De-demonising Japan? Transitioning from war to peace through Japan’s cinematic post-war cultural diplomacy in UNESCO’s Orient project 1957–1959

Abstract

In 1959, UNESCO published a film catalogue titled Orient. A Survey of Films Produced in Countries of Arab and Asian Culture to familiarise Western audiences with Eastern cultures. Out of the 139 feature films included in the catalogue, 37 were Japanese. Through a discussion of the descriptions of the films provided in the catalogue, this article analyses Japan’s post-war cultural diplomacy in the context of the Orient project. The aim is to discuss the question of what purpose the Japanese films chosen for the Orient catalogue served in terms of cultural diplomacy. The analysis suggests the Japanese representatives aimed to position the nation in the international arena outside the Cold War political and ideological framework. Instead, they promoted national interests by utilising the catalogue project to renegotiate the country’s position in the post-war world with the larger ideal of intercultural understanding guiding the selection process and the meaning created for Western audiences.