent era to the present day, providing a comprehensive introduction to Japanese cinema history and Japanese culture and society.

Studying a range of important films, from Late Spring, Seven Samurai and In the Realm of the Senses to Godzilla, Hana-Bi and Ring, the collection includes discussion of all the major directors of Japanese cinema including Ozu, Mizoguchi, Kurosawa, Oshima, Suzuki, Kitano and Miyazaki.

Each chapter discusses the film in relation to aesthetic, industrial or critical issues and ends with a complete filmography for each director. The book also includes a full glossary of terms and a comprehensive bibliography of readings on Japanese cinema.

Bringing together leading international scholars and showcasing pioneering new research, this book is essential reading for all students and general readers interested in one of the world’s most important film industries.

chapter |12 pages

The Salaryman's Panic Time

Ozu Yasujirō's I Was Born, But … (1932)

chapter |13 pages

All for Money

Mizoguchi Kenji's Osaka Elegy (1936)

chapter |13 pages

Turning Serious

Yamanaka Sadao's Humanity and Paper Balloons (1937)

chapter |15 pages

Country Retreat

Shimizu Hiroshi's Ornamental Hairpin (1941)

chapter |12 pages

The Riddle of the Vase

Ozu Yasujirō's Late Spring (1949)

chapter |12 pages

History through Cinema

Mizoguchi Kenji's The Life of O-Haru (1952)

chapter |10 pages

The Menace from the South Seas

Honda Ishirō's Godzilla (1954)

chapter |12 pages

Seven Samurai and Six Women

Kurosawa Akira's Seven Samurai (1954)

chapter |13 pages

Women's Stories in Post-War Japan

Naruse Mikio's Late Chrysanthemums (1954)

chapter |15 pages

A Cinematic Creation

Ichikawa Kon's Conflagration (1958)

chapter |16 pages

Modernization without Modernity

Masumura Yasuzō's Giants and Toys (1958)

chapter |12 pages

Questions of the New

Ōshima Nagisa's Cruel Story of Youth (1960)

chapter |13 pages

Ethnicizing the Body and Film

Teshigahara Hiroshi's Woman in the Dunes (1964)

chapter |12 pages

Dark Visions of Japanese Film Noir

Suzuki Seijun's Branded to Kill (1967)

chapter |12 pages

Eroticism in Two Dimensions

Shinoda Masahiro's Double Suicide (1969)

chapter |12 pages

Transgression and the Politics of Porn

Ōshima Nagisa's in the Realm of the Senses (1976)

chapter |11 pages

Unsettled Visions

Imamura Shōhei's Vengeance is Mine (1979)

chapter |13 pages

Playing with Postmodernism

Morita Yoshimitsu's The Family Game (1983)

chapter |10 pages

Transgression and Retribution

Yanagimachi Mitsuo's Fire Festival (1985)

chapter |10 pages

Community and Connection

Itami Jūzō's Tampopo (1985)

chapter |11 pages

The Imagination of the Transcendent

Kore-eda Hirokazu's Maborosi (1995)

chapter |12 pages

Therapy for him and her

Kitano Takeshi's Hana-Bi (1997)

chapter |12 pages

The Original and the Copy

Nakata Hideo's Ring (1998)

chapter |14 pages

The Global Markets for Anime

Miyazaki Hayao's Spirited Away (2001)