Olympic Film between Nationalism and Cosmopolitanism: The 1964 Tokyo Olympiad and the Postwar Mass Mobilization

Abstract

This study clarifies the structure of the organized mobilization of student audiences with the film Tokyo Olympiad and attempts to reveal how the Japanese government was involved in the formation of the national identity of postwar generation through the film’s distribution process. As the mass mobilization project gradually materialized, the government desired to promote nationalism amongst the postwar generation, superseding the original intention to recoup the production cost. This change induced governmental intervention toward the artistic expression of cinema. It was observed that the method of mobilization of students and the governmental interruption were far from postwar democracy.