Women in Japanese Cinema: Alternative Perspectives

By studying Japanese films and their associated literature, this book reveals the covert stories of Japanese women of various statuses and time periods in an exegesis of their story versus orthodox history. Fifteen films are studied to bring this theme into focus. They are: Imamura Shoheis The Ballad of Narayama, Naruse Mikios Mother, Idemitsu Makos Great Mother, Kinugasa Teinousukes Gate of Hell, Kurosawa Akiras No Regrets for Our Youth, Kuwabata Kagenobus Love and Lie, Toyoda Shiros The Mistress, Kumai Keis Sandakan Brothel No. 8, Takahashi Banmeis A New Love in Tokyo, Nishikawa Katsumis A Dancing Girl in Izu, Obayashi Nobuhikos Chizukos Younger Sister, Ichikawa Juns Tsugumi, Mizoguchi Kenjis Life of Oharu, Itami Juzos Tampopo, and Ishikawa Juns Grass Fish on a Tree.

The five chapters, Mother, Wife, Whore, Girl and Woman, represent categories the public used to code Japanese women in the pre-feminist age. Each chapter features three films depicting women in the pre-modern age, in the World War II period, and in late twentieth century Japan, and each embraces the three films within the thematic perspective of ecological feminism, sexuality, alienation, illusion, and power-over/power-to, respectively.

The book sheds light on cultural, historical, and/or ideological backgrounds of the films under study in important new ways and breaks new ground in the study of women in Japanese culture. See more