Protecting Youth and Regulating Speech, Battle Royale

[Aaron Gerow]

>Since exhibition in Japan is still very much in the hands of the big 
>studios, there is little, if no chance for the independents to have a say in 
>how film is regulated - and the studios have understandably little interest 
>in modifying a Picture Code that helps to affirm their authority.

This was the problem cited by Oshima and others way back in the 1960s: 
why should we independents have to have our films submitted to Eirin when 
we neither are part of the organization that runs it or have formally 
agreed to participate?  What forces them to "participate" is not just the 
control over the industry by the major studios, but also the fact the 
national theatrical organization (forget the name now) has agreed that it 
will not show any films not screened by Eirin.  This includes even many 
of the mini-theaters that show a lot of independent work (even though I 
doubt their voice is much represented in that organization).  This again 
shows that in the current film industry, exhibition is in the real 
position of power.

Aaron Gerow
Associate Professor
International Student Center
Yokohama National University
79-1 Tokiwadai
Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama 240-8501
JAPAN
E-mail: gerow at ynu.ac.jp
Phone: 81-45-339-3170
Fax: 81-45-339-3171