Anpo: Art X War: The Art of Resistance

Abstract

ANPO: Art X War: The Art of Resistance Hoaglund, L. (Producer/Director). Yamazaki Yutaka (Cinematographer). (2010). ANPO: ArtX war [Motion picture]. United States: New Day Films. Running time 89 minutes.Linda Hoagland has subtitled more than 200 Japanese films and produced and directed the documentary film. Wings of Defeat (2007), theatrically released in Japan. She has described her work as serving as a bridge between Japan and the Englishspeaking world (Hoaglund, 2006). A Yale University graduate, Hoagland was born in Japan, the daughter of Lutheran missionaries, and attended Japanese public schools and an international high school.To understand Hoaglund's latest documentary film, ANPO: Art X War, the viewer must be versed in the political events of post-WWII Japan. The title grabs the viewer's attention. ANPO is short for the Japanese name for the security treaty known as Anzen Hosho Joyaku (ANPO). It refers to the United States-Japan Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security (ANPO) which permits the continued presence of 100 U.S. military bases in Japan. The 1960 ratification of the ANPO Treaty led to protests by Japanese citizens of all ages. It is important to remember the treaty was renewed in 1970, and that approximately 60 U.S. military bases, offices, and barracks still occupy Japan. The film is punctuated by scenes of low-flying military aircraft whose noise and pervasive presence has the potential to be unsettling to the Japanese residents of an island on which such a base is located.This film chronicles the role of art in the 1960 Japanese protests against the ANPO Treaty. It also documents the reaction of Contemporary Japanese artists to the continued U.S. military occupation of Japan. The narrative is gripping and includes interviews with Japanese artists and filmmakers who were alive during the protests as well as with members of a younger generation of artists who speak about the continued U.S. military presence in Japan and how it affects their artwork and their lives.Among those featured In the film is Hiroshi Nakamura, whose paintings focus on Japanese reactions to the U.S. military presence through the 1950s and the ANPO protests in 1960. Other artists include Tadanori Yokoo and Kazuyoshi Kushida, both of whom participated in the 1960 ANPO demonstrations. The work of photographer Miyako Ishiuchi, who grew up near the U.S. military base in Yokosuka, focuses on the U.S. occupation as well as the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Ishiuchi asks, Why are there so many bases here?''The viewer is left to ponder the question.Mao Ishikawa, who began photographing during the 1970 Japanese demonstrations against the U.S., is another featured artist. The goal of her current work, Fences, Is to document all the base fences In Okinawa. Aida Makoto's 1996 folding-screen painting, A Picture of an Air Raid on New York City (War Picture Returns), portrays a squadron of Japanese Zero fighter planes circling New York City. The scene evokes ominous references to a contemporary Pearl Harbor. Photographs by Hamaya Hiroshi focus on the violence of the 1960 protest. Such photographs shed light on the Japanese protesters who wanted an end to the U.S. military presence and should be regarded as historic documents. The choices of imagery in the photographs affect the viewer by providing graphic images that allow one to see the protests through the lens of a protester.The film would be strengthened if the interviews were longer. At present, they leave the viewer with unanswered questions about the artists and their art. Some of those questions Include: a) How do the artists plan to showcase their art on an international level?; b) Do the artists plan to present their art to the military personnel living and working in Japan?; and, c) What role will art play in future protests? In addition, specific background information about the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security (ANPO) would benefit younger viewers, many of whom may not be familiar with the treaty or protests. …