Since our film club has now moved into the occupation era, and will by and large stay there for the next year or so, I was thinking if there are any reading suggestions that you might have? I have asked for general suggestions before, but would now be especially interested in literature dealing with the culture and politics of post-war Japan.
Since our film club has now moved into the occupation era, and will by and large stay there for the next year or so, I was thinking if there are any reading suggestions that you might have? I have asked for general suggestions before, but would now be especially interested in literature dealing with the culture and politics of post-war Japan.
I have read two books that specifically deal with film censorship in post-war Japan. One is Lars-Martin Sorensen’s Censorship of Japanese Cinema During the U.S. Occupation of Japan, and the other is Hiroshi Kitamura’s Screening Enlightenment. (My reviews linked.)
Then there is Kyoko Hirano’s Mr Smith Goes to Tokyo: Japanese Cinema Under the American Occupation, 1945-1952. I have not read it, but it is often referenced by Yoshimoto, Prince, Sorensen and others. Unfortunately, it is out of print, so one would need to get a second hand copy. I still might.
Any other suggestions? Google book search gives a number of titles for occupation japan and postwar japan, but it’s a little like finding needles in a haystack. Has anyone here read Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II or Postwar Japan as History, for instance?