A Companion to Japanese Cinema

David Desser, David Desser

• Verlag: Wiley-Blackwell
• Jahr: 2022
• ISBN:
  9781118955345
• Auflage: 1
• Thema: Media & Performing Arts
• Thema: Film History & Criticism

Go beyond Kurosawa and discover an up-to-date and rigorous examination of historical and modern Japanese cinema

In A Companion to Japanese Cinema, distinguished cinematic researcher David Desser deliversinsightfulnew material ona fascinating subject, ranging from the introduction and exploration of under-appreciated directors, like Uchida Tomu and Yoshimura Kozaburo, to an appreciation of the Golden Age of Japanese cinema from the point of view of little-known stars and genres of the 1950s.

This Companion includes new resources that deal in-depthwith the issue of gender in Japanese cinema, including a sustained analysis of Kawase Naomi, arguably the most important female director in Japanese film history.

Readers will appreciate the astute material on the connections and relationships that tie together Japanese television and cinema, with implications for understanding the modern state of Japanese film.The Companion concludes with a discussion of the Japanese media's response to the 3/11earthquake and tsunami that devastated the nation.The book also includes:

• A thorough introduction to the History, Ideology, and Aesthetics of Japanese cinema, including discussions of Kyoto as thecinematic center of Japan and the Pure Film Movement and modern Japanese film style
• An exploration ofthe background to the famous story ofTaki noShiraitoand thesignificant and underappreciated contributions of directorsUchidaTomu, as well as YoshimuraKozaburo
• A rigorous comparison of old and new Japanese cinema, including treatments of Ainu in documentary filmsand modernity in film exhibition
• Practical discussions of intermediality, includingtreatments of scriptwriting in the 1930sand the influence of film on Japanese television

Perfect forupper-level undergraduateand graduate students studying Japanese and Asian cinema, A Companion to Japanese Cinema is a must-read reference foranyone seeking an insightful and contemporary discussion of modern scholarshipin Japanese cinemain the 20th and 21st centuries.

Section 1
History, Ideology, Aesthetics

1
Kyoto – The “Hollywood of Japan”

Diane Wei Lewis

On September 1, 1923, the Great Kanto Earthquake and ensuing fires and violence engulfed Tokyo in a storm of destruction. The disaster wiped out nearly 70% of all structures in the city and left more than 1.5 million homeless (Schencking 2006: 833). Tokyo alone suffered an estimated 91,000 casualties. Overall, there were nearly 120,000 missing or dead in the seven prefectures affected by the quake. The catastrophe dealt a decisive blow to Japan’s film industry. Due to the disaster, the two largest film companies in Japan, Nikkatsu and Shochiku, were forced to leave the capital. Although Nikkatsu’s Mukojima studio and Shochiku’s Kamata studio suffered only minor damage, Tokyo’s infrastructure was crippled and basic necessities were in short supply. Both studios temporarily closed their doors and moved production to the Kansai region. Shochiku quickly repaired and reopened its Kamata studio in January 1924, but Nikkatsu closed Mukojima and did not reopen a Tokyo studio until 1934. For the next ten years, Shochiku was the only major company operating a studio in Tokyo.

Prior to the earthquake, the film industry was divided between Tokyo in the east and the Kansai area in the west, where most film activity was concentrated in Kyoto. When Tokyo film workers moved to Kyoto after the disaster, it was the first time that film production was concentrated in one region of Japan. Thus, in the 1920s, during Tokyo’s reconstruction, Kyoto became known as the “Hollywood of Japan.” This centralization hastened the modernization of the industry, leading to the formation of new professional organizations and technological innovation at brand-new production facilities.

This chapter will examine developments in the Kyoto film industry from the turn of the century through the 1920s, focusing in particular on the early development of Kyoto film studios and discourse on Kyoto as the “Hollywood of Japan.” In the earlier part of the century, the film industry benefitted from Kyoto’s conscious efforts to modernize and reinvent its image. In the 1920s, studio expansion strengthened associations between Japanese cinema and modernity in the Kansai region. Post-earthquake film magazines played up the connections between film and middle-class leisure, showcasing film studio tours and social visits to stars’ homes. This publicity reinforced film’s growing connections with respectable middle-class tastes and pastimes. A new “behind-the-scenes” culture helped film studios strategically manage the public perception of industry secrets and scandals.

Filmmaking played an important role in Kyoto’s modern history, and the post-earthquake era marked a new and distinct period in the industry. As Japanese cinema transitioned from being a low-class attraction to a widely consumed form of popular entertainment, behind-the-scenes culture helped the industry promote itself through journalism on film studios and film celebrities’ lifestyles. Nevertheless, there remained deep ambivalence toward the rapid social and cultural transformations accompanying modernization. Discourse on Kyoto as the “Hollywood of Japan” reflects complex attitudes toward American-style modernity in Japan.

The Early Period: The Founding of Kyoto Studios

By the time of the 1923 earthquake, Kyoto already had a long history of promoting local film production as a new, modern industry. Kyoto was the imperial capital of Japan from the beginning of the Heian period (794–1185) continuously through the end of the Tokugawa shogunate (1603–1868) and the Meiji Restoration of 1868. In 1869, the imperial capital was moved to Tokyo, which (as Edo) had been the home of the bakufu (shogunate) and was now the seat of the new central government. With the relocation of the imperial family and the remaking of Japanese politics and society, Kyoto was faced with reorganizing its local economy and reinventing its image. City renewal projects led to the widening and paving of city streets, improvement of waterways, installation of electric street lighting, and introduction of new forms of transport such as city trams. Railways were extended between Kobe, Kyoto, Osaka, and Nara, and to other major cities across Japan. Regional industry and tourism increased, and by the time of the Great Kanto Earthquake, Kyoto had successfully reinvented itself as a modern tourist city by promoting its traditional landmarks, entertainment, and manufactures (Kaizuka 1979–1994).

The Kyoto film industry emerged out of these Meiji-period (1868–1912) transformations. The early film entrepreneur Inahata Katsutaro (later head of the Osaka Chamber of Commerce) was one of many Japanese sent by the Kyoto Prefectural government to study abroad in Europe during the Meiji years. After studying European chemical dyes at Lyon’s polytechnic institute La Martinière Monplaisir, Inahata returned to Kyoto to introduce improvements to the local textiles industry. On a subsequent visit to France, Inahata learned that a former classmate, August Lumière, had invented a motion picture device called the Cinématographe. Inahata quickly made arrangements to import the Lumière brothers’ technology, returning to Kyoto with a Cinématographe and the camera operator François-Constant Girel. Cinématographe operators around the world made films to be shown in France and distributed to other countries. By 1903, many hundreds of films in the Lumière catalog consisted of scenic views of landscapes, monuments, cities, and peoples from around the world, including France, Italy, Spain, Egypt, Russia, Turkey, the US, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Serbia, Canada, Argentina, India, Brazil, Mexico, and Japan (Rossell 1995). The first Cinématographe screening in Japan took place in 1897 in Shijo-Kawara in Kyoto, a centrally located area of the city known for theatrical performances. Inahata Katsutaro himself can be seen together with his family in the Cinématographe film Kazoku no shokuji / Repas en famille (A Family Meal, 1897).

In 1897, after the first Cinématographe screening, Inahata bowed out of the movie business and passed on the invention to entrepreneur Yokota Einosuke, the son of another classmate from Lyon. Yokota had brought back an X-ray machine from one of his own trips overseas and was exhibiting it as an attraction in Kyoto and Osaka. He toured with the Cinématographe and eventually opened the Denki-kan, the first permanent movie theater in Kyoto.

The very first purpose-built film production studio in Japan opened in Meguro, Tokyo, in 1910 and was operated by Yoshizawa Shoten. Yokota Einosuke’s company, Yokota Shokai, built Kyoto’s first film studio later that year. This was erected near the southwest turret of Nijo Castle and consisted of a low wooden stage that measured approximately 3.6 by 7.2 meters. The stage was covered by an opening and closing tent, and painted backdrops were used for scenery (Nakajima 1994: 24). In 1912, Yokota built the second film studio in Kyoto in Ohigashicho, Kamigyo Ward. This was named the Hokke-do Studio after the temple just south of the site. Facilities included a stage, an office, a film developing room, a makeup and wardrobe room, and a warehouse, which were spread over an area of 1980 sq. meters. In contrast to the Nijo Castle Studio, which was covered with an opening and closing tent, one side of the Hokke-do Studio roof was fitted with glass in order to let in natural light (Nakajima 1994: 25).

Kyoto’s plan for improving local industry included opening up unused land for development, much of it along new railway lines. Film studios sprang up along the Randen Line operated by Kyoto Dento (Kyoto Electric Light Company). This city tram line (today’s Keifuku-Arashiyama line) opened in 1910 and was originally operated by the Arashiyama Electric Tram Railway (Arashiyama Densha Kido) before Kyoto Dento took over operations in 1918. As Nakajima Sadao notes, “With the exception of Shimogamo Studio, all the Kyoto studios tended to be built to the west of Nijo Castle Studio. After the Taishogun Studio period (the Nikkatsu studio in operation between 1918 and 1928), studios were moved even further west, along the Keifuku Railway” (1994: 25).

From roughly east to west, the studios built close to the Randen Line included: Nikkatsu Uzumasa Studio (opened 1927), Daiei Kyoto Studio (originally established as part of Nikkatsu Uzumasa Studio), Shochiku Kyoto Studio (opened 1952, today known simply as Shochiku Studio), Arashi Kanjuro Productions Uzumasa Studio (opened 1935), Daiichi Eiga Sagano Studio (opened 1934), and Chiezo Sagano Studio (opened 1929). By 1930, there were as many as thirteen film studios along this “Satsueijo-gai” (Film Studio Corridor). Of the fifteen film studios that once existed in Kyoto, two are still in operation today: the Daiei Kyoto Studio and the Shochiku Studio. Studios changed hands many times. Detailed information about the opening and closing of Kyoto-area studios and changes in ownership can be traced using Tomita Mika’s online resource, the Makino Project (2001).

Other studios opened north and east of the Randen Line studios, nearer to the Kitano Line that began operation in 1925 and that connected to the Randen Line at Katabiranotsuji Station in 1926, gradually adding new stations over the next two decades. From roughly southwest to northeast, the studios along the Kitano Line were: Bando Tsumasaburo’s Uzumasa Studio (opened 1926, later known as the Toei Kyoto Studio); J. O. Studio (opened 1933); the Takara Pro Studio (opened 1953); ...

Inhaltsverzeichnis

• Cover
• Wiley Blackwell Companions to National Cinemas
• Title page
• Copyright
• Table of Contents
• Notes on Contributors
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Section 1 History, Ideology, Aesthetics
• Section 2 The Old and the New
• Section 3 Intermediality
• Index
• End User License Agreement