Shukan Bunshun

[Junko Tanaka]

A journalist friend of mine, Tokumoto Eiichiro, has an article in this
week's _Shukan Bunshun_ (August 2 issue), in which he summarizes his
findings from several confidential documents at the US National Archives.
He claims that the US Government has done extensive psychoanalysis (or
psychobiography? profiling?) of all the important postwar political figures
of Japan, including prime ministers and Emperor Hirohito, to help them to
"manipulate" the US-Japan relations more effectively. The information covers
from where to place bonsai when Emperor Hirohito visits White House, and
why, to the power relationship between PM Miki and his wife. While this
itself is not that surprising, I just wondered if any movie director has
become one of their targets (to be profiled) in the postwar era.
I'm sure many on this list work on issues like politics and cinema,
especially of wartime and postwar periods, and would be glad if someone
could shed light on this. At any rate, the National Archives looks like a
reservoir of information for scholars!

Junko Tanaka, Tokyo