Locating Heisei in Japanese Film

This paper will discuss the films of the “lost decades” of Japan’s Heisei period (1989–2019)—three decades of economic stagnation, social malaise, and natural disaster. Through an examination of the work of major Heisei filmmakers—including Kurosawa Kiyoshi, Ichikawa Jun, Sono Shion, and others—it...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Marc Yamada
Format: Article
Language:deu
Published: Akademische Arbeitskreis Japan – Österreichische Japan-Gesellschaft für Wissenschaft und Kunst (AAJ) [Austrian Japan-Society for Science and Art] 2020-12-01
Series:Minikomi
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.univie.ac.at/index.php/aaj/article/view/3987
Description
Summary:This paper will discuss the films of the “lost decades” of Japan’s Heisei period (1989–2019)—three decades of economic stagnation, social malaise, and natural disaster. Through an examination of the work of major Heisei filmmakers—including Kurosawa Kiyoshi, Ichikawa Jun, Sono Shion, and others—it explores the dissonance between the dominant history of Japan’s recent past and the representation of this past in the popular imagination of the period. Along with posing a challenge to normative accounts of history, Heisei film, this paper will also suggest, explores social issues that Japan continues to contend with as it enters the Reiwa period (2019–). In particular, this paper will discuss the work of Kore-eda Hirokazu, situating his films within neoliberal transformations over the last twenty years that have shaped social and cultural conditions in Japan.  
ISSN:2706-7424
2706-7432