Shochiku coup
Peter B. High
j45843a
Wed Jan 21 06:26:25 EST 1998
Aaron wrote:
>
> P.S. If they fire anyone, it should have been whoever thought up Kamakura
> Cinema World. Now one I know who has gone there likes it and I found it
> embarassingly childish (except for a few sections of Shochiku history).
> Who was responsible for that?
>
I am fairly certain that the non-profitability of Cinema World, which was little more than a white-elephant
merchandizing scheme from the word go, looms large in the background of the turmoil at Shochiku. On
three quarters or so of the old Ofuna Studio lot, Shochiku has invested billions and billions of yen into a
theme "amusement" park, which provides as much fun as a tour of the Port Authority Bus Terminal...and a
lot safer too!
On a visit to Ofuna a couple of years before it opened, I was granted an audience with some suits from the
Eigyo and Publicity departments. Their knowledge of their own company`s cinematic product seemed to be
limited to in-house hagiographies of Kido Shiro, Ozu and of course St. Yamada Yoji. In any case, they didn`t
want to talk film. Ineluctably, they maneuveried the conversation over to the up-coming Cinema World
project. From there on, I felt as comfotable as if I had been lured into a Jehova`s Witnesses "fellowship
supper." I was ceremoniously presented with a mound of tracts lauding the project as the most thrilling
phenomenon since the Solom`s Temple.Or, more to the point, the Shrine at Lourds. The fanciful cover
illustrations depicted a temendous throng, with ecstatic children in the foreground impatiently tugging their
equally ecstatic parents, streaming toward the glistening gates of ...Cinema World!
Next, a huge map of the studio was unscrolled across the conference table with the outline of the proposed
New Jerusalem superimposed in neon magenta. Whereas the company reps had been taciturn and the
conversation desultory as we talked about expanding the list of Shochiku`s classic film video offerings,
their eyes now glowed with enthusiasm and they couldn`t seem to wait their turn to expand on the thrilling
features their own sub-departments had cooked up. At the time, their chief concern was parking. Several
parking structures had already been built into the plan but, as they evisioned it, they would soon be strained
to the limit.
My secret scepticism was abundantly confirmed when I visited the completed Cinema World the summer
before last. I was a "specially invited" guest, which meant that parking and admission were free. Maybe it
was just the day I chose to visit, but the underground parking area I was ushered into could easily have
acomodated a hundred or so cars more. Upstairs, on the exhibition floors, there was a steady flow of
visitors, but the total crowd didn`t seem to be much geater than you`d expect in a shopping arcade in
Hamamatsu, on a weekday. And I didn`t see anybody ecstatic...or even mildly interested for that matter. And
where were the kids? Their absence seemed to be explained by the nature of the exhibits. Judging by their
fairly low-tech quality, it seems the planners were expecting a large number of quantum leapers from the
mid-1960s. There was, tucked away in a shabby corner like the smoker`s 'lounge' at Seoul airport, a video
game room with all the eqipment of your local Uny Department Store roof garden. But since its an
all-Shochiku show, the kiddies will look in vain for a Mothra wind-tunnel or a chance to join Godzilla in a
tramp through Tokyo. So, for whom was Cinema World brought into existence? It would seem the planners
saw as their ideal visitors, a mid-to-late- middle-aged couple who never missed a New Years Tor-san
opening and whose idea of interior decor is to create their very own home altar to the dear departed,
Atsumi Kiyoshi. I may have my Cinema World geography somewhat confused here--correct me if I`m wrong
all ye Cinema World regulars!--but I remember the Tora-san/Atsumi Kiyoshi sacristy as being down on the
lowest level. Featured here is the brefly interesting (actual?) set of Sakura`s dango-ya shop. Exiting the
shop in the direction of Tako`s little factory, one immediately comes upon the Tora-san Gudzu Corner. Not
to be missed!--well, try if you can. The little Atsumi figurines modeled in guaranteed non-biodegradable
plastic are (or will be) a bargain at a mere thousand or so yen apiece. (Just imagine how valuable they will
be when your great-great grandkids sell them off at the end of next century!) Deeper into the labrynth
(sp.?) is the Shochiku history section Aaron speaks of. If you`ve never seen an actual, working (well, it
actually wasn`t working the day I saw it) Zoetrope, the excursion is worth the trouble. And a little further
on is Ozu Ysujiro himself, sitting crosslegged on the set with his camera trained on...who was it? Hara
Setsuko? Chishu Ryu? Step right up (or crouch, actually) and look through the view-finder. This, ladies and
gentlemen, is what is referred to as "Ozu`s dog`s eye view." Trek down another blank corridor and you
come to the outdoor Jidaigeki-land. I remember seeing the 'street' before the renovation, when you could
look through the loovers of Edo-period fronts and see stored inside actual props and sets for actual movies.
Well all that junk`s cleared away now and Jidaigeki-land feels as much like the real old Edo (or, more to the
point, the real old Shochiku Movie Studio) as KFC tastes like real chicken.
I could go on, and on. Up on the main level we have "a recreation of an old-time American town," obviously
inspired by McDisney. Well, apparently small-town America looked something like the gift-shop mall at
Frankfurt, no, Abu Dhabi Airport. Quaint little roof-ettes with candy-striped awnings grace the entrances
to shops as wide open to the "street" as an Akibahara cut-rate computer equipment outlet. Its Miki House
cheek to jowl with Ye Olde (Morinaga`s) Ice Cream Parlor.
Last, but not least, is the uppermost level--Futureland, or some such. It certainly seems to be the future
of Shochiku. A huge, dark barren void of a space. On the walls, dimly lit by colored lights, are (I seem to
remember) intergalactic scenes. In the center, lookng like a dusky and diminutive Grand Central Station
Information booth, is a round kiosk selling...oh God, I forget!...spaceship key holders and clear plastic balls
that glow in the dark, I think. That`s it. That`s the future brought to you by Shochiku Kabushiki Kaisha. I
overheard one of the rare young visitors sum it all up as he and his mother hurried past me on the stairs
going back down: "Nanda..Kaerou" (Bullshit. Let`s go home.)
I followed his advice.
Peter B. High
Nagya, Japan
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