Ainu actors in prewar Japanese film

[Aaron Gerow]

I have not heard of any actors from that era who then or later termed  
themselves Ainu. Perhaps there were some but because of factors such  
as discrimination, which lead zainichi actors for instance to hide  
their backgrounds, did not admit it publicly.

A good paper could be written about the representations of Ainu in  
Japanese cinema, which incidentally could include Naruse's Kotan no  
kuchibue, as well as other works like Kimi no na wa or Daisogen no  
wataridori.


Aaron Gerow
Professor
Film Studies Program/East Asian Languages and Literatures
Director of Undergraduate Studies, Film Studies Program
Yale University
320 York Street, Room 311
PO Box 208236
New Haven, CT 06520-8236
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Phone: 1-203-432-7082
Fax: 1-203-432-6729
e-mail: aaron.gerow at yale.edu
site: www.aarongerow.com