[KineJapan] New Film: THE OZU DIARIES (Oscar-nominated director Daniel Raim) - now available for Campus Screenings

[Rea Amit]

Thank you all for this fascinating discussion.


I am so happy that there is still so much to add to what we know about Ozu.
I am really looking forward to watching the film and to reading Daisuke’s
new book (congratulations!).

As for the controversies around Ozu’s remarks, this is not really a new
issue, right? The diaries, which include these offensive comments, have
been readily available since at least 1993 (全日記小津安二郎). The editor, Tanaka
Masasumi, also discusses this aspect in 小津安二郎周游 (2003) and again in
小津安二郎と戦争 (2005), on which, I believe, Hoshino Haruhiko is relying.

It is remarkable, though, that associations between an artists’ works and
their politics are having so much sway even among Chinese-born expats,
including those in the U.S. I wonder what role social media and erroneous
A.I. translations might have in spreading such interpretations beyond
ideology.

At any rate, I am excited to check out the diaries, the documentary,
Daisuke’s new book, and of course, to have a good excuse to revisit the
films themselves!
Best,
Rea


On Tue, Nov 11, 2025 at 10:40 PM Naoki Yamamoto via KineJapan <
kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote:

> Thanks Eleanor for sharing the info!
>
> Markus, Let me clarify the background of my previous post. My wife is
> Chinese and one day she asked me if I knew Ozu was involved in killing
> Chinese people during his service and left his comments like “I feel
> nothing in shooting Chinese because they look like insects or non-human
> objects.” She told me she found that reference at one of the internet
> discussion sites she frequently visits, which is popular among Chinese
> Americans.
>
> I was surprised by this because as far as I remember, Ozu did not write
> about his commitment to killing in such a direct manner, though he did
> mention about his commitment to using mustard gas on the field. Then, I
> discovered an article titled 「小津安二郎の戦争責任」by Hoshino Haruhiko (星乃治彦) of
> Fukuoka University, and found the exact same expression appearing there.
> According to Hoshino, Ozu often talked about his war experience at
> interviews, and one of such interviews titled 「小津安二郎戦場談」 (『大陸』1939年9月号)
> included the following remark:
>
>
> 「こうした支那兵を見ていると、少しも人間と思えなくなって来る。どこへ行ってもいる虫のようだ。人間に価値を認めなくなって、ただ、小癪に反抗する敵ーいや、物位に見え、いくら射撃しても、平気になる。それ位、支那には数限りのない人間がうようよしているのだ」(p.547)
>
> Obviously, someone on the aforementioned internet site found this article
> and spread this information among the members of  that online community. So
> it might have been too much to say that this disturbing statement is now
> “well known” in China, but at least Ozu’s active participation in the war
> is widely known among Chinese readers through the translation of his diary.
>
>
> I cannot prove Hoshino’s argument is correct as I haven’t yet read these
> interviews in original. But he also wrote this toward the end of his essay:
>
> 「
> 39年4月30日日曜の小津の日記によると、『突如舞台ハ討伐に出かけることになる。＜小津ハ置いてゆけ、彼奴ハ下手に頑張るから＞との部隊長の話由、残留となる』というところから見ると、小津は、いやいや殺戮に加担していたわけでもない。部隊長の目から見ても、「チャンコロ」殺戮に余念がなかったと考えられるのである」(ibid.)
>
> You can easily find this article online. Whether it is correct or not,
> this now informs a quite different reception of Ozu which I hadn’t been
> aware of until my wife told me about it.
>
> Best,
> Naoki
>
> Naoki Yamamoto
> Associate Professor
> Department of Film and Media Studies
> University of California, Santa Barbara
> naokiya at ucsb.edu
>
> On Nov 12, 2025, at 12:38 PM, Eleanor Zhang via KineJapan <
> kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote:
>
> Hi Markus,
>
> I’m not sure if this is the same book mentioned by Naoki, but there
> appears to be a book called 小津安二郎全日记 published by Shanghai Translation
> Publishing House in 2020 (picture attached).
>
> Best wishes,
> Eleanor
>
> On Wed, 12 Nov 2025 at 03:18, Markus Nornes via KineJapan <
> kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote:
>
>> This is interesting. When you say “well-known,” do you mean published in
>> translation? Pirated or official translation?
>> >
>> > He’s no longer a calm and stylish director defending Japanese culture.
>> But just one of those excited and then completely numbed about inhumane
>> duties during his service in the Second Sino-Japanese War.
>>
>> The first read is definitely wrong.
>>
>> The second is not one I’ve taken from the diaries.
>>
>> To his credit, the director does include the China War. However, I think
>> he downplays Ozu’s real enthusiasm for the war, as well as his life-long
>> commitment to the imperial family.
>>
>> Markus
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> KineJapan mailing list
>> KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu
>> https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan
>>
> <IMG_7209.jpeg>_______________________________________________
> KineJapan mailing list
> KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu
> https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> KineJapan mailing list
> KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu
> https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.yale.edu/pipermail/kinejapan/attachments/20251113/fdc3fe4c/attachment-0001.html>