ABSTRACT
DURING the first half of the twentieth century the cinema dominated popular amusement in all advanced societies. 1 The power of films to amuse and excite created a new art and a new industry, and the persuasiveness of moving pictures gave them a social and political significance which was recognized by both democratic and totalitarian regimes. In Japan as early as 20 October 1912 the Tokyo police forbade showings of the French film Jigoma on the grounds that it might incite crime and disturb social order, and in October 1925 the Home Ministry implemented a nationwide system of film censorship. 2 However, official interest in the cinema was not confined to purely negative precautions. In the interwar years the Ministry of Education took an active role in encouraging documentary productions, while the example of German and Italian film legislation prompted government activity in a wide range of cinematic policies. 3
