Declining competitiveness in the film industry: the British experience in Japan, 1910–1923

Abstract

Throughout the 1900s, Britain and Japan enjoyed a close diplomatic relationship that was best exemplified by their alliance of twenty years (1903–1923). Cultural ties during this period though were more distant. Despite this complex relationship, British film distributors were active in Japan during the 1910s. However, their competiveness would weaken to the extent that they were eventually displaced by the Hollywood studios by the 1920s. Against this backdrop, Anglo-Japanese relations also became more distant following the end of World War I. The common perception is that the political situation related to the war had a significant impact on the decline of Europe’s film industries. This paper examines the factors behind the British film industry’s struggles in Japan that seem to correlate with the final chapter of the close political relationship in the late 1910s. It will show that actually the post-World War I political environment had little impact upon the decline of the British presence in the Japanese film market. Rather it was industrial factors ranging from changes in film distribution to the quality of films produced that limited the opportunities for British film companies. Such findings have important implications for Europe’s film industries today who are confronted by Hollywood’s dominance.