Modern Japanese Genre Film: A Bibliography Plan
Introduction | Search Process | Conclusion | Endnotes | Relevancy Charts | Sample Annotations
INTRODUCTION
Topic and Scope
For decades, if you asked a typical American moviegoer what they knew about Japanese film, you would get a one-word response—Godzilla. Yet Japan has a rich cinematic history that goes far beyond the “man in the rubber suit” genre (kaijyu). The country has produced master directors like Akira Kurosawa, Kenji Mizoguchi and Yasujiro Ozu; large international production companies like Toei, Toho and Shochiku; and popular genres like samurai period drama (jidai geki). Today, there is a growing interest in contemporary Japanese cinema based in part on the huge popularity of anime, and on the box office success of Hollywood remakes of Japanese horror hits like The Ring (Ringu) and The Grudge (Ju-on). There are numerous journal articles and books published on today’s Japanese cinema including Mark Schilling’s Contemporary Japanese Film.1 This bibliography plan covers English-language resources and materials on modern Japanese genre film, from the late 1980s (when independent filmmakers began to compete with the studio system) to today. Two genres are highlighted: gangster films (yakuza eiga) and anime.
According to the Kodansha Encyclopedia,2 yakuza are people involved in organized crime. The word “yakuza” literally means “8, 9, 3,” which is a losing hand in a gambling game. Gangsters took this demeaning name for themselves to emphasize their scorn for society and conventional ideas of success. This outsider status and flouting of societal norms are major themes in yakuza films.
Anime is Japanese animated film. Unlike Western animation, which is usually made for children, anime is intended for a broader adult audience and covers a wide range of storylines including romance, action, and science fiction.
Audience
This bibliography plan started out as a volunteer project for the Hawaii International Film Festival (HIFF). However, the information contained in these resources is not just for film programmers and critics. The material on contemporary Japanese film runs the gamut from scholarly journal articles, comprehensive movie guides and reviews, to anime picture books and DVDs of the films themselves. Movie professionals, film historians, Asian Studies scholars, anime fans, and the weekend moviegoer will all benefit from this information.
Citation Style
Endnotes and bibliographic entries follow the citation style of Turabian’s A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses and Dissertations.3
