New books (E+J)

[Ono Seiko and Aaron Gerow]

A couple of interesting books have come out recently in Japanese which 
I'd like to introduce:

1) Director Aoyama Shinji's first collection of essays has been published 
by Seidosha entitled _Ware eiga o hakkenseri_.  Almost all the pieces 
have been published elsewhere (many in Cahiers du Cinema Japon, though 
some in otherwise hard to find magazines and pamphlets) in a period from 
1992 to 2001.  The topics are quite varied, ranging from discussions of 
such directors as Kurosawa Kiyoshi, Kurosawa Akira, Suzuki Seijun, 
Masumura Yasuzo, Kumashiro Tatsumi, Kitano Takeshi, Wim Wenders, Godard, 
Eastwood, Altman, etc., to film and book reviews, to discussions of 
music.  The last essay on the geography of cinema and Aoyama's conception 
of "jikkan" (central to his recent thought) is quite interesting.

Ware eiga o hakkenseri (Tokyo: Seidosha, 2001). ISBN 4791759036. 2800 yen.
青山真治、『われ映画を発見せり』（青土社、2001）

2) Yomota Inuhiko, one of the most important Japanese critics, has come 
out with another collection of essays entitled _Ajia no naka no Nihon 
eiga_.  Since it is also a collection of previously published essays, the 
title is kind of misleading (only one of the 4 sections in the book is 
about Japanese cinema in Asia), but there are discussions of minorities 
(Koreans, Okinawans, etc.) in Japanese cinema, recent cinema (in a kind 
of continuation of the _Nihon eiga no rajikaruna ishi_ book), and the 
selling of Japanese film abroad.　Plus there's a good picture of Shishido 
Jo on the cover!

Ajia no naka no Nihon eiga (Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 2001).  ISBN 
400022003.  2800 yen.
四方田犬彦『アジアのなかの日本映画』（岩波書店）

3) The film director and essayist Naito Makoto has recently published a 
short monograph (shinsho) entitled _Showa eigashi noto: Goraku eiga to 
senso no kage_.  While it is not exactly a thorough historical study, the 
book takes up some topics rarely researched before: the creation of the 
first film school during the war, the role of the actor-director Hayafusa 
Hideto at Daito Cinema, occupation-era Mizoguchi (mostly a reproduction 
of Naito's contribution to the _Eiga kantoku Mizoguchi Kenji_ book), and 
the woman film producer Mizonoe Takiko (who produced most of Yujiro's 
films at Nikkatsu).  There are also interviews with filmmakers Fukukawa 
Yasumichi and Kawamata Takashi, both of whom attended the wartime film 
school.

Showa eigashi noto: Goraku eiga to senso no kage (Tokyo: Heibonsha, 
2001).  ISBN 4582850987.
700 yen.
内藤誠『昭和映画史ノート　娯楽映画と戦争の影』（平凡社）.

Aaron Gerow
Yokohama National University
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