CONTENTS
Note on Names and Film Titles
Preface to the English Translation
Introduction
The Characteristics of Japanese Cinema
Cinema as a Liminal Art
Masumura Yasuzō’s Critique of Japanese Film
Mixing with Neighboring Genres
Connections with Traditional Theater
The Origins of the Benshi
Cultural Hybridity
More Than One Wave
The Reappearance of Forgotten Memories
1.    Motion Pictures: 1896–1918
The Arrival of Cinema
The First Footage Shot by a Japanese Person
Connections with Mass Theater
Issues of Nationalism
Makino Shōzō: The First Director
The Establishment of Nikkatsu
The Significance of Benshi
2.    The Rise of Silent Film: 1917–1930
The Pure Film Movement
The Birth of Film Journalism
The Arrival of Actresses
The Self-Consciousness of Japanese Cinema
Shōchiku’s Shōshimin Films
Reforms at Nikkatsu
Kinugasa Teinosuke Thrives
Constructing Jidaigeki
Tendency Films and Their Aftermath
3.    The First Golden Age: 1927–1940
Initial Attempts at Talkies
Making Real Talkies
Gendaigeki with Topknots
Cosmopolitan Shōchiku and Nativist Nikkatsu
The Expanding World of Mizoguchi Kenji
From PCL to Tōhō
Coproduction with Nazi Germany
4.    Japanese Cinema During Wartime
Setting Up the Wartime System
The Characteristics of Japanese War Films
Cinema and the “Overcoming Modernity” Debate
The Disguise of Kamei Fumio
How Film Directors Responded to Wartime
5.    Film Production in the Colonies and Occupied Lands
The Film Industry in Taiwan
Films to Enlighten the Taiwanese Natives
Taiwanese Cinema After Liberation
The Film Industry in Korea
Korean Cinema’s Golden Age
The Decline and Revival of Korean Film
Establishing Manchurian Cinema
The Emergence of Ri Kōran
The End of Man’ei
Chinese Film Studios in Shanghai
Film Production in Southeast Asia
6.    Japanese Cinema Under American Occupation: 1945–1952
Filmmakers at the End of the War
What Were Japanese Filmmakers Doing When the War Ended?
Censorship Under the Occupation
Idea Films
The Problem of War Responsibility
What Kind of Films Did Individual Directors Shoot During This Period?
The Rise of Kurosawa Akira
7.    Toward a Second Golden Age: 1952–1960
The End of the Occupation System
Shifts in War Films
The Advance into International Film Festivals
A Boom in Independent Productions
Samurai and Kaiju at Tōhō
Daiei Mother Films and Mizoguchi Kenji
Shōchiku Melodrama: Kinoshita and Ozu
Period Films at Tōei
Nikkatsu’s Steady Advance
8.    Upheaval Amid Steady Decline: 1961–1970
The Peak of the Studio System
A Colorful Variety of Films at Tōhō
Daiei’s Star System
Ichikawa Kon and Masumura Yasuzō
The Shōchiku Nouvelle Vague
Shōchiku Turns Reactionary
Tōei’s Idealized Gangsters
Nikkatsu Borderless Action Film
Nikkatsu’s Eccentric Geniuses
Independent Production and ATG
The King of Pink Film
9.    Decline and Torpor: 1971–1980
Japanese Cinema During the Years of Lead
Nikkatsu Roman Porno
Youth Films at Nikkatsu
Tōei: Without Honor or Humanity
Shōchiku: The Empire of Yamada Yōji
Veteran Directors Depict Women
ATG as a Base for Protest
Two Documentary Filmmakers
10.  The Collapse of the Studio System: 1981–1990
Major Studios in Distress
Changes to the System of Production, Distribution, and Exhibition
New Directors with No Connection to the Studio System
Return of the Directors of the 1960s
A Flood of New Directors
11.  The Indies Start to Flourish: 1991–2000
The Collapse of the Cinematic Bubble
Increasing Internationalism
Fragmenting Production Companies
Encountering the Ethnic Other
Memory and Nostalgia
The Phenomenon of Kitano Takeshi
12.  Within a Production Bubble: 2001–2011
Japanese Cinema Sinks
Changes in the Mode of Production
Melodrama and Historical Consciousness
Woman Directors Appear on a Mass Scale
The Rise of J-Horror
Exposing Hidden History
Notes
Index