World War II made major impressions upon all countries involved. Japan’s involvement within World War II their subsequent defeat made huge impacts upon all areas of Japanese Society: socially, politically, and culturally. Artistically, film making in Japan was drastically affected. After the end of American occupation of Japan, directors were given more freedom to express themselves through their movies. During the occupation films with images or references regarding World War II and Japanese militarism were not allowed to be released. This time (1950’s) after the occupation is considered to be the “Golden Age” of Japanese cinematography. During this time emerged many of the great Japanese directors such as Yasujiro Ozu, Akira Kurosawa, and Kenji Mizoguchi. Also many world-wide renowned Japanese films such as Seven Samurai and Gojira were produced during this era. Just what accounted for this surge of creative productivity? I believe that the wealth of emotions caused by World War II the subsequent suppression of the Japanese to be able to express these emotions lead to the large number of great films produced after the occupation. In every film we viewed (that was made after WWII) made reference to or were influenced by World War II in some way. Each film can be seen as a response to life after the war. Some of these responses were the fear of the horrors caused by war, lamenting over life before the war, and looking forward towards Japan’s future as a nation. Through a focused study of Japanese cinematography (namely the subject matter of the films, alongside a little of their directing techniques) of the Golden Era, I think we would be able to paint a somewhat accurate picture of how the Japanese population was affected by their nation’s involvement in World War II.
Let’s start off with the film that probably envelopes and best communicates the emotions felt by the Japanese after the end of World War II, Gojira. After the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, I can only imagine a few emotions that the Japanese population would be able to feel, fear being the most prevalent. The United States held the power to destroy whole cities with a single weapon and had used this power against the Japanese people, how else could they react? Gojria embodies this fear throughout the film, from Gojria itself to the reactions of the Japanese victims. The reactions of the people in Gojira most likely reflect what was felt immediately after the bombings, fear of the attackers and sorrow in seeing the dead and wounded. Gojira, the monster, is itself a symbol for many things within the film. It is a representation of all of the destruction caused by war past, present and future, a symbol of advanced weaponry and all the destruction in can cause. It is also a direct victim of the usage of the usage of nuclear weaponry, being awoken by the testing of a hydrogen bomb. For this reason Dr. Yamane connects with Gojira, knowing that he and the monster both suffered underneath the actions of the United States. Gojira embodies everything that is wrong about the usage of nuclear weaponry, from destruction to the sorrow it causes. The special effects depicting the destruction of Japanese cities by Gojira, which were cutting edge during the time, helped display the horrors that are associated with nuclear weaponry. From the buildings being set on fire to the frightening unnaturalness of Gojira’s roar, every aspect of the film would have instilled fear into the Japanese audience. Serizawa was, I thought the most intriguing character of the film. He produced a weapon (the Oxygen Destroyer) that may be more powerful than the hydrogen bomb. This weapon has the ability to destroy Gojira but Serizawa is reluctant to use it against him because he knows that once other nations see the capabilities of his Oxygen Destroyer, they would want to use it to gain more worldly power (which I think is a direct statement against the United States). Eventually he allows for the Oxygen Destroyer to be used but in the process of killing Godzilla he allows himself to be killed, in order to keep the information about production of the weapon out of the hands of those who would use it to promote violence. It is interesting that a heroic character such as this would emerge at the same time as when the Cold War was starting to escalate. Serizawa’s ideals of peace make a sharp contrast when compared to the actions of the United States and Soviet Union during the Cold War. The Cold War revolved around the fear of the usage of nuclear weaponry, a fear clearly expressed within Gojira. The mass production of atomic weaponry could have lead to the birth of another metaphorical (or who knows maybe even literal) Gojira.
Years after the war, the Japanese population, during the Japanese Golden Age of film, may have felt the yearning for life before the war. Tokyo Story revolves around two characters that reminisce about their past as they travel throughout their Japan (about 10 years after World War II) and visit their children. As Shukichi and Tomi visit, their children are unable to spend time with them and seem to have distanced themselves away from their parents. During the scene where Sukichi meets his friends at a bar to drink and catch up they eventually start talking about the disappointment they feel about their children. Due to the modernization of Japan catalyzed by the war, much of the population was forced to move to Tokyo and the surrounding areas. This has made it hard for people to move forward into better positions like Shukichi’s son Koichi who is a pediatrician, but his practice is limited to the area surrounding his area. From their children’s moving away from their home in Onomichi and the lack of respect from them to the parents we see the breakdown of the traditional Japanese family system which emphasized the family as the basic, most important unit of society. Sukichi and Tomi yearn for the time before the war when their children were “nicer” and closer to them. While World War II is not referenced too frequently over the course of Tokyo Story, it is one of the main driving points of the plot line. As Professor Mizenko stated, the main reason for Sukichi and Tomi’s visit to Tokyo was possibly to make clear that their daughter-in-law, Noriko, was no longer part of the Hirayama family in name. Sukichi and Tomi’s son was killed during World War II leaving Noriko a widow with no children. They encourage her to get remarried and after Tomi’s funeral Sukichi makes it clear that she is not a part of his family, not because they don’t feel like she is a good daughter-in-law, but to insure that she is taken care of after they pass away. Even without many direct references towards World War II, through Tokyo Story Ozu is still able to express the effects of the war on the Japanese population. Every character shows the heavy weight of what the war has placed upon them, either from learning about what or whom they lost during the war and their behavior.
What did the Japanese people think would be the future of Japan? Would the occupation of the United States force the westernization of their culture or would they stand strong? The Burmese Harp seeks to answer how Japan will progress while also giving the audience a taste of the horrors of war. The development of the character of Private Mizushima and the military troop he was assigned to during their time in Burma may be a reflection of what director Takeyama wanted as the way Japan should progress. Mizushima, the focal character of the film, after his troop surrendered to the British, was sent on a mission to attempt to make a group of Japanese soldiers held up in a mountain surrender as well. During this scene we see two opposing forces: the imperialistic and progressive ways of thought. The soldiers fighting in the mountains represented the way of thinking promoted by the militaristic Japanese government during World War II, which promoted fighting until death for the sake of the nation and honor. Mizushima and his troop represent the more progressive point of view, they know that by surrendering and surviving, the Japanese soldiers would be able to better benefit Japan by returning home and rebuilding their country. After the soldier’s refusal to surrender and their subsequent defeat, Mizushima commences on a spiritual journey. As he travels around Burma, he starts to follow along the Buddhist path of peace and enlightenment and eventually becomes a Buddhist monk himself. Music plays a huge role in The Burmese Harp. This is observed during the scene where the Japanese and the British soldiers sing along with each other in the village, communicating each other’s intentions of wanting a peaceful meeting. Throughout the film the idea of moving towards a more progressive, peaceful way of thought pervades.
From the themes behind these films we may be able to assume that during the time after the war Japan and its people were shocked by the horrors of war, lamented over what was lost due to the war, and were trying to progress forward from the militaristic government which ruled during the time of World War II. After dealing with the hardship with being involved with a major war, it is likely the Japanese population would have taken steps towards becoming a nation less involved in militaristic acts. The endings of the films mentioned and most, if not all, of the films watched up until now have ambiguous endings. It seems the directors themselves did not know how Japan would change in response to the war. This ambiguity leaves viewers with the same uncertainty that the Japanese people would have felt. They did not know exactly how their nation would change and how much of their traditional culture may be lost, but they moved forward remembering the sorrow caused by the war and pushed by the new ideals underneath their progressing, democratic government.
