The 10 Western films that have affected Japan the most.

[John Dougill]

Interesting research topic...  Purely on an anecdotal level, I remember one
of my students telling me how much Shane made an impression on him as a
youth in terms of the individual hero...  I guess High Noon too would stand
out in terms of individualism, though I guess you would have to wade through
contemporary reviews and articles in Japanese to get something concrete...
I would guess too that there were some interesting cultural comparisons made
about the Western remakes of The Seven Samurai and Yojimbo...

on 11/3/03 9:25 AM, John Gorman at macfugu at mac.com wrote:

> Which 10 Western films do you feel have affected Japan the most?
> 
> I am a graduate student at University College Dublin, Ireland working on a
> master's thesis. Having lived in Japan for an extended period, I am very
> interested in the affect of Western cinema on Japanese culture specifically
> regarding democracy, women's roles and individualism. (I would like to look
> beyond the affect of Western films on Japanese films.) While I would be
> delighted to find for example that after the showing of a certain film the
> divorce rate doubled or kimonos were abandoned in favor of Levis, I imagine it
> will be rather daunting to prove direct causal relationships between specific
> films and specific changes in Japanese society.
> 
> I am beginning my research by seeking the views of recognized experts on
> Japanese culture and cinema. Based on the results, I hope to narrow my
> research down to three films. I will then conduct focus groups and a survey
> upon three generations of Japanese; seniors, middle aged folks and current
> university students. (I will also pursue as much documentable fact as possible
> including; links between films and specific events, box office receipts,
> awards won, reviews published, etc.)
> 
> I would greatly appreciate if you could assist me by submitting your list to
> KineJapan, if possible including your rationale for at least your top three
> choices. Further I would be delighted if you would join the Yahoo! group I
> have established to research this topic further as it is rather divergent from
> the main purpose of KineJapan, will allow the participants to more clearly
> focus on the various threads of the discussion and will allow me to better
> manage the information generated through the greater resources available on
> the Yahoo! group site.
> 
> To join please send an email with your name and position to:
> 
> WCi_Japan-owner at yahoogroups.com
> 
> Thanks much, Yoroshiku!
> 
> John Gorman
> 
> 
>