1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910789834403321

Autore

Kitamura Hiroshi <1971->

Titolo

Screening enlightenment [[electronic resource] ] : Hollywood and the cultural reconstruction of defeated Japan / / Hiroshi Kitamura

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Ithaca, : Cornell University Press, 2010

ISBN

0-8014-6022-0

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (279 p.)

Collana

The United States in the world

Disciplina

791.43/63585204

Soggetti

Motion pictures, American - Japan

Motion pictures - American influences

Motion pictures - Social aspects - Japan - History

Japan History Allied occupation, 1945-1952

Japan Civilization American influences

Japan Civilization 1945-

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- Contents -- Preface -- Chapter 1. Thwarted Ambitions -- Chapter 2. Renewed Intimacies -- Chapter 3. Contested Terrains -- Chapter 4. Corporatist Tensions -- Chapter 5. Fountains of Culture -- Chapter 6. Presenting Culture -- Chapter 7. Seeking Enlightenment. The Culture Elites and American Movies -- Chapter 8. Choosing America. Eiga No tomo and the Making of A New Fan Culture -- Conclusion -- Appendix -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Acknowledgments -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

During the six-and-a-half-year occupation of Japan (1945-1952), U.S. film studios-in close coordination with Douglas MacArthur's Supreme Command for the Allied Powers-launched an ambitious campaign to extend their power and influence in a historically rich but challenging film market. In this far-reaching "enlightenment campaign," Hollywood studios disseminated more than six hundred films to theaters, earned significant profits, and showcased the American way of life as a political, social, and cultural model for the war-shattered Japanese population. In Screening Enlightenment, Hiroshi Kitamura shows how this expansive attempt at cultural globalization helped transform Japan



into one of Hollywood's key markets. He also demonstrates the prominent role American cinema played in the "reeducation" and "reorientation" of the Japanese on behalf of the U.S. government. According to Kitamura, Hollywood achieved widespread results by turning to the support of U.S. government and military authorities, which offered privileged deals to American movies while rigorously controlling Japanese and other cinematic products. The presentation of American ideas and values as an emblem of culture, democracy, and sophistication also allowed the U.S. film industry to expand. However, the studios' efforts would not have been nearly as extensive without the Japanese intermediaries and consumers who interestingly served as the program's best publicists. Drawing on a wide range of sources, from studio memos and official documents of the occupation to publicity materials and Japanese fan magazines, Kitamura shows how many Japanese supported Hollywood and became active agents of Americanization. A truly interdisciplinary book that combines U.S. diplomatic and cultural history, film and media studies, and modern Japanese history, Screening Enlightenment offers new insights into the origins of this unique political and cultural transpacific relationship.