inquiry - depictions of Tokyo

[Aaron Gerow]

There are a number of directors who have been known for really trying 
to deal with Tokyo geography. Hiroki Ryuichi is one. Tenshi ga 
misuterareta yoru is in part a discourse on Shinjuku, as is Yamamoto 
Masashi's Yami no kanibaru. Miike Takashi's depictions of Shinjuku, 
such as in Ley Lines or Dead or Alive, are always intruiguing in the 
way he interprets it as an Asian city (the space is quite similar to 
his Taipei in Rainy Dog). Other directors have taken on Shibuya, for 
instance Harada Masato's Bounce KoGirls or Anno Hideaki's Love and Pop. 
But I do think Kawase Naomi's short Kaze no kioku is a very engaging 
intervention into the space and social relations of Shibuya. Ichikawa 
Jun has a strong relationship with Tokyo (he has several films with 
Tokyo in the title!), from the Nerima/Itabashi of Tokiwa-so no seishun, 
to the Shimokitazawa of Zawa-zawa Shimokitazawa.

And one can't forget Yamada Yoji's (largely fictional) depictions of 
Shibamata and shitamachi. But do remember Adachi-born Kitano Takeshi's 
jibe at Yamada: Shibamata is inaka, not shitamachi.

Speaking of recreations of Old Tokyo, you can always see Hayashi 
Kaizo's Yume miru yo ni nemuritai as a particular interpretation of old 
time movie Tokyo (and his Mike Hammer films as interpretations of 
Yokohama). But Oshima Nagisa engages in a very different investigation 
of film and fukei/landscape in The Man Who Left His Will on Film.

Ruins have been popular these days, and one finds quite a number of 
directors using ruined buildings in their work (Yamamoto's Robinson no 
niwa is one example from the 1980s). But I do think Sekine Hiroyuki's 
documentary film, Ruins of Roppongi, on the ruins of the Philippine 
embassy in Roppongi is a masterpiece. Speaking of documentary, 
Tsuchimoto Noriaki's Dokyumento rojo is a brilliant essay on the 
reconstruction of Tokyo before the Olympics.

For older films, with less location work and more studio shooting, one 
doesn't always get a strong sense of geographhy, but there have been 
many films about Tokyo cultures, from Asakusa no hi to the dozens of 
films with Ginza in the title.

There's much much more, but that's it for the time being.

Aaron Gerow
KineJapan owner

Assistant Professor
Film Studies Program/East Asian Languages and Literatures
Yale University

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