[KineJapan] NHK doc about Kawase Naomi’s Olympic doc

[Gerow Aaron]

I have been following this, but have not seen the documentary itself. As not just Yang-san, but other documentary filmmakers like Soda-san who have done work for NHK can testify, there is no way that NHK did not check and clear this for broadcast. Many suspect that this was a deliberate attempt by some at NHK to sully the reputation of the anti-Olympics protesters.

At the same time, there has been a lot of blowback against Kawase-san, some of it unjustified. Some have simply mistaken the NHK doc as her work, or the footage as coming from her B-crew, but that is not the case. Others have said that Kawase would have to have seen the doc before it was broadcast. Such suspicions are not unjustified, given the incident over a decade ago where a NHK doc on a movement to put on a war crimes trial for crimes against women in WWII was reedited at the last minute due to pressure from LDP politicians. But many say it is unlikely that NHK would show it before broadcast to someone like Kawase.

Kawase-san herself has commented on the incident, denying these were images from her doc on the Olympics or that she knew about that scene or checked it before broadcast:
https://news.livedoor.com/article/detail/21489510/

That said, there is still a lot of criticism of Kawase for her comments in the NHK doc, which echo her previous public comments that state that “we” (i.e., all Japanese) invited the Olympics and thus should all be happy it was being held in Japan and should support the athletes. As many have pointed out: 1) Japan’s successful bid was based in part on lies and bribery; 2) the Olympics ignored many suffering from 311 victims to Covid patients to those blocked from entering Japan because of the pandemic; 3) the Olympics primarily benefitted a small number of corporate, media, and political interests and will place a burden of debt on Japanese taxpayers for decades. Given her unconscious use of the national “we”, many worry that Kawase’s documentary will essentially stand on the side of the organizers—though camouflaged as standing on the side of the athletes—and ignore the real critique of such national and media spectacles. 

Whether that is true will have to be seen when the film is released in June.  


Aaron Gerow
A. Whitney Griswold Professor of East Asian Languages and Literatures and Film and Media Studies
Chair, East Asian Languages and Literatures
Yale University
320 York Street, Room 108
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Phone: 1-203-432-7082
Fax: 1-203-432-6729
e-mail: aaron.gerow at yale.edu <mailto:aaron.gerow at yale.edu>
website: www.aarongerow.com




















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