Japan’s long 1968 cinema: resistance, struggle, revolt

Abstract

ABSTRACT This introductory essay contextualizes the articles that comprise the special issue by focusing on a historical period known as the ”Japanese long 1968” or the “season of politics” (roughly 1966 to 1972), in order to address the trends in the period’s cinematic production as a social and political expression of its time. The prevailing socio-political unrest – from the massive student occupation of university campuses, to the campaign against Japan-US alliance within the framework of the Vietnam War, to the struggle against the construction of the Narita International Airport – had a considerable impact on the way some Japanese filmmakers conceived cinema. Beginning with a review of those events, the article demonstrates how analyzing the impact of the Japanese long 1968 on cinema, and how filmmakers intervened in that phenomenon, enables us to reach not only a better comprehension of the films in question, but also of the way they reflect and interact with the historical moment in which they were produced.