Camp Shochiku

[Peter B. High]

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 tremendous 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 envisioned 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 accomodated 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 equipment 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 briefly 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 cross-legged 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, looking 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