international studios: Japan
“Sore ga hontōnara, soreha, kono hensō kanmon o tsūka suru koto wa fukanō ni
narimasu.”
~ Benkei, Tora no o wo fumu otokotachi (1945)
international studios: Japan
!  After the 1923 Tokyo earthquake, Japan consolidated a studio
system much like the United States.
!  Two large vertically integrated companies, Nikkatsu and
Shochiku, dominated several smaller firms.
Der Andere (1913)
Nikkatsu Corporation logo
Der student von Prag (1913)
Shochiku Corporation logo
!  Japan was virtually the only country in which U.S. films did not
overshadow the domestic product.
international studios: Japan
!  Leftist politics, and the rise of labor unions led to the keikō-eiga films,
which espoused left-wing ideologies.
!  Jidai-geki films show the lives of the samurai, farmers, and merchants.
Action centers around swordfights, chases, and heroic deaths. The name
means "period drama”, and films usually depict the Edo period of
Japanese history, from 1603 to 1868.
Left-wing tendencies in Gion no kyōdai (1936)
!  Gendai-geki stories are contemporary dramas set in the modern world.
These films include many sub-genres: salaryman comedies, the hahamono ( mother tale ), and the shomin-geki; films about lower-class life.
international studios: Japan
!  Leftist politics, and the rise of labor unions led to the keikō-eiga films,
which espoused left-wing ideologies.
!  Jidai-geki films show the lives of the samurai, farmers, and merchants.
Action centers around swordfights, chases, and heroic deaths. The name
means "period drama”, and films usually depict the Edo period of
Japanese history, from 1603 to 1868.
Master-less ronin in Ninjo kami fusen (1937)
Harakiri in Genroku Chūshingura (1941)
!  Gendai-geki stories are contemporary dramas set in the modern world.
These films include many sub-genres: salaryman comedies, the hahamono ( mother tale ), and the shomin-geki; films about lower-class life.
international studios: Japan
!  Leftist politics, and the rise of labor unions led to the keikō-eiga films,
which espoused left-wing ideologies.
!  Jidai-geki films show the lives of the samurai, farmers, and merchants.
Action centers around swordfights, chases, and heroic deaths. The name
means "period drama”, and films usually depict the Edo period of
Japanese history, from 1603 to 1868.
Blossoming love in Tonari no Yae-chan (1934)
Family tension in Tsuma yo bara no yo ni (1935)
!  Gendai-geki stories are contemporary dramas set in the modern world.
These films include many sub-genres: salaryman comedies, the hahamono ( mother tale ), and the shomin-geki; films about lower-class life.
international studios: Japan
!  Japanese films of the 1930 s also experimented with
storytelling and technique to a degree not common in most
western sound cinema.
!  Filmmakers experimented with hand-held camerawork,
innovative tracking shots, and rapid intercutting between
events.
Experimental narrative and camerawork in Arigatô san (1936)
international studios: Japan
!  Japan s attack on China in 1937 marked the beginning of the war in the
Pacific.
!  In 1939, the Motion Picture Law called for nationalistic films portraying
patriotic conduct.
Nationalism in Hawai Marê oki kaisen (1942)
Propaganda in Tatakau heitai (1939)
!  Bunka eiga (culture films) were not to feature jazz, American dancing,
or scenes that might undermine respect for authority, duty to the
emperor, and love of family.
!  The Censorship Office reviewed and revised all scripts before production.
international studios: Japan
Otona no miru ehon - Umarete wa mita keredo
Directed by
Yazujirô Ozu
Written by
Akira Fushimi &
Geibei Ibushiya
Shôchiku Eiga,
(1932) 100 mins.