Title Screening enlightenment : Hollywood and the cultural reconstruction of defeated Japan / Hiroshi Kitamura

Published Ithaca : Cornell University Press, 2010

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Description 1 online resource (xiv, 263 pages) : illustrations Series The United States in the world United States in the world. Contents Thwarted ambitions : Hollywood and Japan before the Second World War -- Renewed intimacies : Hollywood, war, and occupation -- Contested terrains : occupation censorship and Japanese cinema -- Corporatist tensions : Hollywood versus the U.S. occupation -- Fountains of culture : Hollywood's marketing in defeated Japan -- Presenting culture : the exhibition of American movies -- Seeking enlightenment : the culture elites and American movies -- Choosing America : Eiga no tomo and the making of a new fan Summary 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 Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index Notes English Print version record Subject Motion pictures, American -- Japan -- Influence Motion pictures -- Social aspects -- Japan -- History HISTORY -- Asia -- Japan. Civilization Civilization -- American influences Motion pictures, American -- Influence Motion pictures -- Social aspects Film. Rezeption. Kulturleben. cinéma américain (Etats-Unis) -- occupation militaire -- Japon -- guerre mondiale 2 -- alliés -- 1945 -- 1952. américanisation -- cinéma américain (Etats-Unis) -- Japon -- guerre mondiale 2 -- alliés -- 1945 -- 1952. Kulturell påverkan, USA. Kulturell påverkan, Japan. Japan. SUBJECT Japan -- History -- Allied occupation, 1945-1952. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85069508 Japan -- Civilization -- American influences. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85069379 Japan -- Civilization -- 1945- http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85069378 Subject Japan USA. Japan. Genre/Form History Form Electronic book LC no. 2009044415 ISBN 9780801460227 0801460220

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