Films that depict the occupation of Japan, made afterwards

[Aaron Gerow]

Kinoshita Keisuke's Nihon no higeki, which was made right after the  
Occupation in 1953, concertedly places its hahamono story in history  
and uses lots of newsreel footage, as well as "flashbacks" of  
Occupation hardships, to do that. In the newsreel-like footage, there  
are shots of American soldiers, including a pretty powerful one of  
American soldiers cavorting with "panpan" girls. I haven't seen many  
images like that in 1950s cinema.

Kobayashi Masaki's Kuroi kawa from 1956 has many images of American  
soldiers, though I don't recall if any of them were specifically set  
in the Occupation.

I think a lot of films in the yakuza or action genres, especially  
ones with a historical bent like Fukasaku's Jinginaki tatakai, will  
depict aspects of the Occupation, including American soldiers.


Aaron Gerow
KineJapan owner

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

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