Dim

[Aaron Gerow]

>Does anyone know why this practice was followed and if there was any legal 
>basis, has it been removed?

I know there was a legal basis for this in prewar exhibition regulations. 
For instance, the 1917 Tokyo moving picture regulations stipulated that 
there be enough light so that the faces of the spectators could be 
clearly distinguished. Since these regulations also had provisions 
requiring separate seating for men and women as well as authorizing a 
special seat for a police officer in the back, one can relate this 
regulation to fears about sexuality, the desire to control spectators 
through sight, as well as to a general phobia about what kind of things 
lone spectators were thinking and doing in the dark (light helping 
spectators remember they are members of a public with public 
responsibilities). 

I have not done research in postwar theater regulations, so I too would 
be curious about the requirements in this regard. Many theaters are 
annoyingly well-lit, but there are many which try to darken the theater 
as much as possible. 

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